Page 26 of Scarlet Sins (Yegorov Bratva #2)

Chapter Twenty-Two

DEMYAN

Ilya hobbles to the desk to look at something on my computer.

“Where’s your nurse?”

“I sent him on an errand. Exactly how many did you hire?”

I wheel the chair to him and motion for him to sit, which he does, begrudgingly.

“You know I hate this thing.”

“This thing is keeping you out of the hospital.”

He mutters some choice words in Russian that I ignore.

We’ve been working hard for the past few days. And I’m sure Ilya’s working as close to around the clock as he can get away with. I’ve had meetings, letting select people know of the change in plans about this wedding.

Sergio hasn’t announced it from the rooftops but some know what his coming ‘party’ is about. I keep it simple. It didn’t work out. Let him spread whatever. The less I say, the better and the cleaner I look.

There’s going to be fallout, whatever happens, but it will be minimum level fallout if I cut the head from the beast and have all the dirt I need. Like the connection between this Rocco and Sergio.

“We got anything?” I ask.

“Nothing yet. If there is one, Sergio has covered his tracks well.” He frowns at his tablet. Then up at me. “The only thing I’ve managed to find out is that Niko’s younger brother?—”

“Vince? The one who wanted nothing to do with the business?”

“People change their minds,” Ilya mutters, “or there’s something else at play. I don’t know. Yet. All I know is word’s out that he’s been overlooked for the cousin, Rocco.”

Now I frown. “Look into that, speak to him, and we should try to talk to this Rocco, too.”

“Demyan, if he’s got connections to Sergio, then that might not be smart.”

“Keep it on the backburner,” I say. “What is the word? Loud? In the open or whispers?”

“Whispers. Very low ones, but they’re there. Like I said, words out if you know how to look.”

So not enough for Vince to lose his head, but enough to register on Ilya’s radar.

We can work with that.

“Speak to the brother. If he’s pissed enough, he might take a risk and join with us. There’s a difference between not wanting to rule and wanting to live off the spoils. If the cousin’s coming in from elsewhere and from a big holding, then he might be into absorbing or doing a deal with Sergio?—”

“Or both,” Ilya says. “Sell off some and keep the rest. He might not care if he gives Sergio enough to be a menace. This isn’t his territory.”

“Speak to Vince, get the lay of the land, and we’ll deal with this Rocco when we need to. But if Vince feels overlooked enough to want to step in after so long of not having a thing to do, something’s going on. We should look into Rocco, too. Deep.”

“For?”

I sigh. “Dirt, what his outfit has to do with Niko’s.”

“They’re family, so they’re connected.”

“Maybe, maybe not. The family is a mix of Russian and Italian, so we don’t know. No interference, just a poke around.”

Because if Vince got pushed out or chose to go a different path due to Niko’s choices, then he could be good for Chicago. Good for me. And maybe he’ll be happy to side with me if his cousin and Sergio going down gives him control and power.

“There’s something else,” I say.

Ilya turns his chair, the soft whir filling the room. “Lay it on me, Boss.”

“Erin and I are planning to elope to Aruba.”

“Fancy.”

I grin. “Not really, but nice, warm, pretty, and a simple wedding with no fanfare.”

“The word is intimate.”

He drives the chair to the wet bar and gets the vodka and two glasses, then returns to my desk and pours drinks.

“Will you be my best man?”

“Are you sure you’re doing the right thing? The answer is yes, but we do this now, you do this now, and Sergio will retaliate. It's just a matter of when.” He wraps his hand around one glass of vodka.

I know what he’s doing. “I’m not afraid of Sergio. And you know marrying Erin is the most sane decision I’ve made in a very long time.”

“ Da , it’s true, but my friend, now?”

“Now. ”

He nudges the other glass to me. I pick it up and he raises his. “ Za tvoye zdorov’ye !”

“To your health,” I say back to him, also in Russian.

We drink the liquor down.

“Are you sure, Demyan?” Erin asks, sitting on our bed.

I turn to her and sit, moving close, then I kiss her. “More than anything. We’ll fly to Aruba next weekend, and we’ll exchange our vows on a private beach. It’ll be perfect, a romantic beach ceremony with our family and friends. And then we can have an intimate dinner at a fancy hotel.”

“A fancy hotel?”

“I have one in mind.”

“How intimate can a dinner be at a fancy hotel?” she asks, a blush brightening her face to a rosy glow. She’s so fucking gorgeous I can barely stand it. I trace her lips with my finger.

“Fancy doesn’t mean big. Do you trust me?”

She searches my face and leans in, kissing me softly. “Yes.”

“Good. While our friends party, we have our honeymoon and don’t get out of bed for a week.”

“And Sasha?” There’s laughter warming her voice.

“Auction him off to the highest bidder?”

She sits back and counts on her hand. “You want to make money from friends and family. It’s going to come down to Ilya versus Alina in terms of funds, but Kara’s wily and?—”

I grab her, rolling her under me so I can make out with her for a while. I’m hard, always so fucking hard for her, but I roll us so she’s on top. I curl a hand through her hair.

“Speaking of money, I’m paying. Accommodations, flights, everything, so everyone invited gets there.”

She frowns. “You don’t mean Ilya or Alina. ”

“I do. And Kara.” I pull her in and kiss her again, her lips soft and warm, sweet.

There’s excitement in her face, and she suddenly pales. “I don’t have my passport.”

