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“So she was hiding?” He quirks a brow.
“She was cautious,” I intercept. “Wouldn’t you be if you’d just found out whom it was you helped?”
I know Angelo won’t like it, but we don’t have time to stand here discussing this.
I nod to the trunk. “We have the fucker in there.”
Angelo follows my gaze. “Let’s see what he has to say.”
Santino pops the trunk and hauls Vladimir out, who’s bound and gagged, trying to break free, which is futile as well as stupid. He’s bloodied and bruised, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s pissed his pants.
Rocco and Santino drag him to the door as they unlock it and get him set up in the interrogation room.
I turn to Enzo. “Get Vaughn on the phone, I need Petrovs' number.”
Enzo frowns. “Are you sure this is a good idea? We need to talk Vladimir first.”
“And so, we will, but in the meantime, I need to make that call, and soon,” I say.
Angelo stares at me. “What the fuck are you doing, Marco?”
I run a hand through my hair. “If I said trust me, would you actually do it?”
“Yes,” he replies. “I trust you implicitly. What I don't trust at the moment is where you stick your dick.”
I ignore him. “Aleksi will seek favor with us if we let him have Vlad. He did, after all, kidnap his favorite and only niece. That’s all he cares about.”
Angelo catches on quickly. “You’re doing this so he’ll give you Katiya.” It’s not a question.
“She’s not his to give.”
“You know what I mean.”
I stare at him. “I won’t lie and say that I don’t want her, because I do, but if we kill Vladimir, then it’ll be like we dangled it under his nose then took care of it ourselves.”
“Which we should. Vladimir was involved in human trafficking! And fuck knows what else.”
“Which is what we’re about to find out,” Enzo intervenes, touching me on the shoulder. “Either way, the guy’s dead. Think about it, Angelo, it may be a way to keep Petrov where you want him once and for all.” He squeezes my shoulder then discreetly takes his leave.
I need that fucking number.
“He’s already where I want him. He took care of the illegal operations that Katiya’s Father was involved in, and Darko has been keeping watch of the situation. He’s lucky that his family is still living after what he’s tried to do to us.” Angelo shows his anger in every fiber of his being.
“What his father did when Mario was ruling is water under the bridge,” I say. “I agree, Aleksi has been shady as fuck over the years, but if he wanted a war, he would have started one when we sat down with him. If you wanted one then, you would have too.”
He can’t argue with that.
The last thing this family needs is a war of any kind, with the casino finally opening after many years of blood, sweat, and tears. We don’t need any bad publicity or bad blood for the time being.
“You’re asking an awful lot,” Angelo says, pointing in my face. “If I had it my way, I’d have Aleksi Petrov strung up himself. If you think he doesn’t have an agenda, then I didn’t teach you very well.”
“He very well may have,” I reply calmly. “But that fight is for another day. Today, we deal with what’s in front of us, and for the time being, we can bring this to a halt once and for all. Petrov’s team found Sloane at the same time we did. He was looking into the kidnappings, too. The only reason he’d do that is to find out who did this and punish them. You saw his face when he found out about the illegal shipment. He’d never live with himself if he let Katiya’s kidnappers go free, knowing they were still at large.”
Aleksi may be many things, but a man without conviction isn’t one of them.
“So, we just give the Petrovs a free pass to take out a man that now belongs to me?”
I shake my head. “We want the same thing, brother.”
