The Heirs: Cold-Hearted

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Zane

I'm walking out of class Friday afternoon when one of my father's guys from Chicago calls. Something drops in my gut, knowing that it can't be anything good.

"Yeah?" I ask in Russian.

"There was an attempt on Bryce Mikelson. He's safe. We've got him in hiding. The perp has been handled."

Fuck. I almost chuck my phone.

"Heads up."

"Thanks," I hang up the phone and storm off towards the parking lot, ready to get on my bike and haul ass back to the mansion to figure this out with Aleks but I stop dead in my tracks when I see Aleks already there, on his bike. He's not alone. He's having a heated discussion with Imogen Donnelly?

What the actual fuck?

"...I'll find out what the fuck you know, ona d'yavol," he growls.

"And I'll expose you, Sokolov. I'm not afraid you," she hisses.

I clear my throat. My older brother blinks as he looks at me. Surprising that he didn't catch me as soon as I walked over. Usually, he's more situationally aware.

Imogen backs away slowly, her eyes still narrowed at my brother beneath her glasses.

"Hate to interrupt," I grin at both of them.

Imogen doesn't say a single word before she storms off towards the library. I shrug and turn back to Aleks. His gaze is completely fixed on her retreating form. There's something sinister in his eyes and I sure as fuck would not want to be on the receiving end of that glare.

Ah, who am I kidding? I'm constantly on the receiving end of that glare.

He looks particularly pissed though.

"Want to share with the class?" I ask in Russian.

"Another problem for another day," Aleks replies.

"Well, good because we have a problem today."

"Explain."

"First, we need to find Chase."

Chase paces the room. I hate seeing him like this. I know he's beating himself over this even though it's not his fault. The Pruszków are only terrorizing him because of his name. But it's gone too far. We're more powerful than they are, and it's time to flex those muscles. Enough is enough.

"The first thing you need to do is go into hiding for the time being," Aleks says calmly.

"No one can know, Chase," I tell him seriously. "Can you manage that?"

"Yes."

"We'll work with our network to get this taken care of. If we're making a move against the Pruszków I need to involve my father and grandfather. They'll trust our decision. But they will have questions. Owen and Eli will get you to the safe house in Dublin."

"My parents cannot know," Chase warns.

"We'll do our best to keep it under wraps. These Pruszków dealers are nothing but thugs. It won't cause too many waves. We just need to eliminate the gnats," Aleks assures him. "Go pack a bag, don't talk to anyone but Owen or Eli."

Chase nods nervously before leaving the room.

Aleks gives me a dark look.

"This is bigger than the Pruszków," he says quietly.