“Sure.”
I want to point out that if he had questions about the night I met with Luca, he could have just as easily asked Dmitri before he killed him, but I think better of it. For all I know, he did, and Dmitri didn’t have the answers he wanted.
He stands, swaying on his feet. “What do you know about him?” He leans heavily on his desk, watery eyes locking onto me like an anchor.
“Not much. He’s a capo, loyal to his guys.” I shrug. “Best I can tell, outside of his gambling problem he doesn't cause issues, and always has his boss’s money at the end of the month.” It isn’t anything that Maksim doesn’t already know, and if he wants more, then I’m not the person to ask. I don’t make a habit of digging into other outfits.
Unlike Maksim, I’m not interested in starting a war.
“I need you to findsomethingon that motherfucker,” he bellows, voice echoing in the enclosed space. He nods at Dmitri, his eyes suddenly slipping from me like he’s no longer capable of keeping them in one spot. “This little shit didn’t know anything.” Stepping around the corner of his desk, he stumbles over his own feet, taking any heat away from the threat.
What a pathetic sight.
“Sure. Give me a couple days, boss.” The vein in his forehead throbs a persistent beat, and I stand, hauling Dmitri’s body over my shoulder. Fuck, he’s still warm. “Am I good to finish up here first, or should I call someone else in?”
Maksim blinks at me slowly and nods before he stumbles out of the room slamming the office door shut behind him. I wait until the sound of his uneven footsteps fade before I headdownstairs and dump Dmitri’s body in the trunk of my car, giving myself a second to breathe.
He didn’t deserve to go out like this.
I close the trunk lid and head back inside, rolling up the blood-stained rug while I pull out my phone and dial Alexei’s number.
“Please tell me you have dirt on Luca Sotero,” I say as soon as he answers.
“Don’t tell me. He got sick of playing along and fucked up the last job.” He laughs, but it’s hollow at best. We both know that if Sotero had fucked up, I wouldn’t be asking about it so long after the fact. I wouldn’t be asking at all unless Maksim was involved.
“I need something, man. I’ll owe you one.”
He gives me a considering silence before he concedes and agrees to send me whatever information he’s got.
***
It takes hours before I’m finally able to go home, and I’m left feeling unsettled. I wander around the lower floor, making sure all the windows and doors are locked, then spend a few minutes checking and rechecking that the alarms are set before I even think about going to bed.
It’s redundant. Blair would have checked them before she went upstairs for the night. I know that, but I need to reassure myself that everything’s exactly as it should be.
Pavel’s gone. He was the most immediate threat, and Maksim’s too caught up in his drunken stupor to know where to point fingers. There’s no reason for me to think anyone else will go after either Blair or Niko for any reason other than because they’re important to me.
And for the most part, I’ve done an alright job of keeping my head down and not pissing anyone off.
Nothing’s out of place, but the knot in my chest refuses to loosen. Upstairs, I stop by Niko’s room, breathing a little easier when I find him fast asleep, spread across his bed like a starfish. Closing the door softly, I head toward our room.
A small thread of hesitation curls around me when I see the light on under the door. I doubt Blair would have stayed up because she’s still mad about my phone going off at dinner, but as I check my watch and see that it’s a little after one in the morning, unease winds tighter in my chest.
She has no business being up this late.
“What’re you still doing up?” I ask hesitantly as I open the door to see Blair sitting against the headboard, book in hand. The soft glow of the lamp makes her look angelic. She looks up at me with a soft smile, the green of her eyes almost startling in their intensity.
Not still mad, then. I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“I couldn’t sleep.” She shrugs, her entire demeanor soft and sleepy. She’s wearing one of my old T-shirts, her hair tumbling around her shoulders in loose, messy waves.
Fuck, I love her.
“I’ll be able to sleep now that you’re home.”
I grin, stripping out of my suit as I head toward the bed. “Is that so?”
“I always sleep better when you’re here.”
