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“You don’t wantto do this.”
Gavan smiles coolly. “Wanthas very little to do with it. You’ve chosen a path against me, Hades, simple as that. All of you have.”
Ares licks his lips, trying to remain calm. “Gavan, you need to listen—”
“I outgun you three-to-one, and that’s before the twenty other men I have upstairs. So, no, Ares,” he rasps coldly, “I don’tneedto do a goddamn thing. Lower your guns. All of you.”
I glance at my brothers and Castle. Ares gives a quick nod of his chin.
There’s no reason to have a shootout right now and go down in a hail of Russian bullets.
The four of us lower our weapons to the floor.
Gavan smiles again. “Yes, I thank you for so conveniently leading me to you and walking into a hole in the earth without any other men with you. You’ve made erasing your empire from the face of the fucking planetsomuch easier for me.”
His eyes narrow as he raises his gun.
“For that, I’ll be quick with the rest of your family—”
“Stop! We’re being fuckingplayed, Gavan!” I snarl. “Look.”
I gesture behind me, to the gaping hole in the wall. Gavan frowns, turning and nodding at one of his men. The guy steps forward, shining his phone flashlight into the darkness.
The Reznikov leader’s brow furrows.
“The fuck is this?”
“A Revolutionary War era weapons cache, along with the remains of the men who were guarding it.”
He stiffens.
“It means this whole fucking garage is a historical preservation site, and Serj is fully aware of that.”
Tsarenko’s lips curl dangerously.
“He’s fucking playing all of us, Gavan. And the deal is just the beginning. Here.”
I reach for my pocket.
Twelve Russian fingers suddenly getrealtense.
“It’s myphone,” I growl, leveling my gaze at Gavan. “There’s something you need to see.”
He eyes me suspiciously. Then he nods.
“Slowly.”
I slip the phone out of my back pocket, unlock it, and hand it to him.
“It’s the most recent video in my camera roll. Make sure the volume is up.”
Gavan’s face is impassive as he plucks the phone from my hand and clicks on my camera reel. Suddenly, the sound of Leo and Serj speaking in Russian fills the dirt room.
…And Gavan’s whole expression turnslivid.
I see the rage and the realization of the betrayal creep over him as he watches the video in its entirety, twice. Then a third time.
His eyes raise to mine as he hands me my phone back.
