Page 51 of Cashmere Ruin

It is. Either I’m looking at the weirdest coincidence in the world, or…

“We have a mole,” I realize. “All this time, we’ve had a mole in our ranks.”

Yuri gives a grim nod. “It’s likely that someone has been feeding Carmine information. Someone from the inner circle.”

I sift through the papers again. There are notes in the margins, scattered thoughts here and there, as if Yuri really took his time with it. His handwriting looks more rushed than usual, less rounded, though still familiar somehow.

He must have spent many late nights on this.It’s really good work.

I almost tell him that. But then I remember he’s still on thin ice. Praise is the last thing he deserves.

“Who else knows?”

“Just us.”

This is a real fucking headache. I just promised thevorya war, and now, I have to stop everything. To stall at the worst possible time.

But I can’t risk losing with Carmine. And with an unknown variable in our midst, it’s anyone’s guess how exposed we’ll be. He’s the kind of man who can turn a breadcrumb into a mountain of ammo—who knows what he can do with aspy?

“Good,” I tell Yuri. “Let’s keep this between us.”

“I think that’s for the best?—”

“Except for Grisha. I want him looped in.”

Yuri’s face falls. “Grisha? Why?”

“Because he’s proven reliable,” I snap, irritated at being questioned. “And loyal. Something harder and harder to find these days.”

Those words make him flinch. “But…” He fumbles for a reason to object. “But he’s not blood,” he says finally.

It doesn’t matter, I almost reply. Then I come back to my senses. “I want him looped in,” I repeat. “Don’t make me say it again.”

Yuri swallows. “Yes,pakhan.”

A mole. I never thought anyone would have the guts to try, given what I do to my enemies. But there it is: a spy—no, atraitor.Another betrayal waiting in the wings.

Join the fucking club.

17

MATVEY

“You could at least try to smile,” Petra hisses at me through perfect rows of teeth, whitened just for the occasion.

The cameras flash. “I’m not in the mood, Petra.”

“Really?” she coos back, eyes still fixed on the crowd of reporters. “And here I thought we were doing this for fun.”

I force the corners of my lips to twitch. “Yeah? And yet we both know you love this.”

“Posing for a bunch of sweaty guys in suspenders?”

“Being the center of attention.”

Just my luck: I learn about a mole in my organization and instead of being free to deal with it, what do I get?

A fucking photo op. With Petra.

---