Page 4 of Devious Obsession
Nothing else needs to be said. Family above all else.
It’s the reason I’ve denied myself for the past two years. I may not be blood, but the Volkov brothers are the closest thing to family I’ve had since I was a young man.
“I just came from across town, the warehouses near the river. There was a rave going on.”
“Never saw you as the partying type.” He leans against the bar and folds his arms over his chest.
“I was working.”
“Working?” His brows lift. “Volkovs have business in Boston I don’t know about?”
“Nothing like that. Alexander wouldn’t move into the city without at least a conversation.”
His expression hardens. “He’s thinking of moving business here?”
“I just said no.”
“You said he’d have a conversation.”
“Are you going to be difficult? There’s been peace between the Irish and the Volkovs for the last six years.”
He eyes me a moment. “Aye, and it’s been a lucrative peace. For all of us. Go on, you were at a rave. Picking up a woman, maybe?”
My insides tighten. “No.”
“Hmm, not sure I believe you, but go on. What’s the problem?”
“No one does business in this city without your permission.”
“Damn right.”
“Who runs the underground party scene?”
He sighs. “Why are you asking?”
“Just curious.” It’s mostly the truth. I’m not here officially.
“I hate those fucking parties. It’s a complete shitshow. At least one kid overdoses every time. It’s chaos.” He pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lights one.
“Janis Devereux runs a crew that throws the parties. They use empty warehouses, old manufacturing plants, anywhere they can get enough space to cram a few hundred people into. Makes a lot of money, clears a hundred thousand a night. And that’s just from the liquor and door money. The cash he makes on the drugs, the girls, and anything else he put a price tag on brings in half a million on a slow night.”
“And you get a cut, I assume?”
He grins, blowing out a cloud of smoke. “Ten percent.”
“The party was raided.”
His smile drops. “The cops shut it down?”
“Yeah.”
“Guess he’s behind on his contribution to the policeman’s ball.” He taps the ash from his cigarette into the crystal ashtray. “Why do you want to know about him?”
“Like I said, just curious.” My phone vibrates.
He eyes me silently. “Well, if you get really curious, you let me know. The party scene can be lucrative, but I don’t see Alexander wanting to get into all that.”
“I already told you, he has no interest in expanding.”
