His bushy brows drew together. “Did you talk to my contact at the D.A.’s office? If he’s showing you case files that are too gruesome for you, I’ll have a word with him.”
My heart lifted slightly at his defensiveness on my behalf. “No, no,” I reassured him quickly. “I haven’t reached out to your contact yet. Besides, I need to get used to gruesome crime scenes if I’m going to handle this career.”
Mike gave me a grave nod. “This job isn’t always easy.”
I huffed a broken little laugh. “Is it ever easy?”
“No, it’s not,” he replied with a rueful shake of his head. “I’d like to be able to shield you from anything that might upset you, but I’m proud of how hard you work, Allie.”
My eyes stung even more fiercely at his praise. “Thanks,” I said thickly. I blinked rapidly before emotion could overwhelm me.
“You’re taking on all this extra research on top of your internship,” he said gently. “Maybe you should take some time for yourself. You’re too young to deal with so much stress. Your work ethic is admirable, but you should be enjoying your life, too.”
I blew out a shaky breath and summoned my resolve. I couldn’t allow his concern to derail me. “Thanks, but I really do want to know more about the Bratva. That’s why I came to talk to you. I have a few questions.”
He shook his head with a low chuckle. “Stubborn like your old man. Okay, Allie. What do you want to know?”
I squared my shoulders. “You mentioned that the Bratva operates differently than the Italian Mafia did when you and my dad took them down ten years ago. You said that’s why you haven’t been able to build a similar case against them. What did you mean by that, exactly? How are they different?”
Mike leaned back in his chair, his gaze going slightly unfocused as he considered my question. “Well, the Mafia operated under a strict hierarchy and a pact of secrecy. It was only when we were able to obtain evidence to arrest the big bosses that we were able to make our move on them. We did that through bugging the phones of their underlings, who never would’ve turned on their bosses.”
I leaned forward slightly, hanging on to his every word. “Yeah, I remember that from when I looked into the casefiles.” Their work had been methodical and brilliant. “So, that’s not how the Bratva operates?”
Mike’s gray gaze focused on me again. “The main problem with building a case against the Russian syndicate is that they’re much better at cleaning their money than the Italians were. We can’t catch them out on fraud or financial crimes like we did with the Mafia bosses. If you recall, it was the fraud case against Michael Ferrara that got us a foothold in starting to build our case against the entire syndicate.”
My stomach turned. Yes, I remembered that all too well. Because Mike had told me that my dad had worked with an anonymous Russian informant to get that initial information against Michael Ferrara. His fraudulent, tax-dodging gas scheme had been the in that my dad needed to build his case.
“Cleaning their money?” I prompted, my voice tight at the reminder that Daddy had secretly worked with a Russian to take down the Mafia, just like Max had said.
Mike nodded. “The Russians are experts at money laundering. They have far more international reach than the New York Mafia did. They move their funds across multiple borders, utilizing shell corporations and offshore banks to hide the dirty origins of their wealth. It’s far more complex and far-reaching than what we’ve been able to take on through this office. Getting proof of the Bratva’s money laundering is almost impossible by the time the funds are funneled to the U.S.”
My heart sank with each word he said. If I was right about the origins of the Ivanovs’ wealth from the aluminum industry, their family fortune was steeped in blood money. And now, they grew their wealth through their hedge fund. Niko himself managed that fund.
And that money went into my dad’s campaigns. It paid for many of his glitzy fundraisers. It even paid him directly for speaking engagements.
“Are you okay, Allie?” Mike leaned forward, his eyes intent on my face. “You look pale.”
I forced a breath into my tight lungs. “Y-yeah,” I managed. “I just… I think you’re right,” I babbled, searching for something to say so I could get out of his office and break down somewhere private. “I think I’ve taken on too much. I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately.”
His brows lowered. “I think there’s something else going on.” His voice was heavy with something like condemnation.
All my muscles locked up, and fear bloomed in my belly. Had he figured out my suspicions? Did he know about the Ivanovs? About my dad?
No, not my dad. Even if the Ivanovs were corrupt, Daddy couldn’t possibly know. I rejected it on a soul-deep level.
“I’ve let this go on for too long,” Mike continued. “I’m going to handle this for you, Allie. Whether you want me to or not.”
“What?” I asked on a little puff of air. My mind was too scrambled to decipher what he was talking about.
He ignored my soft query and reached for his phone. A second later, he barked into it. “My office. Now.”
My head was spinning, and I couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen into my lungs. All I wanted was to escape, so I could hide in the bathroom to hyperventilate where no one would see.
“I’ll just go—”
“No.” Mike’s voice was sharp, and he slashed his hand through the air, cutting me off. “You stay right there.”
A knock on the door was immediately followed by his snapped “Come in.”
I turned, and all the blood drained from my head. Gavin stood in the doorway. His jaw ticked when his navy-blue eyes sparked on mine, but he quickly arranged his features into a respectful mask and addressed Mike. “You wanted to see me, Mr. Callahan?”
“You’re fired,” Mike said coldly, the words dropping from his lips like blocks of ice.
Gavin’s face went slack with shock, then his eyes narrowed on me. “I don’t know what Allie told you, but—”
“Miss Fitzgerald hasn’t told me anything,” Mike barked, his expression thunderous. “In fact, she’s tried to protect you from the consequences of your actions. But I’ve seen it for myself. I’ve only held off for this long because she asked me to. I don’t tolerate harassment in this office, Mr. McCrae. I want you gone.”
Gavin blinked away the hatred in his eyes and offered Mike a deferential tone. “I think this is a misunderstanding. Allie and I—”
“I understand perfectly. Get out of my office and leave the building immediately. Not one more word, Mr. McCrae.”
My bully’s teeth clicked when his jaw snapped shut. “We’ll see what my father has to say about this,” he hissed.
Mike’s eyes flashed. “Your Daddy can make all the calls he wants. I’m in charge here, and I say you’re out. Period. Now, leave.”
I managed to collect some of my scrambled thoughts. I couldn’t let Mike fire Gavin because of me. Our dads’ relationship was at stake. I couldn’t risk my father losing one of his biggest donors. That was why I’d always tolerated Gavin’s bullying. I hadn’t broken yet. I could endure his cruelty.