Page 47 of The Enemy Protector
I know he doesn’t have the support he claims. Things are very unsettled there. And here.
"And what are you asking from me?"
He smiles. He has been waiting for this part. "Neutrality. At minimum. Your endorsement, at best. You're the most significant independent operator in the city. If you stand behind my claim, the other families fall in line. This ends cleanly."
A pause.
"There's something else," he says.
I wait.
"The Baranov portfolio has asubsidiary.”
He stops talking at exactly the right moment. I hate that I respect it.
This gets my attention. I thought I knew every business the Baranov Bratva has.
“And?” I ask with no enthusiasm.
“Medical supply. Distribution.” He looks up. "That's the official description."
I give nothing away, but I’m pissed. I don’t have that intel. Is it new? Or is he lying?
I shrug. “And?”
"Theactualoperation is more profitable." He sets his glass down. "Organ procurement.”
Years of practice allow me not to flinch.
Obviously I know it’s a thing, but I was unaware Baranov was involved.
“This is a current business?” I ask. “Or are you asking me to partner with you.”
He smiles. “The infrastructure has been running quietly for years.” He watches my face. He knows he’s blindsiding me. "Twelve million last year alone. Projected to triple with the right expansion."
Something cold moves through me. I have known for years that Baranov had operations I wasn't fully read into. I had suspicions. I had fragments of intelligence that didn't quite add up, numbers that didn't reconcile against the known revenue streams. I had filed it away as the kind of thing I didn't need to know.
I should have looked harder.
I chose not to. I didn’t want to know the details of some of the darkest elements of the underground, like human trafficking. Then I might feel obligated to try and stop it.
"Yuri." I keep my voice level. "What exactly are you proposing?"
"Partnership," he says simply. "I take over the Baranov organization. The organ trade expands through your port infrastructure. You take forty percent of the net revenue andprovide the logistics. I handle everything else." He leans back. "It's a clean arrangement."
I look at him.
He looks back, pleased with himself. He thinks he has just offered me something I want.
Why?
"I'll think about it," I say.
I see the anger. The clench of his jaw. Narrowed eyes. He doesn’t like that.
“I should mention, this offer has an expiration.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I reply easily.
