The Inside Man: A Dublin Nights Novel

by Sahin, Brittney

  I wanted to take her hand. Stand with her as a united front.

  But we weren’t on the same page yet.

  She still wanted to face Maxim and bare her soul. I wanted to build a hundred-meter wall between her and all potential threats. All enemies. Hell, maybe everyone. Even friends and family were known to betray each other.

  “No.” Sebastian rose.

  “No?” She circled the coffee table and stood before him.

  “You’re not a killer. You didn’t kill Dimitri.” Sebastian’s jaw tightened, his brown eyes cold and hard. Pure anger riddled through his speech. “Luca killed him.” He extended a hand as if reaching for her, but then curled his fingers into a fist and pulled back. “And I’m going to offer Luca’s corpse to Maxim Petrov.”

  She ate up the remaining space between them. “Emilia won’t let you see him.”

  “You asked Emilia to keep Sebastian and me away, didn’t you?” I looked out the window, shocked by the truth. Worried she’d see the hurt in my eyes that she didn’t deserve to witness, even if she’d lied. She’d been through enough. “You didn’t want us to find out. The men arrested for mugging you . . . that was Emilia’s handiwork?”

  I wasn’t mad at Alessia, but I was furious at the situation.

  What if she’d died?

  What if she was taken again?

  No. Fecking no. I set my palms to the window, willing my heart to slow down before it exploded from my chest.

  “Is there anything else we should know? Anything else you’re keeping from us that might endanger you?” I tried like hell to keep my voice as calm as possible when I pivoted to face her again, not yet allowing her to look into my eyes.

  “What Luca did to you, I have no words. Only hate and anger in my heart,” Sebastian began before she answered me, his tone steady despite a clear undercurrent of pain, “but keeping all of this from us, do you not understand what may have happened to you?”

  “I had Emilia,” she offered in defense, which would never stand ground as far as I was concerned.

  “And we’ll be talking to her.” Sebastian’s focus moved to her abdomen, his thoughts most likely on her scars. His beard couldn’t conceal the tic of his jaw, the fact he was hanging on the edge.

  My priority was Alessia’s safety. And to remove any threats. To seek revenge for what happened. Sebastian had to have felt the same, but he was probably still processing the fact he’d been friends with Luca while the son of a bitch had thrown his baby sister into a ring to do battle with men twice her size, men who were ruthless criminals and assassins. The kind of men who thought nothing of wielding a knife on an innocent woman.

  “Emilia and I have gone over the plan many times, and it will work. I don’t want to see you start a war with the Petrovs, but if you try to stop me from fixing this, I’m afraid that will be the consequence.” Her big brown eyes grew wide. Pleading.

  Her idea made sense. Direct the Petrovs’ focus to a different enemy, the man really behind Dimitri’s death, and maybe even take it a step further. The fundamental flaw? It required Alessia to come face-to-face with Maxim Petrov to share the truth and then hope he believed her. We heard he was a ruthless man when it came to his enemies, but he also ruled with a steady hand and well-thought-out plans. He wasn’t off-kilter. He was a just leader, but nevertheless merciless to those who betrayed him. If Maxim knew the truth, perhaps it was possible to win him over to our side.

  “You’re out of your goddamn mind if you think I’ll let you go anywhere near Maxim.” Sebastian’s temper flared, the fear of losing his sister again palpable.

  Alessia flinched at her brother’s harsh tone, and his stern expression immediately turned apologetic. She heaved a sigh, and I found myself at her side, holding her hand.

  We’d spent last night making love—exploring, ravishing, savoring. Then taking comfort in each other’s arms before falling asleep. It was so much easier to live in that world and pretend the past four years hadn’t happened. Alessia clearly felt the same, which was why she’d held off on the truth for so long.

  I blinked back to the issue at hand when Alessia spoke next.

  “The Serbian human traffickers you believed killed me . . . one of the women you saved that night was Maxim Petrov’s daughter, Ivana.” It was my first time hearing this. The revelation was shocking. Her words sobering. “If you hadn’t rescued Ivana that night, Dimitri may not have felt indebted to you. He taught me to defend myself. He sacrificed his life for me.”

