Page 78 of Beguiled

“Stash Chertov, chief financial officer of the Chertov Corporation.”

“Vardan Zargarian, incumbent to the Armenian Empire.”

He laughed and motioned for me to sit down. “You’ve heard of me.”

“And you’ve heard of me. I think we can conclude that part of our conversation other than to say whatever difficulties my cousin may have presented do not coincide with how our Pakhan feels.” I sat back in the seat, keenly aware he had an advantage with being able to see the front of the location.

“That’s good information to learn and it’s appreciated. We have enough on our plate.”

“Understood.” His men were paying close attention as mine would, had I come with any.

“Perhaps you didn’t know I’m aware of your extracurricular activities. Your reputation as the Born Killer is phenomenal. If you should ever engage thoughts of a career change, the MMA world would be delighted to see you enter the cage.”

I lifted my glass in appreciation. “It keeps my wolf satisfied.”

“Ah. Now, I understand. What brings you to my part of the world? Quite a distance from Manhattan.”

“First a question. How do you plan on ousting your predecessor? I understand he is firmly entrenched in the position.”

“You’ve been keeping tabs on us.”

“As you have with the Bratva. That’s called good business.”

“And what would you call your alliance with the Irish?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows. “They have never been our… friends.”

The conversation remained friendly. Other than if he was responsible for last night, there was no beef between our two operations. “You’re an intelligent man, Vardan. It’s often necessary to engage with an entity that could be considered an enemy to keep the peace.”

“Then I applaud you. My predecessor’s downfall was being unable to bring such an alliance to the table. Almost two decades of discussions provided nothing in the way of results. While he still holds significant power and the loyalty of dozens of men and several businesses, Kazmik is aware his time is in the final stages. If he should choose to delay his retirement, he will be… handled.”

“As a wolf would do within the Bratva.”

“By the man you call the devil.”

My turn to smile. “Kazimir is a formidable Pakhan.”

“As I hope to be within my position. Should I win the election that is. Is that the reason for your visit? Perhaps to congratulate me or to initiate an alliance of our own?”

I allowed myself to laugh. “At this point, I’d settle for our respective worlds to coexist as they’ve done for centuries. However, I’m here about an incident that occurred at a fight club last night. There was an attack. Now, while everyone is assuming the intentions were an assassination of the Irish mob’s leader, I have my doubts.”

“Who do you think was the intended victim?”

“Myself for one. Now, as you’ve already determined, I have skills that don’t always reflect my day-to-day operations.” I swirled the drink before taking another gulp. Smooth like silk. “It’s entirely possible the current Armenian authority is interested in leveling the playing field of your election by eradicating a high-ranking member of the Bratva. In doing so he could position himself as the only one who could stop a war before the weight of the bloodshed began.”

Vardan looked away before leaning forward. “Am I to assume these assassins were handled?”

“They were.”

He blew out a heavy stream of air. “I wouldn’t put anything past our illustrious leader. He doesn’t like to lose. He’s feeling pressure from all sides. Russians. Italians. His popularity has waned over the years, mostly because he likes to play dirty. As I’m sure you believe, we are businessmen and as such, there’s plenty of wealth to go around.”

“Agreed.”

“Then I can assure you that my men had nothing to do with the attack on Sean McCarthy. That’s not the way to begin my reign. We have no beef with the Russians.”

“I agree and feel the same.” I pulled out my phone, noticing two of the men positioned casually against the wall tensed. “Relax. If there’s anything you need to know about the Bratva, you will never see us coming in an attack.”

My statement caused a smile. “You can never be too careful. What are you showing me?”

“Do you know this man?”