Page 144 of Blood Mosaic

“I don’t want to leave here until Zara is gone,” Mika said. “It doesn’t seem wise.”

Oleg paused at the threshold of his office door. “Do you doubt that I can deal with her?”

“I don’t know how many people she has working with her now. Don’t be foolish. She knows you’re here. Even you could be vulnerable if she storms this house with enough cannon fodder.”

He put a hand on Mika’s shoulder and pulled his old friend in, kissing his cheek before he patted it and pushed him away. “I appreciate the concern, but she has no money and no more loyal soldiers. Even the Albanian mob won’t work for her if she’s not paying them.”

“Oleg—”

“Clear my schedule for tomorrow night. Then go to Moscow. I want to know what Ivan is plotting and I need your ears.”

“Fine, but I’m telling Lazlo and leaving Ludmila with you.”

“Good idea.” He walked into his office and shut the door behind him.

He wanted Tatyana’s blood and sex, but she was sleeping, so he poured himself a few fingers of vodka and sat in a leather chair near a shuttered window that overlooked the garden.

In the distance, he could hear the pigeons cooing in their cote, and the sound made him smile. Such a little, domestic thing. Why did it give him so much pleasure?

The rotary phone on his desk clanged with a metallic ring, and Oleg reached for the black plastic receiver. Only a few people had this number, so when he put the phone to his ear, he was expecting someone from the citadel. “I’m listening.”

“Hello, Papa.”

Zara’s voice made him freeze.

He allowed the silence to drag across the line.

“Papa?” Zara sounded slightly nervous.

Good.

“Hello, daughter.”

“Ah. Youarethere.”

“You know exactly where I am.”

“Hmm.” She laughed a little bit at the back of her throat. “Did you like the present I left for you?”

Oleg had no way of knowing what Zara knew about his and Tatyana’s relationship. “You left me a mess. The newborn killed the gardener.”

“I would say sorry, but I am not.”

“I liked that gardener.”

“I know. It’s difficult to find good employees. I appreciate that you didn’t fire our chef in Sevastopol. She was the only one in her family who was worth a damn, and she had four grandchildren to feed.”

“I know; that’s why I kept her employed at the house.” Oddly enough, Oleg sensed that Zara’s concern for the chef was entirely sincere. That was his daughter. She could be surprisinglygenerous until she wasn’t, and it was impossible to predict when her generosity would hit.

“I’ve been meaning to call since the unpleasantness in Odesa,” Zara said. “This is really your fault, you know? You shouldn’t have stolen all my money. I worked hard for you, Oleg. That money was more than fair.”

He managed not to crush the phone receiver in his grip. “The unpleasantness? You mean your killing Elene?”

“Thatwas an accident. She fell over and she was old, Papa.”

Zara’s voice was whining and childish, a tone she’d used with Luana when she wanted something. Hearing it brought a rush of memories to his mind.

“It’s not my fault that she broke her neck,” Zara continued. “I was just asking her questions.”

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