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I get up and ruffle Arseny’s hair before I leave. I go downstairs to where Renat is waiting for me. “Are the cops still out there?”
“They’re busy with someone down the alley,” Renat says. “Now’s a good time to leave.”
I nod, and we hurry out. Before the cops know what’s going on we’ve pulled into traffic. “Go to the laundromat near Luka. I need to speak to my cousins about a problem.”
“Yes, sir,” Renat says without hesitation.
I sit back and scroll through my emails. I stop when I see one from Leanne.
It’s not junk at all. These are collector’s items. Some of the sets are missing pieces, but they’d be pretty valuable to collectors, and there are quite a few around the world.
Collector's items. No wonder Asher loves them so much. I hit reply.
Please can you see about finding some of the missing ones?
Danil
I put my phone away as we pull up to the laundromat. I get out and go around through the back entrance. A guard lets me in, and I walk in on my cousins counting money.
“Salute.” I smile. “You four are a sight for sore eyes. I haven’t seen you at a family lunch in ages.”
“We haven’t had a family lunch in ages,” my cousin Wynter says. We grab each other's arms in an embrace.
“We need to talk privately.” I motion for him to follow me.
We move outside to the alley, and we both light cigarettes. “What’s wrong? The cops onto this location?”
“Not that I know of. No, what I have for you is far worse than the police. Betrayal. From within our ranks.” I take a deep drag of my cigarette. “I need you to send out the boys to our more distant relatives, anyone you can think of as being unhappy with their position, and just keep an eye on them. Make sure they aren’t talking about family business to the wrong people.”
“You know you can trust me to do that,” Wynter says. “I’ll find out who our little traitor is. Are they ratting us out to the cops?”
“Worse, the Italians. We need to nip this quickly before other families get the idea that we are not the most powerful family around. You understand?”
“I understand. We’ll leave shortly. Should we include Kervyn and your wives?” Wynter throws his cigarette on the floor. “I’ll report back as soon as I can.”
“Don’t worry about them. I’ll wait for your word.” I kill my cigarette, and while my cousin goes inside, I return to the car.
Renat takes me to my office uptown and I go over the paperwork for some deals I need to finalize. I text Asher to let her know that we have to go to Mom’s tonight, and she replies in the positive, so that’s at least one thing going right today.
I have the finances from Luka’s casino, and it’s looking good already. We’ve laundered at least a million already, and it’s only been open for a short while.
I spend the rest of the day going over encrypted messages and checking that no money is going missing. Eventually, though, it’s time to head home. When I get in the car, I light a cigarette and open the window.
“We need to find the rat, Renat. If you get any word of it being one of the boys…”
“You know I’ll tell you straight away, sir,” he says seriously.
I nod and smoke as we wade through traffic to get home. I walk inside and call out, “Asher, are you home?”
“Upstairs changing,” she calls from the bedroom.
I take off my suit jacket and hang it over my arm as I go upstairs. “How was your day?”
“It was fine,” she says as she pulls on a jumper. “Casual is fine for Mama Milov, right?”
“Of course. I’ll be in slacks and shirt and jumper as well.” I kiss her head, and she doesn’t pull away. I savor these little victories. I get changed, and we go downstairs together. I get my car keys for the Porsche and I lead her out. We take the Cayenne for the short drive to my mother's house this time. My brothers are already there, sitting at the table and talking while my mother cooks.
I go to the kitchen and kiss her head. “Smells good, Mama.” I smile at her.
