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“Took you long enough,” Nikandr drawls. “I didn’t take you for a cuddler, brother.”
“I’m the farthest fucking thing from it.” My voice is raspy from disuse.
“You mean you were fucking that entire time? That’s impressive stamina for an old man.”
“I’m only five years older than you.”
At one time, five years felt like a lifetime. I killed my first man while Nik was still sleeping on firefighter bedsheets.
Nowadays, five years feels like nothing. He was forced to grow up a lot when our father died. In one day, he lost his father and the brother he knew. It’s the only reason I let him get away with mouthing off so much.
“Well, if you had to blow me off, I guess I’m glad she was worth it, at least.” He leans forward. “She was worth it, wasn’t she? I saw her back at the restaurant. Blonde and curvy. And I didn’t see her in the car, but I didn’t need to. It was obvious what you two were up to back there. I can’t even blame you. She was fucking?—”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” I snarl, surprising even myself with the intensity. Then I sigh and relent. “I know you didn’t come here just to talk about her.”
He ducks his head. “Not just to talk about her. I was multitasking. I figured you’d fill me in on who she is and what you were doing with her first. Then I’d fill you in on the Gustev Bratva.”
“You figured wrong. I’m not going to tell you shit and you’re going to tell me what the Gustev Bratva was doing outside of our father’s favorite restaurant on the fifth anniversary of his death.”
Nikandr sighs in obvious disappointment, but he knows when I’m being serious. “I talked to a source on the inside and those Gustev soldiers were reporting your every move back to Akim all night. He wasn’t there in person, but as good as. Whatever this was about, it wasn’t some low-level assholes poking the bear and looking for a fight. Akim sent them to find you. He is invested.”
“Why?”
“Well, we just killed their leader, in case you forgot about that little mission. We killed Akim’s father,” he says. “I’d venture to guess that that has a lot to do with it.”
“Obviously. But why sit outside the restaurant and monitor me without making a move? If they were out for retribution, they could have attacked. They didn’t. I want to know why.”
I already know why. I would have put it together on the car ride home if Luna hadn’t been such a thorough distraction. But Nikandr is still young. He’d deny it and be mad at me for even suggesting it, but he still has a lot to learn.
“Surveillance?” His face creases in concern. “They were—Shit. Do you think Akim knows you’re after his weapons dealer?”
I shake my head. “If he did, he definitely would have attacked. That operation is the key to me owning everything Akim gives a damn about. He wouldn’t risk that.”
“Then what?”
“Revenge,” I say simply. “I took his father away. Now, he wants to take something from me. Tit for fucking tat. He’s smart enough to know a direct hit would be almost impossible. So he’s in search of a target.”
Nikandr curses again. “Do you think we should tell Mariya?”
“Akim won’t go looking for her in Russia unless he gets desperate. She’s fine for now. No need to worry her.”
Or worry our mother, more like it. The reason she grabbed our little sister and took off across the Pacific in the first place was to avoid the fallout of Father’s death.
“You know what this means, brother. Akim’s men saw you out to dinner with that woman. They saw you leave with her.”
“I just met her tonight.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nik insists. “One night is more than enough to put a target on her back. That girl is in danger.”
That girl is danger.
“I know. Fucking hell, I know.”
“So?” he presses. “You have a plan. I know you do. What is it?”
If I’d stopped to think this through for five fucking minutes, maybe tonight would have gone differently. Maybe Luna would be sleeping in my guest room. Maybe I wouldn’t have the taste of her on my tongue and the sound of her moans playing on a loop in my head. Maybe she’d be safe if I’d just left her alone.
But I didn’t stop to think it through.
