Page 39 of Cashmere Cruelty

She starts sashaying away with her bodyguards in tow. I debate pulling out my gun and dropping a body right here, right now, in the middle of the street. Teach Petra Solovyova what it means to truly cross me.

But, before I can make up my mind, she calls over her shoulder, “Oh, by the way. I talked to my father. For the sake of his little girl, he’ll allow this farce to continue.” She throws a smile from behind her shoulder, all teeth. “But you should probably talk to him soon, too. Vladimir Solovyov isn’t a patient man, after all.”

Vladimir Solovyov is a has-been, I want to spit in her face.He’s a septuagenarian with a dying Bratva and no heir to take over. He’ll be patient if he knows what’s good for him.

Before I can indulge the urge, Yuri appears at my side.

“Dasvidaniya!” Petra waves, blowing us a kiss and climbing into Vlad’s limo, her twin hounds in tow.

I itch to grab my gun. But Yuri places his hand firmly on my shoulder and whispers, “Don’t. We need her.”

I shake him off, cursing up a storm. “Fucking insufferable.”

“She can be, yeah.”

“I’d rather marry her goddamn father.”

“I don’t think you’d look that good in a white dress.”

I glare at Yuri. “Is there a reason you’re here, or did you just want to finish what Petra started?”

Yuri clears his throat, stepping back. “My bad. I just wanted to tell you it’s done.”

I frown. “You have the test?”

He shakes his head. “That’s… still underway,” he says, sounding weirdly uncertain. I’m about to pry into what exactly’s got him acting so strange, when he adds, “I meant the other thing.”

I massage my temples. If this day goes on any longer, the migraine I’m brewing might be the death of me. “Quit speaking in riddles, brother. What thing?”

“The kidnappers. We have them.”

That jolts me to attention. “Where are they?”

“In the warehouse, with our men keeping watch. I’m heading there now.”

I give a quick nod. “Good. Do that. April mentioned one of them was Russian. He could be one of ours.”

Yuri frowns. “You think our men got turned?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll need you there until I find out. If there’s a traitor in our ranks, they might not be working alone.”

“Understood,” Yuri answers, straightening where he stands. If he were to salute me right now, I wouldn’t even blink. Nothing whips Yuri into shape like an important task to oversee. “Will you be coming along for the fun?”

“No.” I shake my head. “I’ll meet you there later. Start without me. Make those lowlifes understand what it means to mess with one of us.”

For a moment, there’s only silence. Then: “That was quick,” I hear Yuri half-joke, half-sulk.

I whirl around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” he backtracks. “Just…” A pause. I can see his eyes grow uncertain again as he gathers up the courage to ask the question burning up inside of him. “Is that what she is now? ‘One of us’?”

I roll my eyes all the way to the back of my skull. “Not you, too.”

“I’m just saying,” he mutters. “We don’t know if she can be trusted yet. What if the kid isn’t yours?”

“Shecan’tbe trusted,” I tell him flatly. “She’s not blood. And if the kid’s not blood, either, then they can both go fend for themselves.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Yuri flinch. Does he think I’m being too harsh? Maybe. Yuri always had a kinder heart than me.

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