Page 26 of Ivory Ashes

“Don’t let her out of your sight,” I order.

Raoul nods and disappears down the hall.

I balance on the edge of the desk while Anatoly crosses his arms and pouts. “I could have followed her.”

“I thought it might be hard to do your job when you’re so busy being a smug bastard.”

“You’re right. I am busy being a smug bastard.” He drops into the chair in the corner. “Am I right to assume the flowers from your Greek princess aren’t what has your tent pitched?”

The roses from Helen are sitting on the corner of my desk. I don’t need to reread the card to remember what it said. All the pieces are falling into place. Congratulations. XO, Helen.

Helen is right. All of the pieces are falling into place.

My alliance with the Greeks will be solidified soon, giving me access to their ports all along the Eastern seaboard. I’ll control imports of millions of dollars’ worth of illegal weapons, utilize the Bratva’s already robust cross-country shipping infrastructure, and then launder the profits through Cerberus.

I’m going to own every part of the process from top to bottom. The puzzle is almost complete.

But now, there’s Viviana. A rogue puzzle piece I didn’t expect and can’t seem to place.

“She’s lying about her name,” I tell him. “She’s calling herself Margaret now.”

Anatoly frowns. “Sounds like a cat lady. Doesn’t suit her.”

“No, it doesn’t. It also doesn’t make any sense. Trofim hasn’t poked his head out even once since I exiled him. She has no reason to be afraid.”

“Maybe she’s not running from Trofim.”

“Me?” I ask in shock.

“Or maybe this has nothing to do with you. Maybe she’s running from her father,” he guesses. “Don Giordano is a hard-ass. I mean, he did sign her up to marry Trofim in the first place. He’s not winning any Dad of the Year awards. Maybe she’s trying to hide from him.”

“If it had nothing to do with me, then why wouldn’t she just tell me that? She knows I know who she is, but she’s still lying.”

Why do I even fucking care? That’s the real question.

“Why do you even fucking care?” Anatoly asks, reading my mind.

“Because it’s my job to know what is going on around here. If someone is lying to me, there’s probably a good reason. I want to know what it is.”

He holds up his hands in surrender. “You haven’t seen this girl in, what? Four? Five years?”

“Six.”

“Okay, six years,” he amends. “I just don’t see how she could be relevant to anything we have going on.”

That’s what I’ve told myself for the last six years. Viviana doesn’t matter. I fucked her out of my system. I dealt with her.

Except, I didn’t. She’s still lodged in my chest like a piece of shrapnel I can’t claw out. I want to know why.

Anatoly leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Is this about Helen?”

“What does Helen have to do with anything?” I snap.

“Well, she’s your fiancée, but your balls are blue over some other woman. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t sound like things are healthy at home.”

“Helen and I don’t live together.”

“Yet,” he agrees. “But you will. Soon.”

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