Page 53 of Deadly Legacy
When the bunker door next groaned open, Andrey stumbled into the room, squinting against the harsh lights. His once-proud posture had deteriorated into something hunched and wary. The stench of stale sweat and fear clung to him.
Nikon kept his distance, studying his brother’s transformation. Where once stood a man with swaggering confidence and a perpetual smirk now hunched a hollow-cheeked stranger. The fresh scar along his jawline looked puckered and angry against his pallid skin. And his hands trembled slightly as he stood before his brothers, eyes darting between them, none of his former arrogance remaining.
“So the traitor returns.” Nikon’s voice cut through the room, flat and cold as winter ice.
The door opened again as Grigorii entered, still wearing his leather shooting gloves from the weapons inspection. He’d been overseeing a weapons shipment in the east wing of the compound when security alerted him to Andrey’s arrival.
The eldest Matvei’s expression remained granite-hard as he approached Andrey, the room seeming to shrink around his imposing presence.
“Sit,” Grigorii ordered, his command sending Andrey scrambling to a metal chair in the center of the room.
Alexei hovered nearby, his gaze shifting between his twin and his older brothers. The tension in the room was visible, like heat waves distorting the air.
“You look terrible,” Alexei said, breaking the silence.
“Dmitrii doesn’t treat his partners well,” Andrey replied, voice hoarse. He touched the scar on his jaw. “Only his servants.”
“What did you expect?” Nikon’s voice cut like ice. “That Dmitrii would treat you better than your own brothers?”
Andrey’s shoulders hunched further. “I thought—” He swallowed hard. “I never thought I’d be used as human furniture at his parties.”
Alexei slid a bottle of water across the table. Andrey grabbed it desperately, the plastic crinkling as he gulped it down.
“Why should we listen toanythingyou have to say?” Grigorii demanded, crossing his arms. “Give me one reason not to throw you back out on the street.”
“I’m not asking you to trust me,” Andrey said, his gaze dropping to the floor. “Just listen.”
Alexei leaned forward. “Let him speak, Grigorii. What harm can it do?”
Nikon exchanged a skeptical glance with Grigorii, but nodded for Andrey to continue.
“Dmitrii’s lost everything,” Andrey said. “The casino attack was his last play with his political connections. The senator has already contacted his people to distance himself.”
Nikon walked a slow circuit around the room, keeping Andrey in his sightline. “Tell us something we don’t already know.”
“He’s down to twelve men,” Andrey said. “His core loyalists. The rest have either been arrested or disappeared.”
“Twelve?” Nikon’s eyebrow arched upward. “And where are they operating from?”
“Three safe houses.” Andrey leaned forward, eyes bloodshot but earnest. “I can give you locations, entry points. Everything I know.”
“And we should believe you why?” Grigorii’s voice rumbled with skepticism.
“Because he’ll kill me regardless,” Andrey said, looking directly at Nikon, his gaze steady for the first time since entering the room. “Just like he plans to kill Reuben.”
The fluorescent lights hummed in the sudden silence. Nikon’s expression stayed neutral, but blood rushed in his ears, his heartbeat suddenly loud in his chest.
“He’s obsessed,” Andrey continued. “Won’t stop talking about Reuben. Says taking him will destroy you. Then he’ll finish you both.”
Alexei pulled up a digital map on the screen. “Show us these safe houses.”
Andrey stood unsteadily, pointing to three locations across the city. “His main base is here now. Five men. The warehouse district location has four, including Roman. The apartment downtown houses three, mostly running surveillance.”
“Surveillance of what?” Nikon asked.
“Everything.” Andrey traced routes on the map with an unsteady finger. “He’s been watching Matthew Capital. Your penthouse. Tracking Reuben’s movements.”
“How long?” Nikon demanded.
