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“It’s a start. I’m gonna need more.” I throw a handful of fancy bar nuts into my mouth. “A lot more.”
Yulian stands up and reaches behind the bar to grab the full bottle of Macallan M. The bartender frowns and opens his mouth to contest, but one look from Yulian and he backs the fuck up. Neck tattoos always send a certain message.
“Well, aren’t we two sacks of useless shit.” Yulian huffs, a smile building. “You more than me.”
An unexpected laugh bursts from my chest. “I deserved that.” I throw back the last of the whisky, the burn igniting my throat, and lower the glass onto the bar with a satisfying thud.
Yulian grunts and tops off my glass before raising his own to his lips.
I snatch up my drink, eyes fixed on the liquid in my glass. “You still planning on killing me?”
He smirks. “Nah, I figured I’d let Alyona have the honor. At least give her first dibs.”
I find myself grinning, although I’m not entirely convinced he’s kidding.
He tilts his head. “When did it start?”
I need another gulp of whisky before we go down that road. This is the bombshell. “The summer you and Andrei were in Russia training. But if I’m going to be honest, it started long before that. Or at least my feelings did.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me? Either one of you.” He shakes his head, his lip curling in annoyance. “If it was real between you two, I deserved to know, didn’t I?”
I run an agitated hand through my hair. “We planned to tell you, but I fucked it up before we could.”
“Fucked up how?” His eyebrows lower, and if I’m not careful, I’m quite sure he’ll take a swing at me.
All the air leaves my lungs in a rush. “You deserve to know the truth—all of you do—but Aly deserves it first.” I just hope I get the chance to tell her everything, explain myself, that it’s not too late for us.
Yulian drags a knuckle over his jaw, studying me as if for the first time. “I never knew you were so adept at keeping secrets, bratan.”
“It’s nothing I’m proud of.” I shrug, running a finger over the scar in my chin. “How should we play this? I know Andrei is all for diplomatic maneuvering, but I say when we have a location, we go in with an army, guns blazing.”
Yulian snorts into his drink. “There are times to be aggressive, but this is not one of those times. This is about being smart.”
I close my eyes for a brief moment, tension gathering in the base of my neck. “I’ll behave. As long as thatsvolochhasn’t hurt her or Kira, I’ll be on my best behavior. But if he has, if one hair on either of their heads is out of place, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”
Yulian slams back the rest of his drink, his face lined with tension. “Me neither,bratan. Me neither.”
* * *
I don’t knowwhat time we make it back upstairs to the suite, but we’re in rough fucking shape. I needed this though. A little booze to soften the edges. As soon as we walk into the room, we’re met with a hive of activity. Both Andrei and Daniil are talking loudly into their phones, each of them pacing.
Something has changed.
Andrei finishes his call and approaches Yulian and I, both a little worse for wear.
“Looks like you motherfuckers are back just in time. Grab a coffee and shower, you’ll need to sober up.”
“What’s going on?” I bark.
“We have a location for Belov. He owns a secret estate on the Black Sea coast.”
I spring into motion, but Daniil stops me with a hand to my chest. “Where are you rushing off to?”
“Where do you think? We have a location on Belov.”
“Not so fast. First off, you smell like a distillery.” His eyes flick to Yulian. “You too. And second, we have to do this right. Which means coming up with a plan.”
Yulian is practically vibrating with impatience. “We can develop a plan en route. Let’s move.”
