Page 92 of The Shape of my Scar
And Thane was staring at the floor.
She cleared her throat. “Right. Who wants lunch?”
Midway through the second round of coffee after sandwiches, and yet another argument about pineapple on pizza, Faolan asked, “How did you even get involved in the sting?”
The chatter died.
Zel leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. “Anatoly.”
Faolan blinked. “Who is Anatoly?”
“You don’t know the name?” Zel asked.
She shook her head slowly. “I mean… I’ve heard Bratva tossed around from Thane.”
Lirian exhaled, low. “Man’s a ghost to most. But to people who matter, he’s…a legend.”
Zel’s voice dropped slightly, steady. “Anatoly Vlasov. He runs the UK arm of the Bratva, but not the flashy, gold-chain, nightclub type. He wants to meet you.”
“He’s old-school,” Maro said. “We have worked with him before. His moves are a bit unconventional, but he is a good guy.”
“But not a trafficker,” Zel added quickly. “Not that kind of scum.”
“Bratva has rules?” Faolan asked dryly.
“Some branches do,” Zel replied. “He enforces his rules with an iron fist. There are lines they won’t cross; kids being one of them.”
Faolan absorbed that, uncertain.
“He’s not a saint,” Lirian said. “But he’s not the devil, either. And he gave us this job. Names. Schedules. Entry points. And he gave us an in. The rest was us. He couldn’t get involved directly, but still.”
Maro rubbed a hand over his jaw. “He risked his own people to tip us off. Said if we didn’t act within that window, the cargo would vanish.”
“But why?” she whispered. “Why help at all?”
Zel’s gaze was thoughtful “He has a granddaughter. Little. Blonde. There was a painting in his office”
“Something must have happened,” Maro said, voice unusually tight. “We don’t know. The Bratva keep it tight. And we are talking about the Pakhan’s granddaughter.”
“She was lucky,” Lirian added. “But Anatoly wasn’t going sit around and let this happen to other children, I guess.”
Faolan’s hands trembled slightly in her lap. “So…this is personal.”
Zel nodded. “We think so.”
“And he wants to meet me?” she asked, her voice small.
“He said you deserve to know what you’re dealing with,” Zel replied. “Said you’d been used as a pawn in something bigger, and that he wants to make it right, if he can.”
Faolan stared down at her hands. “I don’t know if I want to open that door…”
“It’s your choice,” Zel said. “We’ll be with you, no matter what.”
And beside her, Thane’s fingers slid across the back of her hand.
“Alright,” she said in the end.
Chapter 44
