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She hated herself for asking the question, for being weak enough to care about the answer.
Angel considered her words. “It’s the way he looks at you. It’s the same way Nico looks at me. Still. After all this time.”
Kira was still thinking about the words when Angel melted back into the noisy crowd.
31
They walked down the long driveway, two bodyguards at their back. Lyon didn’t know if they worked for Nico or Ronan, but his money was on Nico. For all his easy grace, he wasn’t a careless man. Lyon knew this about him already, saw it in the way he watched his wife and daughter even inside the house, the way he clocked the doors and windows, the way he moved through rooms like a panther looking for prey.
Although the average person wouldn’t even know his name, Nico Vitale was one of the most powerful men in the world. Lyon doubted he went anywhere without protection, especially when he was with his family.
The snow crunched under their footsteps, the wind whistling through the branches of the trees overhead.
Lyon waited. He wasn’t a peasant seeking an audience with the king. He was a ruler in his own right, under threat and in conflict, but still the leader of the Chicago bratva, one of the most important cells in the country, in the world.
“You have your hands full,” Nico finally said.
Lyon stuffed his hands in the pockets of his coat. “You might say that.”
“Shapiev took a shot at you,” Ronan said.
Lyon wasn’t surprised they’d heard. “He did.”
“Lucky you got out alive,” Ronan said.
“Not luck,” Lyon said.
“Your reputation precedes you,” Nico acknowledged. “I was pleased to hear of your promotion to pakhan. And yet, it seems your organization is still destabilized.”
“I’m working out the kinks,” Lyon said smoothly. “They’re not unexpected.”
He was referring to Nico’s difficulties with the Syndicate without naming them.
“Fair enough,” Nico said. “And how do you see the Syndicate playing into your organization?”
“I’ll save the specifics for a later date,” Lyon said. “Suffice it to say, I hold you in great regard. Your reorganization of the Syndicate is a model for organized crime in the twenty-first century. Part of that, as you’ve indicated in some of your territories, is more cooperation between rival organizations.”
Nico stared at the road ahead of them. “It’s still a fairly new initiative, but we’re pleased with the results so far.”
“I’d like to discuss it in more detail once things have settled down in our organization,” Lyon said. “If you’d be amenable.”
Nico stopped walking and turned to face him. The other man’s eyes had looked brown in the shadows on the pathway, but in the sun, they almost glowed yellow.
“We would be,” Nico said. “What can we do for you in the meantime?”
“Have you heard anything?” Lyon asked. “About Shapiev? About anything that might… illuminate my position?”
Ronan glanced at Nico as if for permission. Nico nodded.
“Nothing on Shapiev,” Ronan said. “But some of the men are hearing buzz about Moscow.”
Lyon forced his expression to remain blank. “I’m aware. I’m working on more information on that front.”
“Any idea why they’d be looking to get you out?” Ronan asked.
Lyon shook his head. “Not a clue, but I think we both know there are a finite number of possible reasons.”
The most obvious being a desire to install someone else, a leader of their choosing. That leader may or may not be disposed to working with other organizations, but probably not.
