The rest of the drive passes quietly. Whether it’s because Dmitri’s taking what I said into consideration or if he’s just thinking, I’m not sure. But I'm not going to argue with the relative peace his silence offers as I pull into the familiar scrap yard, nodding at the man standing near the entrance as I pass.
Driving slowly toward the back of the lot, I nudge Dmitri’s side.
“Keep your head on a swivel. He can’t bring much in the way of backup without his higher ups noticing, not all the way outhere. But we don’t have any either. Check your gun before you get out of the car. He’ll have the truck and a second man with him. You’re driving the truck back, and I’ll be on your tail the whole time, but pay attention to who’s around you anyway. You hear me?”
He nods, already checking his gun under the sparse lights as I stop, putting the car in park. Sure enough, Luca’s leaning against the side of a box truck, looking like a wet cat in a suit and tie, arms firmly crossed across his chest.
“Andrei, what a surprise. You’re late,” he snaps before I’ve even shut my door. I roll my eyes, making an exaggerated show of checking my watch.
“We’re three minutes early. You have what we came for, or not?”
He points at the truck with a nod. “What’re you doing here, anyway? I haven’t seen your ugly mug in ages. I was starting to think this sort of thing was beneath you.”
I keep an eye on Dmitri as he circles toward the back, opening the truck with a blank face while he waits for Luca to get off his ass and follow us.
“Or, wait. Don’t tell me. You’re doing grunt work because you pissed someone off.”
I don’t answer, climbing into the back to open one of the crates.
“So, what’d you do?” Luca calls, laughing at his own conviction. “You fuck the wrong man’s wife? Or does Maksim just not trust a quiet motherfucker like you?”
I check over one of the submachine guns, satisfied to find exactly what I was expecting. Replacing the lid on the crate,I move to check one of the ones in the back. I don’t think he’s going to try to fuck me over, but it’s bad business to trust anyone. Especially not a man with nothing to lose.
By the time Luca finally joins me in the truck, he’s still running his mouth, like if he talks long enough, he’ll get a reaction that will justify picking a fight.
Unfortunately for him, his attempts to piss me off are almost identical to the ribbing I get from everyone else. It’s as effective as a mosquito.
I nod at Dmitri when I climb out the truck, and head to the trunk of my car.
“Here’s the usual,” I say, tossing a briefcase at Luca’s feet. He sneers but picks it up. I’m sure he’s itching to open it up and count the contents, but he doesn’t get that luxury. He’ll have to wait until we’re long gone and hope we didn’t short him.
Some guys might, but I won’t. Not when we’re already robbing him blind.
As long as his family is in one piece, he doesn’t have room to complain.
Chapter 11
Andrei
Traffic is light, but it does very little to help me relax. I’m not worried about cops tonight. Dmitri is driving like a perfect citizen, and all the patrols in the area are paid generously to look the other way when we’re making deliveries. Instead, I’m thinking back to what Alexei said.
I need to find a long-term solution to keep Blair safe. I can’t dump her at his place whenever I’m not there to watch her. It was pure luck that he was even home tonight.
I can’t let her stay at my place, but I can’t let her stay at hers, either. Not just because of tonight. I don’t want to gamble that Semyon’s orders to kill her died with him. He was a helpful pawn for Pavel, but he isn’t the only one who would jump at the opportunity.
When she became an informant for me, she unwittingly learned intimate details of Maksim’s drug-running operations. Not just out west, but how he moves his contraband throughout the country. If she were so inclined and could find a copwho isn’t on his payroll, she could put him behind bars—and probably keep him there until his eventual trial.
It'd be enough to take down our whole operation, and we wouldn’t be able to recover for years.
Would she? I fucking doubt it. If anything, her time working with law enforcement just left her jaded and untrusting of the whole damn system, and that was before she had a kid to think about.
But does Maksim care about that? No. And if he’s gotten it into his head that he wants to see her dead, my options are pretty fucking limited.
In fact, by the time we get to the warehouse, I’ve only come up with one idea.
Mikhail tips his chin in acknowledgment when we pull up, ready to unload the merchandise. “Everything go alright?” he asks, eyes glinting with malice.
“Yes, sir.” Dmitri lifts the door on the truck, turning his head to hide the small, proud smile on his face.
