I freeze—she can’t mean it. I don’t even know where her children are. Is she intending to tell me? “You hid them when you learned I was coming. I cannot protect them.” And even if I could—would I risk it? Any children of hers are grandchildren of the Snake. What would he do if he knew they existed? Would he take them and use them against her? Would he raise them to be just like him? “Unless you want to tell me where they are.”
“No. If I am not safe from your men, how would they be?” Her eyes find mine, and she rises, crossing the freezing terrace and stopping before me. “There is only one place they are safe, and that is with me.”
“You’ve given me no reason to trust you. No reason to assure your life after this is complete.”
“Ifit’s complete. Have you considered that at the end of this little revenge quest, my father might kill you and all of your men and come out on top? He’s done it before. You need me more than you want to admit. But trust goes both ways,molodoy volk.If you want my word, I need yours.”
“If at the end of this, your father is dead,” I tell her, blood running cold, “you go free.”
Her eyes widen. “That is impossible.”
“It’s not. And if anyone is capable of ending Viktor Desyatov, it’s his daughter.”
“You’re a bastard,” she whispers, and that sliver of fear in her eyes becomes all-consuming. “He will destroy me.” We’re toe to toe, but she suddenly steps back, looking at me with new eyes. “Or perhaps that’s what you want. Too much of a coward to kill me yourself, or else too weak, or too sentimental. But you’ll let him do it, won’t you? Or Sacha? Or any one of your men? That’s the real reason you won’t guarantee my protection, isn’t it? You can’t.”
“I’m giving you all the tools you need.”
“You are giving me a suicide mission. I agreed to help find his cache, his hiding places, his accounts—but tokillhim? That is to kill me too.” She shakes her head, and without another word, stalks out of the terrace and back into the snow.
* * *
She works in total silence.
Her fingers fly over the keys, feeding endless blocks of senseless green text into a black screen. Her face is a mask—cold, composed, almost blank—but for her eyes, moving liquid and keen to follow the continuous code.
Every once in a while she consults the adjacent monitor, where Gregor’s hard drive is hooked up, revealing a surprisingly long list of possible locations.
All the while, her words echo through my skull:Have you considered that at the end of this little revenge quest, my father might kill you and all of your men and come out on top?
Honestly—I hadn’t. Not until the words were on her lips. But I’m considering now that Viktor Desyatov may not only be on top of and in control of this situation—it may actually all be going according to plan. His shooting Alexei…was it really coincidence?Mybrother, when I’m the biggest adversary in Viktor’s path? When I’m the biggest threat to his operation?
A monopoly.
Could Viktor already have his claws sunk into my businesses? Or was this an attempt to weaken me?
“What exactly are you hoping to find?”
Annika’s voice sobers me. I look at her, and find her eyes still glued to the screen, fingers moving deftly, almost subconsciously.
“Proof what the kid said is true,” I say. “Proof he’s sabotaging other operations. Double-dealing. Stashing drugs or weapons that aren’t his.”
“What about people?” No change in her voice or her expression—she simply continues typing.
I sit up. “People?”
“Yes. People. Would you want to know about him storingpeoplerecovered from someone else’s operation?”
My blood runs cold. “Whose operation?”
Her eyes flick to me, cool and sharp, then back to the computer screen. “Yours.”
Cold dread spills down my spine. “We don’t traffic humans.”
“Then I’ve found your access point.” She turns one of the monitors to face me, and points at a string of incomprehensible code. “This is a buried conversation between one of your men and a human trafficker operating out of the Czech Republic. They’ve been discussingcargoon this thread for over a year.”
Not possible.My operation has grown, but I still know every man in my gang inside and out. I have checks and balances through closer loyalties, tests, stings. No one violates my rules and lives, much less remains in my employ. Still, I ask, “Who?”
“One Alexei Volkov.”
