“My dad, too,” Drew whispered. “He knew all along?”
Damon and Cain exchanged a glance.
“That’s what my father said,” Cain agreed. “And I don’t think he was lying at that point. I don’t know why he would. But he did say your father was against it from the start.”
“Probably worried it would affect his bottom line,” Drew fumed. “Or maybe that his new girlfriend would find out.”
Damon recalled Drew’s parents had divorced almost immediately after the plane crash, their relationship unable to withstand the trauma of losing their daughter, Amy, so unexpectedly. He hadn’t realized there had been problems long before that.
“There’s more,” Damon added. “Cain talked to his father earlier this week, gave him a heads-up the interview would be running.”
“I’m sure Uncle Shaw was thrilled,” Bas said wryly.
“We don’t call him that anymore,” Cam snapped, and Damon felt a tug of sympathy. The three families had been so close for so long, and the betrayal ran deep.
“He actually didn’t have a lot to say about the interview. Probably knew it was too late for that. But he told us he’d talked to his Russian… colleagues,” Cain said bitterly. “Apparently the guys shooting at us were part of some faction inside the group, not authorized by the Stornoviches, who are supposed to be in charge. The shooting was part of some crazy internal power-grab. Like who the fuck knew that was a thing?” He shook his head.
“The name of the group means power, babe,” Damon said softly, pressing a kiss to Cain’s head. “Makes sense that they don’t do shit in an orderly, democratic way. They do stupid shit like trying to compromise the senator so they can oust the Stornoviches.”
“So what the hell does that mean for us?” Bas demanded. “For your sister and Molly, and everyone else who might be on the radar?”
“It means the heat is off, at least for now,” Damon said. “The Stornoviches need the senator in their corner if they want to stay in power, and the senator made it clear we are all under his protection.”
He could hear the bitterness in his own voice, and made no apologies for it. He fucking hated that he had to feel beholden to Emmett Shaw for anything, not after all the man had done. But for Cain’s sake, for his family’s sake, he accepted it.
“Adam Stornovich is trying to consolidate his power inside SILA,” Cain expounded. “He’s got enough trouble handling things inside his organization, so he accepted that he and my father have arrived at a bit of a stalemate. The senator has information on SILA, and SILA has plenty of information on him.”
“Another cold war,” Drew said mockingly.
“So, what do we do?” Cam whispered. “We can’t just leave things like that. Who knows when they’ll get their shit sorted and decide we’re lose ends that need tying up? And we need to make them pay for what happened to our parents, to Amy. What do wedo?”
Cort, who had been locked in silent thought for a moment, tightened his hold on Cam.
“Youdo nothing, babe. You run your company, you live your life.”
“No! No. You should know better than to try to push me out when—”
“He’s right, Cam,” Bas said. He had the shell-shocked look of a man who’d just awoken in an alternate-reality. “We’re going to get these bastards and bring them down, but in the meantime, you still have a company to run.”
Cam frowned. “I do? I thoughtwedid.”
“We do, then,” Bas agreed. “But this is something I can help with. Financials, finding a needle in a haystack, those are things I’m good at. I have the contacts, I have the tech…”
“Hell no. We should leave this to the professionals,” Cort said firmly. “This is dangerous shit you’re talking about, Sebastian. If you get caught, you won’t be arrested, you’ll be killed.”
“Like you left it to the professionals when your family was threatened?” Bas retorted, one eyebrow raised.
Cort looked at Damon and sighed. “That was different,” he protested, but it was clear even he had trouble believing it.
“This is on me,” Bas said. “I overlooked this stuff - the inconsistencies, the discrepancies - for way too long. I need to put a stop to it.”
Drew snorted and shook his head. “So you’re charging off to the rescue once again. God forbid you sit still for a minute, right? God forbid you actually deal with yourlife. When you need a distraction, any vendetta will do!”
“Bullshit,” Bas said, looking anywhere but at Drew. “This isn’t a distraction. This is about assuring the safety of ourfamily.”
“Oh really? Then I’ll be happy to help you with your investigation, since compiling evidence is kindamyspecialty, along with keeping your ass out of jail while you’re busy running after bad guys. For the good of our family.”
Bas’s jaw hardened.
