“I’m not marrying anyone,” I tell him absently, but my eyes move between Ilya and Simeon. “So which one of you has suffered a loss at the hands of the Butcher? And why haven’t the two of you just teamed up or hired someone else to do the deed instead of dragging my ass back into this?”
“We have our reasons,” Ilya states, leaning his hip against his desk, arms crossing over his chest in what he probably thinks is a casual move, but only intrigues me more. There’s something there, but something tells me it’s not as straightforward as I’m thinking.
“If you expect me to do anything for either of you, you’d better start talking and filling in the blanks, or you’re on your own.”
Simeon gives a soft snort. “You make it sound like you have a choice.”
“Just tell me what this is all about,” I snap. Fuck, I want to slam some heads together. They remain silent, and I throw up my hands, exasperated. “Fucking hell, you’d think after dealing with the Cattaneo and Caruso boys I’d be used to this shit, but you all just seem to be cut from the same cloth. You don’t think things through, you don’t consider the variables. You think that because I’m his daughter, he’s going to let his guard down? Or that I’ll just somehow figure out how to kill him? Do you know why the Chameleon does so well with jobs like this? They have all the fucking information before they make any moves.”
“So you admit that you work with the Chameleon?” Ilya jumps on that almost instantly.
“No, I fucking don’t,” I snap.Tatiana, I’m going to fucking kill you when this is over.“And whatever bullshit you have going with them, that’s on you to figure the fuck out. The question is, who hired them to get me here? You or you?” I swing my gaze to Simeon. “Because this entire conversation feels like this has nothing to do with Timur finding out about me being in NewYork and everything to do with one of you seeing an opportunity and using me to make it happen.”
The slight tick in Simeon’s jaw gives away the answer. Ilya’s lashes flutter slightly, when I look at him, and Zakhar just smirks at me. Yeah, that’s what I thought.
“So, this whole story about making me marry you is just a bullshit story to get me here?” I pin Simeon with a hard glare. “Because you knew that my father was coming to meet with yours, and you saw the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Am I getting close?”
No answer, but still more ticks. It’s Zakhar who starts to fill in some blanks. I’m starting to realize that he’s the impatient one in the group.
“Just fucking tell her so we can get shit done,” Zakhar snaps irritably. “We have things to do, and Belov here has to get back before his Daddy realizes that he’s gone off course.” Simeon spears him with a furious glare. Ilya looks irritated but also resigned. He knows exactly what his brother is like, and he should have expected this. Zakhar looks at me and says, “Yes, we want both of them dead, and anyone else that gets in our way. We wanted the Chameleon to do the job, but they refused, saying they were too busy. Then they gave us the heads up that they knew where you were and suggested a new plan.”
More pieces of the puzzle start to click into place. Tatiana. I called her, I told her I was in New York, and she saw an opportunity to use me. My rage starts to bubble. I snap my gaze to Simeon. “You had no idea where I was until they told you, did you?”
“We knew you weren’t in California, and my father was pissed you left, but then word came through that you were just on vacation and possibly heading to Europe, so he let it go. He didn’t figure that it would be a problem.”
“And what made you care where I was?”
“The O’Briens got a tip that you were dealing with something with the Italians, and I intercepted the call before it got to my father. I wanted to know what the hell was going on, because you know the rules. The more information I got, the more I realized the opportunity I had. You knew the rules, you knew the consequences, but you went anyway. Then I heard that someone from New York was trying to contact the Chameleon, wanting their help to go against the other families in New York. I did some investigating of my own with Ivan Morozov in New York, and other contacts I have, until I figured out that you were involved with one of those Italian pricks.”
“So, what, you thought that you would punish me by having someone grab me and bring me back under the guise of being required to marry you?”
“No, I went to my father and told him I’ve decided to remarry, and you were my choice. He didn’t like it, not wanting you here fucking things up for him again. Until I reminded him just what kind of skills you have, what kind of things we could use you for, and he liked the idea. Especially when I hinted that I would allow you to do jobs for him as he saw fit, and maybe we could have you sharpen up your training by having your father here to see you and ensure you’re up to par.”
“You invited my father because you want him to retrain me?” I gape at him. “Are you fucking stupid? Or do you think your father is a moron who doesn’t realize what doing that will result in? My father doesn’t retrain anyone. He kills them because they aren’t up to his standards.”
“He assured us that he wouldn’t kill you and make sure that your skills are exactly what we need.”
Yeah, time has not made him smarter. The man is a moron. “And you believed him? Even Timur knows this shit. He saw it for him-fucking-self the first time he met me. I was brought beaten and broken to marry your brother, and while he wasthere, your father told him that the last guard he sent was worthless and couldn’t do his fucking job. He asked him to take him back and work on a few things, and do you know what my father did? He tortured him in front of your father and told him that any students of his who couldn’t handle themselves on an assignment were worth nothing. He made me sit there and watch it as a fucking warning. You telling him that I need retraining, you signed my fucking death warrant, you absolute idiot.”
The last part is a loud shout, my anger getting the better of me. I need to calm the hell down, but I’m shaking with it. I’ve never wanted to strangle a man more, and that’s saying something considering I’ve wanted to do much worse to Alonzo for the bullshit he’s done and said.
Simeon’s eyes flash with doubt, and Ilya frowns. Zakhar winces when my eyes move to him. “I wasn’t aware of any of that,” Simeon finally admits stiffly. He runs a hand through the thick hair on the top of his head. “Shit.”
“Shit? That’s the best you can do? Fuck you, Simeon. You don’t realize that you’ve been played, do you? Your father knows your plan now. There is no reason to bring me back, to suggest inviting my father, unless it’s to overtake him. You might as well have announced it on a fucking billboard.” I throw my hands up, the urge to slap some sense into him is strong.
“Timur’s probably fucking relieved that you’re finally going to try and take him down,” Zakhar points out. “I mean, that fucker’s gone soft for a while, so maybe something like this will get his rocks off one more time before he dies.”
“Is there any chance that he knows that you and I have been talking?” Ilya asks, giving Simeon a cool stare.
He shakes his head, but I can see the doubt in his eyes. “I’ve only spoken about this to my closest friend, and I havethe burner phone for any calls or discussions. And we sweep for bugs and cameras all the time.”
“How many times do you two meet in person?” I ask. Let’s just see how smart these guys really are.
“This will be our third meeting,” Ilya answers.
“And do you always meet here? And have you both checked your planes for trackers?”
“My plane is one I bought on my own that my father doesn’t know about,” Simeon answers with a scowl. “His is sitting at the airfield on the far reaches of our territory where I told him I would be, and I took mine from there.”
