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“It will be,” I said. “But maybe the message behind it won’t be so simple or short. Maybe Gregori will realize we don’t have the patience to play games or entertain new bullshit rumors that he’s dead.”

There was no way it could be that easy. For all the strife and headaches he’d caused us recently, there was just no way that karma or any other superstitious force of cosmic nature could make it so he was just dead and conveniently no longer an issue for us.

“And he’ll have to confront the reality, once again,” I added, “that if he messes with us, we’ll retaliate in kind.”

“Exactly what I was hoping to hear. I’ll forward you the little information we have about this witness—or maybe he’s just a small player trying to hold out for more money or something by keeping this video to himself.” He shrugged. “Fuck if I know, but whoever’s got a part in telling us that Gregori’s dead when it’s very likely another lie, they’ll pay for their involvement with their life.”

We disconnected the call and I waited for the pings of notifications to follow. The emails came immediately, and I started to scroll through them.

“There’s no way he’s dead,” Stefan said, cringing as he looked off to the side.

“I doubt it,” I said, browsing what Adrik had sent. The area in question was in a more rundown part of the old city where we reigned supreme. We had dealers who distributed around there, but it wasn’t a high-end part of the metropolis where we’d want to linger.

“Hopefully, you can get this copy of the video from the target first,” Alexei said. He raised his brows at him, seeming either bored or annoyed. Or both. With him, it was hard to tell. “Want help?”

“From you?” I shook my head. “No. I can manage cleaning up one single loose end of a witness seeing something they shouldn’t.” I tilted my head to the side, considering the message from Rico Johnson’s office that Adrik had forwarded me. Then I reread the recap of what Trojan, the resident hacker who worked for us, had said in summary.

“Sounds like one worker reported that a body was moved, but the actual minutes of that no longer show anywhere in the company’s database. Huh.” I stood, smoothing down the front of my suit jacket. “I reckon it might be in my best interests to… encourage this witness to cough up that video, after all.”

Because if a body was being moved somewhere and it wasn’t Gregori, I only had to wonder who else it could be and how it would matter to us.

“Good to see you, Rossi,” I told Stefan before I left, lifting my hand in a wave. “I’ll catch up with you the next time you’re out this way.”

“At the rate all of you are marrying off, I’m sure I’ll be in town to celebrate soon enough.” He smirked as I turned and left the table.

“Not me,” I said in unison with Alexei.

I smiled to myself, content to be unattached or tied down. Like this, I was free to go and do as I pleased, to fulfill my duty to protect the family and our empire’s interests.

“Not me,” I repeated in a whisper as I headed out to go find this loose end to eliminate.

2

LOUISA

Ipaced back and forth, wincing at the clock as the seconds ticked faster and faster toward the start time of my job.

“When is my mommy going to be here?” the four-year-old boy whined from the couch.

She should’ve been here fifteen minutes ago!

“Any second, buddy.”

After another there-and-back stride through my tiny apartment, his younger brother fussed.

“Shush. She’ll be here any second,” I told the toddler who was teething and in that insanely unpredictable stage of being annoyed with everything and wanting his way while not even really knowing precisely what he wanted.

“Mama, Mrs. Richards is never here on time,” my son, Brady, reminded me from his perch on the chair that he scooted close so he could do a puzzle at the table.

“She’ll be here any second,” I told him, internally smirking at his blunt observation. His true and factual observation. Mrs. Richards probably wouldn’t be a Mrs. for long if she kept this up. The neighbor on the floor below me and Brady had hired me to watch her two boys in the afternoons so she could have her “me” time. In other words, a free pass to be childless for three or four hours to go sleep with her affair partner.

It wasn’t my place to judge. She paid me a mediocre rate to watch her two boys, and really, since I was here with my son, it wasn’t like I couldn’t babysit. I needed all the money I could get, and that was why I was stressing over her being late—again—when I couldn’t leave for my night shift without her getting her kids.

The toddler fussed, both grabbing a fistful of my hair and flinging back so he would throw off my center balance. Clutching him close, I winced at his tight little fingers on what was a decent ponytail. “She’ll be here any second…” I bounced as I walked, unsure whether I was trying to console him or convince myself.

She had to be here soon because if I was late to clock in one more time this month, Owen Bilsen, my supervisor, would dock my pay. I wasn’t sure if that was even legal, but we both knew that I didn’t have the ample funds lying around to threaten to sue him over the matter.

I only had ample debt.