Trepidation filled the room like a toxic mist, but I spoke gently. “I’m aware of that.”
“He’s paranoid, Nico.”
“I know.”
“He’s a paranoid KGBpsychopath,Nico.”
I kept my gaze level to show him I took the situation seriously.“I know,and I’ve been careful not to give him reason to perceive me as a threat.”
“Paranoid KGB psychopaths perceiveeveryoneas a threat.”
This line of conversation did nothing but give me ulcers. “And I can’t change that.”
John managed the smallest of scowls. “Meeting with representatives from other organized crime groups might be considered threatening.”
I stood, tapping the New Jersey businessmen’s prospectuses to even the edges. “They’re ostensibly not mafia. They’re just Italians in construction in New Jersey.Besides, everyone inbusiness is at least somewhat involved with the black market these days. No one wears white hats anymore. Every damned industry is fifty shades of gray.”
“Remember at Le Rosey, when they told us toonlyinvest with legitimate businesses?”
I chuckled at what they’d taught us as the world’s wealthiest teenagers at boarding school. “Half a lifetime ago, and even they didn’t believe what they were saying in the slightest.”
“Youhave cause for concern. Almost no one else has a military intelligence service gunning for them. I don’t want to lose you.”
“And I don’t want to be lost, so I keep my head down. I’ve made it very clear how much I admire Europe and don’t want to travel to Russia, even if the opportunity arose. I doubt I’m on Vladimir’s radar. Aren’t you concerned about Konstantin’s safety at all?”
My brother, Konstantin, was my only living immediate family member and younger than me by over half a decade.
“He’s further down the list.” John shoved his chair back and stood. “Have you considered living somewhere less obtrusive, maybe Singapore?”
I snorted. “As if the FSB hasn’t thoroughly infiltrated Singapore.”
“It’s just a bit farther away from Moscow than Stockholm. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“I only have an apartment in Stockholm. I’m in Paris most of the time. Distance, as you said.”
“It’s still Europe. It’s still a car ride away from St. Petersburg.”
Geography had never been John’s strongest subject. “It’s over thirty hours by car from Paris if one drives straight through without traffic or gas stops. From Stockholm, you have to take a ship.”
I should have noticed his eyebrows rise, but I kept talking.
“Flying is ridiculous due to the travel restrictions to Russia. Emirates has a layover in Dubai, of all places, so the flight time is only slightly shorter than driving it. Flying private is really the only way to get there, which would definitely invite scrutiny.”
John’s sharp glance told me I’d been caught out. He pointed at me and said, “And yet you knowexactlyhow to get to Russia.”
Yes, I knew. I always felt Russia’s pull like a damned homing pigeon, even though I’d never stepped foot on Russian soil. “It doesn’t matter where I live, John. If Vladimir is going to send the FSB to kill me, he will. If he’s going to send his goons to kidnap me and deposit me in a Kharp or Vorkuta gulag, he will. There’s absolutely nothing I can do about it except make myself too boring to bother with.”
John sighed and stared at his hands. “I’m just worried about you, Nicolai.”
I stopped myself from snapping back. Private and sober moments for John and me were few and far between these days, so he’d probably been bottling that up for months. “I’m careful, and subtle, and that’s all I can do. And no matter who my several-greats-grandfather was, I don’teverwant to be the damned Imperial Tsar of Russia.”
John nodded. “Keep saying it just like that, Nico, and maybe Vladimir Putin will let you live.”
CHAPTER 12
billionaire sanctuary ii
NICOLAI ROMANOV
