Page 40 of Triplet Babies
“Do you? The way you looked at her during the announcement?—”
I clench my jaw. “I said I know.”
Valentin merges onto the highway. “If I noticed, others did too. The Nikitins aren’t blind.”
I stare out the window at the passing landscape. “Sarah makes me feel different, like I’m not just surviving anymore.”
“That’s exactly why she’s dangerous…and in danger.” He glances at me. “If the Nikitins realize she matters to you, they’ll come for her. You know that, right?”
The morning traffic is light, giving us clear lanes toward the warehouse district. I watch the city wake up around us. Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to wake up without checking for threats, and to make decisions based on what I want instead of what keeps me alive. “I never asked for this life,” I say quietly.
He snorts softly. “None of us did, but it’s the one we have.”
I sound far less affected than I feel when I say, “My parents were shot when I was thirteen, and I built this empire on their graves. Every decision I’ve made, every alliance I’ve forged, and every enemy I’ve eliminated has all been about survival, legacy and making sure what happened to them never happens to me.”
“Until now.”
“Until now.” The admission hangs between us. “She makes me want something different, that isn’t built on blood and fear.”
He shakes his head. “That’s a luxury you can’t afford with the Nikitins circling like vultures.”
The words linger in my awareness even after the sound fades. I’ve seen what happens to people who become leverage against the Barinov family. Sarah deserves better than that kind of target on her back. “I’m handling it.”
“Are you? It looks like you’re walking straight into a trap.”
I turn to face him. “What’s that supposed to mean? You can’t think Sarah is trying to trap me?”
“No. It means you’re thinking with your heart instead of your head. That’s how good men die, Yarik. That’s how empires fall.”
The warehouse appears ahead of us, a sprawling concrete structure surrounded by chain-link fencing. He pulls through the security gate, and we park near the main entrance. Two of my men are waiting for us, their faces grim.
“What’s the problem?” I ask as we approach.
The older of the two, Will, hands me a folder. “We had an unauthorized shipment went through last night. Someone used a dormant Barinov front company to move weapons through Nikitin channels.”
I stiffen, immediately recalling the incident with Viktor that was stopped before it could happen. This attempt got father along in the process before being interrupted.
I open the folder and scan the documents. The forged approval papers bear my seal and is perfectly replicated. The manifest lists luxury items of furniture, artwork, and decorative pieces, but the real contents were military-grade weapons destined for a buyer in Eastern Europe.
“How did they get access to the seal?” We’d tried to discover that when investigating Viktor’s indiscretion, but we hadn’t discovered the answer then. It was suddenly more urgent again.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. The authorization came from inside, but we’ve traced it back to accounts that haven’t been active in years.”
I study the paperwork more closely. The signature isn’t mine, but it’s a skilled forgery. Someone with access to my personal documents created this, someone who knew exactly whichdormant companies to target, and they’re still testing, repeating their previous attempt. Perhaps they thought I wouldn’t notice if I were distracted by the engagement party.
“This is a serious breach, and the second one at that.” I close the folder and hand it back to Will. “I want a complete audit of all active fronts and recent contracts. Check every account, every signature, and every transaction from the past six months. No, make it a year, and make sure Viktor isn’t involved.”
I don’t see how he can be, since we cut him loose and ensured his reputation among otherbratvagroups was ruined, ensuring he’d never work as an accountant for any of us again, but he’s was involved with the first attempt, seemingly just through bad judgment. Better to be certain.
“What about the Nikitins? This went through their channels...again,” says Valentin softly.
“They’ll claim ignorance like last time, or they’ll say they’re the obvious target in an operation against me since we’re about to partner up with the import-export business.” I pause, considering. “Still, someone from their side had to approve the transport. This came from inside, and it came from them.”
If the Nikitins have been systematically infiltrating our operations, they could have access to client lists, financial records, and even personnel information. They could know about every person who matters to me, every weakness they could exploit, and they almost got away with it this time. They could know everything about my entire life depending on how deeply their infiltration has gone.
Including Sarah.
My gut churns at the thought. “How long do you think they’ve been doing this?” I ask Will. “This is their second try in ten weeks, but how long have they been planning and getting everything in place?”
