Page 28 of The Pakhan’s Heir

“Little hair of the dog?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.

“No, thank you, I’m fine,” he says. He watches while I pour myself a glass of vodka. He watches me for a moment, then, “Listen… I didn’t want to mention it, but I have been hearing some rumblings lately.”

I frown at him. “Rumblings?”

“Nothing definite or even worth mentioning to your father. But word on the street is that somebody out there is suddenly very interested in breaking this alliance.”

I nod, taking a sip from my glass. “That sounds ominous.”

“I know.”

“But you don’t know anything for sure just yet.”

He sighed. “No. I’ve been doing this a long time, though, Alex. I know the rhythm of this city and I’m telling you the winds are changing around here. Something’s coming. And I want us to be prepared for it.”

I take that into consideration as I take a sip of vodka. “I’ll have Ivan gather up a few of the Sixes and have them do some patrols.”

Kostya’s shoulders lower with relief. “Thank you,” he says. “You know, you should take notes from Rikki when it comes to stuff like this. He’s not nearly as difficult about this sort of thing.”

“My brother has less to lose if you’re wrong,” I say. “Drugs are a much more constant flow of money than arms.”

“We’d still be in trouble if we lost access,” Kostya says with a knowing smirk. He looks at his watch. “I need to get going. I’m meeting Geddy for lunch.”

“Rikki know you’re taking his girl out? Might get upset at you.”

Kostya gives me a sarcastic smile. “He’s got nothing to worry about. Geddy’s not my type. Talks too damn much.”

I wave him off and he lets himself out. Now to the matter of the little spy in my house.

I spend the next few seconds drinking and listening to the room. I don’t know what she thinks she’s doing or if she truly believes that she won’t be caught for sneaking around my house like a little rat, but I’m not about to let this fly.

This room isn’t that large. There’s the couch I’m leaning on. The writing desk, my bookshelf, and liquor cabinet… and my armoire on the north wall.

So I wait, listening for any sound that might alert me to her presence. If she’s in there, she can’t hide forever. Eventually, she’ll give herself away. And when she does, I’ll be right here to confront her.

It’s only a few more seconds and I hear a quick movement just beyond the closed doors. It’s slight, barely the sound of clothing rubbing together.

Little sneak. I finish my drink, set it on the bar by the liquor cabinet, and say, “I know you’re in here. Come out now.”

Nothing at first, then the doors slowly open. She steps out, her green eyes as wide as a child’s. As she closes the door and faces me, she clasps her hands in front of her and looks down at her shoes in shame.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?”

She doesn’t speak. She just stares at me as if she’s waiting for some response from me instead… so I give her one. I walk over to her and get in her face. She cringes away from me before I even speak.

“Answer me,” I growl at her. She starts, then she swallows hard.

“I–I” she stammers, then she starts again, “I wasn’t doing anything. I was just⁠—”

“Hiding like a little rat,” I say. “You spying on me, Nona?”

“No,” she says. “No, no. Of course not. I was just…” She looks around a little frantically and I notice her eyes cross over the writing desk before they meet mine again. “You were gone and I was here alone, so I was just looking around.”

“Just looking around? Come on, Nona. You really expect me to believe that?”

“Well…” Her voice takes on a defensive tone as she stands a little straighter. “What do you expect from me? I mean… what did you think would happen if you left me here alone? Did you think I would just stay in the bedroom and wait for you to come back? I didn’t even know you’d left, and when I woke up and found myself alone, I didn’t know when you’d come back⁠—”

“You know better than this,” I say, taking a step toward her. She flinches, taking a half-step back. That gives me pause and I narrow my eyes at her. She thinks I’m going to hit her. I take a breath.