𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐎𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Like Mice In A Maze.

(First Edit)

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"K..Kazimir's uncle? He's the one who kidnapped your sister, blackmailed you and forced you to work for him?" I whispered. "But you never did anything to them, why would he?-"

"I have a theory that I've never told anyone," he admitted. "At first I was doubtful, but after some digging on my part I figured it out."
"What did you find out?" I asked.

"I was close with Valentino and Theodore, as teenagers and as adults. During our time at Richard's academy it was agreed that when our fathers stepped down from their positions we'd take over and form a triple alliance. The Sangue Mafia, the Arellano crime family and the Sokolov Bratva, joined together as one."

"Like a corporation essentially," I assimilated. "Profits are equally distributed in the form of dividends and everyone benefits from the arrangement." Then I paused as a thought occured to me. Gasping I looked up at Nickolas. "You said the three of you were close as adults right? Almost like brothers?"

He nodded. I asked another question. "And the three of you were planning on forming an alliance to strengthen your Mafias?"
"That's right," he confirmed. "It was Valentino's idea. He wanted us to co-own nightclubs, casinos, hotels and restaurants and invest in the money laundering business."

Walking away from him I folded my arms across my chest and exhaled deeply. "What if, out of insecurity and uncertainty someone targeted the three of you? What if to prevent you from forming an alliance and inevitably becoming stronger, they put things in place for you to leave?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," he said lowly. "It wasn't Kazimir, but Viktor who held my sister hostage and forced me to bend to his will. In the three years I've been in Berlin I haven't seen Kazimir once. Or anybody from his Bratva."

"That's because he was behind the scenes when all this was happening," I murmur. "Knowing how tightly-knit you, Val and Theo were Kazimir knew he wouldn't be spared if he were tied to this incident, if Valentino discovered that the reason you left was because he actuated his uncle to kidnap your sister to use as leverage over you. My God that man is positively abhorable."

"And to think he's your brother-in-law," Nickolas said grimly. "He even got Andriana pregnant with his child."
I grinned. "I'm not even gonna ask how you knew that."

He gave an amused chuckle and pocketed his hands. "I take the principle 'know your enemy as you know yourself' very seriously. The quote originates from The Art Of War by Sun Tzu, a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher and writer from the Zhou dynasty. Richard had us read that book cover to cover until we memorized every quote."

I was just about to ask another question when I saw a man in a trench coat and a fedora enter the bar. Could that be Henry Whitlock? Nickolas also noticed him and removed his hands from his pockets. "He's here. Come on, let's go."

The second Henry disappeared into the bar we followed him in. Several others were drinking while conversing among themselves and hardly noticed as Nickolas and I slid into our booth.

"Did you two have a nice long chat?" Valentino asked bluntly. "You must have because you've been gone for over twenty minutes."
"Calm down Romeo, it's not what you think," Nickolas snorted. "Anyway forget that. Henry Whitlock just arrived."

"Is he the man in the trenchcoat and the fedora?" Damen asked, nodding towards the front of the bar.
"That's him," I confirmed. "Now how do we get him alone?"
"Good question. He used to be a handler, which means he has experience dealing with assassins and hired killers. We need to approach with caution, there's no telling how he'll react if we suddenly come on to him all at once."