Page 79 of Cashmere Ruin

It would be deserved. It would be righteous, and vengeance, and a goddamn treat to witness.

But it wouldn’t help anyone. It wouldn’t help April. On the contrary, it’d only make her life harder. And it doesn’t matter how badly I want to avenge her—I can’t be the one who keeps doing that to her.

Even if it costs me my reputation.

“No. Just surveillance.”

I may be mistaken, but I think I catch Grisha’s mouth doing something. Something that almost resembles a smile. “As you wish, sir.”

After five hours poring over the same fifty pages of logs, I start contemplating the surface of my desk. Specifically, how hard I could slam my forehead against it without breaking either thing.

“What a fucking mess,” I mutter.

Across from me, Yuri sighs. “Yeah.”

“This is a goddamn farce. What’s the point of having a logging system if no one bothers to actually use it?”

“To be fair, yourvoryaren’t exactly the freshest batch of Bratva men on the market,” Grisha points out. “The youngest is Ipatiy, and even he’s pushing fifty.”

“That’s no excuse for disobeying orders,” I snap. “If they can surf porn on company hardware, they can damn well learn to use company software.”

“There’s a joke in there somewhere,” Yuri says wryly.

“I should just punish them all,” I sigh. “Grisha, how much would that set me back?”

“Executing all yourvory?” He shrugs. “Oh, not that much. Only every single company they run. Ten billion or so?”

Figured.“Any progress on the surveillance tapes?”

Grisha slumps in his chair. An uncharacteristic display, but then again, none of us is at our best right now. Give us a street fight any day, but bureaucracy? I’d rather carve my own head out like a goddamn jack-o’-lantern. “Unfortunately, it was too long ago. That week’s footage has been erased automatically.”

“Perfect.” I roll my eyes. “So we have nothing.”

“I wouldn’t saynothing,” Grisha counters. “We have the names of the accounts that were used. It’s worth considering that the mole might, in fact, have acted from their own computer.”

“Seriously? You think they’d be thatdumb?” Yuri scoffs. “Some mole that would be.”

“Are you getting upset on the mole’s behalf, Yurochka?” Grisha asks. “We haven’t even established it’s a smart mole yet. Only that, whoever they are, they’re currently one step ahead of us.”

“Is that your idea of good news?” I frown. “They’re an idiot, but we’re even bigger idiots, so that’s why they’re winning?”

“Glass half-full, Matvey.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘they’?” Yuri cuts in. “Thevoryare all men.”

It’s a good point, but Grisha starts tutting immediately. “Ah, but thevoryare not the only ones with access. There’s you and me, and of course, Matvey…”

“Thanks,” I say dryly.

“And one more person.”

It takes me a beat to realize who he means. Yuri must realize it at the same time as I do, because his face goes absolutely livid. “You fucking take that back,” he snarls.

“No need to take it so personally.” Grisha shrugs. “Just considering all options.”

“Petra isn’t an option! My—” He cuts himself off at the last second. “Ourpakhanshaisn’t a suspect. She has no reason to hurt us.”

“Really?” Grisha fires back, all cheer suddenly gone. “Did she tell you that herself? In that case, by all means, let’s strike her from the list. Honor system is a fantastic way to run a Bratva.”

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