Page 7 of Joey

Rage prickles beneath my skin and my right hand balls into a fist. We also lost two men last week, but that’s the nature of our business. “You’re trying to take over as the new head of the fucking Bratva, Dmitri. What the hell did you expect? That he’d just roll over and hand you the keys to his kingdom?”

“No!”

“If you’re getting cold feet and you need us to handle this ourselves—”

“No. I can handle it,” he says.

“You know that Dante and Lorenzo can’t be seen to let this go. This is their father’s murder we’re talking about.”

“I know, Maximo. There’s no need for any of you to get more involved than you already are. Let me handle this my way.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to stave off the tension headache that’s been building for the past few hours. Dmitri is in a tenuous position. Having the backing of the Moretti brothers can be both a blessing and a curse. The Morettis rule Chicago, and their seal of approval basically grants Dmitri permission to challenge the top. But there’s an added complication that makes this a fine line for him to walk—the new head of the Bratva can’t be perceived as a lackey to the Sicilian Mafia. An alliance is good for business, but Dmitri needs to prove that he’s equally powerful standing alone. And Dante and Lorenzo cannot allow Pushkin to evade their wrath much longer, not after they openly accused him of murdering their father, Salvatore Moretti.

He didn’t. Dante killed Sal himself after he discovered the sick, twisted shit his father was involved in for years.

But that secret will remain locked within the Moretti compound. Family business is family business. Besides, the lie is a great excuse to get rid of that piece of shit.

“I underestimated the support he’d have with the other families. I had to be careful about uncovering the evidence with everything that was involved,” he says pointedly.

He meanseveryone, not everything. More specifically, one person. Salvatore Moretti. Things would’ve have been easier for Dmitri if he could have exposed his former boss’s full role in the sex trafficking ring much earlier. It would’ve turned most of the other families against him immediately, but because Sal was involved in the whole fucked-up situation, he had to be discreet about it.

“Both Dante and Lorenzo appreciate your discretion in keeping their father’s name out of any scandal.”

“I gave them my word.”

Dmitri is a man of his word. And he’s a hell of a lot easier to work with than his predecessor. Hell, I actually kinda like the guy. But this is business, and given the stakes involved, I can’t allow any leniency. If he can’t bring Pushkin to us soon, then we will be forced to find him ourselves. And that really won’t look good for him.

“Do you have any idea where’s he’s hiding?”

“I’m working on it. Now that I’ve been able to reveal what Pushkin was involved in without implicating Salvatore and they’ve all seen the proof for themselves, things should move more quickly. His sons have gone to ground too. They’re running scared. It won’t be long before we find them and deal with them.”

“Good.”

“I have some leads to follow tomorrow if you’re interested in tagging along?”

I rub a hand over my jaw. “I can’t. I have some shit to deal with.”

“I’ll keep you informed then.”

“Before you go, I wondered if you could look into something else for me.” I don’t have a lot for him to go on, but I need answers fast, and he’s well connected.

“Sure. What is it?”

I recall everything Kristin told me about the father of her baby. “I’m looking for a guy. I only have a first name, but I think he’s probably Bratva.”

“Is he local?”

“No. New Jersey. At least he was there around six months ago. I don’t think he was from there, but he definitely operated around those parts.”

“His name?”

“Jakob.”

“Anything else?”

“Tall. Shaved head. Twenty-four. Russian.” I don’t tell Dmitri about his dreamy eyes, killer smile, or abs for days—which were the only other details Kristin gave me.

“Why do you think he was Bratva?”