Her father had placed too much stock in family. Just because you carried the Antakov name didn’t buy you loyalty. Linda Bender was her cousin, her father’s niece, and she’d screwed them and run. Linda had been trusted with the ledgers that contained their entire operation, going back to her grandfather arriving from Russia. The day her parents had left for New Orleans to cut a deal with Casey about Abigail, Linda had allowed the FBI to raid the warehouse where all the paper was stored.

“Don’t say her name in my presence.” The other person who’d pulled a disappearing act was Boris, her father’s fixer, and that couldn’t be a coincidence. Who knew such a big man could run so scared? “And don’t say we can’t prove what she did.”

“I wouldn’t,” Nina said, “because that one I know for sure. Linda took enough money to fund her disappearance with her brothers, and it’ll take time to find her. I also know we need to regroup and formulate a plan going forward, Nicola. What you need to understand is all this has left us in chaos. The men aren’t ready to accept you as the boss, even after you come back from the grave after Yury’s death. They see you as taking the easy way out while some of them went down without backup from the family. We need to give them something that’ll solidify their reason to follow you.”

“How about a few of their heads on a plate? I’m my father’s heir, and they’re going to have to accept that or die,” she said, rubbing her temple. The pain in her head was just slightly less than the pain in her hand, but that was an old injury. “Be ready to move. I’m going to deal with Abigail and her betrayal, and I’ll deal with the rest when I get back.”

“Who do you want to bring with you?”

“Let’s keep it small. There’s no reason to invite trouble if someone notices us. Choose the people you know aren’t going to be a problem. The ones who know who’s boss.” She motioned Nina away, wanting to lie down for a little while. “And make the flights to Biloxi, not New Orleans.”

“What’s in Biloxi?”

“Money, casinos, and answers.”

✥ ✥ ✥