Page 25 of My Merciless Don

I didn't know how to respond to that.

My first instinct was to snark at him and tell him that he didn't get to pat me on the back like he was my mentor or some shit. Luckily common sense prevailed, and I remembered that I was a professional. I couldn't quite bring myself to say thanks but I did give him two thumbs up and a fake smile.

I clapped my hands together and then rubbed them, “So, what's next?”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

AUDRY

Iwas at a bit of a loose end after the meeting with the Triad. We were still at the trial phase with the virus and George needed me close, in case of anything. But otherwise, nothing else was happening. I wasn't included in the meetings or given access to operational procedures which, seeing as that was my ultimate goal, was a bit disappointing.

I couldn't just sit around waiting for Marco to see the light, so I decided to nudge him in that direction by bringing up Aleksandr Yegorov. I knew the man was his nemesis, and maybe I had some info on him that Marco didn't.

One day after dinner, I cornered him on the veranda as he smoked a cigarette. “Mind if I steal one?” I said as I took a seat next to him, and he passed me his own. I took a drag and passed it back.

“So, what's the deal with you and Yegorov? Are you friends now or what?”

He glared at me. “Never.”

I nodded. “That's what I thought. But then I looked into it and I saw that you never exacted any revenge for what he did. What's up with that?”

He snorted derisively, inhaling deeply from the cigarette before passing it over. “Politics,” he grunted.

I cocked an eyebrow. “You gonna let politics keep you from revenge?”

Slowly he shook his head. “Just waiting for the right time.”

I barked with laughter. “The man might die while you're waiting for the right time.”

He gave me piercing stare. “What is it to you?”

I shrugged, “I don't like him either. Plus, he wants to kill me, so getting him off the board would be advantageous.”

His mouth twisted with contempt. “So, you want me to kill him for you?”

“No. I want you to kill him for you.” I said earnestly.

He just laughed.

I turned in my seat to face him, pointing the cigarette at his face, “I showed you what I did to him. What I didn't tell you was that I gathered a whole lot of information on that man. Information I'm willing to turn over to you.”

He gave me a cynical look. “In exchange for…?”

I smiled. “Call it a freebie. This is me building up trust between us.”

He sniggered, “Trust? Sweetie, I gotta tell you, I never trust thieves.”

“And that is a good policy to have overall. So, my challenge is to show you that I can be trusted despite the fact that I stole from you.”

“Good luck with that.”

He blew smoke into the sky, his eyes on the starry night. My eyes were on him. He was an enigma wrapped in gorgeous body, and I was determined to unwrap him, down to his raw ingredients.

“So, all that aside,” I lifted my hand making a shoving gesture, “do you want the info or do you not?”

He turned his head lazily and blinked at me, then shrugged. “Why not? The more I know about that man the better.”

“I have some juicy tidbits. Maybe even something to help you get around your council, or politics, or whatever.”

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