It’d be mine.
“So,” Indi said to Mikhail, “if your bratva ended their membership with The Consortium, why was Gregor there? He doesn’t have an accent and spoke in English, but I swear to Bob I recognize his voice. I heard him speaking with Roark after my last match before I escaped.”
“Rest assured, my niece, I intend to look into the matter seriously. Gregor’s father is one of myvory, my highest ranking men, but even that will not save him if he went against my direct command to end any and all dealings with The Consortium.” A vicious gleam flashed like quicksilver in Mikhail’s eyes. “You said he spoke with Roark. Did anything else happen?”
Indi snorted. “A lot happened that night. I’m gonna need you to be more specific.”
“Did Gregor interact with you at all? Did he hurt you?”
Indigo shook her head. “No. I never saw him. I could only hear him.” I noticed Mikhail share a brief look with his son, and it didn’t pass Indi’s notice either. “Look, I’m not perfect. Is there a chance Gregor has a voice twin out there? Sure. I’m…” She screwed up her face a bit as if thinking deeply. “Ninety-five percent sure it was Gregor’s voice I heard. You tend to remember some things that happen in the arena as clear as day, and other things… seem to blur. A lot of that night is muddy in my mind, but certain things I can’t forget. His voice is one. For…reasons.”
“I believe you. If you’re right, once I have wrung every ounce of information from theublyudok, he will die horribly. My gift to you.”
“Oh, uhm… thanks,” Indigo said awkwardly. “That’s a gift you can’t really register for, isn’t it?” She rose from her chair, shooting us a look indicating that she was ready to call it a night. The Petrovs followed her lead and walked us to the elevator.
“You could,” Riordan said, a devilish light shining from his eyes. “Give me a list,lisichka,and I’ll gift you as many of your enemies' corpses as you’d like.”
Mikhail cleared his voice as we waited for the lift. “Riordan will give you our phone numbers. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything. I hope to hear from you, but I understand if you wish for space. Regardless, we will get to the bottom of the Gregor situation and let you know.”
Cara offered Indi a hug, which Indi accepted. It was awkward at first, but after a few moments, Indi melted into the embrace. Cara whispered something into Indi’s ear that caused my adopted sister to smile when she pulled away, and Riordan witnessed the interaction with a pleased smirk for orchestrating it. Indi gave him a smile and a wave as she walked into the elevator, and we left The Goldfinch. Their penthouse reminded me uncomfortably of my father. Without the consolation of seeing Sutton again, bitter memories of similarly posh surroundings tugged at my attention.
I gave my head a little shake and resisted the urge to look for her. Scan the lobby for a glimpse of the woman who’d always felt like she was mine, but never really had been. It took more willpower than I’d like to admit. I wasn’t just accompanying Indigo as emotional support, though. I was also here to help protect her while she’s away from the safety of the LC compound. Roark had always been a threat to Indi, but now she had to look out for Pyro and the Iron Raiders. I knew our sprightly little Indi could take care of herself, but she was part of our family now. She didn’t have to go it alone anymore.
When we got back to the clubhouse, Indigo and Lennon took their nuggets and headed up to Lennon’s room to dissect the evening further. Lennon avoided discussing The Consortium. She was curious but unwilling to trigger her friend any further tonight. Bear headed over to the couches, where Prospect and Bard sat with a select, few club girls who’d been vetted, most likely to discuss patching him in tomorrow. I went to the bar, where an antsy Bones and Priest waited to be told how the evening went, but before I could even grab a drink, Duke pushed the saloon doors open and gestured for me to head back to his office for a debrief. Priest and Bones trailed along, eager to hear about what went down.
As soon as Bones closed the door, Duke sat behind his desk and leaned back in his chair. “No one came back with more holes than the ones they left with, so I assume the visit didn’t go too badly?” Priest chuffed a laugh that was laced with poorly hidden relief. Flashes of ivory peeked between Bones’s fingers as he absentmindedly played with a small metacarpal. I knew they hated being left behind when both of their girls were wined and dined by the bratva. It made me wonder if they would ever actually claim the women they were obsessed with. Bones tried to hide his feelings for Lennon, but Priest and I knew he’d loved her for a long, long time. Hmm… I always felt like he needed a littlepushto finally act on his desire for her. Perhaps I could devise a way to help my friend understand that life was too short to waste time pretending you were not in love with someone. A lesson I learned the hard way years ago.
Priest, on the other hand, was about as subtle as a brick through a windshield in his feelings concerning Indigo to everyoneexceptIndigo.Even when he was pretending he hated her, it was obvious that the girl had him in a chokehold. At some point over the past few weeks, something had happened, and Priest had stopped trying to push her away and deny how much he wanted her. I suspected that he had begun the journey from cold to hot sometime after their episode in the confessional, but I knew it for a certainty the moment he found out that I’d given Indigo my last name for her new identity. His face after he heard her name joined with another man’s… it was full of possessive irritation and frustration because he knew Indi would never give him the time of day if he didn’t pull his head out of his own arse.
