He wasn’t denying curiosity. He was weaponizing it.
I sighed — long and tired.
How could I work for the Bureau and still cooperate with a mafia boss at the same time? The contradiction alone should have made the decision impossible.
But I still spoke.
“As long as you help me get my sister back.”
His response was immediate.
“I will.”
No hesitation.
“After we bring your father and every family under his control to the ground.”
He turned back to the board.
“You’ll be invaluable here.”
He tapped the area beside the alliance circles. “Your FBI training.”
A line. “Your knowledge of procedure.”
Another line. “Your instincts.”
He faced me again. “You see things my men miss.”
That wasn’t flattery.
It was strategic recruitment.
I folded my arms tighter across my chest.
“Where do I come in?”
Ruslan walked back to the board.
His bandaged finger circled the Thompson family — positioned second from the right.
“Harris Thompson.”
Ruslan tapped the white board with the marker.
“He’s the only holdout refusing to crown your father head of the alliance.”
His eyes shifted toward me.
“He understands what happens if Vasquez gains total control. Which is why he’s resisting.”
I watched as Ruslan circled the Thompson family name on the board.
“He couldn’t secure his late father’s inheritance by marrying you,” Ruslan continued calmly. “So Vasquez has been dangling every incentive imaginable.”
He drew small lines outward from the Thompson circle — connections.
“Money.”
