Page 120 of One For my Enemy

“Yes,” she agreed, rising to her feet. “I’m not telling you many things. Now, if that’s all—”

“You were with my brother when you died,” he said, musing it aloud, and she paused in place, hands tightening furtively around the pile of bills. “Now that I know you, I know you would never have done so unless you were… distracted. More than distracted.”

“Get to the point, Lev,” she snapped, not looking at him, and he folded his arms over his chest.

“You know the point, Marya,” he said. “You’re in love with my brother.”

All that irreverent certainty, she thought, recognizing it with a frustrating fondness. Clearly it was a Fedorov trait. “You think you know quite a lot, don’t you?”

“Actually, Iknowquite a lot,” Lev corrected, half-smiling, and she was about to grumble her impatience with him when the door opened, revealing Ivan’s head in the frame.

“Marya,” he said. “A word?”

She nodded. It was as good a time as any.

“Wait here,” she said to Lev.

“No ‘wait here, Solnyshko’?” he prompted. “I thought we were friends now.”

“Don’t push it, Fedorov.”

“Fine,”he sighed, sliding down in his chair as Marya turned to Ivan, pulling the door shut behind her.

“Yes?” she asked, and Ivan hesitated, eyes darting to the door.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell—”

“She can’t know,” Marya warned in a low voice. “Not yet. Not until I know he can be trusted.”

“Trusted for what?”

As she had with Lev, Marya arched a brow in answer, and Ivan sighed.

“I just think—”

“I know what you think, Ivan, and truly, I value your thoughts. Always.” She closed a hand around his shoulder. “But please. Keep this between us for now, and do not tell my sister.”

Ivan nodded slowly, then cleared his throat.

“I just heard something very interesting from Raphael Santos,” he said, obediently leaving the issue of Lev Fedorov aside. He would do as she asked; he always did. “Someone is running for Stas’ seat on the Witches’ Boroughs.”

Marya shrugged. “Well, that was bound to happen. Whoever it is, we’ll win them over.”

“That’s the thing,” Ivan said. “I think you already have.”

Interesting, Marya thought, and then, good interesting or bad interesting? It seemed, by the look on his face, that even Ivan wasn’t sure.

“Dimitri Fedorov,” Ivan supplied, and Marya, who was almost never surprised, certainly was then.

“Dima?” she echoed, dropping her voice and pulling Ivan away from the room containing the youngest Fedorov son. “But the Fedorovs have never bothered with the Witches’ Boroughs before. Why would he need a seat when he could just buy or leverage anything he needed?”

“Right. Hence my informing you as soon as I heard.”

Marya permitted a slow nod, thinking.

“See what you can find out, then,” she told him, and gestured him out the door. “I won’t be leaving for the night. I’ll be fine alone.”

“Are you sure?” Ivan asked, and she nodded.

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