Page 97 of Under Control

“Not even if you were the one atop the Brotherhood?” I’m the one who asks it. Coming from Valentin, it would feel all wrong. Arsen would recoil from it simply because he has history with the Russians. But coming from me? From his own cousin?

He still flinches and looks away. The room’s dead silent. Nobody’s eating anymore. Valentin drinks from his glass andpointedly doesn’t speak. We discussed how we wanted to play this earlier today and now we’re sticking to the script, but my body’s jangling with nerves.

We’re playing a game. It’s a dangerous, terrible game, and this could backfire at any moment. But I’m desperate to make a change, and Valentin’s willing to see if this goes anywhere, though I know he isn’t optimistic at all.

Arsen’s mouth opens, closes, and opens again. “My brother wouldn’t like it.”

“But you’re the oldest, aren’t you?”

“Tigran’s loyal. He loves our father.” His face spasms slightly like he’s warring with himself. “We both have a thousand reasons to want our father dead, but I’m the one with the scars. Tigran has his reasons and I have mine.” His fork drops to the plate and he leans back. Valentin tenses, but he doesn’t move. I can see his hand gripping the gun tightly, ready to pull if Arsen tries anything.

“You’re loyal too, aren’t you? To the Brotherhood, but not to your father. He’s the reason we have this war. He’s the reason you’re here and my mother’s there. But if your father was no longer in power, and you took over for him, we could reach a deal. No more killing. No more revenge. Our organizations could be at peace, and maybe even allies one day.”

Arsen’s shaking his head. He pushes back from the table. “It won’t happen.”

“There’s no reason to do everything your father tells you to do. You can think for yourself.”

“No, you don’t understand. It will never work because I won’t ever trust you.” He stands, staring at Valentin. “You can make threats. You can make offers. But nothing will change my mind.”

“Think about it, Arsen,” I say gently, already despairing. This was my one move, and it’s already falling apart. “We can change things together. No more lives have to be lost. Only your father.”

He turns to the door. “I want to go now.”

“Anton,” Valentin snaps. The door opens and Anton enters to take Arsen away.

“Think about it, cousin,” I call after him.

And then he’s gone.

Despair washes over me. I didn’t think he would immediately accept the offer, but I hoped he’d at least consider it. Instead, he’s still stuck in the same old patterns making the same old mistakes, and I don’t know if we’ll ever get past it.

“You did well,” Valentin says. He reaches over and covers my hand with his. “It was always a long shot.”

“He wants it,” I say, still desperate to feel sure about something for once in my life. “He just doesn’t know how to make the leap.”

“Men like him are consumed with the circumstances of their birth.” His hand tightens on mine and his expression is clouded with memory. “Believe me. It’s hard to change.”

I kiss him and we finish eating together, but I keep wondering what might’ve happened if Arsen had said yes, what world we could’ve built together.

Instead, there will be war and agony, and there’s no way to escape it.

Chapter 36

Valentin

The logistics of the exchange are worked out over several phone calls and a dozen meetings with my closest advisors. Anton takes it over personally, and he comes up with the idea of gutting a delivery van and turning the interior into a makeshift ambulance. That way, depending on Miriam’s condition, she can be transported to wherever she needs to go.

“I want to come with you,” Karine says on the morning we’re set to leave. Arsen’s dragged from the basement, tied, bound, and gagged. He doesn’t seem particularly upset about the whole process and doesn’t fight.

“I know you do,” I say, and gently touch her face. She leans into me, eyes wet with tears and worry. I lean down and kiss her. “But I can’t afford a distraction.”

“I’ll stay in the van with the doctor.”

“And I’ll still worry. The answer is no, and I will not change my mind.”

For a moment, I think she’ll argue, because she doesn’t like being told she can’t do something, but she relents with a tirednod. I love her fighting spirit, but I also need her to know when to obey orders, especially when they’re for her own good.

The drive out to that lonely Starbucks in that quiet suburban town is tense. I’m up front in a black, bullet-and-bomb-proof SUV with Arsen and Anton. Several more vehicles drive behind us, and the van that will transport Miriam brings up the rear. That will stay out of the way until the final moment, just to make sure that the doctor is not in any more danger than necessary. Though he’s getting paid plenty for the risk.

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