Page 46 of The Enemy of My Enemy: Pt. 2

I also wasn’t eager to bring children into this disaster, and I was pretty certain that Viktor felt the same way.It was plain as day that we weren’t good for one another, and having been raised by parents who had always presented a united front, I wasn’t interested in raising children in a household filled with cold silence or maddening rage.

At any rate, when I had called my father to check in, he had informed me of what he had learned this morning, and it was that Kasimir had been unable to get anything useful from Darya and Zoya Orlova.According to Kasimir, they’d known nothing, but he also hadn’t been able to torture them, so he couldn’t swear his last name to it-his words, not my father’s.

However, I had a theory that none of the others knew about, and so Darya and her daughter were a lot more useful to me than they were to the Korolevs.Of course, since I couldn’t let that be known without proof, I had formed a different plan of attack, and Viktor and Kasimir had fallen for it.

After I’d gotten off the phone with my father, instead of contacting Viktor, I’d had Dima call Kasimir, asking him to call me or stop by.Luckily for me, Kasimir’s curiosity had been strong enough for him to come right on over, and after having a reasonable conversation with him, he had agreed to drive me to Darya’s to talk to her myself.While I’d been careful not to criticize his interrogation techniques, I had pointed out how speaking with another woman might put her better at ease.I had also suggested that putting a face and name to the victim that she’d heard about might soften her up a bit.

Of course, instead of just agreeing with my common sense, he’d had to call Viktor for permission first, and much to my surprise, Viktor had given it.Granted, knowing that I’d be with his brother had probably been the only reason why he’d said yes, but regardless of his reasons, I’d taken it as a win.

So, now we were all sitting in Darya’s living room, and for all that Kasimir’s reputation was a brutal one, I noticed how Zoya Orlova-Kuzmin looked like she wanted to murder him where he stood, and it was hard to blame her.Having only known Kasimir for a few weeks, I could only imagine how their interrogation had gone.Darya, on the other hand, looked like she was about to crack at any moment.

“Thank you for allowing us into your home,” I said after having introduced myself.

“Of...of course,” Darya stammered, throwing quick glances up at Kasimir as he stood behind me like a sentinel.

With the briefing that Kasimir had given me on the way over, I said, “It’s my understanding that your brother provided for you both when he’d been alive.”

Darya nodded, wringing her hands in her lap.“I...he told us that he was a driver for a very important tech CEO, and that the man was very generous with bonuses and tips...stuff like that.”

“We don’t know anything,” Zoya blurted.“We really don’t.”

“His...his house was searched,” Darya said.“Nothing was found.”

Even if these women knew anything, it was obvious that they weren’t going to tell me with Kasimir in the room.No matter the truth, optics mattered, and Armen Orlova had conspired to kill the Korolev Sovietnik’s wife, and if that wasn’t punishable by death, then I didn’t know what was.

So, looking back over my shoulder, I glanced up at Kasimir.“Can you give us a moment?”

“No,” he quickly answered, brooking no room for argument.

“You’re not needed here, Kasimir,” I pointed out.

“My brother would argue otherwise,” he snorted rudely.

“Your brother isn’t here,” I drawled out.

“If you think I’m leaving you alone with these two, you’re out of your mind,” he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.“It’s not going to happen.”

“Because what do you think is going to happen?”I bit out, not appreciating the hovering, especially after having seen the footage of the pier.“Do you honestly believe that I can’t handle anything that might go wrong?”

“Oh, I know you can,” he chuckled.“But if you think that I’m looking to piss off my brother, you’re wrong.”

Okay, this wasn’t working.

“Fine, then we’ll compromise.”

Kasimir flashed me a gorgeous smile.“I wasn’t aware that you knew how to do that.”

Ignoring that, I said, “You and Zoya can wait in the kitchen while I speak with Darya.”

“I...I don’t want to go into the kitchen...kitchen with him,” Zoya immediately objected, and I wanted to shake my head at the girl, but her quick protest played right into my plan.

“Awe,lepestok,”he cooed.“And here I thought you’d taken a liking to me.”

I had no idea why Kasimir was calling her petal, but I also didn’t care.“Take her to the kitchen, Kasimir.I won’t be long in here.”

The teasing in his voice gone, he said, “Let’s go.”

Zoya looked like she wanted to argue, but the girl was wise enough not to, and I watched as Kasimir led her into the kitchen, and I also let out a sigh of relief.I was also very aware that I didn’t have much time, so I got straight to the point once they were out of ear shot.