CHAPTEREIGHT
“Do you think she’s having a stroke?”
I scowl at Dallas and jab my elbow into his side. “That isn’t even funny to joke about.”She isn’t having one.At least, I don’t think she is. Though I am starting to grow a little concerned.
She hasn’t said a word since Rome stopped speaking. She’s just sitting there, staring into the fireplace.
Niko walks into the living room carrying a plate stacked with sandwiches and a few bottles of water tucked into the crooks of his elbows. He sets everything down on the coffee table between us and takes a seat beside me on the couch. “I take it she still hasn’t said anything yet.” He says, cocking a brow at her before glancing at Rome. “Maybe you broke her.”
Stevie snaps her head up and levels her eyes on us. “I’m not broken.” She says, narrowing her eyes at him. “Or having a stroke. I’m just… processing.”
I can’t blame her. What we just told her is a lot to take in. I mean, even I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it and I’ve had weeks to adjust to it.
Dimitri Evanoff is a DEA agent.
I don’t think anyone would’ve seen that coming.
“He works for the good guys…” Stevie says, pulling her brows together in a scowl. “How the fuck does a monster like that work for the good guys?”
“For the record, good and bad is subjective, Big Sis.” Dallas says, flashing her a smile as irritation flickers across her face. “The police aren’t always good and criminals aren’t always bad.”
“Thanks for the life lesson, Cowboy." She deadpans, rolling her eyes. “And stop calling me ‘Big Sis’. I barely know you.”
Having had enough of their bickering, Rome cuts into the conversation and cuts right to the chase. “From what we’ve been able to gather, he started out as an informant when he was around eighteen years old. Giving them tidbits of information here and there to keep up appearances and earn the DEA’s trust. Once he was officially employed with them, the boy scout routine went out the window. He still works for them, but now he only acts with his own interests in mind.”
“Sounds familiar.” Stevie says, clenches her jaw as she glares at him.
She’s still angry at the guys for keeping me hidden. It’s obvious. But she seems to have an even deeper hatred towards Rome. She hasn’t said why, but I know my sister well enough to know why she has a grudge against him.
Ever since I can remember, Stevie’s always been very ‘black & white’ about things. In her mind, there is no gray area. Either you’re right, or you’re wrong. She trusted him to do a job, and he failed her. I’m sure the reasoning behind her hatred is as simple as that.
But things are a lot more complicated than what they appear to be and the conversation we’re having right now is just the tip of the iceberg.
Stevie crosses her arms over her chest and looks away. She wants to stay angry. I can tell. It’s why she hasn’t even touched the throw blanket Dallas gave her, even though her body is literally shivering.
Stubborn freaking mule.
She shifts in her seat and tries to be nonchalant about it, but I notice the way her eyes linger on the plate of sandwiches.
“Eat.” I say, shoving the plate towards her. Her eyes snap towards me and there's a sadness there that I didn’t expect. She’s visibly upset and showing it so freely like that is so unlike the Stevie I know. “I know you’re hungry. You exerted a lot of energy back there and we don’t need you to pass out on us right now.”
Logic always outweighs emotion with her and if we want her cooperation, that’s how we’ll have to approach this.
After grabbing a turkey sandwich off the plate and taking a few bites, Stevie picks up the conversation again. “So if he’s working for the DEA, he isn’t just trying to bring down The Reapers then.” She says, reaching for one of the water bottles. “He’s trying to bring down their entire organization.”
“Exactly.” Rome agrees with a nod. “Which is how we became involved. Aside from working for you, we’ve been working with The Organization for years as somewhat of a failsafe. Once we located your sister and realized Dimitri was involved with her disappearance, we decided to take a step back and look into everyone’s motivations before moving forward.”
“And that’s how you found out about his ties with the DEA.” Stevie adds, slowly nodding her head as the pieces of the puzzle click into place.
“Apparently, he’s been trying to dismantle The Organization for years.” Niko says, shifting forward in his seat to grab a sandwich of his own. “They should’ve detected it sooner, but the tips he gave the DEA never amounted to much, so he was never on their radar.”
“But, Evanoff got impatient and greedy.” Dallas says as he slowly pulls the crust off of his sandwich. “He was sick of the paper pushing and all of his work leading nowhere. He knew he needed more power within The Organization if he wanted to make a real change, so he set out to eliminate the people standing in the way of that.”
“Starting with the man he had the easiest access to.” Rome adds. “The previous head of west coast operations, Oleg Evanoff.”
Stevie’s eyes flare. “His own father?”
“Step father.” I add, holding her gaze. “He was also kind of a pseudo-father figure for The Reapers too.”