Page 80 of Shattered Empire (Shattered World)

“Let’s regroup at the penthouse and head out from there,” I told him. “Let Damon know to have the helicopter fueled and ready to go in two hours.”

Maksim nodded.

Sitting back in my seat, I sighed. It was good to be home.

“So,” Dima broke the peaceful tranquility that had settled over us. “Who’s gonna tell Ava about Kenzi being a badass ninja and you miraculously being raised from the dead? ’Cause,” he tapped his finger to his nose, “not it.”

The whole car—save for Andrei—followed suit with a chorus of “not it” ringing through the small space.

Fucking children.

My biological father laughed heartily before shrugging and sticking his finger to his nose.

“Not it.”

The whole car broke into a fit of laughter.

Yes—it was certainly good to be home.

* * *

“Your woman has a thing for kneecaps,” Vas groaned into the phone. “She’s obsessed with them.”

I chuckled. Apparently my sweet, defiant wife had turned into a bit of a psycho. I would be lying if I didn’t admit it turned me on.

A lot.

“Doesn’t surprise me.” The noise of the helicopter was nothing but a dim sound in the background with the headset on. “Look who she lived with for half her life.”

“Kenzi is a bit of a psycho herself,” Dima grunted next to me. Kenzi slapped him across the head, and he grinned. “Just saying.” He shrugged.

“What’s our next play?” I asked mySovietnik.

“About that…” Vas trailed off. “We can’t target Cartwright yet, but we’re working on it. Your wife has a business date tonight, and she fired me, but otherwise, we’re doing pretty good. The entire restaurant will be filled with—”

“Did you say date?” I interrupted him. “Why the fuck is she going on a date?”

“It’s not adatedate,” Vas explained. “She’s meeting with Joseph O’Neill’s son, Conrad, to discuss merging our assets.”

“Conrad O’Neill is a narcissistic abuser,” I growled, the corner of my lips turning up in a snarl. “Why the fuck are we talking about merging our assets?”

“We aren’treallygoing to merge our assets.” Vas’s eye roll was audible. It didn’t take a genius to realize he was irritated that I wasn’t catching on quick enough for him. “We needed him to believe that so he would go to dinner with her.”

“The only person she should be going to dinner with is me.”

“Well, you’re dead,” Vas deadpanned.

“If he lays one fucking hand on her…”

Vas chuckled. “She’ll go straight for his kneecaps, trust me.”

“Vasily…” I warned.

My brother sighed. “We needed a way to get to him, and dangling her out there was the only way to get him to bite,” he tried to assure me. “She can handle herself, and she has been for more than a month now.”

Sighing, I pinched the bridge of my nose and blew out a breath. “I know.”

“Plus, I’m a little hurt that her date was what you focused on first.” He sounded affronted. “I tell you she fired me, and you don’t have one ounce of pity for your best friend.”

---