to live a fairytale life? That must have stung.”
Ryan looked up at me with his eyes flashing. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” I looked right into his eyes, but he couldn’t hold my gaze, and his eyes darted off to the side. “She hasn’t even been gone that long, and here you are, sitting on this couch.”
Kingston surprised me when he cut in angrily. “And she has no idea - she thinks you love her.”
I gritted my teeth as I realized the little ballerina had already gotten under King’s skin. If he was feeling soft toward her, I was going to have to put a stop to that quickly. I didn’t want my brother to get attached to her. It didn’t matter how attractive she was.
Ryan, at least, had the grace to look embarrassed at King’s words. “She’ll be fine. She’ll get hired by a company and make soloist in a couple of years, but now she’s never going to have to worry about money again.” His eyes blazed. “But what about me? What about my future?”
“And that’s where we come in,” I said smoothly. “We have the money and connections to make sure your future is bright.” I deepened my voice to convey the threat. “Or we could make it not so bright.”
Ryan flushed again, but this time it was from anger. I sensed I was pushing too hard, so I backed off a little.
“I just want to protect my family and keep them safe. I’m sure you can understand?” I said with a bland smile.
Ryan nodded, but I knew he lacked the capacity to comprehend what I was saying. He’d never be able to feel the intense bond of brothers that Kingston and I shared because he’d never placed anyone else above himself.
“Listen,” Ryan started. “Katya isn’t a threat to you. The only thing she cares about is ballet, and as long as she can dance, she’ll be happy.”
“She cares about ballet more than you?” Kingston prodded him.
“She left, didn’t she?” Ryan sniped back at him.
I raised an eyebrow. So this was also a revenge thing? The abandoned boyfriend wanted to strike back at the girl who broke his heart?
“It had nothing to do with my father threatening to have your parents thrown in jail for kidnapping?” I asked pointedly.
Ryan shifted uncomfortably. “Just tell me what you want,” he said in defeat.
“We need information, and we know you have access to it.”
“About Katya?” Ryan asked in confusion.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “And Nina. What’s her game?”
Ryan shrugged. “Katya never met her mom before that night, and her grandmother would start yelling in Russian anytime Katya tried to ask questions. I know enough Russian to understand it was nothing good.”
“But your parents knew who Nina was before Katya did,” I reminded him.
“Yeah,” Ryan said hesitantly. “My dad’s law firm handled the agreements between Nina and her mom. Nina was legally emancipated at sixteen so that she could work as a model. In return for freedom, she gave up her custody of Katya. Katya was just a baby when it happened.”
I leaned forward. “You’re going to get copies of those agreements for us.”
Ryan swallowed nervously. “That won’t be easy. My dad’s going to be suspicious if I just start hanging around his office.”
“I’m confident you can figure it out,” I told him with a smile. “Our security team said they couldn’t find any records of Katya’s grandmother before she was married. What’s the story there? Was she an illegal immigrant?”
Ryan hesitated. “It’s possible, but it might have something to do with the mafia thing?”
Kingston and I exchanged glances. Yeah, Nina was hiding something big. Ryan might not realize it, but he was going to help us take her down.
“Nina is associated with the mafia?” I asked.
“Well,” Ryan hesitated. “Katya’s great uncle showed up at her grandmother’s funeral, and Katya’s convinced he’s in the Russian Mafia.”
“You don’t think so?” Kingston asked.
Ryan shook his head. “That’s kind of ridiculous, right? The mafia doesn’t exist outside of books and movies.”
Kingston laughed. “Right. And the world isn’t controlled by the top one-percenters.”
I shot King a glance to tell him to shut up.
“The great uncle was the grandmother’s brother?” I asked to urge Ryan on.
“Yeah,” he agreed with a nod. “Katya had no idea she had family in New York, and it’s weird that her grandmother deliberately hid that from her.”
“What was this guy’s name?” I asked.
“Sergei…something,” Ryan said. “He gave Katya a business card, but she threw