“Ruslan, you know what this means, don’t you?” Valentina says, swirling her wine glass around. “We have two families with peace on the line because of Ivy. If we don’t hand her over, then we’re poised to upend this entire organization. You know how fragile the power balance is.”
“You think I should have her over?” Heat licks at my words as my gaze snaps to Valentina.
“No,” comes a deep voice from behind us. We all turn as Bradley walks into the kitchen, massaging his jaw with one hand. “It doesn’t need saying, but we are not handing her over, and we’re not toppling ourselves either.”
“You have a plan?” Valentina asks.
“No,” he replies, walking to the fridge. “This is Ruslan’s lead. But we have to make it clear where we stand.” He retrieves a beer from the fridge and faces us. “Someone tried to kill Cassian. Tried to kill Ruslan. Peace between the Russians and the Italians doesn’t just wipe that from the board. I don’t care if it’s one of them or a third party. Ivy is not moving from here until I know the truth. Someone is confident—no, arrogant enough to think they can get one over on us.”
“They’ve done a good job so far,” Raven murmurs. “Can you imagine how this would have gone if Ruslan hadn’t gotten to Ivy in the hospital when he did?”
“Exactly,” Bradley replies. “We have hundreds of families that rely on us for support and protection. More than I care to count.Someone has made it pretty clear that they see us as a target, and I’m not letting that slide. Whether it’s because they have an issue with us or they’re just stabbing in the dark, I don’t care. Finding peace with one another doesn’t take them off the board of suspects. We have to get to the bottom of this.”
Whether it’s Bradley’s voice or simply his warm understanding, when he finishes, my anger has faded somewhat. Bradley leaves the kitchen and Raven follows not long after, leaving Valentina and me to mull things over.
“How was she? Ivy, I mean. When you looked in on her?”
“She asked for you, but I think exhaustion got the better of her,” Valentina replies. “It’s been a long, hard day for her. I can’t imagine this makes it any easier.” As she speaks, a soft jingle rises from her hip and she pulls out her phone.
I drink slowly, watching her thumb tap rapidly over the screen as she texts someone back. I need a plan, but at the moment I can only think of two things—kicking down Kraven’s door or taking Ivy and running away with her. None of these is a good solution.
“Hmm. As I thought,” Valentina murmurs as she finishes texting. “The Russians are using their police contacts to divert their attention away from the Italian airline. That must be why the Italians are willing to believe the Russians are innocent. Thanks to Kraven, they’re able to get back to work and salvage their original peace deal.”
“So the Italians just roll over like that?”
She scoffs and sips her wine. “They were in a really tough spot. An investigation like that would have gone on for years and the airline would crumble. So would their route for product inand out of the country. It could be the Russians making a good gesture to prove they really are innocent. A goodwill move.”
“But why?” I lean forward and something clicks in my mind. “If they’re innocent, then why would they soothe things with the Italians? Logically, if the Russians truly had nothing to do with this, then they would know it really was the Italians who screwed the deal.”
Valentina’s glass pauses halfway to her mouth. “You think it’s a move by a guilty conscience?”
“It has to be, right? They’ve bloodied their hands and we haven’t let it go, no matter how many threats have come knocking down our door. What better way to get rid of the last link than soothing things with the Italians and coming after Ivy as a united force?”
“But why?” Valentina sets down her glass. “This whole time we’ve been missing thewhyabout everything. Why her? Why that plane? Even your theory about her being the target is missing the why.”
“I know. Fuck, I know.” Shaking my head, I lean back in my seat. “Okay… okay.” As a plan starts to form, I learn forward eagerly and tap my fingers against the beer bottle. “I need you to go and talk to the Romas.”
“You think they’ll suddenly decide to tell me the truth?”
“Maybe. But I want you to go and tell them that we’re freeing up their airline, not the Russians. I can put in a couple of calls to make the entire thing go away. I can even get the press on our side. That’ll take the Russian boot off their neck, so to speak. I also need you to get a sworn statement from Florence. Every single detail. We need it on record.”
“And what are you planning to do?”
“I’m not letting Kraven lie to me again. If we take away their power over the Italians, then they have no one to back them up.”
“And if the Russians are telling the truth?”
“Then whatever the Italians have on them to force them to use their contacts to free up the airline won’t matter anymore.”
“Alright. How honest do you want me to be?”
“Whatever makes them talk, I don’t care.”
Valentina picks up her phone and starts typing away. “Ruslan?”
I’m halfway to my feet when I pause. “Mmhmm?”
“Be careful.”