  The darkness in Sebastian’s eyes gradually shifted to sadness at her admission.

  “In some strange twist of fate, Luca unintentionally wound up saving both Dimitri’s sister and me when he set up those traffickers for my death. And we have to let Adrian and Maxim know the truth.”

  Sebastian dropped his face into his palm. Broad shoulders sloping forward, weighed down by the gravity of the situation.

  “Go to London. Keep up appearances with The Alliance.” Alessia’s suggestion had Sebastian’s hand falling, eyes widening in disbelief. “We can handle this problem when you return.”

  “You know we can’t do that,” I said before Sebastian had the chance. “Adrian is gunning for you. Not a chance in hell we’ll leave.”

  She pulled her hand free from my grasp and crossed her arms, pivoting to the side to observe the both of us as if she were in charge. Her confidence had returned, but if she was going to be stubborn with her life, she’d have to go through me to do it.

  “What do you know about the circumstances under which Dimitri was captured?” Sebastian asked. “The Petrovs never revealed what really happened, but that’s standard protocol for them.”

  Alessia wet her lips as if searching for a response. “Dimitri was at dinner while on a business trip in Munich. His limo was in an accident on his way back to the hotel. He remembered seeing lights from an oncoming vehicle heading straight for the side of the limo, and then he woke up in the prison.”

  “The Petrovs are cautious. Dimitri’s driver wouldn’t take the same route twice,” Sebastian was quick to say. “Luca wouldn’t know Dimitri was even in Munich.”

  “You think someone within the Petrov family betrayed him?” Is it possible? “Did someone set him up?”

  “Why would Luca need to torture Dimitri for information if he already had an inside man?” Alessia posed the question. “Sorry, um, Dimitri and I discussed the possibility, and he was adamant everyone on the inside was trustworthy.” Her cheeks heated, guilt over keeping secrets striking her again.

  My hand went to my back, and I kneaded at the flesh, working at a tight knot of tension.

  “Prior to having the truth shoved in my face, I never would have believed Luca capable of betraying me.” An ominous cloud filled the room with Sebastian’s dark tone, the air growing heavy.

  “Who benefited from Dimitri’s absence, aside from The Alliance who presumably tortured him for intel?” My tongue had darted over her sex only a matter of hours ago. I’d had her sweet taste in my mouth, and now these horrible words were leaving my lips.

  It was feckin’ wrong.

  All of it.

  “I doubt Maxim would turn the reins over to his daughter,” Sebastian replied. “Maxim’s brother has three sons, and Adrian is one of them, but I’m not sure if Adrian would be placed in charge.”

  “Yeah, but I still don’t get why The Alliance would torture Dimitri if they had the cooperation of a high-ranking Petrov,” I pointed out. “And he was tortured, right?”

  Alessia quietly nodded.

  “Unless . . .” Sebastian’s brows pulled together. “Unless Luca was actually hired to kill Dimitri.”

  “But instead of killing him, Luca faked Dimitri’s death and placed the blame on that gang in Moscow, then he locked Dimitri away, hoping to get information out of him or to use him for some other reason,” I proposed, following his line of thought. Luca had recreated what he’d done with Alessia, right down to tricking Maxim into wiping out a gang.

>   “Luca may have set up some sort of failsafe plan. If something happened to him, X, Y, and Z would fall into place.” Sebastian dropped a litany of curses under his breath. “This is his style, and I should’ve been prepared for the possibility.”

  “And if the knife sent to Maxim is only the beginning?” The concern in Alessia’s voice cut straight to my heart. Had she considered this before divulging the truth to us? Had Emilia?

  And hell, Sebastian was right, why didn’t we have contingency plans in place in case Luca masterminded some payback plan? “We need to talk to Luca before we hand him over to Maxim. I know you don’t want anyone dying, but—”

  “No, he should die for what he has done.” The certainty in Alessia’s tone was hauntingly similar to Emilia. “Not by your hand, though,” she issued the request, maybe even the demand, my way.

