Page 47 of Surrogate for the Bratva
I let the words sink in. I tore them apart and put them back together again until there was just one unmistakable conclusion, there was definitely a mole inside my organization. Soon he would be a dead mole, but for now this interloper, this spy was feeding information to the enemy. “When was the last time you ran security checks?”
Maxim blew out a breath and shrugged. “A few months since we haven’t added any new men to the crew. I’ll do one tonight.” His gaze met mine, clear as if he could read my mind. “You think it’s an inside job?”
“Has to be.” There was no one but Maxim above reproach. “I wasn’t even supposed to go to the appointment today so either April was the target which is likely, or someoneknewwe’d be together.” I didn’t even want to think it, but I couldn’t afford to be sentimental about this. Somehow Voronov and his people knew things about my life and my whereabouts they shouldn’t.
“I’ll do the usual checks into debts, both legit and underground. Women problems. Men problems,” he added with a smirk. “And family issues. Anything that could make someone susceptible to bribes or coercion to betray us.”
“Good. I want to see that as soon as it’s complete, no matter the time.” I wouldn’t be able to rest until I had that information. “And I want you to stay on April’s security. No one else but you.”
Maxim scowled at that, which I expected. “And leave you unprotected.” It wasn’t a question.
“For the moment she is more important,” I replied before I realized what I’d said. “The baby is the priority,” I corrected but I didn’t miss the half-smile on Maxim’s face. “The baby,” I repeated a little louder than necessary.
“Of course.”
After Maxim was gone I continued to pace and to think. To plot. I hoped the act of plotting would cool my anger enough that I could think straight but all it did was fuel my anger, my thirst for vengeance. My bloodlust.
It needed to be satisfied.
It had to be.
Tonight.
I slipped from my office and changed out of one of the suits I wore on a regular basis to uphold the image of myself as a businessman. Notjusta businessman but most people only looked at the surface, at the image a man projected and that suited me just fine. But as I stepped out into the night dressed in black jeans and a black sweater, a bag of tools slung over my shoulder, I looked like what I was.
A man possessed.
A man hell-bent on revenge and destruction no matter the cost.
My first stop wasClub Shadowwhere some of Dmitry’s men liked to get drunk and blow off steam. It was the perfect place to observe and to talk because they were as oblivious as they were obnoxious, flashing cash and grabbing the cocktailwaitresses in their short skirts meant to increase their tips. The women were annoyed and the bouncers too afraid to stop them or call out their bad behavior.
I kept my gaze on Lev and Pyotr because they were high ranking members of Voronov’s organization. They were sloppy when drunk which made it easy to track them from the club to their respective homes.
Lev lived in a townhouse which made things tricky but not impossible. He failed to lock the door and when I stepped inside the shower was going. I took my time on the main floor looking at photos to see who was important to him and what he was up to. A safe in his office was unlocked and it revealed a stash of drugs and cash that was too small for distribution and too large for personal use which led me to believe he was skimming something off the top for himself.
That made me think about my own mole, but I shut it down because I couldn’t afford the distraction and made my way up the carpeted steps and into the main bedroom where the shower had just shut off.
As much as I wanted to make Dmitry suffer, I had no such desire when it came to Lev who served as a professional middleman. So I retrieved a knife from the sheath at my side and stepped into the bathroom, creeping to the shower curtain where Lev’s outline was visible. I moved lightning quick, hooking my forearm over the top of his head and tilting him backwards before I slid the knife across his throat and then straight down his torso. Blood splashed against the wall, a beautiful shade of bright red that slowly turned pink before it disappeared down the drain.
Lev jerked in my arms for a few seconds before his body went limp and with the shower curtain as a barrier between us, I let him sink into the tub and die.
I left the shower on and retraced my steps to the safe, grabbing the money and the passports before I exited out the back door.
Pyotr, Voronov’s money man, was next. He lived in a colonial style home in a residential neighborhood where everyone had gone to sleep hours ago. There were no lights on and no nosy neighbors to worry me as I slipped between houses and found a way inside through a small window in the formal dining room.
Pyotr liked to keep up appearances and his home reflected it in the expensive furnishings, the newest kitchen gadgets and even a biometric scan on his office. It was just too bad he didn’t take his security or the safety of his boss’ money as seriously. I was able to slip into the open office door easily where I found more than I hoped for. In addition to cash and drugs—more skimming, I presumed—there was a stack of ledgers that drew my attention.
They weren’t just ledgers, they were handwritten details on all of Voronov’s holdings. A satisfied smile crossed my face as I loaded the leather duffel and set it near the door before I crept up the stairs in search of Pyotr.
I found him passed out across the bed with a cigarette between his fingers and once again I opted for the knife. It wasn’t cleaner but it was much quieter and as I raised the knife high above my head and brought it down, all I saw was Dmitry and the trouble he’d caused me. His men who vandalized April’s house and shot up my restaurant. The assholes who chased usfrom the doctor’s office. Suddenly I didn’t carewhoI took it out on, as long as I put this frustration somewhere and Pyotr’s back was the perfect place. Again and again I plunged the knife into his back, his neck and even a few into his head. I plunged until I was exhausted and only then did I stop.
Panting, I took in the bloody mess I made and a slow smile spread across my face. These deaths would hurt Voronov but not as much as what I was about to do next.
I didn’t kill women and children as a rule yet still stopped in front of the small Georgian revival home where Dmitry’s mistress and her young son—hisyoung son—lived. The house was dark as was the entire neighborhood so when I strolled up to the door and dropped a package on the welcome mat, I was confidence that no one had seen me and if they had it would be nothing more than a dark figure with his face shielded from prying eyes or cameras.
Vengeance suited me and when I came home, I stopped outside April’s door, tempted to slip inside and nestle between her sheets to press my body against hers.Don’t, my subconscious urged.
I listened to that voice and rushed past her door and right into my room because if the events of the day had made anything clear, it was that I needed to focus on ruining Voronov before I took his life.
