Page 158 of Vow Of Fire

“Then who?” His eyes narrowed.

I hesitated. It went against every instinct I possessed to give a Russian Bratva consigliere information this sensitive. Under normal circumstances, I would have told him to fuck off and mind his own business, but he was well connected in art circles, and he might know something that would help me find her.

“Vincent Calabria.”

Chloe gasped. “Vincent? No way. That’s impossible. Vincent would never⁠—”

I silenced her with a look.

Emitting something that sounded like a cross between a sob and a gasp, she sank down behind her large, marble desk.

For a long moment, Orlov simply stared at me, then his expression darkened. “When?”

“Today, around noon.”

He glanced at his watch. “Four hours ago.”

I nodded, knowing he was mentally calculating the odds of finding Evelyn alive. I’d been doing that since the moment I’d heard she’d been taken.

“Vincent was a rat. He was selling information to the cartel for financial gain,” I explained, a tight edge to my voice. Orlov was still my enemy, but we had a bigger problem now.

Understanding spread across the Russian’s face. “The cartel stole your shipment?”

I gave a terse nod. It sucked admitting that to my family’s rival, but there it was.

“He’s probably been doing the same thing to you,” I said. I had no proof of that, but I needed Orlov focused on Vincent and the cartel, not us. “Vincent’s been helping the cartel destabilize both the Bratva and the Marcellis so they can move in on the city while we tear each other apart.”

Silence settled heavily between us.

“We are already at war,” Orlov said softly, but I heard the steel beneath it.

Rain battered the windows behind him, the sound filling the gallery like distant applause.

“I know.”

The silence stretched out. Orlov stared past me at one of Evelyn’s installations, a massive abstract oil painting in crimson and black, but I got the feeling he wasn’t really seeing it.

Eventually, he pursed his lips and turned back to me. “What are you doing to get her back?”

Not enough.

“We’re looking for leads. Someplace he might have taken her. So far, we’ve found nothing.”

Orlov frowned. “When I tell Sergei what you have said, he will tear New York apart looking for this man.”

“He’ll have to get in line,” I snarled. I was going to break Vincent with my bare fucking hands. Then I was going to take down every last cartel member in my city and burn their fucking organization to the ground.

Orlov studied me. “It sounds to me like we both want the same thing.”

“So?”

“I propose a temporary alliance. We join forces to get Evelyn back and—” his pale eyes turned glacial— “destroy Los Santos Rotos.”

I stared at him. Not once in the history of my family’s organization had the Bratva and the Marcellis joined forces. It was unheard of.

But this was potentially the end of us if we didn’t see it through. Under the circumstances, exceptions had to be made. I was sure Valentina would understand.

I gave a stark nod and held out my hand. “Deal.”