“I have connections. You and Sasha will be fast-tracked. We do it and you’ll get it in days. I promise.”

She breathes out, the excitement returning. “I’ve never been outside the country.”

“Then this will be even more special. I’d marry you in the backyard, Erin. In a heartbeat. But I want it special for you. And this is going to be it.”

“I can’t wait.”

I laugh. “Sounds to me you’re more excited about the trip and the trimmings than marrying me.”

“Oh, I am.” She punches me lightly on the chest. “I’d switch you out for anyone.”

I growl low. “Anyone?”

“No. I could never marry anyone but you, Demyan,” she whispers, sliding down so she’s almost lying on me. “Just you. And that’s what I’m excited about. Okay, I’m excited for Sasha to have an adventure, too.”

“Sure.”

But she sobers up and frowns. “You know that’s not true, right? I was kidding about the anyone. I mean it that there’s no one else I’d marry. No one but you.”

“Of course I do, Erin. I’m not that much of a fucking idiot.”

She doesn’t melt back into me.

“What is it, Lyubimaya ?”

Erin sucks in a breath. “Are you worried Sergio might do something? I know how angry he sounded when you called off the wedding.”

I drag her to me and kiss her thoroughly, biting softly on her lower lip before releasing her. “Erin, I told you I’m a big boy. I can handle him. And everything’s under control.”

“It is?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Nothing’s going to come between the two of us getting married. In fact, since Sasha’s napping and we’re here all alone, I think we should practice for the wedding night.”

“Practice?”

“It makes perfect, you know.”

“Well, if you put it that way…” Her hand slides down my side. “I do want a perfect wedding night…”

I start kissing her when her phone starts to buzz. “Ignore it,” I murmur, giving her tiny bites of kisses.

She returns the kisses but her phone keeps buzzing.

And she sighs, rolling off me. “I’m sorry,” she mutters. “I don’t think it’ll stop.”

“Who is it?” I ask as I get up.

She picks it up but doesn’t look. “Kara.”

Guilt tinges her features and I have to bite down on a smile. “Really.”

Erin nods.

“I… I arranged for me, Kara, and Alina to go wedding dress shopping.” She bites her lip. “I didn’t think you wanted to be involved. It’s not done. And it’s not going to be anything fancy?—”

“I don’t want to know,” I say, holding up a hand to stop her.

But she looks so miserable and guilty that I take her phone as it buzzes again and I answer. “She’ll call you back in two.”

Then I hang up.

“Demyan!”

“Erin. Go shop, spend as much as you’d like. Buy some outfits for the girls and for you. Not just wedding stuff. And get a little outfit for the wedding for Sasha, too. And things for the beach.”

“He doesn’t need designer. I don’t need designer.”

“Did I say designer?”

“No.” She still looks slightly stricken.

“ Lyubimaya ,” I say softly, pulling her to her feet and kissing her cheek. “Shop, have fun. Take care of the bills. Alina knows where I keep the card. I’m glad to see you forming such a close bond with my sister. After all she’s been through… it means a lot to me.”

Erin shrugs. “Alina’s a great person; she’s not exactly hard to like.”

“Go make your call.”

She does and I go in the en suite to get ready. I’m not sure if I have to go out, but I shower and put on a suit, just in case.

Erin did a quick change and she’s still on the phone when I come out. “…I’ll get Sasha and Alina and I’ll pick you up. See you soon, Kara!”

When Sasha, Alina, and Erin leave, I go to my study.

I make the calls I need to and I have a meeting to collect some payments, but as I head out, my phone rings. It’s Ilya who clearly disobeyed orders and left his chair behind because he isn’t here and I can hear the sounds of a bar behind him.

Climbing into my car, I say, “Speak. What do you have?”

“Good news. I spoke to Niko's brother, Vince.”

“And?”

“He’s agreed to hand over evidence you need in order to prove that Sergio was double-crossing you.”

“And this from a guy who hasn’t been interested in the business?”

There’s a pause, and Ilya sighs, then switches to Russian.

“Vince didn’t want the dirty dealings or the path Niko was heading on.

And Rocco’s empire? That’s part of Niko’s.

He gave it to him to run for him. It’s one of those secrets no one ever thinks to dig for.

Seems you played nicely into Rocco’s hands.

He wanted to move into Chicago. He’s playing nice right now until he can solidify with Sergio. ”

“And me?”

“They were hoping to marry you off and take you for all you have.”

“And they’d have the biggest crime empire over half the states.”

“So this marriage was under false pretenses?”

“Yes.”

Inside, something starts to lift. “Can we trust Vince?”

“He wants to play things more like you. The cleaner, more modern way. But it was made clear that wasn’t how his family was, so he played their rules or was out. He took the out and waited, since he was promised it if his time came.”

“As long as he didn’t kill any family.”

“Obviously. This is good, Demyan. The fallouts so minimal all it’ll do is shake the snakes from our trees. And then whatever Sergio has is open season.”

“Fucking phenomenal work.” I’m pumped.

It’s the ammunition I’ll need to go after, Sergio, and take him down for good. I’m not starry-eyed. Ilya’s framing it all in fairy-tale terms. Things will be messier and nothing’s set in stone until it is.

But if Vince plays straight, in exchange for his help, the man will be given control of Niko’s operations, all of them, as well as some of Sergio’s territory once he’s taken down. That we can split.

Things are finally looking good.