me was updated on whatever these new developments were.
Rubbing my temples to ward off an oncoming headache, I asked, “The Voiny? The faction opposing Sergei?”
Cris snorted, arms crossed over his chest. “A more accurate term for their faction would be The Frenemies.”
“Just spit out whatever you’re trying to say,” I bit out wearily.
I was seriously getting sick and fucking tired of all this cloak-and-dagger bullshit.
Ace tapped a few buttons on his keyboard. “Take a close look at this video.” It was the CCTV footage of Raphael’s breakout behind the courthouse. I hadn’t a chance to watch it yet. “Look at the driver of the black van. Tell me if you see something off.”
I leaned forward and squinted at the screen. Ace zoomed in on the driver’s arm that was sticking out the open window, hand holding a gun that the bastard had been pointing at me. Right before he shot me in the shoulder. Like all of his black-clothed, masked cohorts, he’d been wearing black leather riding gloves. No doubt to prevent the risk of leaving behind any fingerprints.
I had no idea what I was supposed to be loo—
“Holy shit,” I breathed.
I zoomed in further on where the driver clutched the handle of his gun. In particular, the way his gloved fingers gripped it. The pinkie finger hole was loose, almost hanging there apart from the others, like it was empty or something. Which could mean only one thing.
There was no finger in it.
The driver who shot me was missing the pinkie finger on his left hand.
“No fucking way,” I hissed.
“Dimitri Novikoff doesn’t just act as Sergei Kozlov’s head of security and main enforcer,” Ace explained. “He’s the official underboss, which means he has access to all of Sergei’s personal accounts.”
My eyes darted to my youngest brother. “Including his offshore accounts.”
A curt nod from the tech genius. “I traced the activity on Dimitri’s own accounts from the past two years. This isn’t the first time he’s accepted money from the enemy without Sergei’s knowledge. It’s no wonder why Sergei’s been having pushback from groups who used to be his allies. His own underboss has been stirring up shit behind his back. It seems that Dimitri’s loyalties shift in whichever direction the cashflow is running.”
Dad shook his head. “And Sergei didn’t have a clue.”
“Even if he knew he had a rat in his organization,” I cut in, “he would never have looked at Dimitri. Lexi said Sergei thinks of him as a son.”
“Funny you say that.” Ace pulled up a series of documents on the laptop. “Because Dimitri Novikoff is Sergei’s son.”
Everyone’s heads snapped in his direction.
“What?”
“Come again?”
“How do you know that?” I demanded. Did Lexi know that?
“Sergei was married to a woman named Claudia Ostrovsky for about four years over twenty years ago,” Ace detailed.
I nodded. “Right. But she died months after suffering from a miscarriage. Apparently, she couldn’t have any more children from all the complications, and she basically slipped into a deep depression and died from her own despair.”
Everyone in our world knew the tragic story of Sergei Kozlov’s doomed wife and child. Lexi had also filled in some blanks with what sparse information she knew.
Ace shook his head. “She never died. I got curious when I never found her death certificate during my research, so I looked into it further. Claudia left Sergei. Decided she couldn’t handle mafia life anymore, so she divorced him on the downlow. I guess she lied to him about the miscarriage, too, because she gave birth to a baby boy six months after the divorce.”
“Dimitri,” Rome confirmed.
“And Sergei never knew about the baby?” This from Cris.
“I guess not,” Ace answered. “He told everyone she’d died, most likely for her own protection. You don’t willingly leave the Russian mafia. He knew she could be used against him, so he had to ensure that none of his enemies would go looking for her.”
“And if she wanted no part of mafia life, then she wouldn’t want her child part of it either,” Luka threw out.
“But Lexi said Dimitri had been around ever since they were teenagers,” I interjected. “You’re telling me Sergei hasn’t known this entire time that Dimitri is Claudia’s son?”
Ace spun the laptop back around to face him and pulled up more documents on the screen. “From the information I found, Claudia re-married about two years after she divorced Sergei. The new husband was apparently an abusive alcoholic. He was charged with domestic assault and child endangerment when Dimitri was eight. Went to