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“Not at all. I try to keep myself out of my fiancée’s business unless I’m requested to profile someone. It’s rare,” Valerie answers.

“Not rare enough, considering you’ve led to the fall of the Italian mafia. Senior Mr. Volkov tried to end that line for years and you do it in a matter of months, half of which you were on vacation,” Yuri hisses.

He calls her a slur in Russian and scoffs.

“I don’t appreciate that kind of language in my office,” Valerie answers in Russian. “We’ll be civil, or I’ll be forced to make this a little more uncomfortable for you.”

Yuri doesn’t answer, so Valerie continues. “Would you like to talk about what brought you into my office?”

“You,” he states.

“I see. Well, I’d be happy to discuss anything. It all remains confidential, of course, or I’d lose my license.” I know that’s a hint at me, but I roll my eyes.

“I got out of the mafia with help. There was no other way but death. From the outside, it’s obvious how terrible it is. How doyouendorse it?”

“I’m not the focus of our time together. If they believed you were dead, why not live out your life and enjoy what you’ve gained, Yuri?” she asks.

I take a slow breath. I want to grab him, shake him, tell him he’s doing everything wrong.

“They have no problem killing their own, feeding guns to the streets so gangs can destroy lives. I give you credit, Valerie, for taking care of the Italians. They were doing the same, but you keep ignoring the Russian mafia. Is it because you’re emotionally tied?” Yuri argues.

She laughs once. “Not at all. Things are changing since Senior Mr. Volkov has stepped aside. There are new standards and expectations.”

“Some things will always be the same. Racketeering, taking money from those barely able to pay their bills, stealing people who can’t do anything for themselves and forcing them into the mafia where their lives are meaningless, helping the big businesses stay out of hot water when they should be dismantled, how can you sleep at all?”

Valerie’s silent for a long while. “Yuri, there are many problems in the world, systemic from the environment to the people. Anger, frustration, sadness, grief, it all-”

“You don’t know shit about grief! Everyone I loved died. Because of Mr. Volkov or because of what he ordered them to do! I barely lived! I was in the hospital for over a year. In a coma. If I wouldn’t have woken up when I did, I’d be dead. My mother she ... she had a heart attack when she heard my father couldn’t stand it. He ... The Volkovs are devils and you’re letting them run around while being painted as a fucking angel. You’re worse than them.”

“Am I?” she asks.

“Da,” he says, and I hear a gun click.

“Patience is important in this conversation, Yuri,” Valerie says, another obvious point to me.

I grit my teeth. She’s going to overplay her hand one day. I check in with Lief. He’s still five minutes away. Too much can happen in that amount of time. If I don’t do something-

“You don’t even flinch?” Yuri asks.

“It’s not the first time someone’s wanted to kill me. It’s not the first time they’ve gone for me instead of my men. Hell, maybe I deserve it for abandoning my family and living my best life. Maybe I deserve it for trying to change the mafia instead of ripping it out by the root,” Valerie’s unflustered.

“I don’t have to kill you. I can maim you. I can do so much worse and let you live. Then you’ll see the monsters the mafia makes,” Yuri snarls.

“Life makes monsters, not mafias,” she counters.

There’s a long stretch of silence, then a shaky breath. Yuri huffs. “You don’t know a goddamn thing!”

Valerie grunts and hisses. There’s a thud and she groans. “Not a critical hit.”

“That’s a warning,” Yuri snarls. “Not to lie to me.”

“You think the only monsters in the world are in organized crime?” She spits out. “What are you, a cop?”

No answer. That means yes. Yuri’s breath trembles. “We do things. Fix things and help people. Make the bad ones pay.”

“The good police officers do. But how many abusers get away? How many millionaires pay to avoid the system? How many officers are questioned, slapped with charges, every year? It’s not organized crime that makes people bad, it’s life. It’s individual decisions,” Valerie whispers.

“Shut up! You don’t know what they did to-”

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