Page 32 of Viper’s Reign
He curses. “It’s been two weeks, Dima. It never takes you this long. Not when you actually want to find someone. So forgive me if I’m not convinced.”
“You already know my theory.”
“Daniel Salvi…” He says it like he’s hearing it for the hundredth time, which he probably is.
I’ve been saying it from the start. Daniel Salvi is behind it. That bastard has had it out for my family since he first started his mayoral campaign. But blowing up a crowded warehouse? That’s insane, no matter how crooked the politician. I’ll need solid proof to show that it was him. And so far, that’s been hard to come by.
“It makes sense. That’s why his tracks are so clean. No one else has the kind of money or reach to stay hidden from me this long.”
He sighs. “Maybe it’s time we bring in an outsider. Aleksei mentioned hiring a mercenary to—”
“And risk exposing our family business? No. Absolutely not,” I cut him off. “Give me a little more time, and I’ll have that bastard exactly where we want him—trapped. We don’t need an outsider.”
Silence stretches on the line before he speaks again. “I’m not the only one getting impatient, Dima. The others are noticing. The capos are starting to talk, murmuring that maybe the Petrovs are losing their touch. And you know what happens when that kind of rumor starts spreading.”
Fuck. I know all too well. It’s how Aleksei was able to take over after Viktor’s… death. The old man had been slipping, and the capos grew restless. Nobody follows a weak leader for long. If they start seeing cracks in our family, the other families won’t hesitate to attack and appoint a new pakhan.
“That won’t happen,” I vow, meaning it. “Give me two months, and I’ll have him.” I will, damn it.
“That’s not my call. Talk to Aleksei.” The line goes dead.
“Fucking Aleksei,” I mutter, lowering the phone. I stare at the laptop screen, at the woman there, and the information I’ve uncovered on her—information Aleksei is most likely already privy to. I don’t know how he does it, but that fucker always seems to know everything.
Then again, he has the best intelligence available on his payroll—including me.
But if even his hackers are hitting walls on Salvi, doesn’t that make my theory stronger? Who would be better protected than a former U.S. defense attorney now running for mayor of New York?
There’s no point in calling Aleksei yet. I know how that conversation will go. Get me hard proof, he’ll say.
And I will. Right after I deal with my little problem.
Grace.
12
GRACE
I wake up to a message from an unknown number.
Four days left. Tick tock…
My gut clenches. As if I needed reminding. I’ve been spiraling over it nonstop since last night.
What the hell was I thinking, trying to let Dimitri off the hook?
I came home still buzzing from twenty-four hours of his undivided attention, and somewhere between the front door and my bed, I managed to convince myself that I could squirm my way out of this mess. That if I cut things off, if I made it so there was no getting close to him again, we’d all be spared. Millie, me… and him.
I should have known better. But the guilt was too much. Dimitri may not deserve what’s coming to him, but neither do I—and Millie definitely doesn’t.
I delete the message with a heavy sigh. It’s a good thing Dimitri didn’t let me cut him off. I would’ve never been able to forgive myself.
I’d die for my best friend. So I’d better be able to kill for her too.
My chest tightens as the panic from last night creeps back in. I’d been on the verge of hyperventilating, the feeling of being trapped, of having no control, closing in on me from all sides. With lethargy weighing me down, I try to swallow it all.
I force myself out of bed and cross the few steps to my desk. Coming back here after the yacht, after Liberty Island and the underwater lounge and a magical twenty-four hours with Dimitri, is depressing.
I ignore the clutter crammed into the tight space and turn on my ancient laptop. Crisis or not, I still need to sort out my career. At the very least, I could use the distraction.
