Page 92 of Marked By the Devil

He shook his head.

I hadn’t counted on needing to potentially go to San Diego today, but it would depend on what Adrik decided.

Paul filled me in on the news that had come in overnight from the crews we had positioned near those dock warehouses. FBI and DEA teams, plus other state task forces, swarmed the area. It was a clear retaliation against what we’d wanted to achieve yesterday by exposing Smithson for his crimes of corruption, and we would be dealing with much more trouble now of cleanup and getting out of more charges from multiple levels of the law enforcement agencies.

It took the heat off Smithson, too, because all that was talked about now was this major sting operation they’d launched on our warehouse.

I expected it to be why Adrik called me so early, but he had something else on his mind.

“Maksim and Nikolai can manage the fallout of that sting,” he said. “I need you and Alexei ready to go with me to deal with Rico Johnson instead.”

I scowled. “Why him?”

“Because he’s claiming that we have to help him. He says that the Konstantins are trying to take out a hit on them because he’s not favoring them as much as he is us.”

“Fuck his favors and who he wants to cheat with.” I rolled my eyes.

“That’s my sentiment as well, but now that he’s outright accusing Kirill Konstantin of placing a hit on him, he’s whining for our protection.”

“The fuck?” I rubbed my beard. “We don’t owe him any protection. He’s not under our responsibilities.” I paused, wondering if he could be and that was why he always kept coming back to try to talk to Adrik and get donations from him. All those politicians were the same—annoying and begging for scraps of money. “Wait. Is he?”

“Is he what?”

“Is Rico Johnson supposed to be under our protection? Did Father arrange something before he had that stroke?”

“Not as far as I can tell. And I’ve looked because I wondered the same thing. He’s so persistent about being on good terms with me and staying relevant. Like he thinks he’s some great ally or friend. I started to worry that Father had started an agreement with him that he’d always have our backing and vice versa. I can’t find anything that would indicate a binding agreement or pact. Whenever I mention Father, he doesn’t jump on mentioning anything specific either, like a reference to something that would’ve been grandfathered into effect between him and the Bratva.”

I exhaled in relief. “Good.”

“Because if I’m not on the track of thinking that, that Father could have promised him protection or money or backing, then I’m inclined to wonder how much the Konstantins are involved in all this.”

We had been looking into the smaller Bratvas’ activity recently. The business with the Cartels had taken up more of our time and attention lately, but we would never neglect and lose sight of what other, lesser rivals and competition were up to.

“And since we still can’t lock down on who might’ve wanted to place a hit on me—and Smithson—on the same night, I can’t ignore a chance that the Konstantins might have wanted to. Especially if they think they are losing Rico Johnson’s influence or interest.”

I raised my brows, considering it. The Konstantins didn’t have anyone scheduled to show up at that meeting that never happened the night Adrik was nearly killed.

“Now I have to wonder… If the Konstantins are unhappy about Rico Johnson, maybe one of those hits that night had been intended for him.” He had been closer to the balcony where that second shot could’ve gone off to almost hit Wren, under the assumption it would’ve been Smithson spying.

“That’s what I’m wondering too. That’s why I want you and Alexei to come with me to discuss this with Kirill.”

I cringed, hating to have to go face the old bastard. Kirill Konstantin had never been a fan of ours, and the sentiment went both ways. The low-lying feud started way before my time, when my grandparents were still alive and the smaller Konstantin Family wanted protection and an alliance with the Volkov Bratva when the Cartels were disrupting their human trafficking revenue.

It never seemed like a mutually beneficial arrangement between our families, so my grandfather dismissed Kirill. My father had too. Now, with Adrik about to become the next Pakhan, it seemed like it would remain a generational trend of keeping our distance from them.

“I’ll be ready,” I told him.

Wren was still sleeping in when I headed back upstairs, so I kissed her and left her a quick note on the nightstand that I was heading out and that I’d check in with her later.

As I left to get Adrik and Alexei, who was meeting us at the mansion, I thought back to how Elena said that she and the other two women were trying to make sure that Wren felt like she belonged with us. With them.

And it was true. Things had naturally fallen into place so that it seemed like Wren just fit. She wasn’t an employee with a timetable and a pay schedule. She was just one of us. That was why it didn’t enter my mind to suggest what she should do while I was out on this business with my brother and cousin. I knew that she’d find her way around, that she’d decide what needed to be done.

First, we drove out to find Rico Johnson and see what he wanted to say about these worries of a hit placed on him.

“I don’t see why this needs to be our problem,” Alexsei said from the backseat, seated next to Adrik. “He wants to hang out with dangerous people, he can manage his own dangerous problems.”

I nodded. “And if he’s determined to act like he’s everyone’s friend and planning to fuck over half of them… he can make his bed and sleep in it.”