Say something, you prick.
Let the Russians hear it.
Give them a reason to rip out your throat.
I sit, and Declan arches a brow at me.
“Nothing,” I mutter. He doesn’t believe me for a damn second.
“So,” I say, turning to Rurik, shifting back into business. “Seventy percent for us, thirty for you.”
Rurik scratches at his thick black beard, blue eyes sharp.
“That is low. We bring the guns.”
“Yes,” I agree, “but we take responsibility for moving them safely. We pay the cops, the border, the coast guard. We take the heat.”
Rurik leans back, studying us like a man weighing bones in his hands.
“And if our shipment gets caught?” he asks.
“We take the loss,” Declan says. Stepan nods once, approving but still hungry for more.
It’s the only offer we’re giving.
Dinner moves on—wine, heavy food, too much Guinness that the Russians drain like water. And then Doyle enters just as plates clear.
Perfect timing for once.
Across the room, Flanaghan staggers toward Autumn, drunk, miserable. Doyle intercepts him, hands up, trying to steer him back. The boy is trying. He had too much to drink too.
“Everything all right?” Rurik asks, stepping beside me.
“Give me five minutes,” I murmur, eyes glued to John.
Rurik takes another sip, unfazed. “He does not like your wife.”
“He doesn’t even like his own,” I say with a dark laugh.
Rurik laughs with me, low and dangerous.
John finally gives up and storms toward our table.
Rurik straightens beside me; he’s not as tall as me, but he’s broad enough to break a man in half without trying.
John looks at me.
At Rurik.
He opens his mouth, but Kian slams a hand onto his shoulder. “Don’t fuck this up.” He tilts his chin toward the bar.
Declan’s standing there, sleeves rolled to his elbows, tattoos on display, jaw locked tight. He’s waiting for someone to throw a punch so he has the excuse to bury a body tonight.
John shoves Kian and storms out.
I tell the Bratva my goodnights and rest my hand on the small of Autumn’s back. She jumps slightly, then breathes out when she sees it’s me.
“Ready to go?” I ask softly.
