Page 60 of Ruthless Creatures
“New York?” says Stavros, his voice a shade sharper. “Whereabouts?”
“All five boroughs. But primarily Manhattan.” His smile is bland. “That’s where I came up.”
Came up? Doesn’t he mean grew up?
Alexei and Nickolai glance at one another.
Sloane and I share a look across the table.
Kage and Stavros haven’t glanced at anyone else.
His voice betraying nothing, Stavros says, “I’m originally from Manhattan as well. Perhaps I know your family. What’s your surname?”
Fed up with whatever the hell is going on, I decide to answer for him. “It’s Porter. Right, Kage?”
After a beat of silence, Kage says softly, “Porter is the Anglicized version. When my parents came to this country from Russia, it was Portnov.”
The sudden freeze that comes over Stavros, Alexi, and Nickolai is arctic.
His face draining of blood, Stavros whispers, “Kazimir?”
Kage doesn’t answer. He simply smiles.
After a moment, his face white and his tone subdued, Stavros says,“Ja izvinjajus. Ja ne xotel vas oskorbit.”
Kage answers with a kingly nod of his head. “Apology accepted. Let’s eat.”
I’m too busy putting two and two together to eat.
I was always shit at math, but this equation is too obvious to miss, even for me.
When Kage told me he was a criminal, he didn’t mean thegarden-variety kind. Your average criminal doesn’t buy houses with cash or pilot his own plane or scare the living shit out of three dudes who look like they scare the living shit out of everyone else.
Your average criminal doesn’t understand Russian.
The kind of crime Kage is involved with is organized.
And from the looks of things, he’s running the organization.
I moisten my lips, heart hammering. Noticing my sudden anxiety, Kage hands me my water glass and commands, “Drink.”
I finish the whole thing, wishing it were vodka.
Meanwhile, Sloane watches the unfolding events as if she’s sitting front row at a sold-out Broadway play that she’s been holding tickets to for months.
There’s nothing more the girl loves than drama.
Well, dick. But also drama.
She says brightly, “Isn’t this fun! You guys know each other! Such a small world, don’t you think?”
The three Russians don’t make a peep.
Kage chuckles.
I sit still and try not to let my brain leak out all over my dress.
Kage is in the mafia.
