Page 19 of Be My Vengeance

“He said if things went smoothly he’d compensate me, but I just want the drugs gone and him to leave me alone.”

“Do you know why they came to you to store their drugs?”

Liev rolled his eyes. “My mother was born in Russia, hence my first name. She immigrated to America when she was eleven with my grandparents. He said Russia was in my blood, and I should feel proud to help my brothers.”

“Fucking whackjobs.”

Liev nodded. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t call the cops because, well, maybe I’ve watched too many shows about police corruption. I just didn’t know who to trust.”

“Probably smart. How’d you explain Greg’s death to people?”

“The center was closed for the night. Only Greg and I were here. After they shot him, they took his body. Made it look like a carjacking gone bad.”

Danny returned and handed Liev a phone. “This is a burner phone. There are two numbers programmed in it; one is mine and one is his. You call us as the minute anyone in the Bratva reaches out to you. My boss is sending two men to stay with your family. They’ll be discreet, pretend to be family visiting. Another car will be stationed on your street.”

“What are you two going to do now?”

“As soon as a couple of guys get here to keep tabs on the place, the two of us are going to find out exactly who Oleg Trudov is and how to stop him.”

It was time to go hunting.

CHAPTER TEN

Danny

“Only monsters cut their spaghetti.” Penn shook his head at me. We had arrived back at Gideon’s after we’d talked to Liev and had gotten corralled into staying for dinner.

“What are you, the pasta police?”

“I’m just sayin’.” Penn shrugged and twirled his spaghetti.

“Say less.” I chuckled.

Because Owen and Olivia were at the table, we didn’t discuss business. Owen told us about a new book he’d read, and Olivia went on and on about her dance class. Since the wedding, Olivia hadn’t been able to return to playing the piano. She’d tried but it was triggering for her, and her therapist had talked to her about finding a new creative outlet. So, dancing it was.

Alex didn’t say much at the table; he was listening and observing everyone. I didn’t think it had anything to do with him disliking anyone, but I’d noticed that since he’d found out that Gideon and Penn had gotten married, he was a little more quiet around them in a family setting.

I wasn’t a therapist, but I was sure once he went she’d be able to help him figure all this out.

When dinner was done, the twins went to watch a movie while the four of us took the conversation to Gideon’s office.

As soon as the door shut, Gideon was talking. “Toni is digging into anything and everything he can find on Oleg Trudov.”

“Is it possible this Oleg has no connection to Ivanov?” Penn offered.

“Not sure. That’s the first thing we need to figure out. If I have two different Russian factions to deal with, it’s going to complicate things.”

“How? We take both of them out; neither is up to any good,” Alex argued.

“You’re talking about potentially hundreds of people, Alex. Not all of us walk away from that.” I had to hope he’d realize the truth of my words.

“Obviously, we don’t just go in blind. But regardless of whether this Oleg is working with Ivanov, he has to go. Those drugs are no joke and on top of that, there’s the violence he’s bringing in.”

Gideon nodded. “I agree, Alex. Let’s first find out everything we can on this Oleg and paint a clear picture.”

Alex sat back in his chair appeased enough to not push further. “So what do we do while Toni gets the intel?”

“Well, I have men at the distribution center posing as workers to keep an eye on things. I have people at the Hansen house as well. Liev has your numbers to call if this Oleg or whoever gets in touch with him, right?”