Page 7 of Scarlet Promise
“You’rewhat?”
“She’s helping me out.” I hold up the hand that’s not on Albert’s shaking head. “Don’t be furious at Alina. This is my fault. I talked her into it,” I lie. “I take full responsibility. And full blame. For everything.”
Demyan starts laughing. “You think?”
“Be as angry at me as you want,” I say, “but right now, we need to put all that aside and focus on getting her back.”
There’s a long moment where Demyan doesn’t move or speak, but finally, he nods. “Fine.”
“Fine, you’ll be angry or fine, you’ll put it aside?”
“Don’t fucking push it, Ilya. I’m focusing on getting my sister back. Once we get Angel, I’ll deal with you. And if you’ve fucking so much as touched her…”
“Demyan.” I bite down on my tongue. “Please.”
“Her safety is priority. We have to do what we can. We could pretend to give in to his demands…but—” He stops. “Fuck, that’s not going to work.”
I know where he was going with that, and I agree.
“It might work,” I say, “but you’re right. Double-cross once, and who knows if he’ll do it again. And pretending won’t get us far if we don’t know where she is.”
“If I were such a coward as this Melor?—”
“He’s involved, but it’s not just him,” I say quietly.
Demyan frowns. “If I were a coward like those who took her, I’d want proof my demands were truly met. I don’t know what the other party wants, but Melor wants this, and he’d want to walk in here, have everything.”
He cocks his head.
I shake mine. “No. Whatever you’re thinking won’t work.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” I say in Russian, “because I thought of it, too. Get him here, have papers, let him think he’s getting the keys to the castle, and then kill him. But it won’t work because this Simonov is involved. He wants some of this bratva.”
“Maybe all of it, so Melor might be expendable.”
“And if we kill Melor, who knows what Simonov will do. All accounts state he’s ruthless and without any morals.”
“What the fuck do you have?” Demyan spits at me. “I’ve got Pavel and the others looking. Could this Denis you mentioned help?”
“He’s been in the hospital, so I don’t know. I think he’s waiting to see how it plays out.”
“Make him choose.”
I flick an annoyed look at Demyan. “In normal circumstances perhaps, but these aren’t normal. Wasting time on getting him to commit or ousting him is pointless.”
“This is how you run things?”
“Yes. As you know.” Because we both know I do this when I’m his second.
Right now, I’m not, but it’s the same thing, no matter how he chooses to see it.
“Do you have anything to go on?” He downs his other glass of vodka.
Demyan stalks off to the bar and picks up the bourbon.
He pours some but just holds it. “Tell me something.”
