Page 98 of Essence of Fear

“That’s nice.”

Pav almost smiled.

Viktoria would have enjoyed the scene. Then, he just got pissed all over again.

Fuck.

“How did this happen?” Kolya asked, his tone losing that rough edge from before. He didn’t pose the question to anyone in particular, and though for the moment there was only them in the office, the hallway outside was filled with men waiting for orders. “We had it all planned, Konstantin. We had everything set up just as it needed to be, yeah?”

“I … don’t know,” Konstantin replied.

Rather lamely.

Pav knew that feeling.

This whole thing left him feeling useless.

“We missed something,” Konstantin replied, “or someone inside the Bratva who had contact with Boris before he escaped. This plan was … on going for a while.”

All eyes turned on Pav again. He was Zhatka, after all. He should have the answers.

“Well?” Kolya barked.

“Well, what?”

Kolya gave Konstantin a look, but the other man ignored it. Konstantin, to his benefit, turned to Pav and asked, “Is there anything you might not have told us about Boris’ time in the chambers? Someone who visited him often, or would have had enough time with him to figure out a way to make this plan of his work?”

“No.”

“Pav—”

“Other than Kolya, who regularly came around once a week to use him as a punching bag,” Pav said, giving Kolya a look—“then for the most part, he was left for me to handle, yes?”

Konstantin quieted for a second before asking, “What does for the most part mean, exactly?”

“Vadim visited him often before he was exiled. A couple of times a week for anywhere from a half hour to an hour. I thought … after what you told me about Viktoria, that it was to remind Boris why he was there. Before I knew about that, I didn’t have a reason to question Vadim on what he wanted to do with people he put there. I learned not to ask for details, Konstantin.”

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Pav saw the dawning understanding in Kolya’s eyes where he stood beside his brother. Pav, too, understood what he had missed in those moments.

Was it possible?

Was it … Vadim?

“A waiting king never sleeps,” Pav muttered.

Konstantin’s jaw tightened when he asked, “What did you just say?”

“My mind is fuzzy—they kicked me in the head a lot.”

“So what?”

Pav wet his lips. “One of them told me to tell you that a waiting king never sleeps. There’s only one man who thinks of himself as a king, and would have the ability to do this, isn’t there?”

“Goddammit,” Kolya growled. “I told you … I told you to fucking kill him. Didn’t I tell you, brat?”

“Not possible,” Konstantin snapped. “I put him in exile. I have people watching him. I monitor his calls, his people … I know when he goes to fucking sleep at night! I know everything about Vadim, Kolya.”

“Kon—”