Page 33

Everything that had to be said was said. Or, at least I thought so, until I heard him chuckle. “You’re staying with him, then?”

It wasn’t really a question, was it? He already knew. Everyone knew.

“I am,” I said, quietly. “We’re a family.”

Blink grunted, as the small hall of the entrance opened to an expansive open bay, where men with equipment, cots, and weapons buzzed around us.

The place was a hive of paramilitary operations, reeking of espionage and surveillance. I stood still, realizing that this was the most of my colleagues I had ever seen in one place.

“Well, this is the Paradigm family,” Blink said, gesturing to the large space with his arm. “You’ll finally get to meet some of the people you’ve only seen as screen names!”

He waved me on, and I followed him, walking slowly to take in the expansive operations that were around us.

“This isn’t all of us, of course,” Blink said. “But we are putting a real effort into this upcoming fight with the Mafia.”

He smiled proudly, as he took a deep breath, and surveyed the place like he was a king looking at his kingdom.

“Not often do we have a Pakhan on our payroll, much less the head of the whole thing, eh?” He clapped me on the back. “We’ve been trying to fix New York City for a while, and I’ve just got a good feeling about this whole thing.”

My eyes grew wide as I looked around. The computers, the screens, the entire place buzzed like a hive.

The chatter, the sound of metal on metal, the soft clips of keystrokes as analysts typed in little pods, calling out random—at least random to me—coordinates as they monitored the war effort.

It was like a small command center, the kind you would see in the movies.

The place was large enough to hold a C-130, and must have had hundreds of people buzzing around the place.

“You are now in the inner circle,” Blink said. “Congratulations.”

He stepped forward, turning on his heel, then spreading his arms wide. “Yuliya has taken your husband on another route, to keep him from seeing all of this.”

“So why are you showing me?” I asked, following him, one brow raised.

“As I said, you’re now in the inner circle.”

“What does that mean?”

Blink chuckled. “Not much for the moment, but it does mean that you will no longer be an island, operating alone. The bosses have decided to trust you.”

He let out a sigh, as he came to a desk, and parked his ass in a chair.

“You have been my best decision yet, Picasso.”

“What?” I said, shaking my head.

“You have infiltrated the biggest, baddest Mafia in the city, and if everything goes well today, you will be able to oversee the paradigm shift, the reconstruction, of the city’s underground.”

I was so busy watching Blink be animated, for once, that I didn’t notice the stoic, hunched figure behind him until Blink tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned around. Jericho Vasiliev.

He looked at me with the same scorn as always. I swear, his upper lip curled in contempt, before he rolled his eyes.

“We will go to the battle plan in a few minutes,” Jericho said, crossing his arms, looking at Blink. “This had better not bite me in the ass.”

“I told you,” Blink said in a hushed tone. “You can trust her.”

“I don’t trust anyone,” Jericho quipped.

“You trust me!”

“I don’t,” Jericho deadpanned.

“You trust Yuliya.”

“That—” Jericho sounded like he would deny it for a moment, but then he softened. “Yes, I do.”

“Well, she likes Kira, so here we are.” Blink spun around on the chair, shrugging.

So it must have been Yuliya who had me brought in. Good to know.

“You—” Jericho pointed a thick finger at me. “You will be at the table representing us at the negotiations after the dust settles.”

I widened my eyes. “Am I?”

Jericho scoffed. Again with the condescension from this guy. “As enamored as the Irishman is with you, I suggest you insist on being there. For the good of your family. ”

The last seemed like a threat. My skin bristled with irritation, and I wanted to lash out at the man.

Only Blink’s upturned hand, quiet and out of view to everyone but me, kept me silent.

“Our goal is to wipe out the criminal families. If the Greens are allowed to reign, and the Durantes are crushed, we might actually accomplish that.” He looked at me, as if he couldn’t believe that he had to trust me with this task.

“Eoghan had made a concerted effort to cut off all his illegal revenue streams. That will only continue if Missus Green makes the endeavor a priority.”

He stepped forward, closing the space between us, his brown eyes menacing as he looked at me in challenge. “Will you make it a priority?”

Fuck he’s scary. I hated that about him.

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, trying to look as unconcerned as he was.

“Of course. I don’t want my son growing up Mafia.” I looked at Blink. “You seem to be the only one able to read people, because if this guy ,” I dramatically swung my head to look back at Jericho, “thinks that I wouldn’t make that my raison d’être , then he’s blind as hell.”

Blink smirked, looking at Jericho as if he were waiting for his play.

“You’d better stick to your word, Picasso,” Jericho said, using my name like it was a curse word. “You and I are about to get very, very close. I still haven’t decided whether or not to bleed you, and paint my house red with it.”

With a dismissive wave of my hand, I discounted his words. “That’s not even original at this point.”