“Don’t give him what he wants,” she said.
“He can’t talk to you like that.”
“He can, and he will, if you give him a reason to make this louder.” Her voice stayed low enough that the room didn’t get all of her. Petya got every word. “Walk out with me.”
“I started this.”
“Yes.” Her eyes shone under the brass lights, but her voice stayed steady. “You’ll make it worse if you swing at a man who brought witnesses.”
Gennady’s scarred man smiled.
I set my glass down.
Lev’s eyes moved to my hand.
I stayed seated.
If I crossed that floor, Gennady would learn too much before I’d had a hold on the threat. He’d put more eyes on Nadia, more hands between her and any exit, and more pressure on whatever debt Petya had dragged to her door.
I wouldn’t do Gennady’s work for him.
Petya shoved the envelope toward Gennady. “Take the money.”
Gennady ignored his hand. “Your sister speaks for you now?”
“My sister isn’t part of this.”
“She became part of it when you used her name with men who collect properly.”
Nadia’s head turned toward Petya.
Petya’s face went tight.
His grip on the envelope changed. Nadia saw it too. Whatever Petya had said or signed, he’d pulled her name close enough for Gennady to use it.
“I didn’t use her name like that,” Petya said.
Gennady spread his hands. “I hear many things.”
“You hear lies.”
“I hear numbers. Numbers are never lies.”
Nadia took the envelope from Petya’s hand. For one second, I thought she’d throw it in Gennady’s face.
She folded it once, slid it into Petya’s coat pocket, and gripped the lapel.
“You’re walking out with me now,” she said.
Petya stared at her. “Nadia.”
“You won’t give him money where he can make a show of refusing it. You won’t throw a punch in a room full of his men. You won’t make me watch them drag you out because your pride got louder than your brain.”
His mouth opened once, then closed.
He looked at the envelope in his pocket. He looked at Gennady. Then he looked down at Nadia’s hand on his coat.
Gennady’s smile thinned. “You’re such a sweet family. This is very touching.”
