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They’ve got a son, Damien, who’s the same age as Ilya’s son Asher and my niece Luna. Misha’s trademark cocky grin widens and he laughs.
“I mean, we’re practicing a lot…”
I chuckle as Ilya rolls his eyes.
“And yeah, maybe one day. But two at the same time? Sounds like a goddamn nightmare.” He arches a brow at me. “How about you, King Tsarenko. When are you going to settle down with some nice or not-so-nice girl and sow your seed?”
I make a face. Misha chuckles. “What about you, Korol? Any babies on the way?”
“Better fuckin’ not be,” Korol mutters, his face paling a little.
Misha roars with laughter before he sighs heavily, raising his eyes back to me. “As much as I’m loving this conversation, you probably want to talk business.”
“I want both,” I shrug. “Which is why I have business meetings in a bathhouse.”
“You might be on to something,” Ilya smirks.
Misha clears his throat as he sprawls back against the heated tile wall, a heavy cloud of steam swirling around his grooved, inked muscles.
“So… I talked to Kristoff last night about your concerns with Anastasia Javanovic. They’re not close or anything, but he knows her slightly, and he knew her father as well. According to Kristoff, there’s not a lot of love lost between the Javanovic and Diduch families. Some bad blood from way back or something, I guess. When he was still running the Diduch family, Olek Domitrovich heavily lobbied against Anastasia’s father, Branko, joining the High Council at all. His nephew voting in favor of Ana joining once she was running things apparently came out of left field.”
My brow furrows. “Are either of you aware of any dealings between Diduch and Javanovic?”
“Nope.” Ilya shakes his head. I know for a fact that his uncle Yuri takesmeticulousnote of who in our world does business with whom. So if Ilya says no, it’s probably accurate.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Misha says. “I’ve occasionally done some clandestine stuff to stay off Yuri’s radar,” he grins a lopsided grin at Ilya. “No offense.”
“None taken. He knows about those ‘clandestine’ deals anyway, for what it’s worth.”
Misha scowls. “Really?”
“Really.”
I suck on my teeth, eager to steer the subject back to the Javanovic question. “So why the fuck is Anastasia siding with a family she doesn’t do business with, and even has a bad family history with?”
Misha shrugs. “Maybe they’re fucking.”
I make a face. “Doubt it. Ana’s a badass. Abram’s a—”
“Whiny little douchebag?” Ilya breaks in. “Yeah, I don’t see that either. Could be she’s in bed with Demyan Ozerov? Literally or otherwise?”
I shake my head. “Also seriously doubtful.”
“Still,” Ilya frowns. “I’ll have some of our top spies tail them both for a while, see if there’s any overlap. I doubt it too, but can’t think what else would make sense.”
“I’ll ask Kristoff to reach out to Anastasia. Nothing overt or obvious, of course. But just to see if he can pry anything out of her,” Misha adds.
* * *
The bathhouse meetingwas very early. But I’ve got a few other things to tie up still, so I end up calling Rachel at the office to have her tell Eilish to come in later.
The evil part of me loves the idea of Eilish just sitting in my office for a few hours waiting for me, wondering what the fuck she’s supposed to do and why she’s there wasting her time.
But the careful motherfucker in me who’s made it through a few years as a Bratva kingwithoutgetting assassinated thinks of her sitting alone in my office for a few hours andransacking itjust to stick it to me. No. Too risky.
With that scheduling change taken care of, Korol and I step into Crudo, the Michelin-rated Italian place in midtown that I own. For the next hour, I preside over four different rapid-fire meetings with a few of my topavtoritetson random issues. Then it’s a slightly more leisurely meeting with Jayden Robinson, head of the Jamaican mafia, with whom I’ve recently begun doing some business.
One, because I like doing business with him, and it’s profitable. But also perhaps more importantly two, because I know Jayden and I working together pisses the absolutefuckout of Hades Drakos and the rest of his family—which means it probably pisses off the Kildares, too.
