"You going to sic your wife on her?" Pavel asked.
Laughter erupted around the table.
"I mean, I wasn't, but that could work," Roman said.
More laughter.
I poured myself another scotch. By the time I got back to the table, the tone had changed.
"This mission was yours, Uncle. How do you want to handle it?" Gregor asked.
My eyes widened. I hadn't expected him to ask that. Part of me had expected him to lord this entire situation over my head, use it as leverage to take complete control.
Everyone looked at me, waiting. Not an ounce of hostility or calculation in anyone's eyes.
They weren't holding Anna against me, because they understood. Another weight fell from my shoulders. I stood a little taller, ready to lead.
"We can't touch Anna's mother—yet. But Anna has shared details about her mother that are going to prove useful."
"Such as?"
"Most of the skeletons in her closet. Anna now knows where the bodies are buried. We're not the only criminal family Senator Collins has been working with."
"The Irish are the ones that paid her for the vote, right?" Pavel asked.
I nodded.
"They’re looking at trafficking guns here. That's why they wanted the vote restructured. But there's more. Our dear senator has been actively working with the Yakuza and some Italian syndicates to traffic drugs through the US. We're not the first family she's double-crossed, we're just the first to find out about it."
"What does that mean?"
"According to Anna, her mother has been double-crossing the Triad in favor of the Yakuza. Possibly playing two Italian families against each other."
"Goddamn," Damien said.
"Talk about a fucking death wish," Pavel agreed. "If you want to commit suicide, there are less dramatic ways to do it."
"Less painful, too," Roman added.
"We can't touch her yet, but I'm gathering information. I'm going to make it clear that if she doesn't fall back in line, steps will be taken to ensure her compliance—or obliterate her career and feed her to the sharks she created."
"When?" Artem asked.
"I don't know," I answered honestly. "I'm working on getting more intel. But I'm not making a move against Anna's mother until she agrees. Anna decides whether our threats will be idle."
"And why should we trust Anna?" Roman asked.
I shot him a pointed look.
He crossed his arms and smiled, enjoying the hypocrisy.
"Anna has proven her loyalty. She told me her mother was going to vote against me. Explained why. She's now using her access to her mother's personal files to get us the leverage we need."
It didn't hurt that when Anna started digging, she discovered her mother had been hiding bribes from the IRS in shell corporations under Anna’s name. Her mother had intentionally made Anna liable if the IRS ever came knocking.
It was just going to take time. The more I showed Anna what it meant to truly be loved, and treated her the way she deserved, the more she would realize she deserved so much more than her mother gave.
The cards were dealt again.
