“Pretty baby,” Kezia cooed. “Sometimes the young ones are so eager to please. Humans. You can make them do anything you want.”
That was probably true, but Tatyana was having a hard time seeing Grimace as a fully grown adult even though he clearly was. “He’s a contractor for Sokolov. I knew him from school when I was human, oddly enough.” It wasn’t completely a lie. “Quite a brilliant computer hacker. Backed by Wallace Enterprises.”
“Oh.” Kezia pouted. “If he’s one of Gavin’s people, I can hardly poach him. I don’t want to irritate the Wallace clan.”
Grimace likely had no idea how fortunate he was to be under the umbrella of Gavin Wallace, who ran a network of hotels and bars that served as neutral ground around the world. No one wanted to anger a vampire who could cut off access to a worldwide collection of safe houses.
Tatyana said, “He probably wants to talk to me about security access here in Saint Petersburg. Oleg set up a secure server for me for Poshani business so that no one in his organization has access to our data, but I’ll still be able to work remotely. Grim—Konstantyn is probably wanting to talk to me about it.”
“At a social event?”
Tatyana rolled her eyes. “My entire life for the next month is a social event or wedding planning, sister. If I don’t take a meeting here, I probably won’t see him for days. I’ll be very relieved when this is all over.”
Andthatwas nothing but the truth. She rose, caught Grimace’s eye, and angled her head toward the exit. “I’ll be back.”
“Or don’t.” Kezia smirked. “Nothing wrong with sampling some fresh blood, is there?”
Tatyana didn’t even try to respond.
“Wow.”Grimace was smiling hugely. “You look… Wow.”
Tatyana glanced down at the blood-red dress Diana had hung in her dressing room at dusk. It complemented the bouquet of red lilies Oleg had sent with his note.
“Thank you.” She had worn more evening wear in the past week and a half than in the entirety of her immortal life thus far. She often had three different outfit changes a night. “Why were you looking for me?”
Two Hazar were stationed outside the door to their concert box, but they kept their distance as she and Grimace spoke.
“I apologize for pulling you away from the concert.” He lowered his voice. “But there’s a security matter I want to talk about, and I didn’t want to go through your social secretary.”
Tatyana frowned. “Of course.” She glanced around the hallway and noticed a door with a brass plaque that readSmoking Roomjust to the right of the bar. “Shall we?”
Grimace nodded. “Please.”
Tatyana motioned to her guards and nodded at the smoking room. She didn’t sense anyone in the room beyond, but it was better if they made sure.
The Hazar checked the room, offered her a curt nod, and Tatyana and Grimace walked into a spacious room lined with cabinets and smelling of fresh tobacco.
Grimace was looking around the wood-paneled room. “Oh wow, are those walk-in humidors?”
“Probably. I don’t smoke.” She didn’t want to rush him, but others would notice if she was gone too long. “Grim… I feel silly calling you Grimace. What do you want me to call you now that we’re meeting in real life?”
The young man smiled. “How about Kostya?”
Tatyana nodded. “Yes. Good. I can get used to that. What did you want to talk to me about, Kostya?”
“I’ve been doing a kind of cybersecurity audit for Oleg over the past month.”
“Which is not something I should know about.”
“Agreed,” Kostya said. “However, I spoke to Mika after I learned this particular piece of information last night, and he agreed that I should share it with you.”
Mika might not have been Tatyana’s favorite person, but she trusted his judgment. “Go on.”
“During my monitoring of certain phone lines over the past two weeks, I encountered a surprising connection between yours and Oleg’s organization.”
She nodded but said nothing.
“I have been tracing Ivan’s calls for Oleg.” Kostya quickly raised both hands. “Mika said that this would not be a surprise to you.”
