“Fucking Misha! Is he a spy and I didn’t know it?”
“More like a man who’s worried about his brother,” Nikolai signs. “A brother obsessed with a woman who could get him killed.”
Ilya, ignoring the curse I hurl at them both, continues, “Getting someone into the Veronians takes work and a background that isn’t easily fabricated. Victoria is a perfect candidate. I wasn’t about to jeopardize her appointment.”
“That’s not your call.”
“I never said it was.”
His reasonable tone has me snarling, “Who asked you?”
“A man called Brutus Dyers.”
“Dyers,” Victoria rages.
“Yes, the father’s as reprehensible as the son. I can promise you that.”
“So, you mean to tell us that you delivered the dress for the Veronians but didn’t know what their endgame was?”
He shrugs. “You don’t have to believe me.”
“Explain it to him or I’ll never hear the end of it,” Nikolai grouches.
“This is my wife we’re talking about here! I can just imagine you letting Cassie?—”
“My relationship with Cassie is completely different than yours with Victoria. I’d never let her anywhere near the Veronians.” I’m not surprised that he signs those words too.
“None of my identities are Veronian, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know some of them. Power talks and I walk in circles where I hear things from time to time. That’s how Brutus knows me. He thinks I owe him and he called in a favor.”
“How don’t they know you’re related to theKrestniy Otets?” Victoria prods. “He’s a Veronian.”
“Perks of being on Tolya’s ‘secret task force.’” His mockery is evident. “Very few photos have ever been published of me, which is a shame. My mother tells me I have a face the camera loves.”
Victoria snorts.
“Anyway, Tolya is a Veronian. TheKrestniy Otetsisn’t.”
Victoria ponders that. “There’s a difference?”
“There is now that the Forgotten Boys have taken over the US. The Bratva’s influence is dying. Enough that they can no longer service theneeds of men like the Veronians. The bulk of whom live, work, and play on the East Coast.”
“Why keep him as a brother? We know they discard members who’ve lost their purpose,” I point out.
“My uncle is still a billionaire.”
I crack my pointer finger with my thumb. “So’s Clyde Korhonen.”
“Nyet. He lost access to his inheritance thanks to fixing his brother’s will. His son was always in line to inherit the family fortune. Do you remember a few years ago, there was an Albanian insurgency in New York City?”
“Of course.”
Victoria adds, “I remember my uncles bitching about it.”
Ilya runs his finger around the rim of his shot glass. “TheKrestniy Otetsfunded that mess and he became associated with the disaster that came of his great idea. He fears few but the Veronians… Their power is insidious.”
“Firstly, why would he do that? Secondly, what does any of that mean?”
“With the technology boom, many of the Veronians found themselves with billions of dollars in their bank accounts. As is often the case with rich men who have more money than sense, they wish to fuck anything that moves, snort whatever they can get up their nostrils, and fund politicians who help them evade taxes.” He pours himself another vodka. “For a long time, the Bratva wouldhelpVeronian brothers with their poison of choice. After Maxim took control of New York City and, ultimately, the Forgotten Boys expanded across the US, the Bratva lost power and it was no longer able to provide the Veronians with all they needed.
