Page 171 of Satin Princess (Stepanov Bratva 2)

“What have I always taught you? Never trust anybody. Even your allies can turn on you at a moment’s notice. All it takes is a better offer. Which is why I can’t even fully trust Yaromir. She’s going to try and seduce him first in order to convince him that she’s the better option.”

“Yaromir has a wife,” Yulian says.

I glare at Yulian. “Sometimes, you’re so damn naïve, I don’t know how you survived this long.”

He flushes with color and stops talking.

“I know where Yaromir stands with Marina,” I add. “He hates her fucking guts and she knows that, too. She has to toe the line with him or risk losing everything.”

“She’s not accustomed to hearing no,” Lev warns.

“I’ve told Yaromir to take certain precautions,” I say. “The rest is up to him.”

Yulian still looks nervous as we approach the Ivanov property. I wonder when he got so cautious about everything. He would have benefited from some of the training Otets reserved solely for me. Action cures. Indecision kills.

“Drive around,” I instruct Lev.

We make a long detour before getting to the back gates of the Ivanov compound.

“They’re closed,” Yulian observes anxiously.

“Yes, but not locked. Go on.”

Yulian leaves the vehicle and goes to check on the gates. For a moment, I wonder if Yaromir has gone back on his word. But then Yulian slides the black gates open and Lev drives through.

When we get out of the car, one of Yaromir’s men approaches. It takes me a moment before I recognize that he’s one of the two who accompanied Yaromir to the meeting.

In effect, one of my men.

“Boris,” I say, gesturing him over.

There’s a line of men waiting behind him. Obviously, they’ve been told to expect us because they’re all relaxed. They don’t have their weapons drawn.

“Sir,” Boris says with a respectful half-bow, “the Ivanov don is inside.”

“And our visitor?”

“She’s expected soon. There are guards up front waiting to open the gates for her. She said she was coming with two men.”

“That’s it?” I ask, smelling a rat.

“It’s what she told the don.”

I glance back over my shoulder. Lev and Yulian are watching the exchange. They’re both tense, uneasy. Are they thinking what I’m thinking?

“How many men are inside the house with Yaromir?”

“At least thirty,” he says. “Spread throughout the house.”

Lev and Yulian come forward. “Where is Yaromir?”

“On the first floor. The main sitting room where the meeting was requested,” Boris explains. “You won’t be able to see into it from the outside, however. He drew the blinds early.”

I stop short, my suspicions become more and more pronounced. I still don’t have any fucking proof, but I know Marina.

“She made the request?”

Boris looks confused. “Um, I believe so, Don Stepanov.”

---