Page 123 of The Enemy Protector
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“The fire. I heard one of our guys saw Sokolov’s men torching the place last night.”
My stomach drops. “What fire?”
Anton’s eyes narrow. “You don’t know.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My mind is racing. “What warehouse? When?”
“Warehouse B. The one in Greenpoint. It burned down last night. Complete loss. The word is Sokolov’s crew was seen leaving right before it went up.”
I sit very still, processing this information. Sergei was out last night. He came to my bed smelling like soap, tense and needing me. He wouldn’t tell me where he’d been.
“Tell me what you know about that warehouse,” I say quietly.
Anton shifts uncomfortably. “Sofia?— “
“Tell me.”
He won’t meet my eyes. “Medical supply distribution. That’s what your father told everyone.”
“But that’s not what it was.”
“No.”
“Tell me, Anton. Please. I need to know the truth.”
He sighs heavily. “Organ harvesting. Your father set it up about five years ago. Very few people knew the full scope of it. Ididn’t know until about two years ago when I accidentally saw something I shouldn’t have.”
“You knew.”
“I suspected you’d figure it out eventually. You’re too smart not to.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you weren’t ready to hear it. And because I was afraid of what you’d do with the information.” He finally looks at me. “Your father was still in power. If you confronted him?—”
“He would have killed me,” I finish.
I feel nothing. I’ve already accepted I’m nothing but another person in my father’s world.
I’m not special.
“How many people?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Hundreds, probably.”
Hundreds of people. Harvested like crops.
“You could have told me.”
“And what would you have done?”
He’s right. I hate that he’s right.
I should be furious that Sergei acted without consulting me. He made decisions about my organization without my input.
I’m not furious.
