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“I must be in the minority,” Lana Ilyin said. She was younger than the other women, daughter of Nikolai, one of the leaders of the Spies. They were supposed to remain neutral during internal power struggles, but Kira knew that was rarely the case. Ivan Demonok had helped Lyonya in his negotiations with Kira’s father, although Lyonya didn’t know Kira knew that. “I don’t find my father the least bit amusing.”
Kira had a hunch Lana thought a lot was boring. Young and visible on social media, she spent her time at expensive clubs and boutiques, taking selfies with supermodels and trust fund babies.
In some ways this made Kira feel like she knew Lana less than the others. Nothing on social media was real. On the other hand, the very fact of Lana’s visibility told Kira much of what she needed to know.
“That’s because you’re his daughter,” Nadia said. “I’m sure our children think we’re as boring as stale bread, while I think we’re rather fun.”
The women laughed, all but Aksana, whose mouth barely lifted in a smile.
As expected, she was going to be the biggest challenge of all. Kira turned her mind loose on the problem and focused her conversation on Nadia.
“Boring isn’t always bad,” she said. “There’s something to be said for common sense.”
Nadia’s face lit up. “Yes!”
“Not much of that anymore,” Aksana said haughtily.
And there it was. The opportunity Kira had been waiting for.
She nodded. “Lyonya and I often speak of the need to balance innovation with tradition. Tradition is what got us here, but without innovation, we can’t remain relevant, and if we don’t remain relevant, our traditions die. Change is inevitable. Better to try and channel it in our direction than let it happen without us.”
“I agree with you,” Annie said next to her. “A balance of the two is the best way to ensure we continue to thrive.”
“I tend to tradition,” Kira said. It wasn’t entirely true, but she said it for Aksana’s sake. Plus, it was a good segue into her next line of attack. She looked at Lana. “I think I need to hire you to teach me about social media. I’m abysmal at it.”
Lana’s face lit up. “It’s so easy! Just post about your everyday life. People like that.”
“But what if my everyday life is boring?” Kira asked with a laugh.
“You’re married to the Lion.” There was a twinkle in Lana’s eyes now. “Your life can’t be boring.”
The mention of his name conjured his face, his smell, his cock grinding against her sex.
Her face warmed and she forced herself to focus. “I don’t think he would appreciate me documenting our private lives.” She let the moment sit for a few seconds. “Actually, one of the things we’ve been discussing is a charitable foundation. Something with some visibility in the community. I wonder if that’s something you’d be interested in spearheading?”
She could tell from the brightness in Lana’s eyes that she’d said the magic word: visibility.
Except none of it was true. Kira hadn’t talked to Lyon about the balance between tradition and innovation, and they certainly hadn’t discussed a charitable foundation, but that was another problem for another time.
Lyon would come on board with these small concessions if it meant winning the support of the holdouts.
She hoped.
“I would definitely be interested,” Lana said. “I have loads of friends who would contribute to worthy causes.”
“I’ll mention it to Lyon.” It felt strange to use the shortened version of his name. Everyone else used it as a matter of course, but Kira had decided from the beginning that she would call him Lyonya as a way to maintain some professional distance between them. Of course, that was before she’d started fantasizing about the man, before he’d spoken about driving his cock into her. “You’d be perfect for that kind of initiative.”
Lana beamed. Check.
Aksana. Probably a check, if her line about tradition had worked.
Annie. Check.
It wasn’t finished. The women would have to work the men in their lives. Lana would mention how important a charitable foundation could be to the leading families of the bratva, buying goodwill and favors from a host of important people. Aksana would have to convince her husband that Lyon would honor their traditions in the midst of inevitable change. Annie would tell her brother Borya that Kira had mentioned him as a candidate for the Spies.
That was three out of four of the women seated at the table.
Would it work? She didn’t know, but it was a good opening strategy. She would watch the board, see what possibilities presented themselves as the game wore on.
She turned her attention to Nadia.
