Page 62 of Devil’s Reign

“Something like that.” I stand and shrug into the thick robe Luka left earlier. I’ll shower and change after Vasily’s update.

“Huh.” He drops into the seat across from me, crossing his right ankle over his left thigh.

Vasily is my cousin—the son of one of my mother’s brothers—but we’re nothing alike. He carries a mean streak and a darkness that remind me of Viktor Petrov. I don’t like it, but we’re family, and he doesn’t hurt people who don’t actually deserve it. Plus, he’s good at what he does, so I tolerate him.

That doesn’t mean I trust him near Melani, though. I’m glad she’s over at her mom’s suite. Hopefully she stays there until he leaves. He may have looked into her and Luciano for me, but he doesn’t know what she means to me—and I would like to keep it that way.

“What do you have for me?” I ask.

“Not even an offering of a drink?” He nods towards my wet bar.

“There’s a full bar downstairs. Get whatever you want on my tab on the way out,” I say, impatient. “Now. Talk.”

“I found a break in the missing men case.” He strokes his goatee, his brows furrowing as he gathers his thoughts. “They were sloppy with their last kidnapping. The one at the port. The two guys grabbed there.”

“Jordan and Harvey,” I supply, and he nods.

“Yeah. They missed a camera. Ports can be pesky in that way. Too much surveillance." His lips curl into a satisfied smile.

I frown at him. "They've been careful from the start. I find it hard to believe they’d overlook something that obvious.”

“They didn’t know about it.” Vasily’s smile widens. “You see, I had a feeling your port workers were next. That whoever’s been doing this was working their way towards men who weren’t at the top of your chain but high enough that losing them would cost you. So I went ahead of time and installed my own surveillance.”

“So you knew they were going after our control of the port, and you didn’t think to warn me?”

“It’s never a hundred percent with these things.” He shrugs carelessly. “It was just a hunch. Nothing concrete.”

My lips thin with dissatisfaction. “It wasn’t your call to make. Next time you have a hunch about something like this, you let me know. Every time. Without deciding for yourself whether it’s worth my attention. Are we clear?”

Anger flashes in his eyes, but it fades just as quickly. “Fine. Either way, my surveillance paid off. They cleared every camera in the port. Except mine.”

Excitement flares inside me, but I keep my face neutral. “You’re finally earning that exorbitant salary of yours.”

His lips twist. “Because they were confident they’d cleaned up, they didn’t bother wearing masks, and I was able to track them down.”

I smirk. “Who were they?”

“Low-level guys, just following orders. So I bugged their house.” A shadow crosses his expression. “Unfortunately, someone must have known I was onto them because both of them were killed last night.”

My smirk vanishes. “What?”

“The real mastermind must have had them under watch. The moment he suspected exposure, he cut the thread—but not before my audio bugs picked up something useful.”

“Well?”

“There’s a meeting happening this weekend. Apparently, those two weren’t the only kidnappers. This boss of theirs has multiple people across the city.”

That makes sense. Anyone bold enough to go after made families in New York would need numbers.

“This boss wants to show his appreciation to the men for a job well done. So he’s meeting them this weekend at a warehouse near the East River. I’ll text you the approximate coordinates I pulled from the conversation.” He takes out his phone as he speaks, and within a minute, mine pings on the desk.

“Well done, Vasily.”

“Just earning my salary… and keeping my arms attached to my body.” He grins as he mentions my earlier threat and gets to his feet, adjusting his jacket.

“And Luciano Fontana? Did you find anything new about him?” I stop him before he leaves.

"Not yet. Nothing past what I sent you—and honestly? The more I sit with it, the less I think his disappearance connects to the missing men situation. His case is too different. The others left signs—scuffles, wiped cameras, grab teams moving in patterns. Fontana just… stopped. No struggle, no trace, no body. That kind of clean usually means a man did the vanishing himself." He frowns. "What's your interest in the Fontanas anyway?"