Page 30 of Depraved

My blood goes ice cold. “I’ll kill them all.”

“Who?” Ghost challenges. “You don’t even know who you’re targeting. Or have you forgotten that you’ve pissed off at least one man in every major organization? If you hadn’t sold your services to the highest bidder, you might still have Sokolov’s protection. You got greedy, Ragnar.”

“I needed the money. You know why.”

I had to fix my face. I had to earn enough to support her in the way she deserves.

Ghost eyes Karolina. “Yeah, I know. She’s all you’ve talked about for years. Not that you’ve shared anything with me other than the necessary facts to track her down for you. It took me months to find Lena Williams at UNC. Whoever she bought that identity from was pretty good, but not as good as me.”

“You weren’t good enough to cover my tracks as Rand Hirst,” I accuse.

He grimaces. “You have some of the wealthiest, most dangerous men in the world with you on their shit list. They have almost endless resources. They probably found you through her. If I discovered Karolina’s real identity, then others could have, too. She’s your weak spot. She always has been. People were just too scared of you before to dare to go after her.”

“They should be scared,” I growl. “Whoever is targeting her will pay.”

He sighs. “I have at least one name for you. Remember Pasquale Costa? He’s the one who approached her at Brownie Bakehouse this afternoon. I have the video feeds from the café.”

“I remember him. I killed his father.”

And that cost him his place as heir. Costa will never have the power he thought was his birthright. The war that broke out after the assassination decimated his own organization. I’m surprised he even survived the fallout.

His rivals paid me half a million for that job.

“But what does Costa have to do with Ivanov?” They didn’t even operate on the same continent, much less have affiliations with the same syndicate. “It can’t be coincidence that they both ended up in York at the same time. They both knew about Karolina. Were they sharing information before I killed Ivanov?”

More clattering on Ghost’s keyboard. “I’ll see what I can dig up. If your old enemies are working together to take you down, you’re in deep shit. Even you might not be able to survive that.”

All the more reason to keep Karolina isolated in the countryside and lock her away while I deal with the threat.

“I want their names,” I seethe. “Anyone who dared to so much as look her up online is a dead man.”

“It’ll cost you,” he reminds me.

“I’ll pay anything. You want that Spyder you’ve been drooling over for years? It’s yours.”

He lets out a low whistle. “You love that car.”

I wave in dismissal. “I had it shipped to the UK when I moved here. If you want it, come and get it.”

His eyes narrow. “You’re pulling me into this now? Hacking into your enemies’ lives remotely is one thing. You’re asking me to put my neck on the line.”

“It’s your decision,” I say, but I’m tense. I need his help.

He considers me for a moment. “I know you don’t want to hear this sappy shit, but you’re my friend, Ragnar. Just ask me, and I’ll come to England. I’ll have your back.”

My chest aches. “I need you here. I can’t leave her alone while I’m out eliminating the threats to her safety. You’re the only one I can trust. Please.”

I met Ghost in the ring, when I was still disfigured from the gunshot wound. I’m not the only one who was recruited by the Bratva back then. His skillset is different from mine, but his value as a hacker is nearly equal to my paygrade as an assassin.

“I’ll be there in twenty-four hours,” he replies solemnly. “How are you planning to tell her we know each other? You know, when she wakes up from the drugs.” The last is heavy with accusation.

“I have to be able to track her if we’re separated,” I say defensively. “She doesn’t need to know about it.”

His lips pinch with distaste. “You put a tracker in her without her consent? Come on. Even for you, that’s a step too far.”

“I can’t lose her,” I say, desperate.

He scrubs a hand over his face. “Fine. Jesus, you really are insane for this woman.”