To Tempt A Tiger(82)
“Don’t. Just don’t. You’ve done everything you could to keep her safe, to keep us safe. You aren’t omnipotent or psychic.”
“Guess I’m not as good a liar as I thought I was either. My brothers figured me out. Hell, my father might have known all along and told his favorite son. When I get my hands on Yuri, I’ll be sure to ask.”
The violence in his voice made Rose shiver with an edge of excitement she’d be embarrassed to admit to anyone but Vlad.
“We can arrange to bring them in,” Alexis said. “I’m sure the other elders would love to have an excuse to question them. But I have to tell you, Vlad, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to implicate Lei directly.”
“Why?” Rose asked. “If they went to him with information on Zoe…”
Alexis glanced at Vlad. “If any of Vlad’s brothers could directly implicate Lei in this crime, they’d be…” She trailed off as she looked at Zoe, resting her head on Rose’s shoulder. “They wouldn’t be walking around anymore.”
Vlad’s head came up. “Do we know if they are?”
“They haven’t been found yet.”
“Why do that?” Rose asked. “If they were working with Lei, why would he turn on them?”
“If they could directly implicate him, he wouldn’t want to leave that kind of loose thread hanging, no matter what. Even if things with Zoe had gone as he’d intended, I wouldn’t hold out much hope for them.”
“Wouldn’t they know that?” Rose said. “Why would they work with him, knowing he’d go after them?”
“If we get the chance to, we’ll ask,” Alexis said. “My guess…he worked with Petrov, Vlad’s father, so the brothers might assume he held the same radical beliefs and would be supportive of their goals. They might not have realized he’d protect himself above any cause or ideology.”
“My father was prepared to do anything for his cause,” Vlad said. “He knew going after my sister would eventually earn him the ultimate punishment. He was a fanatic, and he indoctrinated my brothers with that same philosophy. Yuri in particular. It gives them tunnel vision. They probably thought Lei held the exact same convictions.” Vlad closed his eyes for a brief moment, then looked at Alexis. “We need to find them. We need to know…”
When he didn’t finish, Alexis just nodded. “I’ll see it’s taken care of. One way or another, we’ll find them.”
Rose kissed the top of Zoe’s head. Though they’d tried to be vague, Zoe was hearing things Rose would have preferred she didn’t. Too late now and not much she could do about it. Sadly, Zoe was going to have to know it all one day. They’d have to teach her how to protect herself against… God, against everyone.
Rose had hurt every minute of every day while Zoe went through more than a year of painful episodes. She’d prayed for the pain to go away and sworn anything else would be better. As she hugged Zoe, she was thrilled to know the pain would no longer be a part of her life but heartbroken that alleviating that pain meant Zoe had been dropped into this violent world, a world where she was in danger just for being born. It sucked.
Rose’s every instinct screamed to fix it, to make things right and safe for her daughter. But the world wasn’t safe and nothing was “fair.” She’d just have to do the best she could. She looked at Vlad, knowing in her soul she wasn’t going to be doing that on her own. He’d be there with her. No matter what happened between them personally, he was committed to protecting their daughter. Knowing this made her love him all the more.
Alexis broke into her thoughts. “I have to go, but the elders will be voting on Zoe’s status in the next hour. Lei has been removed from the vote because his current position is in question. While they might not be able to accumulate evidence to convict him of a crime, the fact that some of his employees were involved gives them the right to keep him from voting. Unfortunately, that means there’s only eight of them, which leaves the possibility of a tie open. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. In the meantime, relax and rest. We’ll have some dinner brought up—with someone I trust. I’ll be back later with an update.”
She turned to leave, but Rose stopped her. “Thank you. For everything. This new world is…difficult. It’s nice to know someone else in it who I can trust.”
Alexis smiled. “I have your back. And hers.” She grinned at Zoe. “Rest. I’ll see you in a few hours.”