I chuckled.
“Don’t laugh at me.” She frowned. “I’m serious. I would steal for you, Kaz.”
“You don’t need to steal. I’ll own it.”
“I’d kill for you.”
“He’d already be dead, mysh, if he’s pissed me off. One thing I know for sure about Sasha. He’s thanking God for every additional day he’s been able to breathe. He’s also thanking you. The only reason why he’s still alive is because you’ve kept me busy.”
“That’s not necessarily a good thing.”
“It is. Waiting and being patient has shown me that there are more players at hand. Someone close to me. The men that you helped catch tonight told me that they’d gotten a text the morning before saying that I would be in Prague, giving them the location to shoot me.”
“What else did they say?” she asked.
“He killed himself after that.”
“And the other?”
“I killed him out of impatience.”
She swallowed. “I guess that happens.”
I moved some of the hair out of her face. “Someone on our plane told Sasha that we were going to Prague. Valentina and you were the only ones who knew before that morning.”
“Which brings us to your sister.”
“Careful, mysh.”
“I get it, Kaz. I don’t want to think so either, but I’m going to look into her.”
I let out an exasperated breath.
She eyed me. “What?”
“Did I not explain that I think Valentina killed my ex-lover?”
“Has she killed your ex-lovers before?”
“No.”
“Good. Then, it’s not a thing.”
“Yet, you should have pause, when it comes to my sister. This is a tricky line.”
“I won’t cross it.”
I gritted. “Okay. Do what you want.”
“Meaning?”
“Look into Valentina, but make sure you stay off her radar.”
“Okay.”
“Do you need guns?”
“Sure, but it’s no rush.”
“Because you already have one?”
Her voice cracked. “Yes.”
“Who gave it you?”
“Maxwell.”
“Hmmm.”
I need to have a talk with him. I may not be able to boss her around, but he will definitely fall in line.
“Don’t be mad at Max,”
I glared. “Of course not. Max and I are jolly good friends.”
She giggled.
“He needs to know his place.”
She shook her head. “Wow.”
“He does.”
“He’s my best friend.”
“I understand.”
“He’s basically my brother.”
I gritted my teeth.
“But I won’t get guns from him anymore,” she said. “I’ll only talk to you about it.”
“Thank you.”
That still won’t stop a conversation between Maxwell and me.
However, it brought up an interesting point.
“Hmmm.” I considered the new possibilities.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Sasha knows me. He knew I’d come to Prague, and even if he didn’t, someone with us told him everything.”
“So, you can’t trust anyone around you?”
“Wrong. I can trust Maxwell and you.” I slipped my fingertips along her arm. “Maxwell will be busy, when we first arrive in Moscow, but you…”
“I’ll be free.”
I hated the excitement in her voice. “Mysh—”
“I’m one of your men.”
“You’re not.”
“I’m yours.”
“Every part of you.”
She gazed at me. “And you’re mine.”
“I am.”
She smiled. “What do you need me to do in Moscow?”
I clenched my jaw and did my best to relax. “You should get some people to work with you. Everyone has to be outside my world.”
“I figured the Bratva had Moscow on lock.”
“True and false.” I traced her elbow with my thumb. “Americans consider the Bratva a type of Russian mafia because that is the only type of organized crime groups you understand. The mafia or gangs.”
“And you’re too structured to be thought of as a gang?”
“Yes, but we’re not exactly the mafia either. Bratva means brotherhood. Some call it Chechenskaya obshchina’ which means Chechen commune.”
“Chechen?”
“I couldn’t explain it all in a few minutes. What I can say is that it’s a tradition of the abreg, the honorable outlaw.”
“So, Robin Hood-like?”
“Exactly. The abreg is a bandit with a vendetta against the most powerful.”
“Raiding the rich and giving to the poor?”
My cock stiffened, craving to be inside of her. “This is why you’re mine.”
She smiled.
“An abreg was powerful, and he surrounded himself around like-minded individuals,” I explained. “Like a gang, but not. This is more like a clan with bloody customs.”
“So I see why it’s not exactly like the Italian mafia. It sounds like you have a strong, but…flexible organization.”
“Not only that, but it is often overlapping networks of semi-independent gangs.”
She squinted her eyes as if trying to see my words. “So, we’re talking of hundreds of thousands of local gangs throughout the world?”
“Yes. They have their goals. Their money. Their enemies. If they can’t handle it, then they go higher. One doesn’t come to me, unless he wants to move planets.”
“You’re high up.”
“But they know me, and that’s what you can use for the smaller ones.”
“Me?” She touched her chest.
“You’re going to a group. You would think of it as a local gang. They’re based in a rough area of Moscow, but they’ve never been accepted by the Bratva, although they are more than worthy.”
“Why not?”
“They’re Afro-Russian. Many are children of Ivory Coast or Nigerian migrants. Like any country, there is division based on irrational things. However, there are neo-Nazis and stupid skinheads that have directed their focus to others—Muslims and middle-eastern refugees. I’ve found that this group has been successful with uniting with others that have been mistreated. They’re becoming strong.”
I couldn’t believe I was telling her this, but I couldn’t deny that she was smart, sexy, and deadly, if necessary. She’d been right earlier tonight. If she’d been a man, I would’ve already sent her to Moscow to meet them.
But she was more than that.
While I would do my best to treat her as one of my own, bring her into my brotherhood, I would still protect her more than any other.
I gazed down at her. “I want you to talk to them. You need a group, while you’re in Moscow. My city needs to be one of your homes—a place where you have your own people—your own contacts.”
I wasn’t a fan of this, but I knew it would keep her strong and powerful.