Page 58 of Kept By The Agents

"I come in...peace."

Cocking my head, I wondered why he'd said that. And why he hesitated.

"That's what you Americans say? Yes?"

Brando groaned, shot us a look that said to get ready to kill this guy if he made a wrong move, then opened the door.

"Oh fuck," I whispered, gripping my weapon tighter.

"What?" Suave hissed. "Who is he?"

"He," Brando said, not bothering to keep his voice down as he stared at the man in our doorway, "is Matvey Lebedev."

The man bowed his head in acknowledgement.

There was a pause, then Suave's breath washed over my ear. "Should I know that name? Sounds kinda familiar."

"Do you not read the packets I give you?" I asked him in disgust. "What's the point of me putting them together if-" I broke off when Brando shot us a warning look. "He's the leader of the Bratva in this area," I mumbled before falling quiet.

I didn't need to look at Suave's face to know he was shocked. We all were.

"What're you doing here?" Brando asked.

"And how did you find us?" I added.

Matvey took stock of all of us and then motioned toward the house. "I'd much rather have this conversation inside," he said.

"You still haven't told us why we should trust you enough to invite you in," Brando scoffed.

The man paused, his dark eyes sweeping over the three of us again. "You're here to dismantle the Raleka." It wasn't a question. And said in that heavy accent it sounded far too much like a threat.

We all stiffened at the statement, ready to deny the truth.

He shocked us into silence a second time that day. "And I need your help."

Brando hesitated, but stepped aside, allowing Matvey into our safe house. I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't watching it with my own eyes, but Brando was an excellent judge of character. If he trusted this guy enough to allow him in, we'd hear him out.

Reaching back, I closed my laptop. I didn't need him seeing what was on there. Even though I didn't know yet what I'd been watching, I knew I didn't want the Bratva getting their hands on it.

"Talk fast," Brando growled, glaring at the man.

Matvey held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I haven't told the Raleka what I know."

"Why?" Suave asked, suspicion coloring the word.

The man looked over at us. "Because they are my enemy, too." He all but spat the words.

"Since when?" I asked. "According to our intel you take payments from them and stay out of their way. Doesn't sound like something enemies do."

Matvey nodded, the light bouncing off his dark hair. "Da. That was the arrangement." His eyes hardened. "Until two days ago when they took my daughter."

We all looked around at one another. I could read their expressions without them verbalizing the same question that was forming in my own mind. Can we trust him?

Matvey shifted and we all snapped back to attention. With deliberate slowness, he pulled something out of the pocket of his jacket and handed it over to Brando.

He looked down at the photograph then handed it off to me. I stared down at the girl, who was maybe fourteen years old, and frowned. She was smiling at the camera, and she had the same dark hair and dark eyes as the man in our house. I handed the photo to Suave.

"What makes you think the Raleka took her?" Brando asked Matvey.

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