Page 56 of The Pakhan's Dangerous Secret
"Why attack my docks?"
"Why not?" He shrugs, or tries to. The movement makes him wince. "Gotta make a name for ourselves somehow."
I study his face, looking for the lie. Territory disputes are common enough, especially with new families trying to establish themselves. It's brutal, but it's business, the kind of thing that happens in our world with depressing regularity.
But something about this doesn't sit right.
"You're awfully cheerful for someone who's about to die," I observe.
"Am I?" That fucking smile again. "Maybe I know something you don't."
I circle him slowly, watching the way his eyes track my movement. He's not afraid. Not even a little. Most men in his position would be calculating their odds, looking for an escaperoute or trying to bargain. This one just sits there like he's won some kind of prize.
"Six men," I say, keeping my voice conversational. "You brought six men to attack a fortified dock. My dock. The one with twenty armed guards on rotation."
He doesn't respond, but that smirk twitches at the corner of his mouth.
"That's not a raid," I continue. "That's suicide. So either you're the dumbest fuck I've ever met, or you had a different objective."
"Maybe we're just that good," he says, but there's something in his tone. Something mocking. Like he's daring me to figure it out.
I glance at Matvey. My enforcer's jaw is tight, his massive hands flexing at his sides. He feels it too, the wrongness of this whole situation. We've done enough interrogations together that we don't need words. A look is enough.
Matvey moves to the man's left side while I stay on his right. Classic intimidation positioning. The prisoner's eyes flick between us, but he doesn't look worried. If anything, he looks amused.
"How long have you been in the States?" I ask.
"Couple months."
"And in that time, you've learned enough about my operation to think you could take my docks?"
"We did our homework."
"Bullshit." I lean down, getting in his face. "You knew you'd lose. You knew most of your men would die. So what was worth that price?"
His smile falters for just a second, just long enough for me to see I'm getting close to something.
"Time," he says softly.
The word hits me like a punch to the gut. Time. They needed time. Time for what?
I straighten up, my mind racing through possibilities. What could they accomplish while I was here? What target would be worth sacrificing six men?
Then it clicks. The one thing that would guarantee I'd come running to the docks. The one thing that would pull me away from everything else.
My men. My territory. My business.
But there's only one thing more important than all of that combined.
Mariya.
My stomach drops. I glance at Matvey, and I can see the same realization dawning in his dark eyes. This attack was too small, too contained. Six men against a fortified dock? They had to know they'd lose, had to know most of them would die.
Unless that wasn't the point.
"This was a distraction," I say, the words coming out cold and hard.
The man's smile widens even more, blood staining his teeth red. "Took you long enough to figure it out."
