Page 115 of Brutal Reign

Roman reaches out and pulls his wife closer, planting an appreciative kiss on her baby bump. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll take very good care of you later tonight.” The suggestive grin he gives her makes her cheeks flush.

“The minute that baby’s out, I’m making you the strongest margarita known to mankind,” Sofiya assures her sister, wrapping an arm around her.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Liza grumbles.

As they start gathering their things, Kira turns to me. “You’re coming, right? Hate to break it to you, but you’re stuck with us now.”

After years of having no real friends, no one who actually seemed to care, hearing someone say I’m stuck with them feels like a pretty good threat.

“I can deal with that.”

CHAPTER

FORTY

PAVEL

The moodon the terrace changes as soon as it’s just the five of us. The women are sufficiently out of earshot, gathered around the fire pit, and the kids have settled back inside to watch a movie.

Maxim pours five glasses of aged whiskey, while Roman strikes a match to light his cigar and then passes the flame around. Soon, we’re all wreathed in smoke, the outdoor heaters casting a warm glow as the temperature drops.

Tonight went better than I expected. Hope seemed to enjoy herself. I caught her laughing with the women, not just putting on a polite face. And Kin was vibrating with excitement, running around with Maxim’s kids like he’d known them his whole life.

But beneath tonight’s success lurks the threat I can’t ignore much longer.

“Alright,” Maxim says, settling back in his chair. “We all know why we’re here. Simon is still at large. The intelligence we have suggests he’s gone underground, probably hiding out in Hong Kong, but he won’t stay in the shadows forever.”

My brothers are updated on everything we’ve learned about Chen and his likely connections to Simon. The only thing they don’t know is what Dinara shared with me this morning.

“About that,” I say. “Chen messaged Hope last night, claiming his life is in danger, that he needs to go into hiding. But not before he comes to Moscow to give Hope her inheritance.”

Nikolai takes a puff from his cigar. “He’s painting himself as a real hero, willing to come all the way to Moscow and do whatever it takes to hand off her money.”

Maxim scoffs. “Simon must be getting desperate if they’re pulling a stunt this obvious.”

“He is,” I confirm, my voice grim. “Dinara heard rumors that Simon is in debt to the arms dealer Jean-Michel Duret, and time is running out to pay him back.”

Roman whistles. “Duret’s not known for his forgiving nature.”

“Why don’t we let Duret do our job and kill Simon for us when he can’t pay back the loan?” Vadim asks, swirling his whiskey.

“Fuck that,” I growl. “I’ll be the one to kill Simon. That pleasure belongs to me alone.”

Roman taps his fingers on the table. “Have you tried to track down this Chen guy? Why don’t we pay him a visit and persuade him to talk?”

I spin the lighter in my hand, the repetitive motion helping me think. “Dinara tried to get a location on him, but he’s buried behind layers of encrypted proxies and untraceable IP addresses. Whoever is running his security is no amateur, which speaks for itself because he’s supposed to be some retired lawyer.”

Maxim watches the smoke swirl above his head before breaking the silence. “We need to use Hope as bait for Simon.”

Everything inside me goes cold as I turn in my chair to face him. “What the fuck are you suggesting?”

He holds up a hand. “Hope will never be in danger. We let the meeting proceed with full surveillance, then move in to capture Chen and his associates before anything can go wrong.”

“Would you risk Kira like that? You can’t guarantee that something won’t happen to Hope. We don’t know what they have planned,” I say through clenched teeth.

Roman sets down his cigar, his voice calm but firm. “Nothing in life is one hundred percent guaranteed, but we can control for risk. What if we arranged the meet at one of our locations? A restaurant or a club, somewhere we own the ground and control every variable?”

Tension knots between my shoulder blades, even though a tiny part of me acknowledges that this might be the best way forward.