Ryan nodded, but I knew he lacked the capacity to comprehend what I was saying. He’d never be able to feel the intense bond of brothers that Kingston and I shared because he’d never placed anyone else above himself.
“Listen,” Ryan started. “Katya isn’t a threat to you. The only thing she cares about is ballet, and as long as she can dance, she’ll be happy.”
“She cares about ballet more than you?” Kingston prodded him.
“She left, didn’t she?” Ryan sniped back at him.
I raised an eyebrow. So this was also a revenge thing? The abandoned boyfriend wanted to strike back at the girl who broke his heart?
“It had nothing to do with my father threatening to have your parents thrown in jail for kidnapping?” I asked pointedly.
Ryan shifted uncomfortably. “Just tell me what you want,” he said in defeat.
“We need information, and we know you have access to it.”
“About Katya?” Ryan asked in confusion.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “And Nina. What’s her game?”
Ryan shrugged. “Katya never met her mom before that night, and her grandmother would start yelling in Russian anytime Katya tried to ask questions. I know enough Russian to understand it was nothing good.”
“But your parents knew who Nina was before Katya did,” I reminded him.
“Yeah,” Ryan said hesitantly. “My dad’s law firm handled the agreements between Nina and her mom. Nina was legally emancipated at sixteen so that she could work as a model. In return for freedom, she gave up her custody of Katya. Katya was just a baby when it happened.”
I leaned forward. “You’re going to get copies of those agreements for us.”
Ryan swallowed nervously. “That won’t be easy. My dad’s going to be suspicious if I just start hanging around his office.”
“I’m confident you can figure it out,” I told him with a smile. “Our security team said they couldn’t find any records of Katya’s grandmother before she was married. What’s the story there? Was she an illegal immigrant?”
Ryan hesitated. “It’s possible, but it might have something to do with the mafia thing?”
Kingston and I exchanged glances. Yeah, Nina was hiding something big. Ryan might not realize it, but he was going to help us take her down.
“Nina is associated with the mafia?” I asked.
“Well,” Ryan hesitated. “Katya’s great uncle showed up at her grandmother’s funeral, and Katya’s convinced he’s in the Russian Mafia.”
“You don’t think so?” Kingston asked.
Ryan shook his head. “That’s kind of ridiculous, right? The mafia doesn’t exist outside of books and movies.”
Kingston laughed. “Right. And the world isn’t controlled by the top one-percenters.”
I shot King a glance to tell him to shut up.
“The great uncle was the grandmother’s brother?” I asked to urge Ryan on.
“Yeah,” he agreed with a nod. “Katya had no idea she had family in New York, and it’s weird that her grandmother deliberately hid that from her.”
“What was this guy’s name?” I asked.
“Sergei…something,” Ryan said. “He gave Katya a business card, but she threw it away as soon as she got home.”
I smiled at him. “But you kept it?”
Ryan looked embarrassed. “I thought she might change her mind down the road. This guy might be the only family she has.”
Kingston snorted. “What about her mother?”
Ryan looked disgusted. “Nina isn’t Katya’s mother. She’s just an egg donor that doesn’t deserve to have a daughter.” He leaned forward and looked worried. “I don’t think Katya’s safe with her.”
Kingston got a concerned wrinkle in his brow. “Yeah, we figured that much out already.”
“We’ll take care of Katya,” I added.
Ryan searched my eyes and then nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“You’ll text me a picture of the business card?” I asked.
“Yeah, I can do that,” Ryan said with a nod.
“That will help us out immensely,” I said as I got to my feet.
Ryan looked relieved. “Listen, after this - I’m out. I’ll get you the paperwork you need and send you the business card, but that’s it.”
I shrugged. “That’s all we need.” My eyes sharpened. “But if you find something that endangers Katya or my family, we need to know.”
Ryan agreed and hastily left, probably trying to run away from the feeling of guilt that was plaguing him.
“We’re going to take care of Katya, huh?” Kingston said with a smirk once he locked the door.
I rolled my eyes. “I never said how we planned to ‘take care’ of her, King,” I retorted.
Kingston laughed and then finished his drink.
Ryan had more helpful than I thought he would, and now we had a new angle to come at Nina from. Ties to the Russian Mafia? I’m sure we could link her to some kind of criminal activity that would show my father that getting involved with her was a mistake. After hearing about that, I was more determined than ever to get Nina out of our lives. Had Katya already started following in her mother’s footsteps? Or was she in danger, like Ryan had suggested? I was suddenly more eager to get back to Bedford than I’d be willing to admit.
Chapter 14
Katya
A couple of days passed, and it was a relief to be free of both Nina and the guys, but I was always on edge, expecting them to show up at any moment. Mrs. Ferguson was the one bright spot here. She always had a smile for me, but she loved to feed me. I had a sneaking suspicion that she was slipping me more calories to secretly fatten me up. Her heart was in the right place, but fat ballerinas didn’t get hired. I was already at a disadvantage with a gap in my formal training, so I couldn’t afford anything else that would make a company hesitate
