Page 9 of Lord of Pain
Alexsey heartlessly bursts into laughter. "What a disappointing night. Oh, by the way, if you're curious about my date, we did make use of the library in the castle."
"No one needs to hear about your seedy adventures," Dmitri says sourly. His chilly gaze goes back to me. "Go on."
"I did a quick background search on her target today." I loosen my tie. I feel itchy, restless in the confines of my expensive suit. This usually means I'm ready to inflict a round of violence on someone deserving.
"She wants me to take out her stepfather. He's middle management at a venture capital firm, and a pathetic son of a bitch, multiple domestic violence charges, he seduced her mother, and he owes the Italians a huge chunk of change. Violet is adamant that he killed her father."
"So it's revenge?" Alexsey asks.
"No, she's worried that her stepfather is going to force her and her sisters into marriage to pay off his debts."
"To the Italians?" Dmitri asks.
"No," I say slowly. "That's the thing that I keep circling around. She seems certain that her stepfather wants to marry them off to some of the senior management team in his company." I laugh reluctantly, remembering her expression as she described them. "She calls them The Chads."
Alexsey grins. "The Chads? Why am I picturing a group of country club assholes?"
"Yeah you have it," I nod. "But if this is a legitimate finance company, why would they be willing to risk something this close to enslavement?"
"Any venture capital firm in New York is far filthier than we are," Dmitri scoffs. "If they're entitled, rich bastards they might think they could get away with it. Still, this isn't your problem. You turned her down, of course."
"Of course," I snap.
Alexsey is watching me, twisting his glass slowly between his hands. "You want to take this job, don't you? A little freelance work?"
"Brother…" Dmitri is not unsympathetic. "I admire your concern, but this isn't Bratva business."
"Neither was Ava when you first found her," I shoot back. His jaw tightens and I know I'm pushing it. "And yet, that still put us into the middle of a human trafficking ring, didn't it? Not to mention the satisfaction of killing that fuck Will Grand for kidnapping Ava."
"Not the same thing," he insists.
Angel slinks up to the table. "Can I get you gentlemen anything to drink?" she murmurs, her tone sultry and dripping with sin. She gives me a salacious wink. "Or anything else?"
"No darling, we're fine. But thank you for asking." I pat her ass gently. Dmitri's polar stare is enough to make even the shamelessly salacious Angel step back with some haste and an awkward little wave.
"I think it's worth looking into," Alexsey says, surprising me. He's not a fan of going outside of family interests.
"Really," Dmitri asks, "Why?"
"You pull on a loose thread and you see what unravels," he shrugs. "This is probably just a cluster of asshole finance bros. But if they're buying women for marital bliss, isn't this the same as what Ava went through?"
Dmitri growls low in his throat. He hates being reminded of that horrible period in his wife's life before she literally fell into his arms escaping sex traffickers. "What do you want to do?" He looks at me and I arch a brow, surprised. He's leaving it up to me.
"The potential client - her name is Violet - seems certain something is happening next month. A corporate retreat. That kind of potential isolation would make sense if they plan to set these girls up. She has twin sisters, they're only eighteen and she thinks the stepfather intends to marry them off, too."
Alexsey makes a face, like someone just pissed in his drink. "Eighteen?Iisus Khristos,eighteen is still a teenager. Let me know if you need help with the… What did you call them? The Chads?"
"I will." I slap him on the shoulder. "I'm going to poke around a little, pull on this loose thread."
Dmitri finishes his drink. "Keep me updated," he says before leaving quickly.
"He's obviously - and frankly - almost pathetically excited to get home to his wife and baby, isn't he?" I ask.
"I have to admit, Lev is a cute kid and even our terrifying father seems to be enjoying playing GrandfatherPakhan. He might've actually used baby talk with the little man at dinner last week."Alexsey chuckles. "I almost choked on mypelmeni,trying to keep a straight face."
He lingers a bit, idly flirting with one of the waitresses until the guests start flooding the reception area.
"Are you making the rounds tonight?" I ask. "You haven't been down in the dungeons for weeks."
