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“Do I look like a fucking Oracle, Nik?” I snap, waving a wad of cash in front of him. “But this money is here for a reason. Either Dad collected it for a job he did, or it’s payment for a job to be done.”
“You think Boris is in on it?”
“He might be. He told me I had to marry Natasha as soon as possible. That’s gotta mean something.” I sit back against the wall behind the desk, my shoulders slumping with a deep sigh. “And if you leak a single goddamn word of any of this to Taras, I will pull your lips through your asshole, got it?”
“I really don’t want you anywhere near my asshole, thank you very much.” Nikolai rolls his eyes. “But we can’t keep this from the rest of the family forever. We need to figure it out fast.”
“I still need to smoke out Ivan Resnov,” I say. “Find out what he knows, what he’s got planned. We have no guarantee that he’s not working with Dmitri and Denis on a takedown, even if it wasn’t written on this paper. Just because there’s no evidence of a plan doesn’t mean there isn’t one unfolding. Maybe Natasha has a part to play in it. That’s why Ivan hasn’t tried to take her away yet.”
“What could he have to gain by leaving her with you?”
“I don’t know. But I have a bad feeling I won’t find out until we’re hitched. Wait a minute…” A lightbulb goes on in my mind. “That could be it.”
“What do you mean?”
“What we did — kidnapping Natasha and parading her around with Dima as an engagement announcement — it was the ultimate humiliation of Resnov, or so we thought. If he wants to take over our organization, he’d do it the same way. Complete decimation before the victory.”
“You think he wants money?”
“He’s a greedy fuck, so yeah. But more than that? He wants revenge. He was out for blood when he came to me years ago for that weapons sale that landed me in jail. He tried to shut us down because he wants to control the arms business. He wasn’t ready for us to attack him. And in the eyes of the state, as a married woman, Natasha would still be entitled to fifty percent of the assets. Resnov doesn’t need our money. He needs our pipeline, our contacts. With her on the inside, he can get to it. And with me dead, there’s nobody standing in his way.”
“Okay, so if you’re right, then how do we lure his ass out so we can smoke him?”
I shove the papers and the cash box back into the safe before slamming the door closed. I replace the drawer in the desk to hide the safe and rise to my feet, the list of names clenched between my fingers.
“I’m gonna let her call her mother. She’s been wanting to talk to her since the night I took her, and I haven’t let it happen. But now that she’s about to get married, I think it’s time. And I’m sure her mother will let Ivan in on the good news.”
“You think he’d try to take you out on your wedding day?”
“There’s only one way to find out for sure.”
“And sticking your head in the guillotine is a smart move?”
“There’s no way that blade is ever gonna come down, Nik.”
“You said Boris told you to marry her as soon as possible.” Nikolai’s forehead creases. “Isn’t that too coincidental? Could he be working with Resnov? Everyone has a price.”
“Boris would never betray us.”
“You say that now, but you know damn well you can’t trust anyone.”
“Boris and I understand each other.” I stuff the paper into my back pocket as I walk to the office door. I turn the knob to open it and step into the hallway. “Dad trusted him. Besides, he’s the only one we can ask about this Brotherhood.”
“If he’s part of it, why not just tell you about it? Why send you on a wild goose chase with safe combinations and cryptic messages?”
He has a good point, but right now, Boris is the only lead we have. If I want answers, I have no choice but to trust that he’s not trying to fuck us. “I don’t know. But we’re gonna find out.”
I pull out my phone and dial Boris’s number. “There’s a reason why Natasha is on that list, and a reason why Boris is telling me to marry her fast.”
The line rings once…twice…three times.
Then, voicemail. I leave a message and stab the End Call button before sticking the phone back into my pocket.
I look up to see Taras standing a few feet away with malice in his gaze. “So you’re talking to Boris Vetrov and not your own family?” he seethes. “Why? Does he know something about Val and the whole takedown plot that you don’t want to admit to? What do you know that you’re trying to hide from us?”
“Why are you always bitching about the way things are handled, but you never seem to want to jump in to help? Always afraid to get your designer clothes dirty, right, Taras?” I push past him to get back to the kitchen.
“Why should I clean up someone else’s messes? That’s not my job.”
