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“What do you mean, use her?” I grunt as I drive back through the city.
The sun is almost rising again. It’s been a busy night. After I managed to put my knife to work with Artyom, I had to get his body to my car quickly and get rid of him. It took a long time, and it’s not something I relished, but what choice did I have? I’d kill a hundred more men to keep Lia safe.
“The bird sang,” Mikhail says, sounding sick. “Nikolai must’ve seen you and Lia together. He had men following you. He thinks you’re in love with her, not his daughter.”
“I’m not in love with his daughter,” I say gruffly as if it even needs to be said.
“Yeah, no shit.”
“What did you mean, though, use Lia?” I grunt.
“Nikolai is expecting her. What if we asked her to pretend to go along with it and then sprung the trap?”
“No damn way,” I growl. “We’re not putting her at risk.”
“We can’t let Nikolai keep going. Next time he tries to hit you, maybe he’ll be successful. How long can you ignore Sokolov Securities before things become suspicious?”
“The PR team has put out the word that I’m mourning our father. At least the prick has come in useful for something.”
“Still,” he says, “we need to think about ending this and ending it fast.”
“I’m not putting Lia in danger,” I tell him. “Think of something else.”
“They’ve got Mila’s brother.”
“Who, his father?”
“Don’t be cute, Dimitri,” Mikhail says, the only man I can think of who’d ever call mecute. “Nikolai is not a good man. We can’t let him keep the kid.”
“Mikhail, if Nikolai wins, he’ll torture this whole city. He’ll kidnap countless kids. He’ll do so much evil shit, evenwewon’t be able to believe it.”
“That’s saying a lot,” he mutters, a note of darkness in his voice, “but you’re proving my point, too. We must stop him, or the world will get very bad quickly. So, let’s stop him together.”
“Not with Lia.” After a pause, I say, “While I’m away, try to keep an eye on Mila too.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do Imean?” I snarl. “She could’ve gotten Lia killed. She?—”
“Do you have any idea how terrified she is of her dad, bro?” Mikhail snaps. He’s a good man—he’s always been better than me. Always been more in touch with his emotions. Always been more forgiving. “And even then, in the end, she did the right thing. She’s not proud of what she did.”
“Proud or not, we can’t risk it happening again. Can you keep an eye on her, or shall I ask Ania to do it?”
“Ania?”
“She’s the only other person I know I can trust without a shadow of a doubt.”
“I’m just saying?—”
Now it’s my turn to interrupt. “Are you saying it’s impossible for Mila to betray us again? I know she’s helping with the computer stuff, but that doesn’t mean you know her.”
“I never said I knew her,” he growls. “But when I look at her, I see a scared—but brave—woman doing her best.”
“Then keeping an eye on her shouldn’t be such a big goddamn deal.”
After a pause, he says, “Brother, I don’t like that tone.”
I grit my teeth. People might think Mikhail is just some computer dork, but making that assumption would be a big, big mistake. “Fair enough. But I need to know.”
