Page 103 of Lethal Obsession

“Christ,” he says, shaking his head. “You’ve always been a mad bastard, Lex, I’ll say that for you.”

“Says the crazy prick who cut my eye out.” I raise my glass to him. “But I take your point.”

Dima snorts, then pours himself a drink on his end and lights another cigarette. I can read the weight of the swamp in every line on his face, in the way he lights one smoke from another. I’m suddenly damned glad I granted Mak the favor he asked for. Dima is a brilliant soldier, the best there is. But he wasn’t made to carry the entire swamp, and I don’t want him to.

I have no such reservations about Mak. That prick says he’ll see something through, and the only thing that will stop him is an atomic bomb.

“The governor’s race is in November.” I scroll through the calendar. “That’s the time frame I promised Mak, so I want the basement done by then. We disappear until the election is over. In the meantime, tell the boys the basement is part of the new operation.”

Which it is. I just don’t know exactly what that is yet.

“Lars and I will work with Mak and the geek squad to get to the bottom of who’s behind this. Tell the boys we need to make it look like we’ve given up, cashed in, and fucked off.”

“Oh,” Dima says sarcastically, “because that isn’t what’s happening?”

“It’s what I need Hunter and whoever is backing him to believe,” I say evenly. “And I’m going to need everyone on board if we’re going to succeed in selling it. Can you do it?”

He nods reluctantly. “The crew won’t like it,” he says again. “But I can get them on board, so long as there’s an end date. That way some of them can get the fuck out of town, at least. Take the kids to Disneyland or some shit.”

Even I get a laugh at that thought. “A Bratva Vacation,” I say dryly. “Sounds like a really bad movie.”

“No shit.” Dima shakes his head, then squints at me through the smoke. “What if the Novikovs come for us?”

“Take them down,” I say promptly. “Owens is one thing. Kiril Novikov is another altogether. He’s ours. If he steps a foot over the state line again, put the crazy bastard down.”

“Copy that,” Dima says, not without relish. He glances between Lars and me. “Well, I’ll leave you two to iron out the tech stuff, then.” Nodding at me, he shuts down his screen and leaves the call.

“Well.” Lars reaches for a bottle and pours a shot of something into a glass. “That was fun.”

“Just the beginning of the fun, is my guess.” I narrow my eyes at his glass. “Tell me you’re not drinking that Akvavit crap again.”

“It’s our national drink, you philistine.” Lars raises the glass at me. “And after listening to all that macho stuff, I need to either drink or fuck—and Benny, unfortunately, has some recital thing in London this weekend.”

“Benny?” I raise my eyebrows. “I thought repeat performances weren’t your style.”

“He’s a talented boy,” he says lightly. “And not boring so far.”

“Not boring?” I look at him curiously, taking in the tinge of color on his cheeks. “High praise, coming from you.”

“Anyway,” Lars swiftly deflects, “why are we talking about my sex life, when you’ve had the lovely Miss Borovsky lying around on your deck for the last week? Or should that be lying around on your d—”

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” I say warningly.

His smile fades. “You do know you can’t take her with you,” he says quietly. “There are going to be people coming for you, Lex. That much I’d lay money on.”

“Of course I fucking know that.” The words come out harder than bullets, but unfortunately, I’m way past being able to soften my tone.

“I’m not saying cut her off.” Lars leans into the camera and points a finger at me with a rather stern look. “In fact, if you hurt that girl again, I’ll code you into nonexistence and cast the resulting non-pointer into the void.”

I roll my eye, unable to stop myself laughing. “Look at you go, tough guy.”

“Yeah, well, while we’re on that—what the hell are you planning in that basement?” He gives me a quizzical look. “I’m not saying I’m against it. I love this shit, and if you’re aiming to lean further into Andersson Tech, I’m over the fucking moon. But as your partner, silent or not, I’d love a hint at what you’re actually planning.”

“Let’s call it a hunch, for now.”

Lars’s eyebrows rise. “A hunch,” he says dryly. “An entire server center—on a hunch? What about the specs?”

“Let me give you the kind of power we need, and you can design it. Does that work for you?”