Page 109 of Beautiful Deception

“Uh…” His eyes flick around the room, clearly trying to come up with some lie.

“Are you Gleb Petrov?”

He blanches. “How did you know?”

I stalk towards him as he shuffles away from me. When his back hits the wall, there’s nowhere for him to go.

“Who are you?” I ask. “Exactly?”

“I…”

“Do you work for the Bratva?”

“Not anymore,” he admits, dropping his head low. “I did at one point. But I don’t anymore. I swear it.”

“Why?”

“I… went broke. I lost my money. I was always low on the totem pole.”

Explains why I’ve never heard of him before.

“And your daughter… she knows what you used to do for work?”

His eyes flash with worry. “Leave Inessa out of this.”

“She’s the reason I’m here,” I growl. “Does she know what you used to do for work?”

“Yes. She’s friends with… Elena Romanov. They went to school together.”

I step back. Holy shit. Inessa knows Elena… which means she has to know Aiden. Explains why I saw her at Elena’s birthday party a year ago. They’re fucking friends.

Inessa is technically a part of the Bratva – a fact she seemed to forget to tell Viktor.

But why not tell him? Viktor would have been happy to know she was a Bratva woman. He was obsessed with marrying one. Until he threw that all away to be with Inessa.

“Do you know that your daughter is currently married to Viktor Smirnov?”

Gleb’s eyes widen. “What? You’re joking.”

“I’m not joking. She’s been working as his maid for the past couple of months now. And then she married him. Why would she take a job with Viktor Smirnov and not tell him who she really is? Why lie?”

Gleb looks anywhere but at me.

I shove him harder into the wall. “Do you know something?”

“No,” he squeaks out.

“You do. Did something happen between you and Viktor?”

His gulp is visible. “No.”

“No? You’re lying. Tell me.”

“Ok, ok. Fine. But you have to understand that I needed the money. I just needed money.”

I dig my arm into his neck, making him wince. “Tell me.”

“I… tried to steal from Viktor. From one of his nightclubs.”

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