Page 23 of Mercenary Princess

“How is your mother?” Viktor asked with true affection for Titian’s Italian mother, who was not only beautiful, but charming and intelligent. At one time, she’d been one of the most sought-after art forgers in the world.

They might share histories on the opposite side of the law, but Titian’s family was far different than the ruthless crime lords who’d raised Viktor.

“She’s good. I’m sure she’ll be out to say hello when she gets back from town.”

Titian’s man came out with a bottle and two shot glasses, wordlessly setting them on the table in front of the men before heading back in the house. Some of the guards were on duty on the grounds, but Viktor knew his friend well enough to know the entire place was wired with only the best security. That meant most of the work would be watching feeds inside.

They’d each kept a minimal foothold in illegal dealings, choosing to bankroll certain illegitimate companies, but not involve themselves directly in the darker areas of crime. He and his friend were more than wealthy enough to remain out of anything that would put their families at risk.

These days, Viktor found the collection of secrets one of his favorite criminal pastimes. It was the best kind of insurance.

He’d earned the right to have a simpler life. His hands had been covered in enough blood in his youth. Because of that, he never ruled out having to get bloody again. If anyone dared threaten his family, they would not live to regret it. There wasn’t anything he hadn’t done or wouldn’t do to protect those who belonged to him, only now he didn’t have to.

Secrets kept his family safe without the same bloodshed and horrors of his father’s or uncle’s reigns. Dismantling the family business had given him a great deal of pleasure. Viktor’s most powerful rivals feared him not only for his ruthless past, but for the hell he could rain down by merely sharing a few recordings or documents. His father would have considered him weak for what he’d done to the Popov legacy, having ripped it to shreds piece by blood-soaked piece all those years ago.

Viktor couldn’t care less what his father would have thought. His father was dead.

Viktor had long ago decided he would protect Feliks, as well as his men, by his own rules. Those who’d waded through blood and hell with him when he’d been barely eighteen would not live the same life as they’d been forced to lead under his father or uncle.

“How is Feliks?”

“He does nothing but DJ.” Viktor sighed and shook his head. “I paid for all the best schools so he can mix up other people’s music in nightclubs. But at least he does not fill my homes with swine.”

“Yet! Just wait, my friend. You spoil him as much as I spoil Aria,” Titian scoffed as he poured clear liquid life into their glasses. Viktor accepted with a nod and clanked his glass with Titian’s before downing the good vodka. He enjoyed the familiar burn and relaxed farther into his seat.

“So what’s with the last-minute trip?” Titian asked. “It’s not like you.” They met every couple of months for business, to have drinks, or to box. Most times, it was all three.

Viktor stretched his legs in front of him and hedged. “Can I not simply visit an old friend?”

He and Titian were silent partners in a black-market company manufacturing the highest end security technology with a focus on surveillance. The business venture had proven more than lucrative with an elite clientele and gave them pre-market access to new equipment for their own use. They controlled the release of the devices, only allowing distribution once the counter technology was perfected and in their hands.

Titian grunted. “Sure. If that’s how you want to play it…”

“What do you know about Princess Sophia of Porenza?” Viktor had been digging deeper into his female’s history. Her secrets called to him. He found ties to a couple of socialites who’d been teenage friends all the way through university. They weren’t women he pictured her being close to. But his time in the hotel said she was far smarter and more logical than she wanted the world to believe. The woman who looked at him with innocent lust was fiery and far too tempting. She called to him in ways no other woman had.

He’d have her. He’d already put his plans in motion, and he’d bet she wouldn’t be pleased with his tactics, but he wasn’t willing to take chances where she was concerned. One taste was not enough. They definitely weren’t done.

He smiled at that. She’d burned too hot for him not to have her in his bed.

Titian raised a brow, dragging Viktor’s mind from his thoughts. “A princess?”

Viktor grunted. He knew what Titian was thinking—a royal could never have ties with him. He was far from noble. His family had the wrong kind of political and blood ties to allow anything permanent between him and the woman.

His friend shook his head. “I don’t know anything you couldn’t have learned with an internet search. Beautiful. Scandal-free. The usual boring charitable works. Considered unattainable.” Titian frowned at Viktor. “I’m not sure even you could get her into bed, my friend. How would you even get to her? Her brother’s ultraconservative. I’m pretty sure men like you and me are on some kind of ‘no fucking chance at an audience’ list.”

Viktor grinned at that assessment. He didn’t care what her brother thought. If he wanted something, he’d have it. “I hear she was once close to a woman linked to you.”

Titian raised an incredulous brow. “What woman?”

“Irina Leskova.”

His friend poured another drink, slower this time as if considering the information. “I doubt the princess’s family would approve of any friendship between those two. The heiress has scandal written all over her. She’s all over the media—music videos, reckless parties.”

“Aren’t you seeing Irina?”

The man grunted. “That particular rumor started because I dragged her out of a place she shouldn’t have been in to begin with.” His friend’s eyes had hardened as he spoke. There was something more to that story.

“You like her.”

Titian handed him a glass as silence stretched. After they drank, the other man said, “You know me better than that. I don’t do spoiled little party girls. But… I did promise to look out for her.”

That piqued Viktor’s interest. There was far more his friend wasn’t saying, and his friend didn’t seem inclined to add to it.

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