"What do you want, Alexei?"
"Always so direct. No pleasantries?" He gestures to the hotel. "Let's talk inside. I've reserved a private room."
"We can talk here."
"I'd rather not discuss your family business in front of the tourists." His smile is sharp. "Unless you want everyone to know what I know?"
I grit my teeth. "Lead the way."
We walk through the lobby. Tourists with shopping bags part around us instinctively, sensing danger. Hotel staff suddenly find urgent tasks elsewhere. Our security details follow at a distance—his men watching mine, mine watching his. One wrong move and this lobby becomes a bloodbath.
The conference room Alexei leads me to overlooks Central Park. Expensive. Neutral. Safe.
For now.
He closes the door, leaving our guards outside.
Now it's just us.
"Talk," I demand.
"Sit," he counters.
"I'm not sitting. Talk or I walk."
He sighs. "Fine. Have it your way." He leans against the table. "I've been tracking Gabriel Romano. Just like you. Just like the feds. He's a popular man these days."
"Get to the point."
"The point is, he came to me last night. Offered me a deal."
My blood runs cold. "What kind of deal?"
"He'll give me your wife." Alexei's eyes gleam. "In exchange for clearing his debt and giving him safe passage out of the country."
The room goes silent except for the pounding of my heart.
"You're lying."
"Am I? Think about it, Adrian. He's desperate. He's running out of options. And his sister is the most valuable asset he has." Alexei tilts his head. "I turned him down, obviously. But I thought you should know."
"Why would you tell me?"
"Because Gabriel Romano is bad for business." Alexei pushes off the table, moving to the window. "He's a rat. He's working with the feds. He's stealing from everyone. And if the feds are circling him, they're circling all of us." He turns back to me. "I can't have federal scrutiny on my operations right now. Not with the shipment coming in next week. Not with the expansion into New Jersey. Gabriel Romano is a fucking liability, and I want him gone."
That makes more sense. Alexei doesn't do anything out of kindness. He's protecting his own interests.
"So here's my offer," Alexei continues. "You kill Gabriel. I forget about the money he owes me. We call it even."
"What's the catch?"
"No catch. I want him gone. You want him gone. This benefits us both." He crosses his arms. "Plus, I get to watch you clean up your mess without getting my hands dirty. Win-win."
I study him, trying to read the angle. Trying to figure out what he's really after.
"And if I don't?"
"Then I might reconsider his offer." Alexei's smile is cold. "After all, your wife would make excellent leverage. Pregnant, vulnerable, about to give birth any day now. And I'd very much enjoy negotiating with you from a position of strength."
