The tall, redheaded personal assistant led my father, Indigo, and me to a swanky-looking boardroom. The Petrovs were already there; Mikhail, Riordan, and Cara. Someone had belted Riordan across the face, his clean-shaven jaw sporting a bruise. I wonder what the other guy looked like if he managed to land a hit on the bratva heir. Seeing Riordan with his folks was interesting. He looked like a carbon copy of his father, but with his mother’s coloring. Cara was dressed as expensively and luxuriously as her husband and son, but she definitely didn’t match the vibe of the rest of the room. We were hardened, tatted-up criminals and the girl who united us, as scarred and hardened as any Crow orbratva bro, as Indigo liked to say. Mikhail’s wife was lovely in a very polished, elegant way.
Despite her prim appearance, Cara Callahan Petrov approached Indigo and gave her a hug, which my angel returned enthusiastically. Iwas relieved to see she wasn’t a judgmental Karen bitch like other women who looked like her tended to be, in my experience at least. It satisfied something in me to see my angel treated properly by her family. Cara passed the vibe check, but before we left The Goldfinch today, I’d need to speak to Mikhail and Riordan alone just to make sure we were all on the same page. That would have to wait, though.
“Mornin’,pakhan,” Duke said, extending a hand to shake with Mikhail. Duke nodded to Riordan and Cara with a “ma’am.”I nodded respectfully to each Petrov in turn while Indigo gave the men a wave.
“Hi,dyadya, tetya,”she said to her uncle and aunt. “Knob Lord,” she said to Riordan with a grin and a curtsy, who merely shook his head and sighed in exasperation. Indi skipped over to a plush leather office chair and sank into it with a happy sigh. “You’re as nice as your brother. He sends his best regards, by the way,” she whispered, seemingly to the chair? Oookay. I sat down next to Indigo, just in time to see her slip something small onto the underside of the table. What the hell was that?
“Good morning, and congratulations on the success of your most recent endeavor,” Mikhail said. “My men spoke well of your friends from up north. Who knows, maybe we could all work together again in the future?” Duke settled into a chair next to me, while the Petrovs opted to sit directly across the table from us.
Duke tipped his head and gave Mikhail a sardonic smile. “You’d have to ask Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto. The Frozen Furies don’t answer to the Crows.”
“Of course,” Mikhail agreed easily, letting the subject drop. I had a feeling he wouldn’t forget the existence of the Furies any time soon, though.
“I don’t know if Indigo filled you in, but Seamus Callahan is dead. Roark slaughtered him and his guards in his office. After he ended our call, Roark claimed leadership over the Callahan family and began to purge the ranks of anyone he considered to bedisloyal.” Duke and I nodded, having already caught up on recent developments. “Apparently, there’s resistance from within the family. Some young cousin who immigrated from Ireland five or six years ago is challenging Roark, saying he’s mad and not fit to lead. Right now, the family is split, one side arming for war and the other obeying the commands of a madmanwho’s either ruling them with fear or offering them an outlet for their own sick desires. He’s always been crazy, but now he’s unhinged and uncontrolled.”
“Maybe this is a good thing,” my father offered. “If the Callahans tear each other apart and someone else kills the bastard for us, we won’t have to worry about any repercussions. If he somehow survives, he’ll be depleted, and we can crush him all the easier. Either way, the fucker will get what he deserves. Um, no offense meant, ma’am,” Duke said with a tilt of his head to Cara.
“None taken, Mr. Abbott,” she replied. “Roark may be blood, but he’s not family to me.” Her beautiful face was stoic, but a deep-seated grudge was still evident in her tone.
“Well, it would seem the state of the rest of the family is a moot point at the moment,” Riordan said in a strained tone. “Roark has disappeared. The last time our men in Boston had eyes on him was sixteen hours ago. We’ve put a hit out on him, sanctioned by The Commission, but we’ll stay vigilant until he’s neutralized.”
“What’s The Commission?” Indigo asked as she rotated her chair in slow circles.
“Thirteen of the strongest organized crime heads from different organizations in the US. The Petrov bratva currently holds one seat, but the vote to execute Roark was unanimous. The Irish have their own ruling body, with the two most powerful members of theirComhairle na Naoiholding the two Irish seats of The Commission. With Callahan’s seat forfeited due to the coup, their place at The Commission’s table went to the next most powerful Irish mob family, the O’Mara clan.”
