Page 7 of Cashmere Ruin

“I have another job for you,” I tell Yuri.

He looks up at me from his glass, still untouched. “Anything.”

“I need you to tail Grisha.”

His eyes go wide. “Grisha? Why?”

“Just following a hunch.”

“You don’t think he’s involved, do you?” When I don’t answer, Yuri pales. “Matvey, you can’t possibly?—”

“Think,” I hiss. “There’s no way shecould’ve disappeared on her own. Not when she’d just given birth, and with a baby in tow at that.”

“But Grisha’s loyal to you.”

“Is he?” I rise and start to pace. “He was the only one who knew where she was. He’d been arguing with me all week about my choices, about how I treated—” I grit my teeth. Even now, I can’t bring myself to say her name out loud. “He was unhappy with me. And maybe he was a little too happy with her.”

“Matvey, this is crazy,” Yuri protests. “Grisha never showed any interest in?—”

“Then how?!” I roar. “He had the means and opportunity. He had plenty of motive, too, even if he didn’t care for her like that.”

Or did he? Just the thought is enough to send my blood boiling: my third-in-command, setting his sights onmywoman. The mother ofmychild.

How much time together did they have? How much time did I leave them with? With the excuse of standing guard, or being invited in for tea, or?—

“Motya, this is insane.” Yuri springs up, taking me by the shoulders. “He may be an asshole and a half, but he’d never betray you like that. I’ve never seen him so much as ogle the waitresses at Hedoneros, let alone think he’d steal Ap?—”

“Do not say her fucking name!”

Yuri backs off, hands up in surrender. “Fine,” he concedes. “But you have to know this is madness. You’re chasing shadows.”

“Better than chasing nothing at all.”

I don’t know what my brother sees on my face then. Whatever it is, it must be enough to make him reconsider. “Alright, look,” he says, “I’ll tail him. I’ll do it. But Matvey, I won’t find anything. She…” A pause. “Maybe she just needs time. Maybe she’ll come back on her own.”

“‘Maybe’ isn’t good enough.”

I force myself to calm down. Count back from ten, or whatever it is normal people do. Not like I’d fucking know.

Finally, I exhale and turn around.

“Do it, brother.” I place both hands on his shoulders. “Follow thatmudakand call me the second he steps one toe out of line. Right now, you’re the only one I can trust.”

Yuri swallows thickly. “Yes, Motya.”

“Find them. Bring them home to me.”

There’s a flash of hesitation. “I’ll do my best,” he promises.

Finally, I allow myself a smile. The shadow of one, but that’s already a small miracle. “I know you will.”

Then I go back out to search some more.

3

APRIL

In this new life of mine, I sleep like the dead. Because being a new mother is exhausting and because, frankly, Mrs. Tanner works me like a greyhound. Unless Nugget starts crying or the building is on fire, I don’t even twitch.

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