“It sounds like yelling.”
I pull her onto my lap and wrap my arms around her. “It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
But nothing about this is okay.
Through the thin walls, I hear Pyotr’s defense. “Daria was coerced. Her ex-husband has blackmailed her for years, using their daughter as leverage. We have discussed this with Dmitri. Bogdan Lebedev set everything up without her knowledge to fund his operations. He’s been running a network that moves money to organizations on Yevgeny’s blacklist, using Daria’s Kozlov connection as cover while he builds his own power base.”
“Dmitri might be sold on that theory, but I’m not. I want proof. Do you have it?”
“We’re close.”
“You keep saying that, but ‘close’ doesn’t protect the family from federal investigators or explain why you’ve been sharing a bed with the woman you were sent to investigate.”
Heat floods my cheeks. Of course, he knows. Men like Alexei make it their business to know everything.
“My personal relationship with Daria doesn’t change the facts of the case,” Pyotr replies evenly.
“It changes your objectivity and your judgment, and it sure as shit changes whether I can trust a word in your reports.” Alexei’s footsteps move closer to the hallway, closer to the bedroom where Kira and I are hiding. “Bring her out. I want to hear her side of this.”
“No.”
“No?” Alexei repeats, danger creeping into his voice.
“Not until you agree to hear the full case. Not until you give us the time we need to get the evidence to clear her name and expose Bogdan. I’m not going to drag her out like a suspect when she’s the victim.”
“She’s a victim when I say she is. Until then, she’s a liability. And liabilities get dealt with.”
“You’ll have to go through me first.”
I hold my breath, waiting for an explosion, violence, or whatever comes next when two dangerous men reach an impasse.
23
Pyotr
Alexei takes another step toward the hallway, and I move to block him.
“I said no.”
“And I said bring her out.” He’s glaring at me with the eyes of a man who’s made decisions like this before and slept just fine afterward. “You’re good, Pyotr. One of the best we have. But please don’t think that means I won’t put you down if you get in my way.”
“Then put me down.” I plant my feet and let my hands hang loose at my sides, close enough to my weapon if I need it. “But you’re not getting past me to that door.”
“You’d die for a woman you’ve known for three weeks?”
“I’d die for the truth. Daria is innocent. If you execute her without giving me the chance to prove it, you’ll be murdering a victim and letting the real traitor walk free.”
“The real traitor.” Alexei’s lip curls. “You expect me to march into Yevgeny’s territory and accuse his nephew of betraying our family based on your pillow talk?”
“I expect you to look at the evidence before you make a decision that can’t be undone.”
“I’ve seen the evidence. Dmitri showed me everything before I left Moscow. Money trails. Shell companies. Theories about coercion. None of it changes the fact that Daria’s name is on federal documents. None of it proves that Bogdan is behind this instead of her.”
“I told you, we’re days away from proof. Tony’s been tracing the financial networks. The connections are there. We just need?—”
“You’ve had three weeks. The deadline was today. Not tomorrow. Not forty-eight hours from now. Today.” He jabs a finger in the air between us. “Dmitri sent me here because he knew you couldn’t do what needs to be done. He was right.”
“Dmitri sent you here because you pushed to come. Because you don’t trust anyone else to handle family business. But this isn’t Moscow, Alexei. You don’t have a team backing you up. You don’t have the home advantage. And you don’t have the full picture.”
