Their relationship still doesn’t make sense to me. She used to be a Fed, for fuck’s sake. Then again, Aleksei is married to a prosecutor who tried to put him in prison. Some days, I honestly can’t tell who’s going to kill who first.
Anton, my youngest brother, stares out the window, eyes flat, but always observant. I sometimes wonder what goes on in that head of his. Whether he remembers what happened to him as a child or if his mind buried it so deep even he can’t reach it anymore.
Once Konstantin ends his call, he turns back to us and walks to the head of the table, settling into his chair. He leans forwardwith his palms braced on the polished surface, gaze moving between us before he speaks.
“I heard from Stan. The supply issue won’t be resolved anytime soon.”
Blyat. We need those guns. If we can’t keep our customers stocked with a reliable stream of weapons and ammunition, they’ll take their money elsewhere, and once that happens, the trust we’ve built starts to rot. In our world, reliability is everything. You lose it once, and you don’t always get it back.
“Then we find a new European supplier and kill Stan for being incompetent,” Aleksei says.
Konstantin’s mouth twitches, almost a smile. “I know you prefer to solve things with a heavy hand, but that is not always the smartest option. If we kill Stan, we start a war we don’t need. Not when we may find ourselves in the middle of another.”
I lean closer, unsure who he is talking about. “S’kem?”With who?
“The Whitlocks.”
Every muscle in my body goes rigid as soon as I hear that name. They play the part of wealthy ranch owners quite well, but men like us in the underworld know they’re just as dirty as we are.
“What the hell did they do?” Aleksei asks.
When they first opened that bed and breakfast and horse rehab facility a few years ago, it was a problem. We overlap in the same lanes—guns, gambling—but after some tense negotiations, we stuck to an arrangement. They stay in the South and out West, while we keep our clients on our side of the country, from Minnesota to Maine. They haven’t encroached…so far.
“Seems like Harlan may be getting greedy,” Konstantin says, speaking of the patriarch of the family.
I knew it wouldn’t last. Svolichy.Bastards.
“If it’s true…” Konstantin goes on, leaning back, the quiet ire under that calm façade obvious. “If he thinks our supply issues mean he can swoop in and play hero, then we will have to remind him it does not work that way. Not with us.”
Aleksei’s jaw clenches, a curse firing out of him. “Ya yevo mamu yibal.”
“Do you want us to pay them a visit?” I ask, knowing death is the one lesson most people learn from.
“Not yet. I have some feelers out, and if it gets to that point, we will have to set up a meeting first. If it fails,thenwe kill them all.”
Aleksei pushes back from the table, adjusting the cuffs of his dress shirt like this conversation is wasting his time. “I don’t know why you keep waiting. If they disrespect us, we hit them now and ask questions later.”
Konstantin sighs, used to Aleksei’s ways. “You know I love you, brother, but you do not know how business works.”
Aleksei lets out a short scoff. “Yeah, we know. The great Konstantin is the boss and we are your peasants.”
“That is not what I said.”
“You didn’t have to.” The look he gives him is the same one he gives men right before he breaks them.
Konstantin doesn’t take the bait, just holds Aleksei’s gaze like he’s weighing whether to continue or let it slide.
Aleksei pushes up from his chair. “If we’re finished, I have to go.”
“Yes.” Konstantin reaches for a few folders, stacking them neatly as he stands. “We’re done.”
We all get to our feet, and even though the conversation is over, the tension doesn’t leave with it. It just waits in the quiet like smoke.
Konstantin is already turning toward the door when I catch him with the question I’ve been holding back since before we even sat down.
“Can you take Lev tonight?”
I hate leaving him with the housekeeper. She’s capable, but she isn’t family, and I’d rather my son be with people who know him when I can’t be there.
