Page 123 of Bad Medicine

“How did you find me?” Enzo asked, and I had to agree; that was a very good fuckin’ question.

Svetlana smiled, her lupine features accentuated even more.

“My father was many things, but a feminist was not one of them. He refused to accept that I might be useful to him in more ways than providing future heirs to his Bratva empire.” She curled her lip in disgust. “I had many skills that he would have done well to acknowledge.”

“Fine, be mysterious,” I cut in, drawing attention to where Mia and I stood for the first time. I expected Mia to step back, to want to be as far away from a possible confrontation with a Bratva princess as possible, but she surprised me.

She was constantly surprising me.

Mia squared her shoulders and met Svetlana’s assessing gaze square on, not backing down in the slightest.

Made my dick hard.

“Are we gonna have a problem here?” Enzo questioned, getting right to the point again.

“I know you weren’t responsible for my father’s death. My traitorous cousin holds that honor, and if you hadn’t already killed him, I would have done it myself.”

“How the fuck did—”

“I told you,” she snapped, cutting me off. “I have many skills.”

“I’ll ask you again. Are we gonna have a problem here?” Enzo crossed his arms, earning him an indulgent smile from Francesca.

“Enzo, let the woman talk. She’s clearly working up to something.” Placing her hand on Enzo’s arm, Frankie nodded to Svetlana, who assessed them both with narrowed eyes.

“As I was saying,” she continued, looking at Francesca with a new appreciation. “I have no quarrel with you or your association. My father had brokered deals with you, and my cousin dishonored the family by betraying those deals. I intend to honor them now that I am in charge.”

“You? You’re in charge of the Las Vegas Bratva?”

“Don’t sound so shocked, Enzo,” Frankie admonished. “It’s not like you don’t know a woman is just as capable as a man in this line of work.”

“Babe, I was just—”

“Save it, mister,” she said before turning to Svetlana. “Thank you for telling us in person. And welcome to Las Vegas. We look forward to speaking with you again soon.”

Svetlana nodded, muttering something else in Russian, before turning around and disappearing into the night, Enzo closing the door behind her.

“Well, shit,” I said when no one else seemed inclined to speak. “Looks like it’s gonna be a hell of an interesting year.”