“Damn, you know shit’s bleak when the other clans don’t even pretend to help a fellow Irishman,” Duke said dryly. My dad might be right. We might not have to lift a finger to kill Roark Callahan. If The Commission approved a hit on him, and he was still on US soil, I’d be surprised if he lasted a day the moment he poked his head out of whatever hole he was currently hiding in.
“Yeah, I’d say that sucked for him, but it’s Roark, so…screw that guy,” Indi said as her chair made another rotation. “So the Commish won’t be mad if we kill him. Good to know.”
On one hand, I hoped someone else took Roark out before he could even attempt to get to Indigo. On the other, I wish that motherfuckerwouldtry, so we could take our time making him suffer. If Indigo needed to kill him to appease the demons in her head that bayed for blood, I’d hand her the blade. If not, I would be more than happy to take the burden from her scarred shoulders and put the beast down myself. Riordan looked like he was thinking dark and devious thoughts, probably on the same page that I was.
“Please don’t underestimate Roark,” Cara warned from across the table, concern wrinkling her brow. “Until he’s found, keep your guard up.”
Indigo stopped her twirling with a sigh. “You don’t have to tell me,” she muttered.
Duke and Mikhail spent fifteen minutes or so discussing security measures and protocols concerning the apprehension of Callahan. “We’ll be in touch if there are any developments, and trust you’ll do the same,” Mikhail said eventually, rising from his seat and buttoning the coat of his Brioni suit.
“Of course,” Duke said, getting to his feet.
“Before we go,” I said as Indigo rose, “could I have a word with Riordan and thepakhan? It’ll only take a minute.”
Cara kissed her husband and son on the cheek and gave Indigo a parting hug before excusing herself. My father eyed me up and down, weighing the likelihood that I’d do something stupid. He must have felt confident that I wasn’t about to show my ass because he followed Indigo into the hall.
“Priest,” Mikhail said, “what does this concern?” Riordan stood next to his father, one hand in the pocket of his charcoal slacks. His green eyes were brimming with mirth, looking eerily close to the way his cousin’s do when she finds something amusing. Prick.
“This concerns Indigo, and the condition in which she came home from your hotel the other day.” Mikhail tilted his head to the side slightly, as if studying me, and Riordan just shook his head. “When I left Sagebrush, my girl was glowing. Content. Happy. When I came back to Sagebrush, she was distraught. She was crying. That is…unacceptable.” Riordan let out an annoying scoff.
“Is it, now?” Mikhail said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“Yes,” I stated flatly. “It is. She told me what happened, what Roark told you. I reassured her that no one would ever say shit about her not having kids or marrying into the bratva. She’s perfect, exactly as is, and if I hear anything—and I meananything—from my girl to the contrary, we’re going to have a very different conversation. I may notcrucify youand use you as a lawn ornament,” I say with a tip of my chin to Mikhail, “but I will feed you to the goddamn pigs. The next time she visits, she’d better leave this hotel the same bouncy bundle of psycho sunshine she entered as. Do we understand each other?”
Mikhail and Riordan looked at each other, and Riordan turned and stepped away swiftly. He put his hands on his hips and looked at the ceiling, and…his shoulders were shaking. Was that motherfuckerlaughing? Mikhail cleared his throat. His poker face was much better than his son’s, apparently, because he wasn’t laughing, but his amusement danced in his eyes. It was unsettling. “I think I might like you after all,mal’chik. As long as you remember our first conversation, we understand each other perfectly,” he replied. Riordan finally turned back around, face slightly flushed and eyes watering from holding in his laughter.
“Ivan is going to be so pissed he missed that. Thanks, man.” He slapped my shoulder as he walked past and opened the door. “I needed a good laugh.”
I scoffed and rolled my shoulders. “Whatever,Knob Lord,” I hissed as I elbowed my way past him. Now I was stuck with the prick. Indigo was worth it, though.
I caught up to Indigo and my father just as the elevator arrived. While we rode down to the lobby, I put my arm across Indigo’s shoulders. She froze momentarily, and I remembered that we hadn’t discussed PDA. I was about to take my arm back when she sank into my side and let out a little hum of contentment. I leaned down to whisper in her ear, so my old man wouldn’t hear me. “What was that you slipped under their table, angel?” Indigo blushed an adorable shade of pink all the way up to the tips of her ears and hid her face in my jacket. My thoughts tried to shift to the last time that particular hue graced her skin and exactly what I wasdoing to cause it, but I reined my brain in before I embarrassed myself in this elevator.
