Page 74 of Den of Thieves

“Yes,” he said, simply.

“And?”

Nikolai looked at Jonah playing tag with Artym and Donald Duck. The two of them looked like miniature versions of him and Vladimir when they were around the same age. Those were the happiest memories of his childhood. Before Vladimir’s father left the brotherhood. Before his own father became bitter and angry and took out his rage on his only son.

Sydney, taking his silence to mean something else, stood with a huff. Nikolai grabbed her hand before she could hop out of the van.

He spun her around and tucked a stray piece of midnight black hair behind her ear. He leaned in closer and kissed her once. Twice. Three times.

“I love you, too.”

Nikolai watched as a big smile appeared on Sydney’s face. He went to hold her hand, but she laughed it off and went to help Karina wrangle the children that were currently attacking the poor man in the Goofy costume.

The staff looked on, not daring to interfere. In order to buy out Disney World, Vladimir paid almost double what the amusement park would make in a day. If his children wanted to attack the cartoon characters, so be it.

Nikolai walked up to his cousin, who was recording the entire thing on his phone.

“Memories,” Vladimir laughed, not taking his eyes off the screen.

“Where is Dedushka?”

Vladimir shrugged. “Probably banging my new nanny. He better find me a replacement greater than Emilda before they run off together or he is never babysitting again.”

Nikolai raised his eyebrow. He glimpsed the woman in question, wagging her finger at Gustaf as he tried to follow her into the restroom. From the look on his face, she was using some colorful language. He shook his head and put on his sunglasses, trying to remain nonchalant. He didn’t want their family to notice the severity of their conversation.

“I looked into those numbers you sent me from Osvo’s second ledger. They’re offshore accounts with a combined total of six billion dollars in them.”

“Where is the money now?” Vladimir asked. He was currently directing everyone to stand in the middle of the empty town square. Everyone smiled while Alexander held the Goofy head above his own head like a trophy.

“We have it. I gave four billion to you and split the rest between Dimitri and I.”

“How noble.” Vladimir snorted. “Where did it come from?”

“You’re not going to like this part.”

“Get on with it. Suspense is for the weak.”

“I traced the deposits back to their respective banks. After some digging, I found the owners of each shell company that wired the funds. Guo Wang, Giuseppe Petronelli, Wilhelmina Escobar, Jacobus Lethabo, and Marcellus Etienne.”

“So, the Triads, the Sicilian mafia, the Columbians, the South Africans, and the Haitians. All major players.” Vladimir nodded.

Nikolai stilled at his calm demeanor. Sometimes he really loathed his job. He hated always being the bearer of bad news.

“All who challenged your authority in the last ten years. How do you want to handle this? Are you thinking of bombing one or all of these countries?”

Vladimir was silent for a beat. “No. They were hedging their bets. I would have done the same to all of them. It was a civil war.”

“I still don’t like it.” Nikolai shook his head. To let them get away with this would embolden their frenemies and allow them to cross a line they had no business being near.

“They will pay, Nikolai. In due time. Keep this between us for now. We will tell the others after the party.”

Nikolai agreed to go along with Vladimir’s plan. Although he hated that so many people bet against them. He would take pleasure in ensuring each and every one of them regretted their decision to bet against the Bratva.

28. “A Blast from the Past, How’s That Ass?”

-JESSICA DAY, New Girl

Karina hummed in content as she prepared to say au revoir to the crisp Paris air. Gustaf requested a few days off of dedushka duty so he could properly woo his woman. Surprisingly, Emilda agreed. So, her husband arranged for a mini vacation from their vacation.

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