His (Ties That Bind #2) - Natasha Knight Page 0,29
the muscles on his bare back working, making my stomach flutter.
“What are you doing?” I ask, sitting up to watch him dig his phone out of his jeans pocket.
“William von Brandt had a contact at the FBI.” He sits on the edge of the sofa, pushes a few buttons, and holds the phone out in front of him.
“Lyoshenka.” I recognize Alexei’s voice.
“Alexei,” he says. “Sorry to call so late.”
I’m surprised he doesn’t switch to Russian.
“It’s all right. I would have called you tomorrow anyway.”
“You have the information then? William von Brandt’s contact at the FBI, did you find his name?”
“Of course. It took a little work, but I enjoyed the challenge. But Lev, I’m concerned—”
“Send it all to me. Everything.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I think you know.”
Alexei draws a sharp breath in. “You know what that will make you?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“It won’t be only Vasily coming after you.”
“I’m willing to take that risk.”
“What?” I ask, every hair on my body standing on end.
“I have to do this, Alexei. It’s him or me, and even if it weren’t, I owe him for my mother’s murder at the very least.”
“I advise against this.”
“I’ll keep you out of it. You and your family won’t be linked to this.”
I can almost hear Alexei’s disapproval in his silence. “You’ll have it in a few minutes.”
“Thank you, cousin.”
He disconnects the call, then walks to the bed to sit on the edge of it as he dials another number. When I open my mouth to speak, he puts a finger to his lips, and I hear a woman click on.
“Philadelphia Police Department.”
“You have a pen and paper?”
“What?”
“A woman went missing from Club Delirium a few nights back. You’ll find her body at a house owned by Andrei Stanislov. He just planted a new garden.” After rattling off an address, he disconnects the call, takes a deep breath in, then lets it out, and sets the phone on the nightstand.
“What did you just do?”
He turns to me, closing his big hand over my knee. “I’m just keeping Vasily busy for a day or two. I need time. Get some sleep. I have to make a few more calls.”
“What calls? Why did Alexei say they’d all come after you? Does that mean not just Vasily?”
He gets up and goes to where the duffel bag is. He digs through it to take out the folder that contains the information on my mother as well as a print-out of what was on that drive.
“What do you have to do, Lev?”
A ding signals an email on his phone. He shifts his attention to it, punches something in, then puts his phone down and looks at me.
“I’m going to turn over evidence to William von Brandt’s contact at the FBI.”
13
Lev
Josh finishes up his eggs and rubs his belly before he slips away from the table. Kat and I both watch him as he toddles over to me, Wally dangling from one hand while he studies the spread of documents I’ve been stuffing into the manila envelope.
“What are you doing?” he asks curiously.
“I have to send out a package.” My eyes meet Kat’s across the room, and she can’t hide her nerves.
We both know this is a last-resort option. I don’t need to tell her that I’m doing this just in case I don’t come back today.
“Can I help?” Josh asks.
“I’ll tell you what, buddy.” I scoop him up and set him on the bed beside me. “Why don’t you wait here for a second? I have the perfect job for you. But it’s top secret, okay? Just between us guys. Can you handle that?”
He giggles and eyeballs his mom, who is suddenly pretending not to hear. When I walk over and grab my mother’s trinket box from the nightstand, I sneak a glance at Kat as she disappears into the bathroom to wash up. She knows we’re up to no good, but she’s just as much a silent participant in these shenanigans.
I kneel in front of Josh and open the box, and his eyes go wide as he studies the jewelry inside.
“What do you think your mom would like?” I ask him. “Can you help me pick something out?”
He nods eagerly, his stubby fingers pulling out a bracelet and then a ring to examine them. It’s hard not to get choked up when I see that ring. It was the same piece my father gave to my mother many years ago as a symbol of their love. A vintage blue