Page 152 of Dance of Defiance
He sighs heavily. “You knew she was going to run.”
When I say nothing, Vaughn’s brow knits darkly, his mouth thinning.
“I don’t think it was that big an ask, Val,” he growls. “I simply wanted to be able to track Ms. Luka?—”
“Not everyone is a piece on your chess board, Vaughn,” I growl.
“Agree to disagree.”
I stare at him. “Do you hear yourself?”
He exhales. “Knowing Dasha’s whereabouts would be extremely valuable right now.”
“She’s aperson, Vaughn. Not a fucking pawn,” I spit back. “She had someone else and didn’t want to marry someone that her father told her to, so she found a way to run?—”
“Financedby her ex-fiancé,” Vaughn says dryly. “What are theodds?”
Shit.
I keep my expression neutral but Vaughn smiles coldly at me anyway. “Of course I know Roman paid her. Do I look like the head of some fucking Bratva family, who deal with everything using brute force? Or the Mafia, who think smartphones are cutting edge technology?” His brow furrows deeply. “No, Val, I am the fuckingObsidian Syndicate. I see everything, and know everything, and?—”
“You don’t know where Dasha is.”
He grits his teeth and pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Your refusal to play a gameyousigned up for,” he growls quietly, “is just a inconvenience.”
I frown. “Meaning?”
“Meaning Dasha Lukashova was just one way to sway Cosimo’s allegiances.” He shrugs. “The other way is simply…removing the competition for them.”
My jaw tenses. “You mean going to war with the Nikitin family?”
Vaughn makes a face. “War is so messy and chaotic. It’s a blunt instrument: a finely honed blade usually workssomuch better.”
I frown as he stands from the desk and walks over to the window. What the fuck is he talking about?
“You know, at first, I was worried that the machinations I set in place weren’t panning out,” he ruminates.
My brow knits “What?”
“When Ms. Nikitin never showed up that night.”
My brother smirks. “You'd think that Club Venom, with their important underworld clientele, would have better cybersecurity for their app.”
It hits me like a plunge into ice water, sucking the air from my lungs. I stare at him, my pulse thudding as I slowly get to my feet.
“Did you fucking set me up?” I croak, my eyes narrowed to deadly slits.
Vaughn shrugs. “I merely…guidedan inevitability. You were on that app looking for something?—”
“Somethingprivate, you fuck!” I hiss.
Vaughn doesn’t blink. “And so was she.”
I’m across the floor and on him in seconds. Vaughn doesn’t even fight back when I grab him by the neck and slam him up against the bookcase.
“You were going to set me up to dothatwith myfriend?!” I roar in his face. “Evelina Nikitin is a like a fuckingsisterto me, you fuck?—!”
