She nodded once. “Then persuade him somewhere I can’t hear screaming.”
Irina’s face didn’t change.
Lev stayed expressionless.
Mine almost curved.
Nadia caught it and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t look pleased.”
“I’m not pleased.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“I’m not lying. I’m proud.”
That stopped her.
Her fingers loosened around mine and then closed again, softer this time.
Irina lowered her gaze to the garment bag, but not before I saw the brief approval in her eyes.
Nadia swallowed. “Go deal with the contact.”
“I’ll be in the office down the hall.”
“I know where your office is.”
“Yes, you do.” I brushed my thumb over her wrist. “Get dressed, wife.”
Her breath caught.
I left before she could decide whether to argue or kiss me.
My office door shut behind me with a low click. The black stone, guarded elevator, and city beyond the glass stayed the same, but the penthouse felt colder without Nadia in it.
I buttoned my shirt and called my father.
Mikhail Sorin answered on the fourth ring.
His breath came rougher than it had a month ago. The weakness in it struck a match against old anger I had nowhere to spend. My father had taught men to lower their eyes. Now the body he’d used to rule them had begun making its own demands, and the city had started leaning in to see if the old Pakhan would fall.
“You’ve made a mess,” he said.
His voice didn’t need a greeting.
“You taught me to make useful ones.”
A dry sound came through the phone. Pain caught the edge of it and turned it rough. “Your mother says you’re bringing war into my house over a waitress.”
“My mother knows better than to call Nadia that.”
“She said it because she knew it would irritate me enough to call you.”
That time, I did smile.
Galina Sorin had never needed a gun to move men into position.
“The Kasks will claim I broke the auction settlement,” I said.
