Page 10 of The Bratva’s Monster

“Actually, there is.” He turns around, grabs his phone, then scrolls for a moment and hands it to me. I’m looking at a news report of a fire. A small factory building burned to the ground, not that far from here. It doesn’t take me long to recognize that it’s one of our storehouses.

“Shit,” I say.

“Yeah. Our guy at the fire station says it’s definitely arson. Definitely Irkutsk.”

I look up at him with mild confusion. “How would they even know about the storehouse?”

“How do you think?”

I take a deep breath and hand him back the phone. “The ghost of Gedeon lives on.”

“Interesting how that works, right?” He looks at the video once more, shaking his head as he drinks his vodka, then he turns it off and sets it on his desk.

“The only people who would even know where this storehouse is,” he says, “other than Kostya and the two of us, is the brigadier in charge of it, maybe the Boeviks under him. And given I have yet to replace Gedeon…”

“I get you. Could be one of his Boeviks.”

“Could be. Doubt it, though. Gedeon’s men were all veterans. Men Dad vetted back in the day.”

I immediately think of the rogue who tried to kill him on his coronation day who found us despite the location being secret. Gedeon knew where that place was, though it doesn’t explain how my brother’s attacker knew we’d be there that night.

“So, I’m wondering,” Alex says, “if the leak is less in-house and more house adjacent.”

I frown slightly as his meaning reaches me. “You’re talking about Liz.”

“I’m talking about Liz. Gedeon doesn’t have any family. At least not in the States. He never had any children and he didn’t keep any mistresses. Other than you, Liz was the closest person to him. Stands to reason that she might know something about his plans.”

I drink from my glass, mulling that over. I know that Gedeon’s relationship was up and down at times, but I also know that he loved Liz with everything in him. And if she loved him the same way, it’s not that hard a leap to imagine that she’d continue his work.

“That’s what I’m thinking,” he says. “Maybe Gedeon knew that what he was doing had a good chance of getting him killed. And if it did, then maybe Liz wouldn’t be taken care of anymore. With his gambling problems, the money he left behind couldn’t have been that much. He’s got to find a way to keep that cash flow going.” He starts to pace, waving his drink around as he talks. “He’s already got a deal with Stefan, so he loops his wife in on that. Tells Stefan to look after her if something should go down.”

A flash of anger flows through me. Even his last words to me were a fucking lie.

“Stefan agrees,” Alex goes on, “but only on the proviso that she keeps feeding him info should he die. Then he does die, but he leaves behind notes or something and just like that, Liz is a rat.”

I’m listening, but my anger is rising inside me like lava in a volcano. Should have known. Should have fucking known.

“So, how do you want her handled?” It’s all I need to know. Alex hears the tone change in my voice and he stops pacing, looking up at me with narrowed eyes.

“Don’t want her ‘handled’. Not yet, anyway. I want her watched.”

“She’s a fucking snitch⁠—”

“I’m speculating,” he says, raising his voice to check me. “We don’t know anything yet, and if we’re going to take out the wife of a brother—even one who’s dead and a traitor—we have to be sure.”

I set my drink down on his desk and take a deep breath. “Of course.”

“I want you to get close to her in whatever way you can. Gain her trust and find out the truth. If she’s carrying on her backstabbing husband’s legacy, I want you to slit her fucking throat. You got that?”

“Loud and clear,” I say.

“Good.” He pauses, looking me over. “See you at the charity thing?”

It’s a question, but he doesn’t say it like that. It’s more of a command with a question mark at the end. “I’ll be there.”

“Good. As Molotovs, we need to show some unity. Publicly speaking.”

I tilt my head. “So, Yeva’ll be there.”