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“It’s possible.” Gideon sat down, and Alex fixed his chair and also sat.

“Wouldn’t that be more of a reason to strike before he does?”

Gideon shook his head. “Men like Ivanov are built differently than men like Anders or Calvern. Ivanov comes from a long line of brutal men—raised rough, fear doesn’t factor in for him.”

Alex hooked a thumb at Penn. “He doesn’t have fear, either.”

Gideon smirked. “Yeah, but that’s not the same thing. Toni has been doing a lot of digging into Ivanov to help us better understand the man himself.”

Alex regarded Toni. “What did you find out?”

Toni folded his arms across his chest as he often did when he was about to tell a story.

“Gideon wasn’t kidding. Ivanov comes from brutal men…more so brutal backgrounds. His family dates back all the way to the Soviet Gulag labor camps of the twenties. The Ivanovs are linked to The Vor, The Suka Wars—you name it and in the end, the Ivanov family has come out on top.”

“It’s possible Ivanov sees Gideon as a non-threat, and right now it’s best to keep it that way,” I added.

“So there’s a plan, right?” Alex raised his brows at Gideon.

“Right now, we know who he is, and I have people doing their best to keep eyes on him. I suspect he will be sending some of his soldiers to different locations, and our best bet is to lighten the herd, so to speak.”

“Take out his soldiers?” Alex cocked his head. “Wouldn’t that alert him something was going on?”

“Most likely. That’s why finding out where he’s sending them and who they are—we may be able to corner one or two of them and get information out of them that will better help us determine when Ivanov might be most vulnerable.”

Gideon’s plan was solid but time-consuming, and Alex was a bomb ready to explode.

“Am I going to be part of this?”

This was where it got tricky. We all knew Gideon was going to hand the pakhan to Alex; that had always been the plan. But finding him wasn’t thanks to Alex. As a matter of fact, on several occasions Alex had slowed the search for Ivanov.

“I can’t have you storming into places, killing everyone, and leaving a mess behind that I can’t fix. I have concerns, Alex.” Gideon rolled an unlit cigar between his fingers.

To Alex’s credit, he appeared sorry. “I know.”

“I want to involve you. You deserve your revenge, and you’ll have it. But, Alex…” Gideon dropped the cigar on the desk and leaned forward. “This has to be done right, or it all goes up in flames.”

“I understand.”

Gideon pursed his lips. “You’ll do as I ask without question?”

“Yes.” Alex appeared truthful, and I was sure Gideon was thinking the same thing I was: But in the moment, will you be able to stay calm?

“Let’s test that, shall we?” Gideon nudged his chin in my direction. “Orders will be delivered by Danny. If you can follow his lead, without question, without going off half-cocked, I’ll believe you.”

Alex glanced at me and I shrugged. “I’ve already been shadowing you; now you just have to actually listen to me.”

Alex snorted. “Yeah, okay, fine.”

“A couple of other things,” Gideon added as he sat back. “Nonnegotiable, Alex.”

Alex looked leery. “Okay, what is it?”

“You’ve been dealing with this grief alone. Your choice, but it’s not working.”

“I’m fine.”

Penn huffed. “Famous last words.”