I stare down at my trainers against the pavement. “When Cade had me trapped, there was a guy there. Cade’s the one who told me the guy in the shadows was a Spider. I knew fuck all at the time.”
Ren’s face draws in quizzically. “Was it the same guy as the one you killed?”
I shake my head, and I see the antenna in Ren’s head stand to attention. “I don’t think so. I mean, I was fucked up.”
The memory has morphed. All I remember is the pain of him slicing into my thigh.
“Their vibes were different.” If I said that shit to anyone else, they’d argue that doesn’t mean shit. Ren takes my word for it. “But I do know he was pissed Cade had brought that up. The thing about Cade is he can run his mouth.”
“You know Dimitri wants to exhume the dead guy. But Leon isn’t telling him shit.”
I snort. “Leon doesn’t take shit from the Russians either? Nice.”
“Roma talked to Max,” Ren says, handing over the joint. “The Met arrested Cade. The Stuarts are already moving in on the Weed and Tweed territory.”
“You think they’ll rebrand?”
Ren shoots me a look but doesn’t take the bait. “You good with it?”
I nod. “Yeah. He’s the least of my fucking problems right now.”
“Is there anything I can do to help with any of those fucking problems?” Ren bumps her shoulder against mine. A tiny smile graces her lips, but I see how tentative the offer is. Like she’s worried I’ll bite her head off.
“You think I just came for the joint?” I hold it up. “Nah. I need your help.”
A silly little bit of awe lights her face. She quickly wipes it away before nodding and getting back to business. Which is good because I’m going to need her.
“I need you to set up a meeting for me. With Yelena Zimin.”
The moment I asked, Ren whipped out her phone. Jane lured me inside, saying I needed to eat. And food did sound pretty good.
“Need a little something to help with the munchies?” Tristan asked, scowling at the pair of us.
Ren proceeded to stuff her mouth full with an omelet Abe’s dad made us.
Then she dived for her phone when it began to ring. Except it wasn’t Yelena. Lev wanted to know why Ren was calling his wife. She promptly hung up on him and tried Yelena again. Dimitri called next.
She declined him and answered an incoming call from Yelena. The woman arrived back in New York last night after burying her mother in Russia.
Ren didn’t hesitate to ask for her to meet with me, though. And Yelena agreed to it.
She didn’t care to come into the city, so instead we loaded up into our SUV again and headed to the Zimin home.
I don’t mind the added privacy, and considering she just got off a plane, I’ll meet her wherever.
“Shit,” Luis says under his breath, looking up at the mansion.
“You’ve dropped us off here before,” Tristan replies, getting out of the SUV.
“Yeah, but this time I’m allowed inside and look at that architecture. Stunning.”
He rights his jacket, running his hand through his short dark hair, and takes a deep breath.
“You look good,” I tell him, boosting his ego.
He shakes his shoulders; it’s a typical Luis dance, but then his face drops. “Shit.”
This time the word is not because he’s impressed.
