Page 106 of Kings of Violence

I lean down so I can whisper in her ear. “Did you know they’d be here?”

She hesitates, and that’s enough to confirm my suspicions.

“If you’re very lucky, we won’t run into them. Because I won’t hold back on account of your affections for your brother.”

“They haven’t done anything,” she replies, her voice brittle. “And neither have I. I’ve been perfectly behaved, no matter what you assholes do to me, and they’ve stayed out of it.”

I know that technically, she’s right. I have that “truce” with Silvano Cresci. I also know that the truce is worth absolutely nothing at all, and that we’re all just biding our time.

This whole situation reeks now. I’d known I was walking into a trap.

I’m no longer so sure I know what the trap is.

Corvi stops next to a man whose half-bald head and graying hair peek out from the sides of the mask. He’s got a bit of a paunch that his suit doesn’t quite hide, and I imagine he looks more dignified without the mask on his face.

This must be Don Marino—I hope.

Sierra tries to pull out of my grasp again, but I keep my grip firm.

“Don Marino,” Victor says. “You didn’t tell me your guest list would be so diverse. If I’d known Konstantin Voronkov would be here, I would have made Lucia dress up more.”

“You’re the one who picked out the dress,” Lucia drawls. “But maybe that was just becauseyouwanted to wear it.”

Angelo Guerra snickers in amusement. Corvi is completely unbothered by the suggestion, which is not what I would have expected from a man like him.

Don Marino laughs, although his gaze is on me. “She looks plenty dressed up to me, Victor.”

“Ms. Bellini is indeed beautiful.” I smile as best I can. “You’llhave to tell us where you bought that dress, so Sierra can go shopping before we leave Benton City.”

Sierra shifts in my arms, but she’s being more subtle about her desire to move away from me.

“I’d love to take her,” Lucia says, her smile obvious beneath her mask, for all that I can’t tell if she’s being as sincere as a mafia woman can be or if she’s toying with Sierra. “I know all the best places.”

Glancing up at me and offering her own sweet smile, Sierra says, “You know, I think I’d like that.”

“Oh, are you staying for longer?” Don Marino asks me, ignoring the women. “Do you have business in Benton?”

“I’m just here for the party, but I might as well do a bit of sightseeing while I’m here.” I nod at Don Marino. “Thank you for the generous invitation, by the way. It was a pleasant surprise.”

Sierra doesn’t quite react, but there’s slight tension in her body that I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t have her pulled so close to me.

“I… yes, of course.” Don Marino raises his wine glass and takes a small sip. “I’d love to hear more about New Bristol. I am sorry about what happened to Petrov.”

I can’t tell what he’s getting at, and I wish we were in Russia, with everybody speaking Russian, so I had an easier time parsing the nuances of their speech.

I struggle to come up with a suitable response when Yura walks up to us. He taps me on my shoulder. “A word, boss?”

I nod, reluctantly releasing Sierra so I can excuse myself to hear what Yura has to say.

We get a little further away from the group, and Yura leans in to whisper in Russian, “Nikolai says there’s an afterparty. Something with the bigger players in town. Carlo Pierino will be there, Victor Corvi too. A few others from Benton. Nobody from outside that I can tell.”

I nod. “I should try to get in there.”

“Yeah, something must be going down. And for the other thing… I’ve figured out how to get Sierra to where she needs to be.”

I grimace and glance over to Sierra, who’s awkwardly chatting with Don Marino and Corvi’s contingent. “All right. You can have her. Just… keep a tight rein on her. My gut says something’s up.”

“Something?” Yura asks.

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