Page 67 of Eternal
“Yeah, well, you’re the one he trusts most to get it done. So don’t mess it up, alright?”
“Not planning on it,” I muttered.
Viktor’s tone softened. “Listen... be careful, yeah?”
“Yeah, I know. Stop worrying about me, I’ll be fine.”
“Promise?”
I smiled a little. “Promise. I’ll call you when it’s done.”
“I’ll be waiting. Bye,Kroshka.”
“Bye, Vik.”
I hung up and I had barely ended the call with Viktor when my phone buzzed again. This time, the number was unfamiliar, but I knew the voice instantly.
Calm, smooth, almost eerily scary.
Nikolai Moretti.
“Azra,” his voice slid through the line, laced with that trademark cold elegance. “How are you? It’s Nikolai.”
Azra.
I froze for a moment, it had been a long time since I’d heard it.
Vik, Kat were the only ones who knew it.
But Nikolai knew who I was before the Zennites’ Alliance was even created. He was a teenager when I disappeared nearly twenty years ago.
Of course, he knew my name.
He was the one who brought me back into the ranks, alongside Elijah Volkov, the pakhan, into the Bratva and the Zennites.
I thought about that moment…How much of my past they still kept in their back pockets, like something to pull out if it ever became useful.
“Hi, everything is fine, we’re waiting for your men to arrive at the meeting point tonight and give them our instructions.”
“I trust your preparations are going smoothly.”
I shifted, walking over to the window, my fingers absently tapping the glass. “It’s fine. What’s going on?”
“I’ve got the intel Viktor requested,” Nikolai’s voice came through clearly, breaking the silence. “The thief's name is Rafe Ricciano. He’s hiding out in a safe house on the east side of the city. The address is 1389 Winchester Avenue, it should be empty, but we can never be sure.”
“Oh, you found that quickly.”
A deep laugh resonated through the screen. “I’ve got a great team here in Vesper. We can track anything down, especially with some surveillance footage.”
Whoever they were, they were damn good.
I jotted down the address with a swift motion, but before I could respond, Nikolai’s tone shifted, becoming more serious. “I need you to do something else while you're there, Azra.”
My brows furrowed. “Something else?”
There was no hesitation in his voice. “Ricciano couldn’t have stolen what he did on his own. He’s not smart enough, my men have tracked his movements, and we’ve seen signs of outsidehelp. You know how dangerous things have gotten since the old Emir died and our alliance got bigger with the Lebanese. There are powerful people involved, people who are trying to put the Bratva, the Cosa Nostra, and the Lebanese against each other, they’re scheming to weaken us. You’ll need to find this Rafe and search for something. A phone. A contact agenda. Anything that can lead us to whoever helps him. We can’t afford any loose ends.”
I went silent for a moment, processing what he’d just said. Of course, he wanted more. The mission had gotten a hell of a lot more complicated.
