“And ARCHEON?” Kara interjected. “What do you want with them?”
Katya’s jaw tightened as her gaze shifted to Kara. “I don’t like ARCHEON either. They’re no good. In my years with Revenant, I learned their name the hard way. They’ve killed people I cared about, then rewrote the story so it looked like an accident or a necessary casualty. I want Revenant broken for using me and betraying my people, and I want ARCHEON exposed for what they really are.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed until they were slits. “So, you want to burn both houses down,” he said. “Use arson as diplomacy.”
“Means to an end. Or ends, as the case may be,” Katya answered. “But targeted. Strategic. You take back Lev, and we work together to hit Revenant where it hurts. Between all of us, we have extensive networks. We have access. Together, we would be unstoppable.”
Viktor laughed softly. “Our families could work together,” he said, spreading his hands. “We make some noise, you grab your boy, we all walk away with a smile. Then you help us against the Revenant Group.”
Roman didn’t blink. “What’s in it for you besides vendetta?”
Katya’s eyes flicked to Viktor. He stepped forward and, for a moment, the casual grin on his face was all charm. “Revenant’s been using us to move their drone shipments—military tech dressed up as civilian toys. They think the Dragunovs are just their couriers, the muscle to keep the ports quiet while they sell war to the highest bidder. I don’t mind getting my hands dirty from time to time, but I don’t like being treated like the naïve delivery boys for someone else’s apocalypse.”
He paused and his face tightened with more than just bravado. “I want my hands clean,” he said quietly. “Or at least less bloody.Katya wants revenge. You help us, we help you; we can both scratch each other’s backsanddeal a little damage to those two groups together.”
Roman looked at me then, asking my opinion without words.
The Dragunovs weren’t saints, but they were rarely liars. In the few deals I’d brokered with them, they’d kept their word when it mattered. They were ruthless, yes, but predictable in a way most men in our world weren’t. Honorable, by criminal standards. Still, this was different.
I studied Viktor’s face, the easy grin that never quite reached his eyes, and Katya’s heated conviction. They could be telling the truth, or they could be cornered, spinning a story just to buy some time. Right now, though, if Roman was ready to stake our future on this alliance, I had to decide whether to back him or pull him back.
With a deep breath, I decided to back him.
I nodded.
Roman exhaled, considering the trade like a man weighing a sword in his hand. “If we do this, help you take down Revenant, I get Lev back. Alive. Unhurt. No surprises. No games.”
Viktor’s eyes glittered. “That part was never in question.” He glanced sideways at Katya—there was a softness in the look that was almost private—then back to Roman. “The real question is whether you’re capable of following through once you get what you want.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
Roman’s jaw worked. I watched the calculations going on behind his eyes. He’d never been the one to make decisions like this. This was new for him.
I stayed silent, just to see what he would do.
“You’re acting like I’m the one who needs convincing,” Roman said finally. His voice was calm, but there was steel in it now. “You’re the ones coming to us. You want our reach. Our intel. Our manpower.”
Viktor smiled like the possibility amused him. “Careful, Markov. Confidence is cute, but it doesn’t replace experience.”
Roman’s hand went to his hip, brushing against his gun. He never drew unless he had to. Instead, he looked at me—really looked—and for the first time in a long time I felt the old hierarchy shift. Roman’s role in our family was fundamentally changing right before my eyes. He stood, not as the fuck-up eldest son, but as someone who could handle the kind of authority that my life had always centered around. The lifeI’dbeen forced into becausehe’dnever stepped up.
Until now.
Honestly, I was a little bit impressed.
“We do this deal together. You get what you want. We get what we want and that’s that,” Roman said confidently.
Viktor laughed then—not the airy sound from before, but a harsher, louder thing. “Fine. We’ll help you get Lev back. Then we get your cooperation to fuck Revenant over.” He flicked his cigarette as if sealing the deal with ash.
“You help us bring Lev backwithout harm, or there won’t be a desert big enough to hide what we’ll do to you,” Roman warned.
Viktor met the stare and tipped his chin. “Wouldn’t expect anything other than a threat from you, Markov. Very theatrical. Consider it acknowledged.”
I could feel Kara’s gaze on me, her fear and confusion a palpable weight in the air. I knew she wanted to ask questions, but I gave her a subtle shake of my head. Not now. It wasn’t the time for that. Her jaw tightened, but she stayed quiet.
“Then it’s done,” I said. “Let’s move.”
CHAPTER 21
