Page 9 of Inked Adonis

Fine by me. I wrote the book on fighting dirty.

But these motherfuckers are deluding themselves if they think they’ll take so much as a single scrap off my table.

“So he’s actually considering jumping ship.”

“We can’t be sure?—”

“Cut the bullshit, Myles,” I snap, ice coating every syllable. “Nobody takes three meetings unless they’re shopping for a new sugar daddy. Who’s their rep?”

Myles drums his fingers against his bouncing knee, a surefire sign that he has more unpleasant news to impart.

“I guess I should’ve led with this part, because it’s the actual bad news. The Lev thing was more of a setup to the punchline.”

“Myles… get to the fucking point.”

He sighs, reaching into his jacket. “Looks like they’ve got new talent on the payroll.” He slides a glossy photo across my desk.

I stare down at the grainy image.

And my blood curdles.

“Katerina.” Even her name on my tongue makes me sick to my fucking stomach. “Of course. It figures the bitch would continue finding new ways to ruin my life even after the divorce. She couldn’t destroy me from within, so she’s taking the scenic route to stick the knife in my back.”

“About that...” Myles pulls more photos from his jacket, spreading them across my desk.

I pick up the photo closest to me, another fuzzy image of my ex-wife, but this time, she’s sprawled across the ugly, wrought iron table of her rooftop garden…

With her legs wrapped around my brother’s head.

“Charming.” I toss the image back to the desktop with a wrinkled sneer. “But I don’t know why you think I care. Their sordid little soap opera lost its shock value a long time ago. As far as I’m concerned, they deserve each other. I say we leave them to it.”

“Or,” Myles suggests, “we hang them by their own rope. This shit isammo,Sam. We can use it.”

I arch a brow. “Oh?”

He leans forward, his face flush with excitement. “We now have all the proof we need to bring to your father, Sam. Once we show him these pictures, he won’t be able to deny that not only is Katerina working for the enemy, but so is Ilya!”

I bark out a laugh that holds zero humor. “You don’t know Leonid Litvinov like I do. The only thing bigger than his ego is his blind spot when it comes to his precious youngest son.”

Myles gestures wildly at the pictures. “All you have to do is look?—”

“All these prove is that my brother’s fucking my ex-wife,” I cut him off. “Now that I’ve stripped Katerina of her shares in the Litvinov Group, she’s free to ride whatever carousel she wants—whether that’s the Andropov circus or my brother’s ugly face.”

“Yes, but?—”

“Ilya is my father’s pride and joy,” I remind Myles. “His golden boy. His second chance at fatherhood without all the messy baggage of a junkie first wife. He’s not going to suddenly see the truth just because I bring him pretty pictures. In fact, coming from me, it will only make him dig his heels in deeper.”

Myles’s jaw clenches, his knuckles digging into his thighs. “Ilya can’t fucking get away with this.”

“I don’t plan on letting Ilya get away with anything.” I sweep the photos into a neat stack and hand them back to Myles. “Add these to the growing collection of evidence against my dear baby brother. The time to strike is coming, but it’s not now.”

“And what about Danovic?”

I shrug, the gesture calculated and cold. “Sometimes you have to sacrifice a piece to win the game. I’m playing the long game here, Myles.”

Myles unfurls his fists with a weary exhale. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Rising from my chair, I plant my hands on the desk and lean forward. “I won’t be blindsided by those two again. When I take Ilya down, it’s going to be permanent.”

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