Page 172 of Dark King Daddy

“Two is Viktor’s deadline. I want our captains at Beard Street before it expires. Yours and mine. They need to hear us refuse him together, in the building he thought he could take.”

“You want to stay until they’ve all committed.”

“Yes. Ilya and Boris will get her to the plane. I’m staying with you.”

I said it firmly. I had arranged for her protection. This was the part I needed to do myself.

Anton was quiet. He looked at his phone. At Kostya’s message. At his uncle’s name attached to a declaration of theft.

“Arkady,” I said.

My brother looked at me.

“I want this finished fast. In and out. No prolonged engagement, no siege, no negotiation. We go in, we remove the men, we secure the building, we stand Anton at the door and let his employees see him.”

“How many men inside?”

“Six to eight, based on Roman’s count.”

“Armed?”

“Roman said pistols. No rifles that he saw.”

Arkady’s jaw set. The particular configuration of a man who had been offered a problem he intended to solve quickly and violently.

“Eight men with pistols,” he said. “You and Anton and me. I’ll bring three of my own. Six of us in a building I’ve walked through a hundred times.”

“Boris stays with Ksenia,” I said. “Ilya too. You know the layout?”

“I’ve been to Orlov Marine. I know the loading bay, the warehouse floor, the east stairwell. The fire door sticks.”

“Ksenia told me about the blind spot by the dock office. There should be mirrors above the bend.”

Arkady’s eyebrows rose. A fraction.

“Your wife gave you the building layout.”

“My wife gave me her father’s building layout. From memory. At five in the morning.”

“Smart woman.”

“She really is. Strong, too.”

“She’d have to be. Married to you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” I grinned.

“It was.”

“Now. Let’s go take our building back.”

Chapter 16

Ksenia

My bag was packed.

Three changes of clothes. Toiletries. The charger. The blue dress, folded carefully, because I could not leave it behind. I had stared at the contents for ten minutes after zipping it shut, wondering whether I had packed for a few days or for something longer.