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“All the time. But we have better moles in the government, so we get tipped off. You remember Crovak?”

“My bestest friend! Yeah, I still have a piece of his tooth lodged in my knuckle.”

“He was fed. Total traitor, played both sides. But he made a grand gesture on his way out of secret police. Killed a pain-in-the-ass politician. Now he is for life in Gulag, but he is also protected by Volk as long as he trains our people. Like you.”

“Tell him I said hi. Hugs and kisses.”

“That right there is how you get late-night visit, man. You gotta watch what you say around some of the men.”

“Oo! I do love a good pillow fight. Especially with bars of soap in the pillowcases.”

“More like brass knuckles and razorblades, Shakal. No joke. Until they trust you, keep your head down.”

“Aw, you do care.”

“We are blood brothers, Ciro. Pyotr likes you, which could be good thing or bad.”

“I’ve always been a magnet for jealous lovers. Thanks for having my back, Mat.”

“Da. Why are you squirming?”

“No I’m not.”

Waiting around like this gives me a different perspective on the ground level of the Brats. It also makes me itchy and impatient.

I want to get my hands dirty.

Do something.

“Chill out, you are like shaky rabbit.”

“Sorry, I gotta pee!” Or maybe I’m just antsy. Like I haven’t done this shit for all twenty-nine years of my life. What the hell is wrong with me?

“You will have plenty of chance to use energy soon. Who knows? Maybe we will find a boatload of Triad hit men trying to steal our drugs and we can have full-on cowboy shoot out!”

“Oh you poor repressed child. That also sounds like the world’s best way to set us up for fucking failure. I thought you Russians were superstitious? You’re gonna jinx us!”

“Oh we are. Very. So I try to speak to universe what I hope comes to pass. I’ve been bored as shit at home.”

“You just want to get me shot for hitting on your sister.” I glower at him.

“You were hitting on my sister?” Mat frowns back, squaring up.

“Uh…”

“I am kidding, ha! Your face is so stupid. I know you two are like dogs sniffing asses all the time. It’s fucking ridiculous. No worries, you will have a chance to impress her eventually. Or she will drop you like potato.”

I start to protest, but he’s dead-on. Instead, I sigh, slumping back against the guard rail.

Our little encounter earlier today has me on pins and needles, still feeling pent-up, in need of release. She’s so fucking sexy, and she pisses me off like nobody’s business. And to be honest, I love pissing her off too.

And as weird as it is liking my best friend’s sister, the weirder thing is the fact that he doesn’t seem phased by it at all. Like really calm about the whole thing.

“Why do you think I wanna impress her?”

“First, because you love to impress everyone. You are showboat.”

“Showoff, maybe.”