Page 41 of Be My Vengeance

“Olivia made cookies and wanted me to bring these up for you.”

Gideon’s face lit up. “Thanks. Have a seat.”

I saw Alex out of the corner of my eye, watching me, but I went and sat, giving Gideon my attention. “What’s up, Boss?”

Gideon clearly could sense the tension between Alex and me, judging by his expression, but thankfully he didn’t address it.

“I went and saw Maksim. He couldn’t avoid talking to his father, so I had him call the man on speaker while I was there. He told him he was doing what he was sent here to do, and that if the bodyguards he hired couldn’t keep up, that wasn’t his problem. His father didn’t seem concerned and didn’t mention the two dead men. I don’t know if he hasn’t been informed about them yet, or he didn’t want to say anything over the phone.”

I nodded. “Did Vladimir mention the block Toni has on Maksim’s phone?”

“No. I couldn’t get a read on him, which was frustrating.”

“Is there any word about him heading this way?” Alex asked.

“Not yet. But we do have something.”

I sat up. “Oh?”

Gideon nodded. “Vladimir wanted Maksim to meet with Oleg on Friday to talk about their operation here. If Maksim doesn’t show up, we might lose our chance to grab Oleg, so he has to go.”

“Or, Oleg thinks Maksim is going to be there, but it’s one of us instead,” I offered.

Gideon sighed. “It’s a good plan, but Oleg is smart. He’d want to see Maksim before he got close enough for us to grab him.”

“So what does that mean?” Were we going to release Maksim? There was no way Alex was going to love that.

“It means we’re going to sit here and work out a plan, so whatever beef you two got going on, bury it. We have work to do.”

I still couldn’t look at Alex, but I tipped my chin at Gideon. Time to catch a Russian. I’d deal with the fallout of Alex’s and my friendship later.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Alex

“Why do you think I got a thing for Gideon?” I grabbed Mila around her waist and lifted her, delighted when she laughed.

“I’m kidding. I know you admire him a whole lot, though.”

“I do.” I bussed her cheek before setting her down.

She smirked. “If there’s anyone you’d go for other than me, I’d say it’s Danny.”

“Woman!” I joked and tried to grab her again, but she darted out of my grip.

“I’m holding firm on that!” She was standing behind the kitchen island, out of my reach.

“He’s my best friend, my brother.”

She shrugged. “I think he has feelings for you.”

“Like a brother,” I spoke slowly.

Mila rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that. I gotta get ready…so do you, I don’t want to be late for my own engagement party.”

I opened my eyes to silence. It wasn’t so much of a dream as it was a memory. It was the day of our engagement party, and we’d been talking like we always did. I hadn’t thought much about that conversation, but I wondered if after Danny’s confession my subconscious had brought it to the forefront.

I rubbed my hands over my face and sat up. I had to be at Gideon’s by nine, so we could all drive to the safe house and get this plan to snatch up Oleg underway.