Page 5 of Diamond Don

With a sigh, Dmitri runs his fingers through his dark blond hair. “Well, I wouldn’t worry about her, Nik. We knew we were bound to attract party-crashers tonight. At least it isn’t Erin McGuire, anyway. Now, that would be a problem.”

I shoot him a warning glance. “The last thing I need in my life right now is another one of my associates stirring up trouble with the Irish. Don’t bring up Erin McGuire. If I never hear that name again, it will still be too soon.”

“Interesting words from the man who invited her father to tonight’s event.”

“Vladmir’s right,” I say with a sigh. “One of these days, I’ll have to teach you what respect for authority means.”

“I think I’ll take a rain check on that, Nik. Indefinitely.” He has the nerve to wink at me.

The museum’s factotum ends his interminable speech, inviting the party’s attendees to step outside for refreshments and music, and Dmitri walks away, chuckling to himself.

I search for the woman I have spent most of the night studying from afar, but I have no luck locating her. She must be out in the gardens. I can’t blame her. With the sizable crowd gathered inside the exhibition hall, it’s too warm in here.

Thankful for the chance to leave the stuffy room, I step outside, still searching for her. Instead, I find Maxim.

“Nikki,” he says, offering me a fresh whiskey. “There you are. I was looking for you.”

With a smile, I take the offered drink.

It’s good to have Maxim back home. Strange, but good. Even weeks after his return from Russia, I’m still somewhat startled whenever I walk into a room and find him standing there. I do my best to hide it and not let him notice it, but having him back on this side of the Atlantic still feels surreal.

Maxim has been my best—and sometimes only—friend for most of my life. Even before the bratva and the Flame of Mir, there was Maxim. And not much else, truth be told.

Long ago, I learned trust is too rare a commodity to be carelessly shared. Yet, once upon a time, I freely shared it with Maxim. Before Erin McGuire. Before he made me regret it.

But none of that matters now—not anymore. The past is in the past—at last. It’s time we put it behind us. I must make amends with Maxim if I can. Somehow. Ultimately, that’s what tonight is all about for me. No matter what it may cost me or the bratva, I’ll make it up to him for all he had to sacrifice in the last year.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” I ask.

“Sure. I can’t complain, Nik. Beautiful night, beautiful women. What more could a man want? Besides not having to look at Patrick McGuire’s unsightly face, of course. It’s the damnedest thing—even after all this time, I can’t shake the feeling it would look so much better if someone were to fire a few dozen shots at it.”

The Irish family’s boss must sense our gazes on him because he smirks at us, raising his glass in a mock toast. He doesn’t break eye contact with Maxim. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t even blink.

With his longtime rival a few yards away, it’s easy to see Maxim as the rest of the world sees him instead of as my oldest friend. In this instant, he’s every inch the avtoritet—the authority, the cold-blooded enforcer of the bratva. Even within our circles, Maxim’s name is feared. No one is better than my friend at his gruesome line of work.

“Maxim,” I say in warning. I barely manage to suppress a sigh.

“I know, Nik. Trust me. I’ll play nice with the man. Don’t even worry about it. I’ll do it for you.”

I study him with concern for a moment. A welcome, cool breeze blows his thick brown hair over his eyes, but he doesn’t flinch as McGuire stares him down.

A particularly ominous feeling grows inside me, and I struggle to hide my frustration. “Listen, Maxim. It’s not like I love him any more than you do. But going to war with the Irish family won’t make my life or yours any easier.”

“I know. You’re right, Nik, as usual. That’s why you are the pakhan while I’m…well, I guess I’m the man who got sent to fucking Siberia of all places for thinking with the wrong head.”

He laughs humorlessly before taking a healthy swig of his drink.

“Maxim—”

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. You did the best you could. I owe my life to you. And believe me, after my long exile, I can’t wait to get back to living the rest of it. There’s so much left to do. I sure have a lot to make up for, and I’ve already wasted so much time. So I’m glad to be back. Really, I am. And I missed you, Nikki.”

“It’s good to have you back, Maxim. It wasn’t the same without you here.”

“Well, I don’t know about that, Nik. You seem to have managed pretty well in my absence. When I left, you were still making a name for yourself within the Seven Families. Now, none of them can touch you. You sure seem to have more money now. I’m sure there are more women, too.”

Maxims’s striking blue eyes shine with humor, and, for a brief moment, things between us are just as they have always been.

Before I can remind him he’s in no position to give anyone a hard time about women, I spot her from the corner of my eye. Instantly, I lose my train of thought.

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