Page 53 of Ace of Shadows
“You’re lucky we have rules,” I snarl, spitting my words in his face. “You’re lucky we need undeniable proof, and you know what? I’ll get it. And if I find out you’ve lied to me again, Kraven, your entire organization will be nothing but dust on the bottom of my shoe by the time I’m finished dismantling you, do you understand? And then I’ll come for you last.”
Kraven’s face purples with rage but he keeps a lid on his response, instead slamming his meaty fist on the desk after I slide off it. “I will await your thorough and sincere apology,” he growls. “Now get the fuck out of my house!”
“Fucking hell,” Raven breathes out once we’re outside and Kraven is safely far away from my fists. “I didn’t know you had a temper.”
I shrug, stomping stiffly toward the car. “I don’t like being lied to.”
“Are you confident he’s lying?”
“Seriously?” I glare back at her. “How much proof do you need?”
“You know just as well as I do how easy it is to fool people,” Raven replies, utterly unfazed by my anger.
Her lack of reaction immediately breeds guilt in my chest and I sigh deeply as we reach the car. “Sure.”
“Do you know what you’re doing, Ruslan?” Raven stops in front of me and her lips pull into an easy smile. “You didn’t like that he called Ivy a whore.”
“No, I didn’t. And yes, I know what I’m doing.”
“You’re pretty protective over her.”
“Can you blame me?”
She shrugs. “Not really. But you also barely know her.”
Scuffing my foot against the ground to rid myself of some frustration, I lift my head. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said. You’re really protective over a woman you’ve just met. Is she worth all of this?”
“Absolutely. And it’s not just her. Look at what happened to me and Cassian. You can’t tell me this isn’t important enough for us anymore.”
Ravan raises both hands. “I’m not saying that. I just want to understand where your head is. You really like Kraven for this?”
I nod.
“Then we have to prove it.”
“So you have my back?”
Raven laughs and pats my shoulder, then opens the car door. “I never didn’t. You just have to remember that the Suit only works because we have the respect of all the leaders. We keep everyone in line, which means we can’t be losing our cool and slamming Pakhans in their own homes.”
She’s right. Annoyingly. “Sorry.”
“You’ll owe him one hell of an apology if you’re wrong.”
“I’m not wrong.”
“Okay. Either way, he’s challenging us. Those threats question our effectiveness, which means wehaveto get this right, Ruslan. We can’t make a mistake here or everything the Suit stands for will crumble. If we fall for manipulation, then no one will ever trust us again.”
“So what do I do?”
“Well…” Raven leans against the door, balancing her arms on top. “If this were a computer program, I’d run several analyses to make sure I had all the data I could possibly get.”
I lift my brow, confused.
“Ivy. You need to make sure you know everything. The whole truth, not the half truth.”
“She doesn’t know anything.”
