Page 127 of Mafia Obsession

“Sandrine and Kirill were in a relationship,” I say as more things begin to add up in my head. “That’s who he meant in his letter. Sandrine. Not you. It’s always been about Sandrine. It was never about you or any missing money. Kirill lied to David and only wanted to abduct you in order to tell him where your sister is.”

“No, this has to be fake. Or she was faking it.” Lourdeslooks from me to Daria, shaking her head.

I would agree this was fake, only I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kirill smile.

“Your father was a high-level employee for Yuri,” I say evenly. “It’s entirely possible that his son Kirill met your sister at some point.”

“I was away at school for two years,” Lourdes admits with guilt in her voice that her absence let her sister get near a monster. “I came back after her accident. She was already in an adult home with no memory. Her name had already been changed.”

I hold her, and she’s shaking. I’d forgotten that she’d gone away to school and then dropped out after Sandrine’s accident.

“Why didn’t she ever tell me about Kirill when they were dating?” Lourdes stares at the video of Kirill pushing Sandrine on a swing, looking like a happy couple. “We spoke all the time before her accident.”

“Yuri expects Kirill to marry for strategic advantage,” I say bluntly. “It’s possible he instructed Sandrine to keep it secret. Right now, your sister is protected. I will meet with Kirill and tell him that you and I are to be married and that Sandrine is part ofmyfamily now. He will never see her again.”

“No,” Lourdes cries, pulling back.

“Trust me.” I hold her face. “Forewarned is forearmed. Now that we know he is looking for her, we can monitor him instead of guessing what the hell he really wants.”

“My father went to extraordinary lengths to hide her,” she says, pacing. “He must have known Kirill would…kill to get to her.”

She’s right, he killed seven of my guards.

I gather Lourdes against my chest again, my voice dropping into something almost savage. “Listen to me. Now that we know what Kirill really wants, I’ll go through your father’s journals and see what I can trade for your sister’s freedom. Before, I thought Kirill wanted you because of your father, and I had to play defense. Now I play offense. He’s been in New York all this time to find you, but only so you’ll tell him what happened to your sister. He killed seven of my men. I have what he iswilling to kill for. That just strengthens my leverage against him. He will never go near her. Once he realizes that, he will give up. No one wins againstme.”

“It’s been five years,” Lourdes says slowly. “Surely he’s moved on, dated others?”

I don’t answer him, I just look at Daria, who shakes her head.

Lourdes grabs the lapel of my coat and shakes me lightly. “Ares?”

“I’ve never seen Kirill with another woman. But I haven’t been monitoring his love life.” I stroke her chin. “We can’t risk him following you to find her. You will have to limit your visits with her for now.”

Anger flares, hot and bright in her eyes. “It’s all a game to you,” she says, breaking out of my arms. “Board seats. Unveilings. Wars. People’s lives.”

“If he’s telling us to hand her over, that means he doesn’t know where she is.”

“Ares is right.” Daria backs me up. “He would just take her. If she agreed to marry him, he thinks she still belongs to him.”

“No, no, no,” Lourdes mutters, standing by herself.

Gently, I pull her back into my arms and sigh in relief when she lets me. “When will the new guards be here, Daria?”

“A few hours,” she answers.

“I’m taking Lourdes back to the penthouse.”

“I suggest you let your brother-in-law help.” Daria gets in my face. “He’s got his enforcer and that assassin at the party. His eight empire guards are downstairs.”

The last thing I want is eight Quinlan Empire guards right now. But mine are dead, and I have to protect my future wife.

Nodding, I say, “Okay. Forher.”

Daria bows her head and leaves to arrange for our protection.

I go to sit at one of the security monitors, but Lourdes pulls on my jacket.

“Ares…” Her voice gets low and sad. “Why not just hand us over?”