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“Right down to business, I can appreciate that. Yes, I’d like a measure of Bourbon, and Oleg will take the same in Vodka.” Kaz was already making the drinks and carrying them over on a tray. They nodded again, and then, once I had my glass in hand, we saluted and downed our first round.
“Well, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let’s get down to business. You requested this meeting, Atwater, and I’d like to know why.”
“Very well, to save time since all of ours is valuable, I will give you the short version of what I’ve learned. A few months ago, Marco Santoro beseeched me to accept a job to locate and bring his daughter home to him, who had left their family home in Italy without a word about her whereabouts. But, unfortunately, he was duplicitous from the start, and it did not take my team long to uncover the truth he was hiding.”
“Which was?” he questioned.
“Marco issued a contract hit on his daughter. She had something he wanted, and he figured he would use my resources to locate her, and once I did, he would send the mercenary toher location and kill her and take back what she had taken from him.”
“I see. Was Santoro successful?”
“No, he wasn’t. I stopped the contract from going wide. Lucas discovered his father’s deception, took matters into his own hands, and eliminated the threat.”
“Hmm, by killing his father, yes?”
“Yes, he did.”
“A mercy killing to hold onto his honor and to save face for the family he leads, a wise move and a necessary one. It’s a fitting end to his life, but I never had any dealings with the Italians, nor do I wish to start. So, I will ask you again, and then I will be taking my leave. Why am I here? And what does any of this have to do with me?”
“A past connection to your family is why you are here. Pavlo Shirmanov,” I said as Kaz handed me another drink. I took a sip, needing to feel the burn of the scotch.
“He’s like a bad penny that keeps showing up when you least expect it. Okay, tell me more.”
“Marco was undermining Lucas's efforts to legitimize their business interests and pledged allegiance to the Shirmanov family using Andreas as a liaison, but he was just as dirty and was planning to remove Pavlo from the throne. Unfortunate circumstances interrupted his plan when Andreas died, and Marco had to alter his original intention and strengthen his family with what he had already taken from Shirmanov. It would be years later before another decided to plan a coup, a man of great power and wealth. Your father, Alaric Vasiliev.”
“Atwater, I’m not a man who has time to sit around and chat about the dead. Yes, my father was also duplicitous and caused much pain before he met his end. But, unlike Lucas Santoro, I did not get the pleasure of ending his life; a heart attack did it for me. His secret reign of terror died along with him, just as Pavloand Andreas before him. And the cherry on top is Marco joining all of them in hell. So may I ask you a question, Atwater?”
“Yes, of course.”
“What happened to the girl?”
“She’s alive and under my protection,” I answered. Sabina was mine and will be for the rest of her life.
“Hmm, I think it’s a little more than that, don’t you agree, Oleg? Where have you seen that look before?” he said, addressing his man in Russian, but I understood what he said.“He’s a man in love.”
“I am,” I said in return, making Valentin nod in understanding. “Now to the matter at hand. I’ve researched you as I’m sure you have done on me. I know your role regarding the Bratva and its remaining families under your rule. It’s a new time, and that’s due to you and the way you run the families. Uncovering Marco’s sins led me to this discovery. I have four flash drives containing business transactions, names of powerful politicians, and the most unscrupulous underworld dealings that I thought you might be interested in knowing about.”
“Name your price; this is a negotiation, is it not?”
“It is, but not for money.”
“What then? I’m growing tired of the back and forth. Spit it out, now!”
“Clemency for Lucas Santoro,” I voiced the four words that turned my stomach. It’s not what I wanted, but I’ll do it for Sabina.
“As I’ve stated already, I have no association with the Italian mob boss, so why does his life need to be spared?”
“By association. Unbeknownst to Lucas, his father set all of this in motion. The sins of the father now belonged to his son. He is the brother of the woman I love, and she wants no further bloodshed.”
“I understand all too well about the ‘sins of the father,’ but here’s something you may not know about me,” he paused and looked crestfallen for a moment and then said, “I do not punish the innocent for someone else’s mistakes. However, please do not mistake me for believing Lucas Santoro is innocent and his hands are clean because I’m sure they are not. You are correct about my due diligence; I would not have met you here tonight if I didn’t know what this meeting was about. I’ve known about Marco Santoro for quite some time and was not surprised when I heard of his downfall. It was just a matter of time, but it was not my call to make. If the Italian had crossed over into my business, then Oleg here would have ended him much sooner than his son.”
“The information on those drives is unimportant to me, and as for Yuri Petrov, who now runs the Shirmanov family, it’s even less relevant since he follows my orders and reigns under my rule.”
“Very well; I believe our meeting has concluded.” I got up to shake his hand, and he accepted mine without hesitation but didn’t release it immediately. Instead, he held it, looked into my eyes, and stated, “I’d like to meet her.” His request stunned me, but something inside me told me it would be okay. I gestured to Kaz, and she called up to Edric. A minute later, he was descending the staircase with Sabina following.
Her beauty takes my breath away with her long brown hair down her back, chocolate eyes, and skin that glows. She is my queen.
She walked straight to me, and I took her into my arms, placing her by my side with a tight hold on her waist. It was a protective move, but I was still unsure why Valentin requested to meet her. He approached my Principessa and looked to me for permission to touch my woman. No doubt he’d kill whoever dared to touch his wife. I agreed by nodding and felt Sabinatremble as she accepted his offered hand. He held her hand and leaned close to whisper a phrase in Russian.“Another fragile dove with clipped wings begging to fly and to be free.”
