Page 49 of Lay It Bare

Sevastyan

Sevastyan stepped out of the upscale bar into the slow flow of human traffic and took the stairs towards the building exit. His phone buzzed. He slipped it out of his pocket and switched his headset on. “Mother.”

“Sevvy,” Raska purred. She sounded drunk. “We were just talking about you.” She prattled on without taking a breath for several minutes, referring to people and their activities and collections, most of which Sevastyan was aware of. “Anyway, get that for me. That choker.”

“That would be a long job, Mother,” Sevastyan said. Long job was an understatement. The choker in question was on display at the capital museum in Iran. It wouldn’t be the hardest heist he committed, but it would certainly be in his top ten. It could take months to years to plan, if he wanted to conduct it without being detected.

Raska made a mewing sound over the phone, the tone that preceded her getting angry.

Sevastyan detoured. “I’m on assignment for the Yadro, Mother. It’d be my head if I leave the job.”

She gave a deep sigh. “Stop working for them and work for me.”

“You work for them,” Sevastyan chuckled. “You sent me to work for them. My tithe pays part of yours. I do work for you.”

She groaned. “Why do you have to be so practical, Sevvy?”

“Because someone has to keep you in dresses and necklaces. And your boy-toys are too poor.”

She laughed. “I sold the last one. So I guess he wasn’t that poor. In the end.”

“Who took him?”

“Oh, we went yachting off Morocco, on the company boats. So much eye candy. I knew I was bored with the guy, so I just asked the owner if he wanted him, and he said yes. It was amusing. They made him serve dinner in nothing but an apron on the last night and I got to watch.”

Sevastyan raised an eyebrow, keeping his emotions on lockdown. “I’m sure the surprise was delicious.”

“Oh, very. He never saw it coming.” Raska laughed gayly. “But now I have to find a new one.”

“If anyone knows how to shop, it’s you.”

“Oh, I do, I do.” Raska giggled. She was most certainly drunk. “You should rent your boy out to the yachts. But he’s ruined. I forgot. They only take pretty ones. You should get a pretty one, Sevvy baby. Only the best for my baby boy.”

Sevastyan chuckled. “You know I don’t keep him for his looks. Besides, I can’t get rid of him.”

“Of course you can.”

Sevastyan shook his head, even though Raska wouldn’t be able to see him. “Alexi would have a snit. He helped me train him. You know how Alexi is about his art.”

Raska huffed. “I never understood that about him. And giving up a directorship, too.”

Sevastyan laughed. “It’s what you trained me to do, Mother, find the illogical pieces of a person. The cake they can’t resist, the right dress. The right view. My boy is Alexi’s cake.”

“You could always get a second one, though.”

“I do have a second one, at least for the moment. We’ll see how long. From Alexi’s own stock.”

“You have that man wound around your finger.” Raska sounded thoughtful, as if she were hatching another of her plans.

“Alexi is a dangerous man, Mother. He indulges me.”

“Dangerous men. Dangerous times.” Sounds of movement and fabric brushing fabric came through the connection. She might have crawled into a bed. “They say heads are rolling over that K-Pop singer. Make sure it’s not yours.”

“Whose head rolled now?”

“Oh, I don’t know, all of them. But you’re next on the list. The dead client’s wife, she’s demanding blood, preferably the singer’s, and yours for letting him off. The head of the South Korean branch has agreed to lodge a formal demand with the Yadro.”

“They can try,” Sevastyan said.

“Oh, sweetie, aren’t you worried?” Raska sounded like she might be getting sleepy.

“Not worried, Mother. You taught me well.”

Raska mewed. She was definitely in the sleepy stage of drunk. “They’re coming for you, though. Make sure you kill them first. They say Bak Sahyuk isn’t giving up, even if he’s behind bars.” She hung up.

Sevastyan put away his phone. There went his evening. If he could trust anyone, he’d be calling in security for Rei and Lisa. But protecting them in any visible way meant displaying their value. That, he didn’t dare do. Not yet. Hiding them away was an option. He needed somewhere invisible, off grid, and warm. Chicago winters were too deep to be careless with. The inland sea the locals called a lake was a lapping vastness of slush, bits of ice supporting fresh fallen snow floating on a water that was warmer than the air above it.

He ducked into a cafe and ordered coffee. Leaning against a wall while waiting for his drink, he checked online forums. Sure enough, there was a bounty listed for him and Jun, posted for American-based criminals for hire. He recognized the agent posting. Not many would, but he and Rei had been thorough over the years. Some of those parties had been edifying. He screen captured the offer on Jun and sent it to Ellisandre, attaching what he knew concerning the agent. Then he forwarded a report of both bounties to the Yadro with a terse question: “Routine surveillance on subject. Is this approved or do we have a rogue? Advise.”

His drink order was called as he finished. He leveraged himself off the wall and snagged the single-use cup from the counter then pushed through the door back out into the freezing wind. If he was efficient with the rest of his errands, he would make it back in time to take Rei to the farmers’ market.