Page 11 of The Payment

The memory sharpened his words.

“You’ll have to excuse my grandfather-in-law.He doesn’t have the decorum of a gentleman,” Jarek announced loudly, gesturing toward Declan.“Let me introduce you.This is Gregor Polov and his wife, Elizabeth.Fam, this is my underboss.”

Gregor’s eyes narrowed as they flicked between the two men.The old Pakhan might be in his seventies, but his mind remained razor sharp.“Does he have a name?”The question came with a calculating gleam that Jarek recognized instantly.It was the look of a predator assessing potential prey and cataloging weaknesses.

“He is known as The Sheriff,” Jarek replied smoothly as he noted how Gregor’s gaze lingered on Declan’s face as if he was trying to peer through the artful disguise.

The hunger for information was palpable—Gregor was fishing, hoping to identify this new player.If he succeeded, Declan would either end up dead or become an unwitting entry point into the Somerville Irish Mafia.Jarek had seen it before—how Gregor infiltrated rival organizations, turning their strengths against them before destroying them completely.

Not this time.This time, Jarek was the one pulling the strings of destruction.

“Is she well?”Elizabeth interjected with a pleading look in her eyes.

“I would’ve thought you’ve been talking by phone since we left?”Jarek raised an eyebrow.He hadn’t put any restrictions on Tatiana’s movements or who she talked to.She had no knowledge of the locations or anyone associated with the Somerville operations, so nothing she said or did would put the organization, or him, in danger with the Feds or the police.

“She’s not responding to my messages, and she doesn’t answer when I call,” Elizabeth admitted with a dejected look.“It’s not like her.She would never ignore me.”

“I must say, your reaction surprises me, Elizabeth,” Jarek continued, crossing one leg over the other in deliberate relaxation.“So selfish and demanding without a thought for her and how she feels, and here I believed you’d be pleased that Tatiana is such a successful and talented businesswoman.She’s already transforming the new Boston headquarters.”

Elizabeth’s knuckles whitened around her teacup.“When can I see her?”

“When she wishes to see you.”Jarek dropped the statement like a guillotine blade.

“This was not our arrangement,” Gregor growled as he finally abandoned pretense.“You said—”

“I said I married her to clear your debt.And I have.”Jarek leaned forward and leaned his elbows on his knees.“The terms of our agreement are still in the process of being met.What happens between a husband and wife is their business alone.”

The lake beyond the windows shimmered, indifferent to the human drama unfolding.A pair of mallards skimmed across its surface, their wake spreading in perfect symmetry.

“You cannot keep her from her family,” Elizabeth’s voice cracked.

“Oh?”Jarek’s eyebrows rose.“The same family who shielded her from knowing her grandfather orchestrated the slaughter of innocent people?The same family who dripped poison in her ear about how her parents abandoned her when, in truth, they were trying to escape your husband’s brutality?”

Elizabeth flinched.Even now, decades later, the mention of her child’s escape wounded her.It confirmed what Jarek had long suspected—Elizabeth had genuinely loved her son, perhaps had even helped him flee, only to watch Gregor destroy him in the process.

“Tatiana isn’t as forgiving as you would like,” Jarek continued mercilessly.“Knowing the roles you played in her beloved uncle’s death and your lies about the kind of organization you ran...all of it.”

The hollowness that had carved itself into Jarek’s chest after losing everyone he loved vibrated with savage satisfaction.He had spent two decades drowning in that emptiness while transforming into the perfect dark weapon of revenge.

“Boston?”Gregor stood up so abruptly, the teacup crashed to the floor.“What are you saying?”Gregor straightened in the chair as Jarek’s earlier statement registered.“That she closed the Atlanta operation?”

“No, it’s still operational but only as a branch.Not to worry, I have put measures in place to prevent you from underhanded schemes using her fleet.”He smiled at Gregor’s expression.

“You will bring her home.Now.”

“Or what?”Jarek didn’t move.He didn’t even blink at the glaring threat in Gregor’s eyes.“You’ll kill me like you killed Nikolai?Like you killed Barto Petrov or my family in the street?I welcome the attempt.”A cold smile sliced across his features that transformed his handsome face into the purposive display of a wolf showing just enough fang to remind them who now controlled the hunt.

“But here’s a fair warning—if anything happens to me, documents detailing your organization’s structure, accounts, and alliances will find their way to Federal authorities.Tatiana added an addendum to that effect herself to our marriage contract.”

It was a lie but a convincing one.Gregor’s face contorted with rage but was underscored with a more satisfying look of helplessness.

“This isn’t over.”

“On the contrary.”Jarek rose smoothly.“It’s been over for almost twenty years.You just didn’t know.”

He nodded to Declan, who hadn’t spoken a word throughout the exchange.His purpose had been solely to unsettle Gregor as a standing witness to his embarrassment.It worked like a charm.

“Word on the street,” Jarek’s voice dropped to a velvet-soft murmur that sliced through the tension in the room, “is that you’ve placed a rather substantial price on my head.”

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