My pulse spikes. “Don’t… do anything reckless.”
Niko looks at me, narrowing his eyes. “You know, you’re not the fearless man everyone thinks you are. You still love your son.”
“Unfortunately,” I sigh. “Things would be easier if I didn’t.”
Niko nods, understanding. “You did what had to be done. And you made the right choice, not telling him.”
“Make sure it stays that way. Igor can’t know the truth.”
“I know. It’s the only way you can protect him. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.” Nikolai stares at me, the burned side of his face shining in the evening sun. “You let him grow up hating you,” he says. “Not a lot of people would do that. They’d rather tell the truth, even if that truth would kill the person they love, just to make themselves look like the good guy.” Niko deepens his stare. “But you’re not like most people that way.”
I rake a hand through my hair again. We’re steering away from the main point here.
“I need you to find Igor. Get some answers out of him. We need to find out who he’s working with.”
“How do you propose I do that without being violent?”
I grimace. Good point. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
I head over to my desk. In the meantime, I need to figure out where Joy has run off to. She should have her phone handy. I can hack into her GPS like Niko did and track her down. Maybe handcuff her to my bed for peace of mind.
That’s when my phone starts buzzing.
Niko, standing over my desk, looks up at me from his brow. He seems concerned.
I think we both should be. The number ringing me on the burner is unknown. I usually save my contacts if I know the person.
I flash Niko a glare and accept the call, activating loudspeaker so we can listen to the call together.
“Speak,” I say into the receiver while staring at Niko.
“Am I speaking to Valerian Sokolov?” asks the man.
This man is leaving a bad taste in my mouth already. I sense it straight away. Firstly, he’s Russian. The fake American accent isn’t fooling me. I’ve lived in America for decades, and can tell straight away when someone is forcing an accent.
“Yes,” I say, still staring at Niko. “And who might I be speaking to?”
“Siguard Volkov.”
My heart feels like it’s been ripped right out of my chest and crushed right in front of me.
23
VALERIAN
“Who’s that?”mouths Nikolai.
I stay on the call, clutching the device in my hand. I could turn this office upside down, flipping everything.
The pain from the past comes flooding back, and it’s happening all over again. I’m that helpless boy. I’m watching Siguard smile at me from the other side of the street, wearing the crown.
I lean my elbow on the desk. “I want my money back.”
“Hm,” chuckles Siguard on the receiving end of the phone. “You know I don’t like to make things easy for you, boy.”
“I’m not a boy anymore.”
“No. Of course. How old will you be now?” ponders Siguard. “Only a few years away from turning fifty?”