Thankfully for our feisty little bird, Priest realized that love and hate were different sides of the same coin, and now when his eyes tracked her across the room, they were heavy with desire and unspoken yearning instead of resentment and anger. I wasn’t sure yet if Indigo felt the same about him, or if she was ready for a romantic relationship at all. I knew my brother well enough to know Priest wouldn’t hurt her in that regard, but I felt a protectiveness stirring in my chest for Indi nevertheless. For fuck’s sake, Priest and Bones needed to sort their shit out, I didn’t become a Crow so I could worry about other people’s love lives.
“Did Mikhail question her about the Callahans, or suggest that she take her place in the family business?” Duke asked, drawing my attention away from my emotionally stunted friends.
“Not at all,” I reluctantly admit, irritated that I couldn’t find any obvious fault in Riordan and his parents to report on. “They seem to genuinely desire a connection.” I sighed, inwardly rolling my eyes at the tantrum Priest was about to throw when he heard that the girl he was obsessed with used to be subjected to in The Consortium’s sick games. I wanted to gut every bastard involved in that disgusting enterprise on principle alone before I discovered that Indigo had been forced to participate in their deranged system. Now that I knew… nothing was too bad for those sick fucks. I could only imagine how Priest would feel…
“Something did come up, though,” I said with a sigh. Duke gestured for me to go on, and with a quick look at Priest and Bones, I licked my lips nervously and continued. “Indi recognized the voice of one of Mikhail’s men. From before.” Duke’s eyes narrowed. “It triggered her pretty badly, if I’m honest. I was able to ground her and help her comeback to herself, but it was difficult for her. When the Petrovs asked what caused her reaction, she told them that she knew the man… from her time with The Consortium. It seems that her ‘work’ for the Callahans involved surviving the arena and bringing home the victor’s pot.”
Bones took a deep breath in through his nose and pushed out a heavy sigh, like he was fighting himself to control his reaction. Eyes dark with menace, he began tumbling the small bone between his fingers faster and faster. Priest ran a hand through his hair, grasping the back of his neck in a minute moment of calm before he lashed out and kicked Duke’s trash can across the room, where it smashed against the office door and clattered to the floor. “Those motherfuckers,” Duke gritted from his position behind the desk. We’d never been able to infiltrate The Consortium, but that didn’t mean we weren’t fully aware of what went down in their organization. Duke snapped his finger and pointed at the door without looking at his son. “Clean that up.” His eyes were still trained on me as Priest stiffly moved to grab the dented rubbish bin.
“What did Petrov say?” Duke rasped, tension thick in his voice. I knew our prez was considering an alliance with the bratva, but any business with The Consortium would immediately put the bratva firmly in “enemy” territory. An enemy we couldn’t afford to have right now. Priest paced restless in his anger. Bones sat rigidly, fingers never ceasing their movement, busy acting as an outlet for his fury. “He reassured Indi that if this man,Gregor, was involved with The Consortium, he was as good as dead. They said that the Petrov family withdrew from The Consortium’s ranks a long time ago and wanted nothing to do with them.”
“What do you think?” Duke asked. “You were there. Do you think they’re sincere in their intentions toward Indi, or do you think they’re blowin’ smoke up our asses?”
“From what I could tell, they’re sincere.” I looked at Priest. “They’ve corroborated Clover’s intel, distancing themselves from the skin trade and groups like The Consortium. They seem to be trying to move in a more… white collar direction. Or…white-ish. Also, there doesn’t seem to be any love lost between Cara and her brothers. This is just my gut reaction, though, from watching them interact with our girl.”
“I think it’s time we set up an official meeting. I need to get a feel for Mikhail before I can make a decision. I need to update the other presidents, too. Priest, you call Riordan and set it up. No bullshit, you hear me?” Duke shoots his son a look, but it’s unnecessary in my opinion. I doubt anyone in this office was more motivated to sort this shit out than Priest, even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud yet.
Chapter 14
Indigo
I’d never been to a party before, let alone apatchparty. I tried to subtly offer my help in planning Prospect/Turner/Rook’s patch party to mark his official membership with the LCMC, but Bear (politely) shot me down. I guess he wanted to be a diva and plan the entire thing himself, seeing as he was the Crow who sponsored Turner’s application to join the club. It was his loss, though. I had some truly inspired balloon arch ideas, not to mention the sparklers.
Lennon had towed me upstairs while the guys did their mystical bonding ceremony or whatever turned someone from a prospect into a true Crow. She did my makeup for me and thanks to my thrift shopping and her frequent Amazon shopping issues, I now had a slightly expanded wardrobe to choose from. I slipped an acid-washed black Def Leppard T-shirt I’d found at Goodwill over my new deep purple bra. I’d cut the neck of the shirt, causing it to slip off my left shoulder. Lennon had talked me into wearing a pleated skirt, the plaid pattern containing thesame shade of purple as my bra. I fidgeted awkwardly with it, trying to tug it down.
“Leave it,” Lennon said with a playful scowl as she finished applying her makeup and zipped up a purse-sized pouch of cosmetics. “You look hot as hell. Stop fidgeting.”
“It’s just so…” I bit my bottom lip, stained candy-apple red, and swished my hips, making my pleated skirt swirl a bit around my thighs. “Breezy,” I finished lamely. Lennon tied my shirt into a knot at my waist, tightening it so my growing curves were a bit more defined.
