Page 125 of Fractured Ties

Valbon smiled. “Who, Russian?”

Oh, his fucking finger twitched on the trigger. But if he killed this dumb fuck right now, he wouldn’t get what he wanted.

“Step back from my cousin,” came the accented voice across the room.

Saban.

Kolya didn’t move an inch. In fact, he pushed the barrel against the man’s forehead again. “Where is Maya?”

Valbon laughed lowly. “I don’t know—”

“Do you understand that I will pull out your insides and let you hold them while you’re still alive, just because I think it’d be a good lesson for you?” Kolya asked. “Keep fucking with me, Valbon. Test me.”

“Kolya, that’s quite enough.”

He still didn’t move, but the voice of his father did quiet his threats. He refused to put the gun down, though.

A sigh echoed.

Vadim.

Again.

“As you can see, Saban,” Vadim murmured, “my son has taken issue with your man.”

Saban laughed bitterly. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around, old friend? Did your son not take something that belonged to Valbon? I hope you know you’re going to have to answer for this show, here.”

Vadim hummed quietly. “I think not. What do you know about the first Russian from my organization that you killed? Alexei Kozlov, hmm.”

Koyla didn’t miss how Valbon’s gaze darted away from him and the man stiffened. He didn’t move too much though. He still had that gun pressing against his forehead, after all.

“He seemed like the best one to start with, as he was directly related to the issue at hand,” Saban stated. “As I am sure you’re aware, yes?”

“Because Valbon gave you that information,” Vadim stated.

“Who else would I have gotten it from?”

Vadim made a noise under his breath and then someone shuffled in the room before a familiar video—one that Kolya had watched far too many times over the last day—began to play. The sound was all Kolya could hear, but he knew what was playing on the screen for Saban to see.

Alexei forcing Maya out of the hotel just a couple of days ago.

“As you can see,” Vadim murmured when the video was done, “Alexei is very much alive, and apparently quite well.”

“He is not—”

“He is alive,” Vadim countered before Saban could refuse it. “But Valbon said the man you killed was Alexei, correct? How could—or why would—he be mistaken? He was the one making the deals with Ivan Kozlov—he’d know who was whom within the Kozlovs. He wouldn’t be mistaken, would he? Would he have any reason at all to want Alexei to remain alive while you assumed he was dead?”

Saban was quiet for a moment. “I’m not following where this is going, Vadim.”

“Did he lie, Saban? Did he tell you that was Alexei?”

“Why would he—”

Valbon jerked forward a bit like he wanted to stand and speak, but Kolya was pressing that rifle against his forehead so hard that the man was pinned where he sat. It would have been almost fucking amusing, if Kolya weren’t itching to beat the life out of this asshole for all the things he had done to Maya. Was still doing.

The man’s need to move and attempt at it wasn’t missed by the others in the room if the way their answering silence was any indication.

“Did you know that Maya had been removed from my son’s possession?” Vadim asked.