Page 59 of With This Kiss
I shook my head just as Makar and Baran caught up. Baran moved over to the passenger side while Makar got into the back with Fabian.
I climbed inside and started the car. Then we were off.
The meet took place at a run-down warehouse that had probably seen better days. It wasn’t abandoned, but the city would never issue an order for the owner to do something about the unsightly thing.
It was owned by the Bratva.
By the time we showed up, the man was already there. He only brought a handful of men with him, whom I quickly took stock of. If things went to shit, I was sure we would be able to handle the fuckers just fine.
Peter Cook was an unremarkable man.
He had the kind of features that would blend in with the wall. And he was sitting in the middle of the warehouse, drinking from a thermos cup, as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
He looked up briefly when he heard us but otherwise didn’t make a move to stand or say anything.
I walked over and grabbed the seat across from him while Makar, Baran, and Fabian spread out behind me.
“You should feel pretty special. I don’t get out of bed for just anyone. What happened to the meet happening tomorrow?” I said.
He looked over at me and smiled pleasantly. “I do feel special to meet you, Reign Mahankov. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He hadn’t heard shit.
While I wasn’t fucking useless to the Bratva, I worked well in anonymity. I liked it that way, and I planned on keeping it like that for as long as I could.
I leaned back against the chair.
“Why don’t we get to the point? We each have what the other wants. The Bratva is willing to give you ten percent of the profit.”
He smiled. “Twenty. And I need assurance from Kingston that one of these days, when I need a favor—a huge favor—he is to help me, no questions asked.”
“No questions asked,” I repeated. “You really think that’s how it works?”
He shrugged. “That’s how it will be for us to work together.”
“What’s the favor?” I asked.
He shook his head. “You know better than anyone that we don’t reveal our cards all at once.”
“You want him to just blindly agree to that?”
“I’m sure you’ll find that working with me will be very beneficial to the Bratva. I now have connections and relations to every point of entry on the border between the US and Canada. There isn’t another like me around.”
I tapped my fingers on my thigh for a moment. “Fifteen percent,” I said. “And Kingston will owe you one.”
He smiled, showing off the top row of his teeth. I didn’t trust his smile one bit. “Deal.”
14
JAMIE
Reign left some time in the middle of the night.
I had woken up when I felt him leave the bed, though I didn’t show it, and I haven’t been able to fall back asleep ever since.
I looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was nearing three o’clock, and he still wasn’t back, and I didn’t know why I was feeling so fucking antsy over his absence.
This shouldn’t be affecting me the way it was.
