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“And ruin the fun? Absolutely not. Twenty-four hours.” I glance at the animal again as it stretches its large paws. “And bring them. I much prefer animal company to humans anyway.”

Mishka and I leave without another word and don’t speak until we’re back on the plane. A plane no one can tie back to either of us. The pilot won’t survive the landing at our next scheduled stop. No loose ends.

“You really think they’re going to agree?” Mishka demands, glaring at me.

“They will if they know what’s good for them.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing. This entire thing blows up and we’re both dead.”

“Neither of us expects to live long lives. You want to tell me you don’t want to do this?”

“Even if I said it, you’d kill me. But no, I have no desire to see any of these fuckers breathe another second. But don’t forget your promise to me.”

I wave him away. “Yeah, yeah. We’re not there yet, but we’ll deal with it. Now, we have some shit to go over and plan out. Are you going to bitch and whine at me the rest of the time?”

He flips me off, and I grin. He may hate me, but the longer we do this together, the more I’m realizing I might actually be able to trust him a little bit. Not fully; I’m not that stupid.

It’ll be a shame the day I have to kill him, but until then, I’ll use him for everything he can give me.

14

ILYA

2 MONTHS LATER

“Don’t shoot the messenger,” Zakhar mocks, collapsing into the chair across from me.

The chair gives a groan, and I narrow my eyes at him. “I’m going to shoot you if you break another one of my fucking chairs. Do you know how much fucking money it costs me because of your giant ass?”

He smirks, wiggling his hips and making the chair creak. My jaw sets, and my glare deepens. “Someone’s cranky,” my brother taunts.

“You just came in here and told me Simeon Belov is here to talk to me. Uninvited. He came into our territory, and no one alerted me. Or you, for that matter. How the fuck do you think I’m feeling?” My fingers itch to grab the gun under my desk to remind Simeon why no one dares to come to me uninvited.

I should send him back to his father worse for wear, a clear message.

“And like I said, don’t shoot the messenger. I’ve already sent Oleg to round up the men they got past. We’ll deal with them.” An anticipatory glint shines in his blue eyes, a small shade brighter than my own in this lighting.

Zakhar lives for interrogation. Few realize how fucking good at it he is. While I’m one of the better ones, I know full well Zakhar will always be the best, but Oleg isn’t far behind.

“I’m surprised he allowed you to tell him to go.”

Oleg helps Zakhar keep the men in line. Or maybe that’s due to the pitch-black wolf he’s been raising and training and keeps at his side the majority of the time. No one messes with Freya. She showed up at his cabin in the middle of a blizzard on one of the rare nights he took off. When he brought her home, I was firmly against the entire idea, but the fear she inspired in the men as she got older convinced me. Oleg’s made her an excellent deterrent for anyone stupid enough to try and get on the grounds and past the dogs and guards. And if any of our men betray me, having a wolf tear them to pieces certainly does the trick.

She’s the last thing you want to see stalking out of the shadows toward you when you’re about to die.

The same wolf lying on her bed in the corner of the room, lazily reclining. If Oleg or Zakhar are not around, Freya will listen to me. Mostly. At least where it counts.

Either way, Oleg will get me the answers I need.

Zakhar shrugs. “I told him it was better for me to be here dealing with Belov. We both know Simeon just loves me.” His smile turns sharp.

It’s my turn to smirk. There’s no love lost between those two. Simeon idiotically went after Zakhar’s wife when they were first married, trying to convince her to leave Zakhar for him. Zakhar almost killed him, and the only reason I stopped it was because I didn’t need a war with Timur Belov then.

Now, it’s Timur who would not want to start a war with me. I’ve expanded our territory to take up most of the West Coast, and I keep it with an iron grip.

That doesn’t mean I don’t plan on making Simeon pay for that insult. Zakhar will have another turn at him soon enough. Perhaps today for his arrogance.

“I’m surprised you didn’t kill him on sight. What does he want?”