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“Dead.”
Of course he’s dead. As soon as Kir made the connection, that he was the big rig driver in both ‘accidents,’ it was all over for him. We took him to one of our warehouses and used everything at our disposal to ‘encourage’ him to tell us who was paying him. When it became clear he was not going to rat, we put an end to his miserable life.
Actually, his life would have come to an end even if he did confess who was behind his actions, but because he remained so tightlipped—probably the result of threats against his family and such—Kir made sure his demise was a pretty fucking unpleasant one. My brother has always had a bit of a flair for the dramatic. He stuck a small but sharp stiletto knife into the side of the man’s neck, an injury severe enough to cause death, but not severe enough to make it happen quickly.
I don’t know how long it took for the man to bleed out. I didn’t stick around to watch.
Did he finally get revenge for the loss of his love, Clara? Not a chance.
ThePakhandrums his fingers on his desk. “Very well. I have heard you men make your case. It’s a solid one, I’ll give you that. But Dimitri will not be confronted. Not yet. He brings a lot of money into the faction, and I can’t ignore that.”
Fuck all. It comes down to money. It always does.
How much more does this fucker need? He could wipe his ass with gold toilet paper if he wanted.
But maybe there’s a method to his madness, as Papa used to say. I remember his words.
Be quiet and observe, boy. A man’s words don’t always mean what you think they do.
I repeat Papa’s appeal to myself, wanting to trust thePakhan. My brothers are not nearly as introspective, and brim with anger and frustration. They are offended at what they see as thePakhan’s dismissal of them, with Kir’s mouth turned into a thin line and Vadik’s eyes narrowed.
I’d be offended too, if I didn’t have a hunch the man isn’t saying everything that’s on his mind. Like thePakhan, I want to tell my brothers to be patient. Only they won’t listen to me, just like they won’t listen to him. They’re not ready.
ThePakhangets to his feet, signaling the end of the meeting. I’m eager for it to wrap up too. There’s nothing more to accomplish today except talking around each other in circles, which is not a good use of anyone’s time and is likely to push thePakhanover the edge. Pissing him off isnotmore likely to get him to do what we want, but itislikely to get our asses kicked out of his office, possibly permanently.
I am also very happy this meeting’s coming to a close because we had to leave Charleigh alone with thePakhan’s second—never a good option. I’ve seen how his piggy little eyes run over her body, and it sickens me. He will never touch her. He won’t even get close to her.
I race down the hall after thePakhan’sdismissal and finally burst into the room where they wait for us. Charleigh sits peacefully across the room, reading a book in her Kindle app. She looks relaxed and when we enter the room, her expression remains the same, like she’s neither happy nor unhappy to see us.
That’s what I miss. Charleigh’s face used to light up when she saw us. I haven’t seen her do that in way too long. If she gets her revenge against Dimitri, will her demeanor change?
Fuck, I hope so.
* * *
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Niko
“Looks like you warmed the old man up for us really well, baby,” Kir says with a twinkle in his eye. “You left him in a great mood.”
He knows better than to expect differently. Just like Vadik and I do. But he has to get a smart-assed remark out of his system.
Gazing out the car window, she shrugs while flicking the ends of her hair. “I suppose I did. The old fucker didn’t listen, though. No surprise there. He just wants Dimitri to give me a bunch of money and then send me on my way.” She turns toward my brothers and me, all seated in the back of our limo, and the hatred in her eyes hits me.
Have we lost our girl forever?
She continues with a vehemence. “He doesn’t care what Dimitri did to me. He doesn’t care at all, which means if the man wants to do it again he can, and even worse, he knows he can get away with it. He’s given carte blanche to all men to do whatever the hell they want to women, with the only consequence being writing them a check to shut them up.”
I don’t voice my suspicion that maybe thePakhanis not blowing us off quite the way Charleigh and everyone thinks. They won’t hear it right now, and I’m in no mood to argue, which would be the likely result.
Charleigh settles into her seat and shimmies her shoulders. “Hey. I pulled a knife on thePakhan’s second.”
My head whips in her direction at the same time as my brothers’.
Jesus, this woman.
“Charleigh, you’re starting to sound like your little sister, with how out of control you are,” Vadik says.
