Page 45 of Shadow Of Sin
“The coerced freelancer,” Lochlan says, taking a step toward me. “You turned whoever it was, didn’t you?”
I don’t answer. I just drop my eyes to my hands.
“When?” Ronan asks, an edge to his voice. He grips the edge of the desk and slowly gets up from his chair.
“Two weeks ago.”
“Two fucking weeks.” He lets that sit in the air like the stink of rotting garbage. “And the person pulling the strings? The one you said you were still working on? Who the fuck is it, Wolfe?”
This is the part. Christ, here we go.
“Dmitri Kozlov.”
The room goes dead silent. Cillian straightens up from the doorframe. Gavin scrapes a hand down the front of his face. Lochlan unfolds his arms, his jaw tightening.
“Viktor’s nephew,” Ronan says through gritted teeth.
“He’s running his own thing now. Separate from Viktor. I think he wanted a seat at the table and was pushed out. So now he’s pissed and is looking for a different way to do a power grab.”
“And you’ve known for two fucking weeks,” Ronan seethes. “How?”
“I tracked the ghost, figured out where she lived. Then I got a place nearby so I could keep tabs on her, to make sure I got all the intel I needed to build the full—”
“Two weeks, Wolfe.” Ronan slams his hands on the desk. He doesn’t raise his voice, though. He never does. Doesn’t mean he’s not on the brink of throttling me. “I gave you a deadline. Then another one. And you’ve been running your own operation with a source I’ve never heard about, in another secret location in the city, tracking a Kozlov you never bothered to mention, and making decisions that affect this entire family. Fucking alone.”
“If I’d given you Dmitri’s name two weeks ago, you’d have called Viktor. Dmitri would have gotten tipped off, hid his ass underground, and we’d have lost the only thread we have.”
“That wasn’t your call.”
“It was the right one,” I say. “Even if you don’t want to admit it.”
“I don’t give a shit if it was right. I care that you made it without me.”
Gavin whistles low from the couch. “Damn.”
“Shut up, Gavin,” Ronan and I say at the same time.
Cillian coughs. I’m pretty sure it’s covering a laugh.
“Who is this ghost?” Ronan asks.
“Her name is Eva Moreno. She’s a convicted felon and was charged with corporate data theft. She’s been doing Dmitri’s work for about three months. Her brother’s got some heavy debts, and he took them over to keep her in line.”
“And you trust her.”
I shrug. “Her intel has been accurate every time.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“She wants her brother to be safe and protected. That’s what drives her. Not loyalty to us or Dmitri.”
“Does she even know who we are?” Gavin asks.
Everyone looks at him. Even Ronan.
“Why is that a weird question?” Gavin asks. “Does she know she’s been working with a Molloy? Because if she doesn’t, that changes everything about this conversation.”
Nobody speaks for a second. Fuck me, that’s the question, isn’t it? Not whether Eva’s intel is good. Not whether Dmitri is a real threat. It’s whether the woman I’ve been running as a source knows who she’s been running with.