  “Alessia!” I abruptly snapped out her name a second later, and Sebastian drew his weapon, catching sight of what I’d witnessed as well in that moment.

  A red dot on her chest.

  A sniper rifle positioned on the woman I loved.

  I stretched a hand out. “You’ve got a sniper pointing a weapon at you.”

  She lowered her chin to view her chest, following where my gaze had been.

  “Don’t move, okay?” Or should she move? Feck if I knew what to do.

  Sebastian started for the windows, most likely to yank the curtains closed, but he halted when his mobile buzzed.

  Taking slow steps, I advanced toward Alessia, worried someone would shoot at my movement, but what choice did I have? I needed to put myself between her and a potential bullet. “Stay calm,” I said as Sebastian placed the call on speaker, assuming it was our sniper.

  “Wait, don’t you dare think about shielding me!” she beseeched, throwing her hands out to stop my progression her way.

  “Listen to Alessia,” a Russian voice announced over the mobile. “Anyone moves another millimeter, and she dies.” The red dot raced up her face and stopped on her forehead, and my body grew numb.

  “What do you want?” Sebastian hissed.

  “I want Luca Moreau. And I need him alive. You have twenty-four hours to get him to me,” the caller demanded, and I was fairly certain it was Adrian based on the sound of his voice.

  “Alessia’s innocent. Luca’s responsible. You need to tell Maxim,” I rushed out, trying not to panic. To maintain a steady hand the way Sebastian had instructed me over the last six weeks. “We have every intention of handing him over to your family.”

  “You have my word,” Sebastian added, his body stiff, gun still drawn, eyes moving to the window. “You hurt Alessia right now, and you’re starting a war like you’ve never imagined.”

  I wanted to go to her. Protect her. But if I moved, Adrian might make good on his threat and pull the trigger.

  “Luca Moreau. Call this number when you have him.” Adrian’s tone was short, clipped. “Alessia’s my insurance policy. She comes with me. You speak of this to anyone, absolutely anyone, and she dies.”

  “Feck no,” I roared.

  “We can make the swap once I have Luca in custody,” Adrian said.

  Alessia shot me a soft, almost apologetic look. “It’s okay.”

  “She walks out of the hotel room now. Gets inside the lift when it opens. I have two men inside waiting for her,” Adrian issued his commands. “If she doesn’t come, the two women from the hotel desk I have with my men in the lift will be executed. You wouldn’t want more blood on your hands, now would you, Alessia?”

  Son of a bitch.

  Adrian Petrov’s actions right now already meant war as far as I was concerned.

  Alessia turned and started for the door, the red dot moving to her back. No hesitation. A woman focused on doing what she believed to be right.

  “Stop, please.” My limbs were trembling as fear enveloped every part of me.

  “I’ll be okay,” Alessia promised from over her shoulder.

  Sebastian muted the call. “They don’t have the passcode. They can’t get to our floor without it. When I say duck, I want you to throw yourself on the ground.”

  Alessia faced us both, tears in her eyes. “No more innocent people are dying because of me.”

  “Alessia,” I begged, taking a step closer.

  “You have ten seconds,” Adrian said, his tone calm as feck, and it pissed me off.

  “I’m sorry. But you’ll get me back.” Her eyes darted between us both. “I love you.” She turned and flung the door open, and I chased after her, Sebastian right behind me.

  “Back away! Please,” Alessia cried, frantically stabbing the call button outside the lift doors. “If anyone else dies because of me, I can’t live with that.”

  “I can’t let you just walk away like this.” I held both palms in the air, pleading for her to change her mind. “You’re safe. Get away from the doors.”

  “Alessia.” Sebastian growled out her name around a heavy breath as a thought struck me like a sledgehammer in the face.

  Adrian already knew about— “Luca!” I finished my thoughts out loud. “You didn’t tell Adrian about him yet.” The warning came too late. The doors had already parted, a new rifle must have been aimed her way from inside the lift as a red dot reappeared.

  She peeked at us from over her shoulder and whispered another almost painful I love you probably directed at the both of us, then a hand reached out and jerked her inside.

  “No!” I lurched her way.

