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Ilya laughs. “Then I better stay on your good side, hm?” He slides the contract back to me. “Here’s to our prosperous future endeavors.”
We shake hands and seal the deal. Today is shaping up to be a very good day.
“Would you like to stay for dessert?” Ilya asks me with the air and casualty of a decade-long friendship.
“Thank you, but no. I have other business to attend to.”
“I understand. Maybe some other time.”
My protection detail follows me closely as I make my way to the car parked at the curb. Already seated in the back is my mother. Catherina is dressed in a white pant suit, a string of expensive pearls decorating her slender neck. I frown when I see her.
“I told you I wanted to go alone,” I grumble.
“You know I would have found a way to see him some other way. We might as well carpool.”
Despite my irritation, I get into the back of the vehicle. The second the door is shut, my driver speeds off. I have one last thing on my docket today before I can finally return home from work.
“Has he said anything?” Catherina asks.
“He’s being vague on purpose. All I know is Lev is somewhere in Siberia.”
Catherina huffs, checking for dirt beneath her nails. There is none. I don’t think the woman has ever had to work with her hands in her entire life. “We’re going to have to narrow this down. Siberia spans thousands of kilometers. What did you trade for that little bit of information?”
“Blankets,” I say. “And a warm meal once a day. Dimitri threw in a pillow to try and get into his good graces.”
My mother shifts in her seat, immediately prickly. “And what is he asking for now?”
“A space heater. It’s cold down in The Pit.”
“Hm,” is all she says, her lips pressed into a thin, wrinkly line.
We arrive at our destination not twenty minutes later. It’s practically unrecognizable since I took over. Gone are the hangars, replaced with a large concrete warehouse. The warehouse itself is empty and grey. Unassuming. Exactly how I asked it to be designed. I wanted to make sure people wouldn’t bat an eye when they saw this forsaken place, because in actuality, it’s designed to be an inescapable prison.
A prison for one.
We take the newly installed elevator all the way down to the basement floor. There are no more precariously exposed dirt walls, no rickety stairs. It’s a proper establishment, complete with tile floors, running water, and working electricity. I may be the head of the Bratva, but I refuse to stoop to my uncle’s level. He may be my captive, but I won’t treat him like a dog.
Unless he continues to anger me.
Catherina and I step into the room. A thick plane of glass bisects it, separating visitors from the lone person on the other side. I find Dimitri seated in a comfortable wooden chair facing the glass, watching as Konstantin paces back and forth.
My younger brother lets out a sigh of relief when he sees me.
“ThankGod,” he says. “About time you showed up. He’s been rambling on and on about his old war stories. I don’tcare, old man.”
Konstantin snivels. “You kids these days have no respect.”
“Has he told you anything important?” I ask my brother.
Dimitri shakes his head. “No. Just more of his nonsense. Every time I try to ask a question, he finds a way to talk in circles. It’s mind numbing.”
“Go ahead and take off,” I tell him. “I’ll take care of this.”
He pats me on the shoulder. “If you say so.”
I step toward the glass and inspect my uncle. He’s lost some weight, but it’s not so extreme that it’s a worry. I ensure the guards give him three square meals a day. Granted, they’re not exactly Michelin star worthy, but they’re nutritionally balanced. He’s dressed in a simple white shirt and pair of linen pants. No shoes. His cell is relatively bare, save for the mattress and built-in toilet, shower, and sink.
“I see you have what I asked for,” Konstantin says, glancing down at the object in my hand.
