Page 93 of In Her Blood
“Ah,” Iouri piped up, “the Voronin way. Although … Otto was definitely slower about it.”
Otto grunted. “I think we’ve gotten off-track here.”
Artem wore a merciless grin as he blatantly ignored Otto’s suggestion. “So now he’s stealing the whole woman, is that what you’re saying?”
Bozhe moy.
Kirill barked out a laugh.
Evelina was pretty sure she heard Iouri’s chuckle underneath it somewhere. She definitely felt Otto’s fingers flex against the back of her neck. And while a part of her wantedto join in the laughter, she had also asked a bunch of guys to gather at one of the nighttime properties that was closed during early daylight hours. Which meant they had to wrap things up, however that went, kind of soon. She thought about clapping her hands to cut through the good-natured ribbing, then decided to try a more subtle approach and cleared her throat instead.
Artem clamped his mouth shut and sat back on the sofa.
Kirill coughed into his fist and resettled on his chair.
Iouri chuckled again.
Evelina let the smile linger on her face, not wanting anyone to think she was angry. “Yes, the Voronin Bratva. Obviously, my name is still Nikolaev right now, but only in a legal sense. I’m not going to establish an organization under a name I have no desire to keep.”
“Sensible,” Artem said.
“Shit.” Kirill scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I mean, congratulations. Seriously. I know I gave you hell about it, but I always was rooting for you.” He aimed his smile at both of them. “But, ah, I don’t fully understand what the larger message has to do with me?”
“Obviously, I’ll be switching things up a bit,” Evelina said. “And that’s assuming that the people I’m hoping will stay choose to stay.” She hoped Kirill could see in her eyes that she was including him in that statement, but instead of overemphasizing, she shifted her focus to Artem. “Before you agree or refuse, will you hear my offer?”
A smile lit his yes as he finished his coffee. He set the mug down on the table and leaned back. “Doesn’t really feel like it’sbeen all that long since we had a conversation like this, does it?” An amused chuckle tipped his lips. “I’ll listen.”
“There are two things you should both know, before I get to your specific offers,” Evelina said. She raised a hand out of reflex to count off her points. “First, we might be starting fresh, but I’m not so proud as to snub what I’ve got. What I mean is, I still currently have the income producing businessesOtetsleft to me, for better or worse. I might make some adjustments to them once I have my feet under me, but in the meantime, it’s income we can use to hit the ground running. Income most start-up crews are scrounging for.”
She saw both men’s focuses sharpen with her words. They understood her point.
She popped up her second finger. “Second”—a sly smile lifted her lips—“I have a very useful resource my father not only never did, but in fact chose to reject. I wasn’t overly forthcoming with this while I was still trying to figure it out, but I learned recently I have other family, other cousins, on my mother’s side.”
A flicker of realization sparked in Artem’s eyes. He’d been in the office with her when Dante’s call had come, so he’d heard her side of that conversation.
“The Voronin Bratva has the support of the De Salvo mafia. Or, more specifically,Ihave the support and protection of my newly discovered cousins, the De Salvos themselves.” It felt like an odd namedrop, but the purpose of this moment was to lay all her cards out and demonstrate fully that she had the ability—the resources, the know-how, the drive—to pull off her crazy idea of rebuilding. And that required tossing in the apparently weighty name of her family.
Kirill muttered a curse and lifted his knuckles to his mouth. “TheDragonis your cousin?”
“So that’s why you were poking into the De Salvos before,” Artem said.
Evelina nodded, looked between them, and said, “Yes.”
Kirill blew out a breath.
Artem’s face lifted in something akin to a feral grin. “Ma’am … you should lead with that next time.”
Evelina smiled. “I’ll take that under advisement.” And since neither had yet run screaming out the door, she pressed ahead while her focus was aimed at Artem. “Artem, I will be honest. I don’t know if you’re interested in what I have to offer. But I’m going to ask it anyway.” She hoped he’d at least push for negotiations, but she wasn’t going to weaken her starting stance by opening herself up to that before she’d played her hand. “I want you to be my premiere brigadier. You’d be my voice if for some reason I’m unavailable, and the one brigadier with short-term authority to issue demands of the others. I would make it clear to all of them that they’re welcome to come to me with concerns, questions, or even complaints after the fact, so long as they comply with expectations in the moment.”
Artem’s expression sobered into a thoughtful neutral. “And you think that would work?”
“I need those at the top of my bratva to know how to communicate as well as they know how to shoot,” Evelina replied. “And I need them to trust me, as much as I need to be able totrust them. So, if it doesn’t work, I don’t have the right people in place.”
Artem watched her for another moment, then slid his stare around the room to each of the other men. Finally, he released an audible breath. “I could probably sleep a little better in a work environment like that.” He smirked again. “I would be honored to join the Voronin Bratva.”
She offered him a quiet smile and shifted her attention to Kirill. “I know you’re used to working in a house, and I’m afraid that’s not what I’m offering you, Kirill.”
His lips twitched. “I mean, the last one burned down.”
