My throat tightened. He waited and trusted me while I tried to do something irreversible.
“I’ll never leave you,” I said. “And don’t mind Karen. She’s probably jealous because you’re cute.”
Cole giggled. “I know.”
“You know?”
“That I’m cute.” He beamed with pride. I laughed and pulled him into a hug, but he groaned and squirmed. “Don’t choke me, please.”
“Fine. Let’s eat first. I’m starving.”
“You too?”
“You think I ate without you? Never.”
We walked through the night, turning corners until we spotted a small restaurant still open. It looked like the place that fed drunk people and coin-counting dreamers who hoped for more.
We would eat, then find a motel. Tomorrow, we’ll leave this side of town and disappear.
Chapter Four
Dmitri Konstantinov
The easiest way to wina fight is to let a man believe he already has. Power is never proven in the first strike. It reveals itself in patience, watching, and learning every pattern he doesn’t know he’s showing. By the time he realizes what he’s up against, it’s already too late.
It turned out Levi reported to a man who believed I had forgotten what happened a year ago. Zachary Martinez, the Minister of Transport in Cuba. A man whose life lay at my fingertips. My silence had unsettled him.
It has been a year since I was set up and attacked. I experienced something I had never done before.Defeat. I could have blamed my brother, Rodion, but the truth was simpler. I started that mess. While I was in California messing with Rodion, Zachary saw an opening and took it.
It was interesting to learn he had men watching me. It meant he was unsettled, especially now that he was reaching for the position of Prime Minister. I gave him the space to be nominated and approved, but I don’t forget a man who set a bomb in my car.
“Boss.”
Ivan’s voice pulled me back from the rhythm of my own thoughts. I had been hitting the punching bag for what felt like hours.
I stopped and turned to Ivan, who stood behind me with an envelope in hand. He was one of my soldiers, ambitious enough to eye Akim’s position. Ivan knew his duties well, but he was married, and I didn’t trust married men. Women had their ways of coaxing a man into surrender and making them reveal secrets.
“I have the papers signed,” Ivan said, holding out the envelope.
That was efficient. I stripped off my gloves and grabbed it, tearing the seal. The papers with names and numbers slid into my hand.
“How many signed this?” I asked, flipping through the papers.
“Three of them.”
My eyes lifted to him. I hadn’t expected Ivan to pull that off. Silas Clark alone was stubborn, paranoid, and expensive to corner. I would have visited him if he had refused. Instead, he signed. That gave me three boats under my control. Their owners thought they secured profit. They did not know what their vessels would really carry.
“Coordinate everything else with the team in the Bahamas,” I said, already heading out. “We are moving immediately. No unfamiliar faces on board.”
“Yes, boss.” Ivan kept pace behind me as we left the gym. The papers stayed in my hand, my attention fixed on the figures as we walked.
“One boat will be bait,” I said. “The other two will go straight to the destination. Bring Akim in.”
I pushed into the office and took my seat at the desk. Timing mattered. This deal had to close before my arranged marriage to the governor’s daughter. Once done, I could focus on Zachary. Marriage was the tool I would use to get close and destroy himwhile he still believed he had control.
“Akim is tied up right now,” Ivan said. “I can manage everything myself since—”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I cut in, not looking up. “Akim knows the system. He’ll be your eyes.”