He picked up the desk phone and pressed 1. Mikhail answered on the first ring. “Da?”
“Send Vance to my office. I have something I need to discuss with him.” Namely that his pawing through Keira’s unmentionables was a punishable offense.
And he had every intention of collecting.
Chapter Fourteen
Aiden hunted down Cillian the first chance he got. He found his brother in the library, reading to Hadley. The picture they painted, their heads bowed as his brother read a nonsense children’s book, was almost enough to make Aiden turn around and walk out, leaving the discussion for a later time.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
Still, he waited until Cillian had finished the book to say, “We need to talk.”
“I know.” Cillian set Hadley on her feet. “Take this book to your mama. You know it’s her favorite.”
Hadley grinned and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before leaving the room, pausing only to give Aiden a brief wave. “She’s a good kid.”
“Yes, she is. She’s also not why you’re here.” Cillian stood and stretched. “This is about our parents.”
“You called them.”
Cillian laughed in his face. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Why the hell would I pull a stunt like that? Did I want to talk to you about whatever plan you’ve cooked up? Hell yes. Would I endanger all of us because I’m pissed that you aren’t letting me in? No. If you think otherwise, you’re a goddamn fool.”
When his brother put it like that, it was hard to argue with him. Aiden dropped into the other chair and ran a hand over his face. He’d had such a clear sequence of events when his whole plan had been put into motion, but it seemed like every time he turned around, more threads were getting tangled. “Romanov is a threat that needed to be addressed, but if we come at him from the front, he’ll annihilate us.”
“I’m not arguing against that. What Iamarguing against is using Keira as bait—because that’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?”
He didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that Cillian was so goddamn smart. “Romanov came to me for help.”
Thatgot his brother’s attention. “What?”
“Two weeks ago. He’s having problems with the Eldridges, and he needed someone to help him with a bait and switch to keep them occupied while he gets things in place to remove them entirely.”
Cillian whistled. “That’s quite the coup—and it would leave Romanov in control of most of New York.”
“Yes.” Something that would keep anyone with half a brain up at night. “But it’s happening whether we like it or not. I agreed to work with him because it means I’ll have some say in the fallout—and therewillbe fallout.”
Cillian hesitated. “I despise Dmitri. I don’t like his history with Olivia, and a year of not being a total shithead doesn’t make up for twenty-four years of leaving her to the wolves.”
“He’s a known factor, and he has a history of keeping his word once he gives it.” And therein lay the problem. He wanted Romanov out of the picture—permanently. But he was reasonable enough to acknowledge that killing the man outright wasn’t going to do them any favors. He’d spent so long planning in silence, the only person who knew the full story was Liam.
Maybe it was time to change that.
“The Eldridges are just a distraction.”
Cillian’s eyes went wide. “That’s one hell of a distraction.”
“Yeah.” Alethea took the termsadisticto unparalleled lengths, and her heir was even worse. He couldn’t fault Romanov for wanting to remove them from the equation as quickly as possible—that was exactly how he’d felt about Brendan Halloran before the man was murdered. “I’m not convinced Romanov couldn’t remove the threat without our help, but the fact remains that he asked for help.”
“What did you get in return?”
“Keira gets a choice.” It was hard to say it aloud. He felt fucking weak for even allowing it on the bargaining table to begin with. Aiden very carefully didn’t look at his little brother. “I don’t think for a second that he’ll honor that—he’s put too much time and too many resources into securing her. She’s his last-ditch effort to save face and prove that crossing him is a mistake.”
“So what’s the endgame?” Cillian’s tone gave nothing away.
“He breaks his word, which will be enough to prove to both Sheridans and Hallorans that he’s a mad dog who needs to be put down. Between the three of us, the war will be quick and brutal, and over before anyone realizes it’s started. It’s a risk, but a calculated one.”
And if he could aim John Finch at the bastard, he could potentially get the FBI agent away from Boston and off Teague’s back. If he was lucky, maybe Finch would get caught in the crossfire.
