“All three of them,” I murmur, flipping back through the folder, and stopping on the last image.
It shows my three powerful lieutenants speaking with Kaan Aslan.
“I honestly couldn’t believe it either. I expected some pathetic, dickhead foot soldier, but those three—“ Daniel shakes his head. For a man actively being blackmailed by me, he’s shockingly loyal. I wonder if there’s a part of him that’s jealous of my three traitors. Instead, he’s here, making sure they get caught. What a strange world.
“Thank you for bringing this.” I snap the folder shut again, feeling sick. This is a bigger problem than I had anticipated. My head’s spinning and there’s a part of me that’s still up in thehotel room with Nika, crawling into bed with her, listening to her sleep, touching her body, teaching her how to please me?—
“What are you going to do about them?”
“All three have to die.” That’s obvious. In this world, if you’re a traitor, your life is over. Whatever I might’ve owed them for helping me get this far is now forfeit. “First, we need to find out why they were seeing Aslan in the first place.”
“Probably money.” He slurps coffee. “It’s always money.”
“Not with everyone.” I get out of the booth and tuck the folder under my arm. “But you’re probably right.”
My L.A. networkis spread out across the city. They came here first, established themselves with local gangs and criminal leaders, and paved the way for my arrival. This marriage to Nika has been meticulously planned for months, even though it seemed like a spur of the moment thing.
That shit only happened because the Turks forced my hand.
I knew they were coming after her. I got word from my people that Aslan was in the area and sniffing around my future wife. But I hadn’t realized at the time how close of a call it was going to be.
We park out front of a quiet, dingy bungalow. The front is mostly rocks and pavement. The neighborhood isn’t much better. Most people have this image of a glamorous, hilly, rolling L.A. populated by movie stars and models, but this is the real city. Average city streets crammed with average homes. All that niceshit needs a whole lot of people like these to keep it running: stage hands, cleaners, fixers, builders. The oil in the machine. Dirty, but necessary.
I get out. Daniel follows close. It’s clear he doesn’t like this, but I’m impatient, and there’s still a lingering discomfort in the back of my mind. I need to do something to stop thinking about Nika. I have to keep moving or her words are going to drive me insane.Virgin. Fucking virgin.
I bang on the door. The metal part rattles against the frame. Dogs bark nearby and someone curses inside in Russian. It’s insistent and not nice. When all this started, back when Medved first reached out to me, I barely spoke the language. I hardly understood the customs. I was dumb and foolish back then.
Now I’m fluent in all that, plus a lot more.
“Who the fuck is bothering me—“ The door swings open. Gleb’s wearing boxer shorts and a white tank top. His graying body hair covers his pale, flabby torso like fur. He’s balding on top, scraggly and rough-looking, with more than a few missing teeth. He could afford to replace them, but Gleb likes it when he’s underestimated.
“Good morning, Krasny. You look surprised to see me.”
He stutters, glances at Daniel, and quickly opens the gate wide. “I didn’t expect you, boss. But this is good, very good, I was making coffee and eggs. Come, come, before the neighbor’s—“ He yells this next part. “The neighbor’sfucking beast of a dog gets shot in the fucking face you hear me Leeroy keep that stupid dog quiet!”
I glance at Daniel as we’re ushered inside. Gleb’s sense of interior decoration matches his fashion. It’s haphazard andrough. Cigarettes are piled in the ashtray on the coffee table and a massive flat screen is perched on a cheap pile of milk crates. Everything looks as though it’s temporary and about to fall apart, which is probably accurate. Gleb doesn’t plan on being here long. He’s got bigger designs.
It takes everything I have to keep myself under control. Here I was, thinking we had a perfectly reasonable deal. I don’t expect my people to risk their lives and to fight for me in exchange for nothing. That is not how these things work. But to learn that our deal is forgotten, that the oaths we swore and the contracts we signed, that they’ve all been forsaken for no good fucking reason?—
Well, it makes me mad.
“Quiet day today, boss, very quiet, no big plans, but from what I hear there is congratulations in order?” He leers at me as he scratches his ass and returns to the stove. The kitchen is as dirty and disorganized as the living room. Daniel remains near the door, smiling his usual smile, hiding the grimness of the situation.
“Thank you, Krasny.” He doesn’t mind the little nickname. It’s overly familiar, but it should signal we’re on good terms. Only now it sounds bitter in my mouth. “She’ll be very useful.”
“I’m sure, I’m sure, a good wife always is. I hope she cooks! And maybe, something else?” He grins at me, waggling his eyebrows. There’s an undercurrent in his voice, a tightness. “We should toast to you, boss, to your good health and long life.”
“No reason to break out the good stuff. I plan on introducing her to everyone tonight.”
“Yes! This is good! Parade the new pretty wife around.”
“Pretty and rich, most important of all.”
Gleb snorts, grinning. “Ah yes, Vadim her father always was a fucking miser and a squirrel. But come, we drink to your long life and to your future as a Dragon. Come, come—“ He rips open the freezer. “I have some vodka in here somewhere?—“
I step forward and press a gun to the base of his neck.
“You disappoint me.”
