Page 75 of The Devil We Crave
“Bingo.” Dad sighs. “Look, I get the anger, believe me. But I’m in the middle of some productive talks with Nero. He’s…well, he’sNero,” Dad grimaces. “The man has a goddamn screw or five loose, or missing completely. But he knows that this is causing more friction than he signed up for, and he’s working to talk Angelo down from the ledge. He’s got alotof money tied up in that building acquisition, so these things need to be handled delicately.Noreprisals.”
I sigh. “Why would you assume that I’d be looking for reprisal?”
“Because you’remyson,” he says dryly.
I grin briefly, then my brow furrows. “So… What’s the play?”
“There is no play, son. Not for you. I say this with love but leave it thefuckalone. Same goes for your cousins, and yes, I’ll be talking to their parents too to make sure no one dumps kerosene on this thing.” He exhales again and rubs the bridge of his nose. “So… Who the fuck were these guys you and your cousin and Leonidas took care of? They weren’t involved with this shit, were they?”
I shake my head. “Nah, Dad. Nothing like that.”
I swear, I wasjustabout to tell him the complete truth. But not fucking now.
“Who were they, then?”
“Pfft, just a couple of goons we caught sneaking into a Para Bellum party and taking creep-shot photos of girls,” I shrug.
Dad nods. “Everyone okay?”
“Yeah. For a hot second we thought they might be working for Yuri Volkov, but it turns out they left his organization years ago.”
My dad exhales. “Good. Last thing we need right now is to tussle it out with the Russians.”
I grin. “Aunt Eilish can’t pull strings?”
My mom’s sister is married to Gavin Tsarenko, aka Kirill's dad and the head of the hugely powerful Tsarenko Bratva.
Dad shakes his head. “Strings strong enough to pull Yuri Volkov don’t exist. You’resurethese guys weren’t still working for him?”
I nod. “One hundred percent.”
He exhales. “Good. Well, I should let you go.”
“Got a shower to catch?” I smirk.
He grins at me. “You really wanna know?”
“Not in the fucking slightest.”
He chuckles, but then he frowns. “Oh, one last thing…”
“Shoot.”
“You ever see Nero's daughter Yelena on campus?”
My gaze lifts again, dragging over the grass and then honing in on the petite brunette with the big green eyes, the hidden spicy romance book, and the pussy that tastes better than anything I’ve ever eaten in my fucking life.
“Because if you do, just…” Dad shakes his head. “Walk away. I can work the sympathy angle with Nero, but his daughter is his world. The last thing I need is him hearing that my son gave her a dirty look or whatever.”
Or went down on her in the library sub-basement.
Or rubbed her pussy with the flat side of his knife.
Or chased her through the dark wearing a goddamn mask and then made her shatter all over his fingers.
“Noted,” I growl.
He nods. “Thanks, Achilles. Okay, I gotta jump in the show?—”
