Chapter 93: Who Hired You?

They pulled up to the warehouse forty minutes later, the same one where Dimitri had brought Enzo for proper education after he visited Eve.

Marco was waiting outside with the team.

"He’s inside. Conscious. Relatively unharmed." Marco’s expression was grim. "He’s FSB trained, boss. This won’t be easy."

"I don’t need easy." Dimitri shed his suit jacket, rolled up his sleeves. "I need information. And I’ll get it. One way or another."

The warehouse inner room was exactly as Dimitri had left it. Single chair bolted to the concrete floor. Table with tools....pliers, knives, blowtorch, cables. Overhead lights casting harsh shadows.

And tied to the chair, cable-tied at wrists and ankles, was Viktor Kozlov.

Late forties. Scarred face. Cold eyes that had seen violence and delivered plenty of it himself.

He didn’t look afraid.

Well he should have been.

Dimitri circled the chair slowly, assessing. "Viktor Kozlov. Formerly FSB. Dishonorably discharged in 2019 for selling classified information. Now a freelance investigator for criminal organizations." He stopped in front of the chair. "Someone hired you to gather intelligence on Eve Thorne. I want to know who. I want to know why. And I want to know what you’ve already delivered."

Viktor stared at him, silent.

"I’ll pay you double whatever they’re paying," Dimitri said calmly. "Triple. Name your price. Just tell me what I want to know, and you can walk out of here tonight unharmed."

"I don’t talk," Viktor said in heavily accented English. "Professional courtesy."

"Professional courtesy." Dimitri smiled. "How admirable. Unfortunately for you, I’m not interested in courtesy. I’m interested in answers."

He picked up a pair of pliers from the table.

"Last chance. Who hired you?"

Silence.

"Wrong answer."

Dimitri didn’t rush. Didn’t lose control. Just applied pressure....physical and psychological, with the efficiency of someone who’d done this many times before.

Viktor broke after the fourth finger.

"Russo!" he gasped, his face pale, sweat pouring down his temples. "Lorenzo Russo! He hired me two weeks ago!"

"To do what?"

"Build a profile. Eve Thorne. Everything. Routines, weaknesses, relationships, vulnerabilities." Viktor’s voice was shaking now. "He said he needed options. Leverage. Ways to remove her without starting open war."

Dimitri went very still. "Remove her."

"Those were his words. Not mine. I just gather information."

"What information did you deliver?"

"Everything. Her route to work. Phoenix Talent’s security. Maya’s address. Her brother. The bodyguards. Everything." Viktor was breathing hard, his hand a mangled mess. "He has it all. He’s had it for three days."

"And what is he planning to do with it?"

"I don’t know. I swear. I deliver intel. What they do with it isn’t my concern."

Dimitri set down the pliers, picked up his phone, pulled up a photo.

Isabella Russo.

"Did you deliver your report to this woman? Or only to Lorenzo?"

Viktor looked at the photo, and something flickered in his eyes. Fear. Recognition.

"Both," he admitted. "She was copied on all communications. She... she seemed very interested in the Phoenix Talent security protocols."

Dimitri’s blood turned to ice.

Phoenix Talent. Eve’s company. The place she went every day.

"What about Phoenix specifically?"

"The woman....Isabella, she asked follow-up questions. Wanted to know shift changes for security. Entry points. Blind spots in camera coverage. Exit strategies." Viktor swallowed hard. "The kind of questions you ask when you’re planning something."

Dimitri turned to Mike, who’d been standing silent in the shadows, watching everything.

"Call Phoenix Talent security. I want a full sweep of the building. Every floor. Every room. Check for devices, tampering, anything out of place. Now."

Mike pulled out his phone, moved to make the call.

Dimitri turned back to Viktor. "When is she moving?"

"I don’t know..."

The pliers were back, hovering near his left hand.

"I DON’T KNOW!" Viktor’s voice cracked. "She didn’t tell me! I delivered the intel three days ago and haven’t heard from her since! That’s the truth!"

Dimitri studied his face, looking for deception.

Found only terror.

"Marco," Dimitri said quietly. "Take Mr. Kozlov somewhere secure. Keep him alive. Comfortable, even. Feed him. Medical attention for his hand. But he doesn’t leave, doesn’t communicate with anyone, until this is resolved."

"Understood, boss."

"And Viktor?" Dimitri crouched in front of the chair, his eyes absolutely cold. "If I find out you lied to me about anything...anything at all, I won’t kill you. I’ll give you to the Volkovs. Let them handle one of their own who sells out to rival families. Are we clear?"

Viktor went white. "Crystal."

"Good." Dimitri stood, walked to where Mike was ending his call.

"What did they find?" Dimitri asked.

Mike’s expression was grim. "They’re still sweeping. But they found something in Eve’s office. A listening device. Professional grade. Planted in the lamp on her desk."

Dimitri’s hands clenched into fists.

Someone had been in Eve’s office. Had planted a bug. Had been listening to her private conversations for God knew how long.

"There’s more," Mike said quietly. "They found a second device. In the conference room. And one of my men just called....they found one in Maya’s apartment too."

Isabella wasn’t just gathering information.

She was actively surveilling Eve’s life.

Listening. Watching. Waiting for an opening.

"I need to stop Eve from going to Phoenix for the main time," Dimitri said, his voice deadly calm. "I’ll tell her it’s a security upgrade, I don’t care...but she doesn’t go back to that office until we’ve swept everything and tripled security."

"She’s not going to like being pulled out of work...."

"I don’t care what she likes." Dimitri’s voice was steel. "Lorenzo Russo is building a file on her with words like ’remove’ and ’leverage.’ Isabella is bugging her office, her conference room, her best friend’s apartment. This isn’t surveillance, Mike. This is pre-operational planning for a kidnapping or worse."

Mike’s jaw clenched. "What are you going to do?"

"I’m going to pay Isabella Russo a visit." Dimitri pulled out his phone. "Right now. Tonight. And I’m going to make it very, very clear that if she ever comes near Eve again, there won’t be enough left of her to bury."

"Dimitri, if you go after Isabella directly, Lorenzo will..."

"I don’t give a fuck what Lorenzo does." Dimitri’s eyes were burning now, cold fury barely contained. "He sent someone to gather intel on my woman. His daughter bugged her office. They’re planning something. And I’m going to end this before it begins."