Page 54 of Vow of Silence

TWENTY-TWO

Benito

The look on that motherfucker’s face will feed me for days. I don’t know if anybody has ever stood up to Arseni like that in the past, let alone won. But when my heart stood at my side—her arms around me to show where her allegiance lies—and told the old man how things would be… I may have got the beginnings of a hard-on.

Fucking. Hot.

I ensure Nastasya is safely buckled in her seat before I pull away from her father’s modest estate. He moved from the suburbs shortly after establishing himself in our neighborhood—or so I’m told—for better security. Open spaces provide privacy, which is non-negotiable if you operate in the underworld.

Still, he couldn’t compete with the families who’d planted roots here decades before. The problem with the Bratva around here is that they’re everybody’s friend. It’s a position that gives them ample options regarding income streams; they do it all for the right price. However, the downfall is that they fail to create a niche in anything. Fail to gain a foothold over their competitors by taking the best money-maker and making it their bitch.

Our family? Our leading operative is extortion. We control the unions, which means we control the ports, the railways,and the airports. We obtain illegal goods and oversee their distribution. Sure, we make a little here and there through narcotics and property fraud. But blackmail is where our name excels.

The Kuznetsovs, though? Last I tallied up, they had their finger in over a dozen pies. Everything from murder for hire down to low-level systems hacking. You got a job that needs doing? They have a guy who can do it. Only most of those people aren’t part of the family. They’re a complex network of associates and acquaintances. People who’ll take the job, knowing that the Russians get a little kickback from the trade.

I glance across at Stas while I wait to turn out onto the road. How much does she know about what her father does? What influence her name brings to our table.

I could guarantee it’s not as much as she should. But whatever reason her father gives to keep the woman out of the family business, I’d place money on it being utter bullshit. The thing with families is, when you’re nestled within the branches of the tree day in and day out, you miss things those with a broader view might see.

Arseni isn’t worried about letting her head the family because she’s a woman. Well, maybe a little—he is old school like that. I’d hedge bets on that gray-haired fucker wanting her away from the helm because he knows she’d be good at it.Too good.

“Why do you keep looking at me?” Stas pulls one leg up to her chest, hugging her bent knee. “It’s kind of unsettling, you know?”

I give a half-smile and then sigh. I’m so fucking over needing to communicate through my phone already.

Maybe I like to look at you. Is that a problem?

She snorts. “No. But you’re looking at me like you want to eat me.”

Perhaps I do.

I let her stew on that little truth, turning away to focus on the road while I head toward our destination. I did as Dion suggested and went to Papa first to okay this visit. Sending me in to do the family’s dirty work isn’t anything new, but he needed to look at the evidence and do what I couldn’t—separate head from heart.

I want revenge for Nastasya. I want revenge for myself, if I’m honest. They hurt the one thing I love as much as my family, and they thought they’d get away with it.

You can try running, but eventually, the devil will find you waiting. Nobody can keep the pace forever.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

I want to. But if I do, she’ll lose that smile. I enjoy seeing her feel good—proud of herself after standing up to Arseni. So, I shrug.

I get an eye-roll in return. “Seriously? You’ve kidnapped me in sweaty gym clothes, no makeup, and my hair a mess. You owe me an answer, mister.” She reaches across the vehicle to shove her fist playfully into my arm.

It takes far too much self-control to stop myself from pulling to the side of the road and hauling her on my lap. That goddamn scene plays on repeat in my head: her at my side, Arseni in his place.Fuck. Maybe the adrenalin from the fight has me so wound up? Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s her I want to come down with.

I drop a throaty sigh and reach over to tap the dash display. She studies me while I flick through to Dion’s number—saved under Nemo—and tap to connect the call. First lesson in owninga smartphone when your enemies are too many to count: mask your contact list. Nothing worse than being strung up in some motherfucker’s torture room and having your mama’s name flash up on the screen.

“I take it since this is a voice call, you have Nastasya with you,”Dion says in place of a formal greeting.

“Hey,” Stas half-laughs beside me. “You’d be right.”

“What’s the grumpy asshole calling me for? Are you on your way to the house?”

Stas spares me a glance before her brow furrows. “What house?”

“Right,”Dion says, dragging out the single syllable.“He wants me to explain what’s going on, doesn’t he?”A pause, and then,“Gee, thanks, bro.”

I smirk—my gaze on the road before us. As much as my inability to speak drives me mad, it’s far more entertaining to be the spectator at times like this.

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