Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(90)

Knox nodded. “The goal’s to find some way I can get them suckered into uploading a RAT.”

Axel’s head snapped back and he frowned. “A what?”

“Remote Access Trojan,” Beckett answered. “Basically malware. It gets him administrative access to their systems.”

“And from there I get whatever information on this prick we need to gain leverage.” Knox hesitated. Of all the shit they’d done together in the years since he’d met them, what he was about to suggest was probably the most dangerous. “The little bit of research I did on Ruslan last night showed this guy’s loaded.”

“You wanna hit the fucker’s accounts.” Jace grinned huge. “You’re a mean bastard when someone messes with your toys.”

“Like you’d do anything different if it was Viv.”

The grin died and the lethal side Jace barely kept banked on a good day roared to life. “I’d take his money, but only as a means to lure him close enough to cut his dick off and choke the son of a bitch on it.”

“Then you see my point.”

“Clear as day.” He reclined against his seat back. “Still, you take that step, it’ll escalate fast. We ready for that?”

“Not yet,” Beckett said. “We will be. Just need to find where they’re holed up and if Ruslan’s even with them.”

Danny perked up in his chair, eyes narrowed on his laptop. “You got any tenants registered with a navy blue 750 BMW?”

Knox leaned over only long enough to confirm the model that pulled up in front of the building then checked all the makes and models listed by their renters. “Don’t remember anyone with a BMW, let alone a 750.”

“Brother, that’s not just a 750,” Beckett said. “That’s an Alpina with blacked out glass I’d bet is bulletproof.”

Danny zoomed in on the car and punched a few keystrokes on the keyboard. A second later the image flashed on one of the six flat screens on the wall just as the front two doors of the sedan opened. Two men dressed in dark pants and black oxfords rolled up at the forearms unfolded themselves from each side. Both scanned the immediate perimeter before the driver shifted to the rear door curbside and opened it.

Another man stepped out, this one dressed to rival Axel on one of his most tricked-out days. His gray suit reeked of money, and despite the muggy morning his white shirt looked hanger fresh. Come to think of it, with his dark shoulder-length hair and trimmed beard, he and Axel would have been double-trouble in the clubs. He glanced up toward the top of the building as though he felt the stares on him, fastened his double-breasted jacket and pushed his shoulders back as only a man comfortable with power could.

Jace swiveled his head to Knox. “Somethin’ tells me our search for Ruslan just got a whole lot shorter.”





Chapter Thirty-Two

That ballsy motherfucker.

Knox’s chair legs grated harsh against the concrete floor as he stood, nearly pushing the damned thing to its back along the way. He opened his mouth to order the women to his suite, but promptly swallowed the command at Darya’s startled voice.

“Oh my God.” With a whole lot of shock and a twist of delight on her face, she slid off her bar stool and hurried to the dining room table, leaving Ninette and Sylvie wide-eyed and silent. Not once on her way toward Knox did her eyes move off the screen in the center. “What’s Sergei doing here?”

Even after a night of recon, Danny and Beckett got their heads out of neutral faster than Knox, practically talking over each other.

“Who’s Sergei?”

“That’s not Ruslan?”

“Considerin’ the lass is smilin’, I’m gonna hazard not.” Typical Axel, he chuckled and reclined against his seat back, stroking his fingers through his beard like he’d just stumbled on one hell of an entertaining show. “Whoever he is, the man’s got style.”

“Never a dull moment in this family,” Jace added with a shake of his head.

On the screens, the two men who’d vacated the front seat stood with feet braced, shoulders back, and hands loosely clasped in front of them. The suit—or Sergei, as it seemed to be—trekked into the lobby toward the imminent two-on-one with Beckett’s guards.

Knox stepped in close to Darya and turned her to face him. “You know this guy?”

Axel was right. Whoever this guy was, she was happy to see him. Maybe not doing cartwheels happy, but there was a definite tilt to her lips. Fuck if that didn’t make him want to punch the bastard on principle. As if she needed one last confirmation, she glanced back at the screen then nodded. “Sergei helped me escape.”

“I thought some dude named Yefim did that,” Danny said from behind her.

Beckett’s phone rang just as two more guards moved into the camera’s view, each coming from the main stairwell’s secured door. Sure enough, one of the main guards had his own phone to his ear. “Yeah, we see him,” Beckett said in way of a greeting. He glanced up at Darya. “Just keep him there for now. Looks like we know him.”

Understanding settled into her features and her mouth parted. “You thought he was Ruslan?”

Jace shrugged. “A dude in a suit pullin’ up in a hundred and thirty thousand dollar car with two men for backup—not exactly a huge leap.”