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“I know there are skeletons. If we can find them, then we have leverage. If he owes or did a bad deal…”

“Yeah, I hear you.” Then I turn on my computer. “When are you out? Any word?”

“Soon,” he says. “I’ll let you know.”

I hmm suspiciously, but let it slide. “Well, don’t treat it like a vacation in there with all the pretty nurses. And get to work.”

“Like I’m not working around the clock, sir. You’re the one taking weekends off to romance your woman.”

Having Ilya awake and sounding himself is a weight off my shoulders.

“The sooner I get out of this shit, the better.”

“Agreed.”

And I’m thankful he didn’t say what’s already on my mind, that I’m the one who got myself here. Making deals with a devil. Not even the devil, just small fry, middle management, the fucking worst.

I scan over the missed calls and unanswered texts from Stefina. I don’t need to listen to voicemail to know it’s more of the same. All wedding bullshit.

I’m about to start looking into Niko’s cousin, Rocco, and his outfit, maybe see about a meetup since he’s in town for his takeover, an orchestrated casual bumping of shoulders, when the phone rings.

I pick up without looking and the voice on the other end sends chills through me.

Sergio.

And it’s the gloat in his voice that puts my senses on edge.

“Make it quick, I’m busy.”

“Get unbusy, Demyan,” he says. “You’ve fucked about long enough. And it seems the more rope I give, the more you try to back out. Giving my beautiful Stefina the runaround. She’s very upset.”

“I told her to plan what she wants. I don’t care.”

“Start caring,” he snaps.

“What do you want from me?”

He flips back to pure gloat. “I’m moving the wedding up to next week. I’ve booked everything. Since you’re not interested, I’ve taken over and I’m moving the wedding. It’s all set.”

“No—”

“No? Need I remind you I’m not a charity. I didn’t help you, so you could leave me high and dry. A deal’s a deal or I’llmake it known how you fucked me hard, broke your promises, and left me to rot. It won’t go down well, especially when I spin how you set up Niko and his brother in a grab for his land, how you’re now going after his cousin.”

“I do that and no one will touch you. All but your closest allies will turn and even those won’t want to step in. There’s be a bloody battle that you’ll lose.”

I bite back the tirade building in me. He wants me to lose it. That way, he no doubt thinks he can bargain for a bigger slice. Fuck, maybe he thinks the way out for me is to hand over everything. It won’t be a war. It’ll be a massacre of me and mine, and I’m not about to let that happen.

His spreading rumors aren’t going to hold water as I haven’t tried to seize anything, merely sniffed around. And everyone is doing that.

So I hold on to that temper tight.

“What do you want? We had the wedding in place.”

“I’m not having you get out of it. Next week, Demyan. I want this deal sealed as soon as possible.”

“Stefina—”

“My daughter’s upset, like I told you, Demyan,” he says. “You parade your mistress and her bastard in front of her. Those kinds of people have their place. In the background, unseen, unheard. This is up to you.”