Page 73 of Lord of Justice

"No one ever does," Andrey says, sounding like this is something that happens every day with a Turgenev. Maybe it does. The man who's finally leaning forward just enough for us to see his face, is that spooky younger one, Vadim Turgenev. "Go ahead and shut the door," Andrey orders, without taking his eyes off our visitor.

Vadim has unsettlingly pale blue eyes, they seem to glow, but the rest of him is in shadow. Like the undead creature of the night that I'm sure he is, he's wearing black. Large hands casually folded in his lap, as if breaking and entering is just like dropping in for a cup of coffee.

Trofim hesitates for a moment. "Are we heading home then?"

Andrey looks at Vadim, who nods slightly. I guess it doesn't matter where he goes, since he can probably sprout wings like a bat and fly off. The silence settles around him like an extra layer, dark and unsettling. So, when he does open his mouth, I have to grit my teeth to keep from letting out a frightened littleeep!"Cousin," he says, then looks at me. "Iris Morozova."

"Vadim Turgenev." I nod politely.

"MyDedushkaandOtetswere concerned about some information we'd heard during our recentsurveillance activities." He crosses one leg over the other, his long fingers steepled.

I have no illusion that he's relaxed.

"Would you like a drink?" Andrey asks.

I feel like screaming,"Just tell us!"But this leisurely pace means there's some sort of social etiquette around what? Displaying bloody Bratva secrets? Maybe it's an old-world Russia thing where everything can take forever.

"Da," Vadim says, "Staritsky Levitsky, Private Cellar."

My brow wrinkles. I've heard of this one, it's like80 Proof. If he drank that, his breath could set the car on fire. No way is Andrey going to have a bottle like that just hanging around in his SUV's bar. My husband opens it, and of course, there's a bottle of it right in front. He makes a drink and offers it to Vadim, then gently pushes a small glass of wine into my hand, probably to give me something to do.

Andrey's gone full Russian since he's come back to Moscow, so he pours himself a vodka, too. "Please, continue if you would, Vadim."

"We've been following the Naydenov Mob," he says.

"Out of Bulgaria?" Andrey asks with a frown. "The stupid bastards who had that poison gasaccident that killed sixty people?"

"That would be them," Vadim nods. "They've been interfering with our mining and explosives contracts. We've bugged up Damyan Naydenov's home and his two bars. The information has been very enlightening. He took a call two days ago from Liu Lìxin, the head of the Lìxin Triad."

Andrey is resting his glass on his thigh, listening intently. I stare at my untouched glass of wine. How can hebeso calm?

"Liu expressed his rage with Senator Carlisle Sinclair because the senator was not keeping his agreements regarding a data center construction."

"Yes," Andrey nods. "The senator's anxiety is becoming increasingly apparent."

"Darian Technologies holds the contract for the data center build. It is a shell company owned by the Triad. Sinclair's payout is an additional billion dollars. This build will give the Triad complete access to everything that runs through the data center."

"You're saying that Sinclair - even though he's a weasel and a slimebag - is willing to compromise national security if he gets a cheap billion out of it?" I blurt out. "Wow."

Vadim stares at me. I can't breathe. Why did I sayanything?

"You would be correct, Iris Morozova. Lìxin leveraged the Triad's assets heavily to buy their way into this deal. If it falls through, it would be an enormous loss of face. He's threatening to unleash hell on earth. One of the main targets will be you. Sinclair heavily sold the plan with the assurance that you would get this through the court process in record time."

I want to take Andrey's hand. I don't know if that's considered a weakness in Bratva society, so I carefully press my thigh against his instead, needing the contact. When his leg presses back, I close my eyes in relief.

"This is invaluable news, cousin. Please thank your family. Is there something that we can do for you in return?"

"Not at this time," Vadim says. "We know that you will be there when help is needed."

"Family first. Always," Andrey says. We stop for a red light, I turn for half for a second to look out the window and there's the soft clunk of the door. My head whips back.

It's beenone second.I swear, just one second.

Vadim is gone. His empty glass is sitting neatly in the bar sink. I lean over Andrey to look out the window, there's no sign of him.

"Don't lie to me. He's a vampire, isn't he?" I'm searching the empty street. There's no one there.

The divider rolls down slightly and Trofim asks, "Do we continue home, sir?" Even he sounds a little shaken.