Page 124 of Beguiled

While we had yet to determine Tawny’s heritage, it was only a matter of time and I’d bet money that she was Russian. Dimitri also expected to hear back from the techs on the voicemail within the hour, which could further help with the identification.

“You also think Patrick Kilborn was bought off by Mikhail and not plotting with Sean to betray us.” Kirill knew the answer. He’d been the one to proctor the alliance with them almost a year before.

“Sean isn’t that stupid, but we will make certain,” I answered, noticing Saige had grabbed her laptop and was seated on the couch with it in her hand. She’d taken everything in stride, refusing to fall into any level of emotionalism.

Except when I’d told her that her hard work had been put on hold for the foreseeable future. She was a true piranha and I adored her for it. She thought she remembered the necklace as being around Patrick’s neck, but I planned on using the information anyway if necessary. The man was going to tell me the truth about Mikhail and their plan.

“What I don’t know is why Tawny was killed. Unless she was willing to talk.” I could tell Saige was watching me closely. “We need to play this carefully.”

“Stash is right,” Dimitri added. “You know Mikhail will want the glory all on his own. But he needs backing and a solid base. You know how closed New York is to newcomers. Without having someone who’s been here and willing to vouch for him, as a leader, he’ll be eaten alive. The Armenians will be a decent stronghold for now. But he’ll likely betray them. Besides, he doesn’t have anything Sean wants. But with Patrick, he could promise a much higher position in a brand-new empire just for information, including sharing when you were going to be at the club.”

“Why turn the tides with Saige there?”

“You said so yourself, I’m your weakness,” she popped in. “Maybe he knew you’d rescue me and could more easily be killed. Maybe if Tawny’s father had arranged a marriage, Mikhail was going to start picking off his family one by one.”

“Why the change?” Kirill asked.

I thought about the question. “Oh, I think there was every intention on killing her last night. She was too resourceful for them.”

She huffed. “I just acted on instinct with running.”

“You know better than to put anything past Mikhail. He was at the damn Christmas party months ago. Just watching. Planning. And I gave him ammunition on a silver platter with my interest in Saige.” I moved away from the desk, my hand tightly wrapped around my drink.

“Yes,” she interjected. “But he must have been confused when I wanted nothing to do with you after the party.”

“You mean when I wanted nothing to do with you,” I countered while throwing her a smile.

She shrugged, a hint of her defiance returning. “Ha. I know the truth.”

“She has you pegged, cuz,” Dimitri tossed out.

“A match made in heaven,” Kirill added.

“I have some advice and a thought on how you can get control of this game being played,” Saige tossed out.

“This I need to hear,” I told the others.

“You should consider using your blackmail bridges. But not in the way you were originally thinking.”

All three of us looked at each other. The two men were well aware of her success in breaching my security. “Meaning?”

“He was provided with another gift in seeing the list since he or his men trashed my apartment. If Mikhail wants to use this information, all he has to do is threaten to take it public. Imagine if he has a dummy corporation that needs investors. Or he simply uses the information as blackmail at one time. He could have control over several powerful entities in this city, Toronto,Chicago, and I believe Philadelphia. I think those were the cities represented.” She offered a cagey smile.

“You need to make certain she’s paid very well,” Kirill said in passing.

My laugh was joyful enough. “She’s right. We need to turn the tables and if we do this right, he’ll be placed in our crosshairs.”

“It’s still blackmail information,” Dimitri offered.

“Not if played right,” I said.

“So you’re suggesting Mikhail is now more interested in destroying the family and our business, which will allow him to take control?” Kirill was starting to put the pieces together.

“But he wants to drive a stake through our hearts,” Dimitri insisted.

“Why not start professionally? Then he’ll go for the jugular when you’re scrambling around trying to regroup after your horrific downfall,” Saige added, her lilting voice something I hoped to hear for a very long time. “That isn’t possible if you take the upper hand, utilizing those companies on the list. They could become your partners, investing in the Chertov Corporation. If provided with the initial stocks, they’d give their funds and promised loyalty as well as discrediting the blackmailer, which will be Mikhail. Now, you’d have to be careful in how you handle doing so since you’ll need Mikhail to tip his hand after you’ve taken control.”

My God, the woman was making my cock swell. “Go on,” I encouraged.