“I’ll let you know.”
“No Ivana, no Lana. Oh look, that rhymes.”
Rolling my eyes, I left his office.
10
The club music pounded my head like a sledgehammer as I stepped back inside the VIP room. Immediately, I found Ivana alone, and immediately, I went into maniacal rage, thinking Mikhail stole Lana and I’d never see her again. Why was Ivana alone?
I approached the window overlooking the dance floor downstairs, my eyes practically searing through the crowd like lasers trying to find Lana. Ivana pointed to the bar downstairs. “I wouldn’t let her drink, so she took off downstairs.”
“And you didn’t follow her because…?”
“I’m not her bodyguard. I’m yours.”
“She will be my wife.”
“When that happens, I will happily lay down my life for hers. Until then, you matter more.”
I split the Italian deal instead of losing the whole deal when he took down the people I’d made the deal with in the first place. Ivana for Lana was something I hadn’t anticipated.
I felt her gaze on my profile. “How much did we lose?” she asked.
“Forty percent of the Italian deal. He called off the mission.”
“Good.”
I scrubbed my jaw. Lana turned in her bar chair downstairs, and, as if sensing me, she raised her gaze. Up here behind reflective mirrors, she couldn’t see me, though that didn’t stop her from waving.
“Mikhail wants an eye for an eye,” I said.
“Meaning what?” Ivana asked.
Ivana wouldn’t appreciate me beating around the bush. “He wants you.” I faced her. If this were funny, I’d have laughed at her expression. Eyes wide, mouth agape, she stared.
Recovering, she narrowed her eyes, “Did you say yes?”
“I did.”
For a few seconds, I saw uncertainty, betrayal, and hurt in her eyes, and it pained me, made my heart bleed. But then something happened. My cousin thought of something and smiled like a shark.
“This is my ticket. An opportunity, and if he won't give me what I want, I’m gonna gut him and hang him from the ceiling with his own intestines. After that, I will take over his organization, something I could never do to you.” She hugged me. “Thank you, Nikola. I love you.”
Some people wallowed in their misfortunes, while others saw misfortunes as opportunities in disguise. One lunatic would meet another lunatic. This ought to be fun to watch from afar. I wouldn’t get involved in their personal business, and I felt sorry for anyone who tried.
She stepped back, rolled her shoulders, pulled out both her pieces, and handed them to the guard. The guard took them, telling me without words I was allowed inside Mikhail’s den with the Sig. It had nothing to do with Mikhail trusting me, and everything to do with how crazy he was.
“Take me to Mikhail,” she ordered the man.
He looked confused. A rookie. He’d get used to her, I was certain of it.
“Hey,” I said while she walked behind the Russian.
“Take care, Ivana,” she threw over her shoulder. “Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, I got this.”
I tucked my hands into my pants pockets and balanced on the back of my heels, chuckling. That went great. Wonderful. Way better than I expected. Nobody had died today. I lost lots of money, but in the long run, it would be worth it. I never played for small wins anyway. Big wins that took time were the real wins. “Drinks on me tonight,” I announced and laughed with people I didn’t know who all knew me. I’d entertain tonight.
Turning, a big smile on my face, I looked out the window to where Lana had sat and saw her dancing on top of the bar, thousands of eyes up her fucking skirt.
