I’m not afraid to give him a nudge if that’s what it takes.
His eyes snap to mine, finally breaking up the monopoly Nikita has had on his attention.
“You already have weight to throw around with how much money you earn,” I point out. “At least you know how to manage something. That’s more than he can say.”
Really, what’s so different between running nearly a half dozen clubs and a criminal syndicate? It’s all about knowing how to manage people. Alexei’s more than proven himself capable in that regard.
He nods idly, like he’s only half listening to me, but it’s enough.
“I could also let him flounder. He’ll crash and burn in his own time.” His tone is bland, like he doesn’t care either way, but the tick in his jaw betrays him.
I watch curiously as he resumes scanning the room.
Nikita Dyomin isn’t popular among the men. He’s slimy and standoffish, but I can’t figure out why Alexei is focusing his ire onto him. He has the means to make hell for anyone in this room, so why Nikita?
“You could,” I concede, “but we’re already fighting one war. Is his failure worth risking another?”
The mess with The Outfit quickly spiraled out of control when the police made a show of investigating Maksim’s death. It’s turned into something that will take time to clean up. It’ll tie up time, money, men, and firepower that, frankly, we aren’t in a good place to lose. Not without someone with a plan pulling strings behind the scenes.
Without a level head in charge, we’ll end up shedding every resource we think we have faster than we have any hope of replenishing them.
Add an internal power struggle on top of everything else, and we’ll be left with a shit show that will have no other outcome than catastrophic disaster.
I’d rather we not try to fight a war on two fronts, but if Alexei’s going to refuse to step up, I won’t force him to. I can only hope that he doesn’t let Nikita bury us all before he gets a chance to start digging us out.
“Perhaps.” The corner of Alexei’s lip twitches into a smirk that he quickly conceals behind his glass.
“Do I even want to know why you’re focusing on him?” I ask. He lifts a single shoulder in a shrug, and I know that that’s as much of an answer as he’s likely to give me for now. “Then pull your head out of your ass and stop looking at him like you’re plotting his death.”
He looks at me, eyes cutting.
“And how am I supposed to look at him, Andrei? Like I respect him? Like he has my undying loyalty? Should I put on a show before I stab him in the back?” I meet his stare, not blinking. “Or, wait, it was the throat, wasn’t it?”
His look around the room is pointed, making the unspoken threat more than clear.
“Isn’t it better to be straightforward? Why bother with the underhandedness?”
The men in this room are already a loaded powder keg. A single spark, and they’ll turn on me faster than I can come up with a defense. In their need for revenge, it wouldn’t matter who I am to them or what I’ve done, only what they think happened.
They’d gladly make me another casualty.
I squint, trying to figure Alexei out.
I don’t think he wants to turn on me. I think he’s trying to deflect, to keep me from prying into whatever his deal with Nikita is. I just don’t know why he’s being so forceful about it.
“Loyalty is earned,” I say with a shrug. “As you know.”
I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge, and he knows it. If he’s serious, then I’ll make sure he’s the first one I take down. I won’t be able to make it out of this room alive, but I can guarantee he won’t, either.
He nods to himself, and I force my shoulders to fall.
“Relax. My sister would take great joy in skinning me alive if I let anything happen to you.”
“If you let anything happen that would upset her friend, you mean.”
Nadya and Blair have been as thick as thieves lately. If something were to happen that would upset Blair, Alexei would have Nadya breathing down his neck, and if something upset Nadya, I’d have the same from Blair.
Clearly, he isn’t happy about it, but I’m thrilled that Blair has someone in her corner. It’s the first time I’ve been able to see what she’s like with someone she calls a friend. And seeing her happiness is something I’ll never sacrifice, no matter how annoying it makes Alexei.