Page 24 of Bound By Sin
"Ro," I call, and he turns.
After the conversation we just had, what I’m about to ask seems absurd, but I may not see him again for a few days and I want an answer now so I can move forward with my plan. I rub the back of my neck as I ask, "Care if I bring a plus-one to your wedding?"
"The woman?" Roman's eyebrows lift and he turns fully to face me, leaning against the doorframe.
"Her name is Zora."
"I know her name. Stepan's told me." His eyebrow lifts and he smirks at me, shifting from angry Pakhan to uncle in a split second. "You want to bring her to my wedding?"
"If that's okay with you and Mila." My chest is tight, but seeing him almost smile makes me relax a little.
"Bring her. Mila's been dying to meet the mystery woman who's turned my best soldier into a lovesick puppy. She'll be thrilled."
"I'm not lovesick," I call as he turns to keep walking out the door.
He never responds, but I hear Stepan snickering behind my back and scowl. There will be another round of jibes at my expense and probably more lectures from both of them about vetting her, but I'm finally getting somewhere.
Zora and I really have something going, and I'm not letting this little frustration with work keep me from feeling happy that my life is finally clicking.
12
ZORA
Iwalk past the training floor where two of our fighters are working the heavy bags and push through the door at the back of the club into Yefim's office. He's behind his desk with a cigarette going and his laptop open, and he closes the laptop when he sees me and gestures at the chair without saying hello.
"You look like shit," I tell him as I sit down. The dark circles under his eyes are worse than normal. He really needs to start taking better care of himself.
"Thank you." He takes a drag and leans back. "You look like you slept in."
"I did sleep in. It was wonderful. You should try it sometime."
"Can't. Bogdan called me at six this morning." He scratches his jaw and the stubble there rasps under his fingernails. "Makar called too… They’re asking about you, Zora." He wants me to think he cares about me and that's why he's telling me, which may be partly true, but he's also about to stick it to me and he wants me to know it's not his fault. I've been around this block enough times to know him that well.
"About me or about the operation?"
"Same thing at this point." He reaches for his coffee and takes a sip then scowls. "How's your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend," I hiss, resenting that comment because it stings. The more time I spend with Kazimir, the more I wish this wasn't an assignment and that he really was my boyfriend. Probably not a good place to be, considering I know how this ends.
"Right, he's your assignment and we just want an update." He sets the cold coffee down and the corner of his mouth lifts in a smirk. He likes getting a rise out of me, but I'm over it.
"Did you call me in here to give me a hard time or is there an actual reason I'm sitting in this chair?" I have plans with Alisa later today, which I'm already on edge about. If I have to endure one more stupid lecture, I may scream. It's bad enough having to fight the guilt over what I'm doing.
"Both." He taps ash into the glass on his desk and the grin fades. "Bogdan's not happy with where things stand. He thinks one round of bad bets isn't going to be enough to turn the Kuzin allies against them."
"I did what you guys said." I shrug a shoulder, though I never really had a chance to hope this would be enough. Deep down, I know they're gonna make me totally ruin him, and any chance I have with him too.
"And it's a good start, but one bad night gets explained away." He shifts in his chair and props his ankle on his knee. "We can't let this look like an accident. It has to be a pattern—Kazimir making mistakes over and over until the people around him stop giving him the benefit of the doubt."
"That could take a while," I tell him, but the idea of Kazimir being in charge of things while his uncle is away pops into my mind. I know with that opening, we only need one major failure to send him into a tailspin and bring things down. I haven't told them about the honeymoon or that Kaz would be fully in charge of things. I'm not sure I want to.
I know I shouldn't be letting this affect me, but I am. It is.
"Makar thinks you're taking too long." He takes another drag and holds it before exhaling toward the ceiling. "His opinion is that you're getting comfortable and losing focus." I suck in a breath to snap back at him and he holds both hands up defensively, saying, "Those are his words, not mine."
"And yours?"
He shakes his head and won't look at me. Of all of them, Yefim is the one I can trust to be kind most of the time, but I can tell he isn't happy either. "Zora, we get one shot at this before they figure us out. Once they align with the Radins and this gun thing, we're as good as buried." He leans forward as I scowl. "I'm more interested in perfection over speed, but moving quickly helps."
