Page 148 of Immaculate Deception (Romanoff Bratva)

Dima shakes his head. “Just me. Gennady is going to stay here with you while I go.”

“I told you that you can’t cut me out.”

“I’m not cutting you out. I need to take care of this on my own.”

“But—”

“I’m going alone.” His voice is firm. I can hear the don coming out.

I want to argue, but there isn’t a point. I know he won’t change his mind. The only thing I can hope is he’ll fill me in when he gets back.

“And I can trust Gennady?” I whisper just before he leaves. The man in question is making coffee down in the kitchen, whistling a tune under his breath.

“With your life,” Dima says solemnly. “I trust him with mine.”

I want to, but it’s hard to believe anyone is trustworthy anymore.

Dima disappears around the corner of the house. I walk down into the living room, putting my back against the glass wall so I’ll be able to see Gennady coming.

When Dima’s best friend rounds the corner, he has two steaming mugs of coffee and a big smile spread across his face. “Let’s spill the tea, as the kids say.”

I can’t help it the startled laugh that bursts out of me. “What?”

Gennady shrugs. “I don’t really know. I’m just trying to break the tension. Things are tense, right?”

I take the mug from his hand, careful our fingers don’t touch. “I don’t know you.”

“So then let’s get to know each other. I’m Gennady, Dima’s best friend. I’m basically his eyes and ears.”

“Yet his Bratva has been stolen out from underneath him.” I narrow my eyes.

It’s a low blow, but it has to be said. Dima still trusts him, even after he fucked up, but that doesn’t mean I have to.

Gennady places a hand on his chest. “Ouch. That stings.”

“Sorry, but it’s true, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he sighs. “I fucked up. Big time. But to be fair, Zotov wasn’t exactly advertising his plans all over the place. It was a covert affair that half the Bratva was in on. In a way, I think it would have been easier to spot if only a few of the members had been planning a revolt. The fact that so many of them were turning on Dima took us all by surprise. It’s never been done before.”

“Dima said it’s because he won’t do human trafficking. Is that true?”

“That he doesn’t traffic people?” Gennady asks, eyebrows raised.

For a sickening second, I think he’s about to tell me it’s all been a lie. That Dima actually does profit off the sale of people. That he lied to me and I’m going to be trafficked again.

“Of course he doesn’t,” Gennady says, nose wrinkled. “Dima has a code, haven’t you heard? An iron-clad one. He doesn’t hurt people unless they deserve it.”

I remember what he told me earlier.I have to kill a man.

Does that man deserve it?

As if reading my mind, Gennady continues. “He lives by that, Arya.”

I frown, still wondering about all the things I don’t know.

“I sense you’re not convinced.” Gennady takes a long slurp of his coffee, looking at me over the rim.

“He’s the leader of a mob. Am I supposed to believe he’s a saint? Isn’t it enough to just believe he isn’t a monster?”

---