Page 249 of The Devil's Thorn
“I think it guaranteessomething.Continuity. Political protection. A bloodline. A way to keep your name alive when someone finally gets lucky with a bullet.”
I stared at him, eyes hard. “I don’t plan on getting lucky.”
Yuri gave a dry laugh and grabbed the whiskey bottle again, refilling his glass. “Nobody does. But the men who survive this world long enough to get tired of it? They’re the ones who plan for when they’renotlucky.”
“So I knock her up and give her my name?” I asked, voice flat. “That’s your brilliant strategy?”
“I didn’t say you had to marry her,” he shrugged. “Just make the world believe you’ve got a future beyond yourself. That alone keeps your enemies guessing.”
I didn’t answer. Because part of me knew he was right. Not about her. But about theideaof her. Of an heir.
Something—someone—that would make them think twice before coming for what I’ve built. But that wasn’t her. It wasn’tCormac’s daughter.And it sure as hell wasn’t going to be a pawn in a deal dressed up like a blessing.
I stood, walked back toward the map, my eyes scanning the eastern route Nikolai had marked. “Budapest’s container is already being prepped,” Nikolai said. “Customs flag is low. Our guy on the inside checked this morning. We’ll run it the same way as Naples—split manifest, double seal, clean paperwork on top, heat tucked underneath.”
“Cargo?”
“Guns and medical-grade opioids,” he said. “Half is staying in Budapest, half is getting rerouted to Prague.”
“That’s two borders in one drop.”
“Which is why we’ve got a second handler meeting the truck at the handoff point. And the delivery is scheduled to move during the shift change at border control.”
I nodded once. “Anything on the Berlin end?” I asked.
“They’re asking to push the next shipment to Friday. Something about pressure on their import facility. They’re nervous. Not spooked—yet. Just watching the news too closely.”
“Tell them we don’t run onfeelings.They agreed to the date, they hold it.”
Nikolai nodded, his fingers already moving to text someone back.
“And the Marseilles drop?” I asked Yuri.
He exhaled slowly. “Already moved. Quiet and fast. I tipped the port director extra for staying blind.”
“How much?”
“Ten grand and a case of Cristal.”
“That’ll buy him a weekend,” I muttered. “Next time make it twenty and give him a girl who doesn’t speak French.”
Yuri grinned. “Always the romantic.”
The door buzzed once—low and quick.
Nikolai checked his phone. His face didn’t change, but I saw the flicker in his eyes. “Cormac’s here.”
I didn’t move. Didn’t need to. Cormac was already here—what mattered now washowhe’d be received.
I looked to Nikolai without shifting from my seat. “Let him in. Keep his daughter outside the room. If I want her brought in, I’ll say so.”
Nikolai nodded, already turning.
“And you,” I said to Yuri without taking my eyes off the map, “stay.”
He grinned, teeth flashing as he rolled his shoulders and took another slow sip of his drink. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Nikolai disappeared through the door without a word, his silence always sharper than anyone else’s noise.
