“How the fuck did he do it?” Aleksei snaps, voicing the question we’re all wondering.
“I don’t know where he got the women from. It might have been through someone like Olga, or he had his own source.”
Santiago rubs his eyes and leans forward, covering his face for a few moments. Shaking his head, he looks like he’s got a good idea where the women came from. “What language did they speak?”
I sit up straighter. “Spanish, mostly. A couple of them spoke in broken English, except Deena, could speak both Spanish and English fluently.”
“Yeah, I figured that might be the case,” Santiago says forlornly before he stands and starts pacing. “If I’m correct, Victor is more of an opportunistic fuck than we considered. I’m starting to think this goes back to a time in Cartel history that was more violent and unstable than usual. It was a time of lossand a time for change. There was a push in the Cartel to set up a governing body, but before people had the chance to talk about it, they reacted. Emotionally spurred disputes over territory or business rights meant people were being killed over stupid shit that could have been resolved if they stopped being egotistical, stupid fuckers. One person died, and their death would be avenged twice or three times.
“Revenge killings nearly wiped out a whole generation of future criminals, and the infighting threatened the success of every Cartel family. Ironically, it showed that having something like a governing body would have saved everyone from so much suffering and loss. It was an awful time. A lot of families lost women and children, Omegas particularly. But clearly not all of those missing were dead.”
“Times of unrest always draw the cockroaches out their nests,” Aleksei adds.
Kade clears his throat. “I think we can all agree that we’re not leaving Victor to escape punishment by getting himself a good lawyer. This is a criminal matter, and he needs to be punished the way anyone in the underworld would.”
“You live by the sword, you die by the hands of a newly formed pack, probably slowly too, using lots of painful torture, if we can talk our wife into not poisoning.” Aleksei smiles, knowing he took the proverb and made it his own. “Yes, yes, we agree he is punished by us, no police involved. Which means we just need to figure out our cover. But we need to do that quickly because my wife and I need to be there for dinner tomorrow night.”
I start to get out of Kade’s lap because, while we’re talking about a whole lot, I need to think about what the best way of approaching Victor is, now we’ve all agreed he's a dead man walking. I’m sure my pack has their own ideas, but I want to figure out my thoughts before I hear theirs.
“Is it okay if I have a shower?” I ask Aleksei.
“Maya, you don’t ask to shower at your house, do you?”
“No. But this is your place, Aleksei.”
“Don’t insult me,” he snarls, glaring at me. “Everything I own, you own. Speaking of, why did you want a lawyer?”
I can feel my cheeks pink with embarrassment as I fight not to laugh. “It’s pretty basic, actually. I asked Layne to review the marriage contract between Victor and the Petrovs because I was going to take you to the cleaners.”
“To the cleaners,maya? What the fuck!” Aleksei explodes.
“It means, she was going to take everything she could. Money, assets, property, anything of value,” Santiago explains, trying to talk over the top of Aleksei.
Aleksei is still glaring at me, but a smirk tugs his lips when I start laughing. “Is that true?”
“I wasn’t going to kill Sergey for nothing. Same with Victor. My lawyer issued a Deed of Variation ex post facto. She was covering my bases in case I was killed too.”
“Such a sneaky Omega. Put some fucking clothes on before I bend you over and fuck that cutepopkafor trying to steal what is already yours!”
I shake my booty at him. Roshka hops up and follows me into the bathroom, and unsurprisingly, I decide what I think is the best course withoutthemdistracting me in the shower.
Kade comes in as I’m turning the taps off, leaving one of my bags next to me. “Santiago and Aleksei grabbed some of your belongings from the big house. We couldn’t bring it all, but also there’s no point because we’ll be back.”
“Sounds fair,” I say, wrapping myself up in a towel and kneeling by my bag to see what my options are.
He leaves, no doubt recognizing I need time on my own. I blow my hair out, then add some makeup. I’m putting lip gloss on when I realize I’m still wearing Sergey’s engagement ring. It really is fucking gaudy. If I was a character in a book, I’dflush it down the toilet or something similar, but the fact is, the monstrosity is a very valuable monstrosity. And there’s always people that could use the money.
“Okay, Roshka, let’s go.” I stop where he’s been sleeping. He does a few doggy stretches. Despite his size, he’s fluid and nimble. He really is a different dog when he’s here. Nalla is still distant, but I think that’s just her.
We walk out together, and in the time I’ve been getting ready, the house has been getting shut down. Everything is put away; the fire is out and the back door open.
Roshka goes out with Nalla, the two of them doing a final inspection and getting a chance to do their business. The little Audi is packed, Kade in the driver's seat this time, while Aleksei is in a black SUV.
Santiago holds my hand, lucky too, because the icy ground is slippery under the tall heels I decided on. And the pale blue Chanel skirt is too restrictive for any fancy footwork.
It was an easy decision dressing like I first did when I arrived in Russia. We’re too close to the end.
Santiago helps me into the SUV, pulling my seat belt over and locking me in. Kade is close enough he can hear. I know because he and Aleksei were talking when I first got in, and I didn’t miss a word. Roshka jumps into the back next to Nalla, Aleksei securing them in for the drive.
