I nod and offer the behemoth a bright smile. “We’d be honored.”
CHAPTER NINE: VLADIMIR
I leave Alexi to sleep and return to my cabin. Dom joins me. He pours us each two fingers of whiskey. I take the glass and sip the expensive liquor. The burn helps me focus.
“What do you think?” I ask him.
“I think he was set up and was supposed to die in Ukraine. He’s very lucky the Ukrainians are good people. The question is, does whoever set him up know that he escaped? If they know, they’re searching for him.”
“They won’t find him on this ship. We’ve covered the tracks too well.”
Dom nods. “I agree, we have men in Russia and Ukraine listening for rumors. If anyone suspects us, we’ll hear about it. Do you think one of the men Axexi identified betrayed him?”
I shrug. “Strong possibility. With Alexandr’s plan to replace his heir with one of these men, they had a motive. However, that’s quite a leap to think Alexandr would choose this path. I should have asked Alexi if anyone would suspect Alexandr would make this move.”
“I can check to see if he’s still awake,” Dom offers.
I shake my head. “No, don’t bother him. Let him sleep. We have time. I’m contacting Prescott to have him run these three names.”
I smirk at Dom’s growl. “Still don’t trust him?”
“He’s a nerd.”
“Which we sometimes need.”
I chuckle as Dom scowls at me. “What?”
“You just don’t like how close he is with Dina,” I tease him.
“I don’t get what she sees in him. He spends all his time on the computer and doesn’t pay her any attention. Yet, she’s always cooking for him and going over to his house to clean it. She acts like she’s his servant, or his wife.”
“Dina likes Prescott. He doesn’t make her do any of those things. I’m not even sure he notices. You know why she does it, right?”
“Yeah, I just don’t like it. Dina thinks Prescott doesn’t eat while he’s working and that he’d live in squalor if she didn’t go over there and clean up. I told her that I’d hire someone to clean his house and make him meals. But she said no.”
“Because she likes taking care of him. You know how Dina is. You took care of her when she was growing up; now she’s helping you by taking care of Prescott.”
Dom’s eyes widen. “Wait, what? You think that’s why she’s doing this. Because she thinks I want her to do it?”
I shake my head. “No, I think she’s doing it because she wants to do it. She does like him. I think she knows he doesn’t return her feelings, but she’s okay with it for now. Dina is shy around boys. Spending time with Prescott helps her get used to being around men without the situation getting intense. I’ve watched them together. He talks to her, but he doesn’t hit on her. Dina is a friend. It’s good for both of them.”
“Whatever,” Dom grumbles as I open my laptop and place the call to Prescott.
Prescott answers on the first ring. “Vladimir. What can I do for you?” Prescott’s posh, public school accent flows out of the computer.
“I need you to run some names for me,” I say, watching the pale man on the other end of the call. Prescott is a transplant from London. He got into Cambridge at thirteen and then Harvard at seventeen. He wears thick glasses and would remind me of Harry Potter if he had darker hair. However, Prescott has blonde hair and sea-green eyes. They’re probably his best feature, except that the thick glasses make them look bigger than they are.
“Okay, shoot,” Prescott says, his hands poised over the keyboard.
I give him the names Alexi supplies. “I need to know if any of these men have ties to the military. I also want to know everything else you can find on them.”
“Bad guys?”
“I think so, but I won’t know until you dig.”
“Okay, who do you want to know about first?”
“You can just call me back when you’ve finished.”
