Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
I coughed, embarrassed, and forced all thoughts of Alison away. Then I smiled at him. “Because it annoys you, brother. How’s Bronwyn?” He’d gotten married earlier that year.
Radimir grinned. He never used to smile. “Good,” he said with feeling. “Very good. I never thought being married would be so…” He shook his head, unable to find the words. “I’m going to surprise her. While she’s away this weekend, I’m going to build her bookshelves.”
“Bookshelves?”
“Bookshelves.” He spread his arms wide. “Big white ones. Floor to ceiling. The whole wall.”
I frowned. “I thought women wanted shoes.”
Radimir shook his head smugly. “Bookshelves.”
I shook my head in wonder. I couldn’t imagine ever being so besotted with a woman. “It’s good to see you happy, brother. Next thing, you’ll be making me an uncle.”
Radimir held my gaze, suddenly serious. My eyes bulged, and I nearly spat out my coffee. Was he actually thinking about it? Him, a father?
“Let’s talk business,” said Radimir, quickly changing the subject. We both leaned in. “The Irish…” he began.
I sighed, then glanced at Alison over Radimir’s shoulder. She was too far away to hear us over the noise of the food court, and we were speaking in Russian. “I still think this is a mistake. I don’t trust them.”
Radimir put his elbows on the table and cupped one big, tattooed fist with his other hand. “They’re the only ones who can do what we need. Finn is reliable.”
A few months ago, we defeated the Nazarov brothers and took over their territory and all their operations. That left us with a problem: the Nazarovs handled most of Chicago’s drug trade. We didn’t have the resources to take it over, but we didn’t want to leave a power vacuum, either. The only option was to partner with another gang. Radimir had chosen The Irish Mafia, led by Finn O’Donnell
I scowled. “I don’t like them.”
Radimir nodded. “I know. But you’ll do the deal? For me?”
I sighed. “Of course, brother.” I don’t always agree with him, but he’s still my Pakhan. We discussed the details, talking in code just to be sure: bricks of heroin were sandstone, cocaine was marble. I pulled out my pen and made notes in the little notebook I carry in my jacket. I don’t trust computers or smartphones. I take paper notes, and at the end of each day, I burn the pages. I glared at Alison. Try hacking that.
Radimir blinked at me. “Everything okay?”
I snapped my gaze back to him and nodded. I still hadn’t told him about Alison. He had enough to deal with, heading the family. Plus, if he found out I had an FBI agent on my tail, he might want to kill her.
I frowned. Why did that thought make something twist uneasily, deep in my gut? I wanted to fuck her, but I didn’t care what happened to her...right?
Killing her would draw too much attention, I decided. Yes. That was it.
Radimir leaned forward. “I’m worried about you.”
I shook my head and sipped my coffee. “I’m fine.”
Radimir sighed. “We’ve expanded so much over the last year, and you’ve taken on more and more. All you do is work. And…” He leaned closer. “The way you’re operating, Gennadiy.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “The fires. The killing.”
“I do what’s necessary,” I told him stiffly.
He shook his head. “You’re becoming…”
“I’m becoming what I need to be, to protect us. And I told you, I’m fine.” I knocked back my coffee, even though it was still so hot it burned my mouth. Then I embraced him and got out of there.
Before I met Finn, I had to shake off Alison. I led her on a winding path through back alleys, but she stayed with me. I drove around a huge underground parking garage, but she was still there. When we stopped at a red light, I sat watching her in my rear-view mirror, my gaze searing into her as the anger roiled and churned inside me. How dare you! How dare you try to destroy everything I’ve built? She was so small, so insignificant, and yet so irritating, like a little bird peck-peck-pecking at a bear. With her gray FBI suit and that tight, tight blouse, and those lips so insolently pouting as she glared back at me. I just wanted to...wanted to...
She cocked a perfect eyebrow at me as if to say, Well?
A horn honked behind me. Fuck! The light was green. I stamped on the gas, my face heating.
I roared across the intersection with her right behind me. Then right, down a side street. Left, into an alley. She was still there. I was panting with adrenaline, pissed off and cursing and—
Alive. More alive than I’d felt in years. I’d never had a worthy opponent before.
Ahead of me, a garbage truck was reversing across the alley. I floored it and shot through the closing gap…