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“Valentina gives you a headache,” he clarifies, chuckling to himself. “She makes everything more complicated, doesn’t she?”
“It does not matter what she does. It does not change situation.”
Mikhail hums once more in the back of his throat before ceasing like I’d asked him to. “I can see why you’re both enamored by her. Andrei fucking hates her, and you can’t decide if you want to fuck her or kill her.” His grin is so wide that it nearly splits his face. “But in the end, she’ll choose me.”
I snort, loudly, at how ridiculous the idea is. “She, love you? It is Andrei she loves.”
“It’s Andrei she will marry,” Mikhail corrects, lifting his finger like he’s rattling off a list. “She can fuck you, too, for all I care. But she’ll choose me. She’ll love me.”
“You cannot force a woman to love you.”
Especially not Valentina.
Mikhail shrugs, not deterred in the slightest. “Believe what you will. But you’ll see. You’ll both see. She’ll choose me first.”
Rolling my eyes, I push open the door to Andrei’s office. It’s already back to its pristine condition, all the papers and pens and miscellaneous objects from his desk back in perfect order. The shattered glass on the floor is gone, the only remnants of its existence the new scratch on the hardwood and the broken frame in the trash.
“That took longer than expected,” Andrei muses, watching us from his desk chair. “Did she fight you?”
Mikhail licks his lips. “Wish she fought harder. Pretty little thing when she gets all worked up.”
I shoot Mikhail a glare, and he snickers like it’s the funniest thing in the world.
I hate the man sometimes.
“She got phone call.” Fishing her phone from my pocket, I unlock it and hand it to Andrei. “Says it is her boyfriend. I do not believe her.”
“She doesn’t love him,” Mikhail supplies helpfully. “Or so Ezra says.”
“She does not.” I cross my arms. “That is clear.”
If anything is clear from Valentina’s conversation with this Liam, it’s that he’s not her boyfriend, and she’s a fucking liar.
I hate liars.
Even if they’re Valentina. Especially if they’re Valentina.
Andrei starts searching her phone, pretending to look bored, but I know him. He’ll devour every scrap of content in its system before he sleeps tonight.
“Find out what you can about this man. His name, location, job title. See if you can connect him to Katya or find her location. She has many things to answer for.”
The day Valentina disappeared, so did Katya Baranova, Valentina’s grandmother on her mother’s side. We’ve always suspected the two were connected and that Katya has been keeping Valentina’s whereabouts a secret from us all these years.
The woman is a snake in the grass. I’ve longed to cut off her head.
“Tolkotsky should have killed her long ago.”
Andrei glances up at me. “She’s well-loved in the Bratva. She still has support in certain circles.”
In other words, be careful what you say about her.
I cross to the window and stare out at the afternoon sun, weariness stinging my eyes. I didn’t get enough sleep, and now I doubt I’ll get much more. A sigh passes my lips. “She will come looking for Valentina.” I can see Andrei’s reflection nod through the glass.
“Yes. She will arrive just in time to witness her granddaughter’s wedding.”
Mikhail tilts his head. “We don’t have time to plan a wedding. The city’s in shambles. I’m barely keeping a hold on our properties as it is. I can’t go to parties and dinners and all that nonsense.” He waves his hand in front of him, like he’s brushing away the idea of playing socialite.
“You’re the best for it,” Andrei tells him seriously. “You clean up better than most, and as the largest shareholder for most of the city, you’ll be expected to be there.” He addresses both of us next, and I brace myself for what’s to come.
