Page 65 of The Councilor

He chuckled. “You knew that was going to happen. In fact, I don’t mind at all. I assure you the Romanians and the Armenians are already jumping up and down, fearful of the alliance.”

“They should be, but I don’t like being placed in this position, my friend. It doesn’t bode well for business.”

“Take care of today and we’ll talk tomorrow. This is going exactly as we want it to.”

“That’s what I intend on doing. I’ll talk to you soon.” I ended the call hearing him continuing to chuckle just before I did.

“Vadim is interesting,” Raphaella said quietly from beside me.

I continued to glance into the three mirrors, pleased so far no one had figured out we’d escaped. “A good friend.”

“I didn’t know men in the mob had friends. Isn’t that dangerous? I don’t think there’s a single person, including his Capos he’s ever had a drink with.”

“I assure you someone he knows is considered a trusted confidant. No man can harbor the kind of dark secrets we do alone.”

“So that means you’ve killed before, like my dad.”

Just hearing her tone, not accusatory but sad, troubled me. “Don’t ask things you don’t want to know.”

“I’ve been around this block my entire life, Aleksander. If a single person, usually a man inside the mafia stood in front of me telling me they’d never killed anyone or that they hadn’t enjoyed doing so, being able to play God, I’d laugh and call them a bald-faced liar. My father did what he could to hide the ugliness from his three kids, but I was that curious girl, needing to learn more. I overheard conversations, including with my mother, who often accused him of being a murderer. The single thing I can say that’s decent about the man is that other than to the press, he’s never lied about the monster he is.”

“Maybe I’m not so virtuous,” I told her. At least she wasn’t coming into my world green. How sad was that?

“Bullshit. You have two distinct sides, which is why I believe you’ve continued playing an attorney. Maybe you don’t enjoy ending a man’s life, and I assume you’ve only killed men, but you are completely aware it’s a necessity in your line of work.”

The woman was by far more intuitive than I’d given her credit for. That made her dangerous for more than one reason. We were nearing the courthouse and I knew things would get dicey. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I would beeager for the day to be over with. Her words ran hard and heavy in the back of my mind, and not just what she’d said.

“I’ll be frank with you, Raphaella. I’ve performed acts most people would consider disgusting, usually because of my loyalty to my Pakhan and the Bratva. However, I’ve always been a ruthless man. I was a pain in the ass law student because I challenged everything. My professors hated me. Somehow, I always found a loophole or inaccuracies in the mock cases we were asked to perform. I’m not a good man. I never said I was. However, I would never hurt a woman intentionally, at least not in the way you believe I’m capable of.”

“Unintentionally?”

Now I had to laugh. “I’m not good boyfriend material.”

“I beg to differ. When you allow that guard of yours to fall, you’re pretty incredible.”

She wasn’t looking at me, her jaw clenched.

I rubbed my jaw. “You heard we’re in the news.”

Her snort was also laced with bitterness. “Oh, yeah. Jasmine in the admin pool? She made certain I knew and she sort of threatened me.”

Now I was the one bristling. “What?”

“Don’t worry about it. Women like that I can handle. However, she did insinuate you would fall and when you did, it would be hard.”

I didn’t know who she was talking about but I would find out.

When she leaned forward, pressing her fingers across her mouth, I knew things were about to get dicey. “Shit.”

Shit was right.

A huge crowd had formed. Hell, there were people with picket signs in thick red paint insisting Tillman was guilty.

“Whatever happens, keep your head down and don’t answer questions.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not naive.”

No, she was many things but not that. As soon as I turned a corner, I realized my car had been recognized. I headed around back to the special entrance and hissed. “Fucking shit. The area is supposed to have guards posted.”

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