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Chapter 2 - Evgenii
I drive through the gates of Ivan’s property after the guards confirm who I am. It’s getting late, and I know that as the sun sets, Tori will want to put Roman down, and I hope I can see him before she does. I walk into the house and to Ivan’s office, where I see Tori ahead of me with Roman in her arms. I can’t help the little smile on my face. My little Romy is everything to me—an heir to the greatest family in the world. Tori doesn’t notice me, so I stand at the door watching her take the little tyke to his father.
“Time to say goodnight Papa,” she says as Ivan sits back and reaches for his toddler.
“Goodnight, baby boy,” Ivan says, kissing Roman’s cheek and making him giggle. He then sets Roman on his lap and starts tickling him.
“Don’t get him excited!” Tori groans though she’s smiling. “I just bathed him so he’d calm down.”
“Sorry, sorry,” Ivan says though he doesn’t sound it. He rocks Roman for a moment before he glances at me, making Tori turn to look at me. “Hi, Evgenii.”
I don’t hold back my broad smile. Since we rescued Ivan, Tori and I have become fast friends. We’re both fiercely loyal to him. Even the Sorvinos accept that of her, and we both adore Roman, who I approach. “Hi, Tori. Romy, come here.” I walk in, and Roman holds his arms out to me. Ivan gives him another kiss before depositing him in my arms. “Hello, little king.”
Roman coos in my arms, and I kiss his forehead. “Go sleep nicely for mama, don’t give her grief. Maybe tomorrow we’ll play.”
I doubt he understands me, he’s just over a year old, but I hand him back to Tori, and she smiles.
“How are you, Evgenii?” she asks, cradling Roman.
“Always great when I see my favorite cousins,” I chuckle, kissing her cheek. “We should have lunch together tomorrow. We can take Roman to the park.”
“Text me to arrange it,” she says. “I’ll be with Roman if anyone needs me.” She kisses Ivan softly and then leaves.
“Drink?” Ivan asks as he stands up.
I move out of his way, stepping toward the bookcase that lined the impressive room. “Please, a nightcap while we discuss business.”
“Tori would complain that we only ever talk business,” he chuckles. Both our beards and hair are streaked with silver, mine more than his, and it reminds me how old we’re getting in the grand scheme of things. I push the thought out of my mind, reasoning that I can still get twenty-somethings out on a date.
I study the titles on his bookshelf for a moment before I respond. “She’s a fine one to talk. She’s always working.”
“Not always,” Ivan walks over and hands me a drink. “Come, I have the documents in my desk drawer.”
We both move back to his desk, and I sit in front of it in one of the winged armchairs. He opens the center drawer, takes out a manila folder, and hands it to me.
“What has Don Ettore asked for Staten Island?” Ivan asks as he sits back in his chair with his drink, sipping it but keeping his eyes on me.
“It’s simple enough. Each of the families can put in their bid for the family business, its members, and its territory. Don Ettore will agree to the best offer. There’s potential for fighting amongst the families over this one. He doesn’t want bloodshed or war, it’s too costly both in money and lives, but I don’t know, Ivan.” I open the folder and look at what we have to offer the Pacheco family. “Thanks for this. I can work on our proposal now. But as I said, it might be easier to take it by force.” I glance up. “There are very few families who can match our power and reach. We would find little opposition.”
“No, that will definitely cause war.” Ivan sits up again. “We’d be spitting in Alessandro’s and Miguel’s faces, for one thing, and other families will take it as a threat and go on the attack or even unite against us. That’s the last thing we want. We will adhere to the terms and prepare the best bid. Our best way forward is to infiltrate the biggest threats in terms of bids, find out what they are bidding, and outdo them. We don’t have to start a war, but we don’t have to play fair, either. I doubt anyone else will.”
I flip to the last page in the folder, which is a recent photo of a woman coming off a plane. I instantly recognize Shirley and raise an eyebrow. She was my girlfriend six years ago, and I haven’t seen her since we broke up. Not even at Sorvino and Volkov combined family events. As far as I know, she was working on the West Coast operations for Alessandro.
“She’s negotiating the Sorvino bid,” Ivan sips his drink. I can feel his eyes trained on me, and I do my best to keep my expression neutral.
“That’s one person I won’t have to worry about,” I’m overly confident about it, and Ivan instantly shakes his head.
“She’s a hard ass now. She’s not that naive, twenty-one-year-old girl you slept around with back then.”
Our eyes meet, and I sip my drink. “I know. She looks very serious.” I’m trying to break the tension with humor, but I can see my Pakhan is not impressed with me.
“I’m not joking, Evgenii,” Ivan’s tone drops. “You took advantage of her and got us information about the Sorvinos when we were enemies. She has a reason to approach this hard, especially when she learns you’re handling our bid. She’s going to want revenge, and seeing you fail to outbid her is exactly the sort of thing she’ll be after. I need you to keep her in mind and your emotions out of this.”
“I know Ivan, relax,” I finish my drink and set the glass down. “I can handle this. She’s still young. I can use that to my advantage. Just because she learned some things the hard way doesn’t mean she has experience in all areas. I’m twenty years her senior. I can definitely still manipulate her.”
Ivan shakes his head and sighs. “Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. Don’t mess this up.”
“I never do,” I grin.
