And for the first time in my career, I understood what it felt like to be truly seen by a predator who was smarter than me.
Every muscle in my body wanted to tense, my body's way of preparing to fight or flight. I didn't let it. "Viktor needed someone to do a job," I told him with a little shrug. "And the money was right."
"The money." Konstantin picked up his pipe again. "Yes. Let us talk about money with thisjob. Specifically, the money we've been losing."
He reached into a leather briefcase beside him and produced a folder, opening it on the desk in front of him. Inside were printouts, spreadsheets, shipping manifests. All annotated in red ink with neat, precise handwriting.
"Six shipments," he said. "Intercepted across four months. Three from Galveston." He tapped the relevant pages. "These interceptions were not random. Not a coincidence. They were systematic. Professional. Someone with knowledge of routes,schedules, and personnel has been feeding information to law enforcement."
He looked up from the folder.
"Mr. Volkov would like some answers, Milo," Viktor told me. "And so would I."
I leaned forward. Studied the documents. Gave them the attention they deserved—because they did deserve it. Whoever was leaking information knew exactly what to give and when to give it.
The tourniquet around my ribs tightened.
"I've been keeping an eye on everyone who works here, at Viktor'srequest." It was hard to keep the sarcasm from my voice. "I've run every man on the ground. Checked phones, followed movements, dug into finances. Nobody's talking to the Feds."
"Perhaps you've been looking in the wrong place," Dmitri said from the bar.
I kept my eyes on the folder, and didn't turn around. "Meaning?"
"Come now," Konstantin said. "Let's stop with the bullshit, yes? We all know who the leak is. The woman. The pianist."
I shook my head. "It's not her. She can't see," I said. "She's blind…"
Dmitri's fingers were still drumming. "She arrives before her shift. Stays through close. Sits ten feet from the back booths."
"She's a pianist," I said. "That's what they do. Show up and play."
"Dmitri." Viktor's voice, quiet. A warning.
But Konstantin raised one hand. Just slightly. Two inches off the arm of the chair. And Viktor went silent.
"Continue," Konstantin said to Dmitri. But his eyes were on me, to watch my face while he said it.
My blood turned to ice.
He wasn't listening to Dmitri.
He was watchingme.
Measuring my reaction. Watching how my body responded to the mention of her name. The way my jaw didn't clench. The way my breathing didn't change. The way my posture stayed exactly the same. Because that's what trained liars do. They hold too still. They control too perfectly. And men like Konstantin had seen enough trained liars to know what that stillness meant.
I was fucked.
CHAPTER 16
MILO
Dmitri was still talking, but my ears were ringing so loud I barely heard him. He'd been watching her, too. And I hadn't even noticed.
Goddammit.
"She's very good," Dmitri said, almost admiringly. "If she is the leak, she's better than anyone I've seen. The disability makes her nearly invisible. People say things in front of her they would never say in front of anyone else."
"If," I said. "And that's a big if."
