2
Aleksandra
“What do you mean, Liam’s gone missing?” I wrap my turquoise scarf around my neck as I slip on my coat and hurry to the car.
Nikita, one of my brother’s guards, is on my toes, following me outside. He snatches the keys from my hands and unlocks the door, indicating that he’s driving.
He’s a pompous ass, but at least he’s a fast driver. “Where to?” he asks.
“Liam and Sophia’s preschool,” I say.
Nikita drives the twins to preschool all week. He knows the quickest route. I hang up the call, and we’re already outside the compound, hightailing it through the city.
Before Nikita has time to shut off the engine, I jump out of the car and rush inside, searching for Liam’s teacher.
Sophia is in tears, her face bright red, matching her sweater dress.
“We’ve contacted the authorities. They should be here any minute.”
The police.
I exhale a heavy breath. It’s no secret that I’m tied to the Russian Bratva. My brother runs the most prominent and most ruthless organization in New York.
I’d have preferred to keep the police out of this mess, but I want my son back, no matter the cost.
I pick up Sophia in my arms, and her sobs begin to settle. Even if she saw something, she’s not capable of speaking right now.
Nikita hurries inside after parking the vehicle. “Who is in charge?” he commands with authority when he speaks.
“I am,” a woman with dark brown hair says. “I’m Director Kira Collins,” she says, introducing herself.
“Do you have footage, surveillance of the outside perimeter?” Nikita asks.
“I’m afraid not,” Kira says. “We don’t know what happened. One minute, we have a report that Liam was outside on the jungle gym, and the next minute, he was gone.”
“No one saw him leave with anyone?” I ask.
Liam knows not to leave with a stranger. He’s smarter than that, and while he doesn’t understand what his uncle does for a living, he has enough common sense not to wander off.
“I did,” Sophia whispers, wiping away the last remnants of tears.
“Who did Liam go with?” I ask.
Sophia shakes her head. “He was big. Tall and scary,” she whispers. Her eyes are wide, and she squeezes me tighter.
I rub her back and breathe only a slight sigh of relief when the authorities come barreling in through the main entrance.
They’re here to help. At least that’s what I keep reminding myself, but Nikita doesn’t seem happy to see them, and Mikhail will be even more upset that they’ve been brought in to investigate Liam’s disappearance.
He’ll blame me, and I can’t help but wonder if I’m responsible.
* * *
There are no leads. Two men were seen outside the preschool, but no one could identify them. The best description came from my daughter, “big, tall, and scary,” which describes more than half of the men in New York City.
Is it the Moretti family that came after my son?
Could Antonio have realized Liam was his son?