Page 40 of Sinful Union

The knock at my door is sharp. There’s a problem. I can feel it.

“Come in,” I call out, leaning back in my chair, bracing myself.

Nikolai enters, his expression serious and controlled. He’s a man used to handling bad news, and I can tell he has some to share.

“We have a situation.”

I sigh. Of course we do. “Go on.”

“There are rumors going around about the Andreevs.”

“What kind of rumors?”

“Ones that suggest Piotr’s behind the attacks.”

I shift my weight in my seat. Such news isn’t surprising. Even though he has professed loyalty all these years, I’ve begun to question his sincerity. “Who’s talking?” I ask.

“Sources from the street. A few mid-level guys. No one big enough to confirm yet.”

I nod, considering the information. If these whispers are making their way down the ranks, then it means the truth—whatever it may be—is close to surfacing.

Piotr has been avoiding me lately. Every time I try to set up a meeting to finalize the merger, he conveniently has somewhere else to be, offering lame excuses about handling the chaos and cleaning up the mess from the attacks. I’m starting to believe the chaos and the mess is exactly what he wanted.

I lace my fingers together, resting my chin on my knuckles. “If it’s true,” I say, “then what’s his angle?”

Nikolai doesn’t hesitate. “Power.”

Power. Control. The same things every man at the top of the Bratva pyramid wants. But Piotr already has power. He has his father’s seat. He has his own army. But he also has me, and therein lies the problem.

I’ve been discreetly asking questions about the former Andreevpakhan’sdeath, but every road leads me to nowhere. The way Piotr took control so quickly after his parents’ accident. It seemed too clean, too convenient.

I drum my fingers against the desk. I need answers. I could go to Vlad, but that would be a violation, not to mention that circumventing Piotr would lay my motivations—and my suspicions—bare.

I glance up at Nikolai. “What else?”

His expression sharpens. “I might have something, a new lead.”

I arch a brow. Interesting.

“Tell me.”

Nikolai smirks, but there’s a deadly gleam in his eyes.

“Oh, you’re gonna love this one, Boss.”

“How so?”

He smirks. “Piotr’s got a woman.”

“That’s not news.”

Piotr fucks around; everyone knows that. He always has. There’s always been some woman who caught his eye, only to be tossed aside without a second thought the moment he was done with her.

If Nikolai thinks such information is useful, he’s losing his touch.

“No,” Nikolai says, as if reading my thoughts, “not like that. This one’s different.”

I wait.

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