  “Don’t.” One of the two men inside had a gun trained on Alessia’s temple. The other man off to his side focused his weapons, one in each hand, on the two women, who presumably worked at the hotel. They were on their knees, silently pleading for us to save them.

  “I’m sorry,” Alessia mouthed, and I had to watch the doors shut, to close out my hope of keeping her safe, knowing there was a chance we wouldn’t get her back this time.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Cole

  “They didn’t have tattoos on their hands.” I paced in front of the windows in the hotel room as we waited for Emilia and League reinforcements to arrive. The Garda wasn’t informed, and honestly, if we pulled the police in, it would only lead to innocent people getting hurt.

  The two women who’d been held hostage had been left in the lift as the men took off with Alessia, but the women were on Sebastian’s payroll at the hotel, and he promised to take care of them for what happened.

  Sebastian faced me, his eyes a dark shade of feckin’ pain, a mirror to my own. We were doing our best to keep our shite together and focus on getting Alessia back unharmed. Still, neither of us truly believed Adrian had any intention of exchanging Alessia for Luca.

  “The men who took Alessia didn’t have the Petrov mark on their hands.” I ceased pacing a path into the floor and braced my hands on my hips. “Have you ever seen a member of the Petrov organization without the ink?” I thought back to the men at the casino just last night. Every single one of them had the same tattoo on the top of their hand. “Adrian demanded we not talk to anyone, and he emphasized anyone. Do you think what he did today was without Maxim’s say-so?”

  Sebastian turned his back to me, tearing a hand through his hair. He was unraveling, a sight I wasn’t used to seeing. I wasn’t exactly keeping it together, but my fury and desire to find her prevented me from collapsing.

  “Adrian must’ve believed Dimitri died eight months ago. Luca probably provided some kind of proof. When Adrian’s attempt to lay blame on The League failed, he pinned the murder on an unsuspecting gang in Moscow. Then eliminated the gang and problem solved. But now, months later, Maxim receives the knife covered in Dimitri’s blood and Alessia’s fingerprints, creating a shite ton of confusion,” I said. “I think it’s safe to say Adrian didn’t expect that to happen. He clearly knows this was all Luca’s doing, which means his conversation with Alessia last night was merely a show for his organization, and his intention had always been to take her to prevent anyone fro
m discovering the truth.”

  “The truth being that Adrian is the inside man? He’s the one who betrayed his uncle?”

  “And Luca didn’t kill Dimitri eight months ago as per his deal with Adrian,” I added.

  “Because Luca’s always thinking three steps down the road to cover his own ass and make sure he comes out ahead,” Sebastian said in disgust. “But I have a feeling sending the knife to Maxim is about more than just trying to hurt us.” He unclasped the buttons of his sleeves and rolled the material to his elbows. Clench. Unclench. Repeat. He formed fists in preparation to kill. To throw down.

  And when I lowered my focus to my own hands, I discovered I was doing the same thing without realizing it.

  This was war.

  But maybe it wouldn’t be war with the entire Petrov family, which might be our only saving grace.

  “We do what we did with The Alliance when Luca put us in this situation before. We reach out to the leader, to Maxim Petrov,” Sebastian suggested. “We strike a deal.”

  “And if Adrian gets word about it and kills Alessia because we didn’t heed his warning?”

  “Adrian has no intention of letting anyone walk away once he gets Luca.” Sebastian was most likely speaking from experience. He’d been League since he was eighteen. He’d faced his fair share of criminals. Hell, I already had, too, and I hadn't been in the role nearly as long. “He’ll have a plan in place when we show up for the trade. Attempt to kill us all to make sure we can never share the truth.”

  I processed his words, drawing my own conclusions. “Then Adrian will blame us for Dimitri’s death and take credit for taking us out. If he’s making the move now and only giving us a day, he must feel fairly confident we won’t be able to get ahold of Maxim even if we tried.”

  He nodded in agreement. “Luca betrayed Adrian by sending that knife, and Adrian needs him alive. He wants to know who else Luca may have told before he kills him.” Sebastian palmed his cheek, rubbing his beard in thought.