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She’s across the room in an instant, her arms around his neck as Silvia sniffles. And the tender look that flits across my pakhan’s proud face reveals a flash of vulnerability before he collects himself.
He holds her close, his fingers combing through her long mahogany locks as he lets her hug him.
“It went well?” I ask, eager to know exactly what happened, though he wouldn’t want to tell me over an open phone line.
He glances down at Silvia, indicating it’s something he’ll talk about when she’s not present. “We taught Mikhail a lesson he won’t soon forget. He won’t be fucking with us anytime soon.”
Pulling back slightly, Silvia looks up at her husband. “What did you do?” she asks, her voice tinged with worry.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he assures her, cupping her chin and stealing a quick kiss. He must know it’s something she would disapprove of if he’s hedging.
I can understand that. Not everything we do is legal or moral, and Silvia is one of those ever-empathetic people that would do everything within her means to avoid violence. But when it comes to the Zhivoder, I have a bloodlust that I don’t often allow to rear its ugly head.
Silvia leans into Pyotr, and I focus my eyes on the middle distance as I give them a moment. But as soon as the kiss is broken, my eyes shift back to catch the worry that flits across her face.
“I trust you. I just fear that provoking Mikhail and cornering the Zhivoder might come back to haunt us. They’re dangerous, Pyotr,” she murmurs.
“So are we,” he states flatly. “I promise, you and Isla are safe. What I did, I did to ensure he knows that fucking with our family will only end badly. He won’t come after you again.”
Silvia nods, her eyes widening, but she doesn’t say another word about it.
“Did you girls have a nice weekend?” he asks, his tone softening.
She smiles. “We missed you. The estate’s not the same when you’re not there, and Isla kept asking when you planned to join us.”
A crooked smile tips my pakhan’s lips, his cutthroat brutality shifting to tender in an instant when it comes to his daughter. “Maybe we can all go back together soon.”
“I like that idea. But yes, we had a nice time.”
“Good. Is Isla sleeping then?” He glances toward the door.
Silvia nods. “I’ll bring her in to say hi as soon as she wakes from her nap.”
Pyotr presses a kiss on Silvia’s forehead. “I’m glad you’re home safe.”
Silvia leaves a moment later, pausing to give both Val and me a gentle smile. “I’m glad you’re back on your feet, Val. It brings me immense relief to have you both by my husband’s side.” Then she slips from the room, closing the door behind her so Pyotr can speak with us privately.
“The club?” I ask after several moments of silence.
“Blown away,” Pyotr says, his steel eyes glinting as he confirms the success. “Eye for an eye. My mother was right—it’s the only right answer to an enemy Bratva moving in on our territory. I love Silvia, but she’s too soft, too gentle for this world. We’ve put this off for far too long, and Mikhail’s been walking all over us because of it.”
I remain silent. It’s not my place to say one way or the other. But when it comes to Zhivoder blood, I’m off the mind that the more we paint the pavement with it, the better.
“We managed to take down the whole building, so that’s one of his best trafficking auction houses gone. And we took at least twenty of his men down with it. You should have seen Gleb. The guy’s a fucking artist with a knife.”
Forcing down the mild wave of jealousy over Pyotr’s pretty-boy captain getting to spill some Zhivoder blood while I had to stay behind, I turn my thoughts to more important matters. “Any civilian casualties?”
Pyotr shrugs. “No war is without casualties. But we tried to limit the fallout.”
I give a curt nod. “What’s our next move?”
“Watch Mikhail squirm. He was supposed to host a private event there this weekend. VIP. Only his best clients. Now he’ll have to take them to that back alley, slimy club Kaleidoscope if he wants to hold an auction, and you can bet he’ll lose some top customers over that.” Pyotr sneers. “I’m debating if we should try and target another one of his transports now that his numbers are down. But I hate draining Gleb’s resources more when he still hasn’t found our girls.”
My stomach knots as I think of the seven strippers that were taken at gunpoint from Satine nearly a month ago now. Gleb still hasn’t found them, which means Mikhail’s either doing a magic act to hide them, or they’re already dead.
“They weren’t at the club?” I ask, my gut wrenching as I think about the possibility.
“Not anywhere we could find. And we looked before we blew the place sky high.”
