Page 120 of Kingmakers, Graduation

Then, low and furious, Lev hisses, “Don’t fucking lie to me.”

I wait to hear what he knows.

His anger is palpable. It seethes through the line, a heat I can feel against the side of my face.

“I’m going to give you one chance,” Lev says. “And one chance only. Give me the man who shot my son. Turn him over to me, and he will receive his punishment by my hand. That will be the end of it, I’ll seek no other revenge. I know it was one of your Wolfpack.”

I pause for what I hope is the appropriate amount of time to indicate shock and confusion.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Zigor is dead?”

I hear a creaking sound—perhaps the phone shaking with rage in his hand.

“I thought better of you, Adrik. I thought you had honor.”

Now my temper rises.

“What kind of honor is that? Handing over one of my men to your pliers and blowtorches? Never. I’m sorry for what happened to your son, I truly am. But these are my brothers. Even if one was responsible, I wouldn’t sacrifice him to you.”

“Is that your final answer?”

“All my answers are final.”

“Then I hold YOU responsible, Adrik. It will be YOUR head.”

“Come and get it.”

I hang up the call.

Sabrina is sitting cross-legged on the bed. The book she was reading lays flat on her lap. She’s pinching the skin between her thumb and forefinger, hard enough that her nails dig in.

She certainly heard my side of the call, and possibly Lev’s as well.

“How does he know?” she asks.

“He doesn’t know for certain, but he’s sure enough.”

“What’s he going to do?”

“I don’t know. Put a hit on me, maybe.”

“We should go to Rostov-on-Don right now, today,” Sabrina says at once. “Kill him before he can kill you.”

“I can’t. I’ve got way too much shit to do here. We’re going to need a new source—we owe orders to Franko and the Markovs, not to mention our own dealers.”

“You won’t need a new source if you’re dead.”

“Sabrina, please,” I cup her chin, tilting up her face to look at me. “Give me some credit—I’m not that easy to kill.”

She’s unsmiling, her eyes huge in her strained face.

“You’re not invincible, either.”

I kiss her softly on the mouth. “Yes I am. As long as I have you.”

She doesn’t look convinced, so I continue: “Look, I’ll keep an ear out. Threats aren’t action. Lev is pissed right now, but that doesn’t mean he actually believes that Zigor is worth starting a war over. We’ll wait and see what he does.”

Sabrina chews on the edge of her lip, too hard.

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