Page 41 of Brutal Secrets

“Kai, this is Vadim, my right-hand man. Vadim, Kai saved my life when I first got to China. We’re old friends.”

They don’t look particularly friendly, but I raise a hand in greeting.

“What’s with all the manpower? You checking all this by hand?” I nod at the men moving weapons.

“They don’t trust you. You’re not one of us,” Kai says, and I catch Sasha’s wince before he beckons me toward the container at the edge of the dock where a desk and a couple of stools balance unsteadily on the metal floor. Not Russian enough for the Night Governor, but not accepted by the Chinese either.

Once we get inside, the smile drops off his face and lines of exhaustion bracket his mouth.

“I’ve got you two places to hide if you need to. One of them is linked to Kai, so Guelman won’t know about it. I called in a favor.” Sasha pulls a crumpled packet of cigarettes from his pocket, drawing one out with his teeth before throwing it my way.

I snatch the packet as it flies toward me, and then I light it up and pull out a stool. “I owe you.”

Sasha walks over and drops two sets of house keys into my hand. “You don’t. I fucked up with Polina. The fact the Night Governor wants a woman who looks like my sister...” He shudders.

Unsaid words hang between us in the smoky air.

Sasha takes another drag, blowing the smoke in a ring that breaks as it rises higher. Then he looks up at me and purses his lips. “I’m sick of pacifying the boss. He’s a monster and he’s never going to let us out from under his thumb. Kai is my best hope. Everything’s shifting, which means it could be an opportunity or...”

The silence is pregnant with all the ways this could go wrong. I close my eyes, and images jostle for space. The Night Governor grinning as he talked about the new toy he planned to marry. The woman in the back seat of my limo talking about the child I never wanted our boss to find out about. Christ. The ways this could blow up in our faces are endless.

“Do you trust him?” I ask.

Sasha doesn’t get a chance to reply before the sliver of sunlight from the doorway is blocked and footsteps ring on the metal floor. There are a dozen unfamiliar gangsters moving guns around our docks. The Night Governor is making threats. I’m losing control of everything at the worst time.

Sasha won’t trust anyone who won’t drink with him. Kai must know him well enough to know that because he walks silently to the table and slides the bottle of vodka toward Sasha, but I’ve got no idea what’s going on.

Sasha watches him as he pours, and Kai throws the drink back and then looks between us without saying a word.

“The chess pieces are moving on the board, and I need the Spataro girl out of the way.” Sasha slides his glass toward his so-called friend and watches the spirit glug into it.

Kai picks up the drink and twirls it in his hands before confirming my instinct that nothing about this is a done deal. “You’re not Gary Kasparov. What’s in it for me?”

Sasha watches his friend’s face until Kai finally puts the glass to his lips, and then he seems to come to a decision. “Do those guys outside trust you?”

Finally, Kai cracks a smile, leaning his forearm on his knees. “You know they don’t. If you don’t speak Wu dialect like the rest of the snakeheads, you aren’t one of them.”

“Well, the Night Governor doesn’t trust me either, and if he marries this girl, he’ll be unstoppable, so...” Sasha pauses to inhale. “I’m asking you to gamble on me.” He hitches a thumb toward me. “On both of us. To see if we can’t become more powerful.”

Kai doesn’t answer the question. He places the shot glass on the table and rises to his feet. “I’d better get back to the men outside.”

Once Kai’s out of earshot, I stand. “The triads? You sure that’s a good idea?” I step toward the door, but Sasha’s fingers circle my arm and he drags me backward.

“You got any better ones?”

Turning to my best friend, my stomach twists and I blow out a long breath. I’ve got nothing to offer, and Sasha is doing what he always does. Finding a way out.

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “Kai always comes through. He just needs a while to think about it. The Italians will be looking for the Spataro girl, but they’ll be following you. If we can get the Italian chick out of the way while I figure out exactly who is pissed off and how much, perhaps we can come out of this with a way to make more money.”

He pulls me back to the table and pours another vodka shot. It’s warm, but I sling it back like it’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted. Then I pull my knife from my pocket and run my finger over the blade. “I need to get my kid and the woman out of the way.”

Sasha’s eyes follow the blade I’m spinning in my hands. It’s something I do when I’m nervous.

“You worried?” he asks.

“Hell yes. What am I supposed to do with a ten-year-old?”

Sasha sputters and doubles over with laughter. “He’s started a fucking mafia war, and what really freaks him out is babysitting.” He’s wheezing as he wipes his eyes. “Fucking brilliant, man. This is brilliant.”

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