In a move I found somewhat alien and disconcerting, the old man folded his bony arms around my shoulders and hugged me, planting a kiss to the side of my head.
“Moye ditya. My child.” I closed my eyes at the endearment, it had been so long since I’d heard it cross his lips, so long since I’d heard our mother tongue spoken to me. He may have set my teeth on edge but there was love born of respect and familiarity. He was my grandfather above all, the last of my family alive.
“Dedushka,” I replied, my Russian unfamiliar through lack of use. We may have had those roots once, though the passage had time had erased most from our lives. I didn’t sound or look any more Russian than Lev looked like a Londoner.
“It has been too long, no?”
I agreed, it had been. “I await your invites.”
Clucking his tongue, he squeezed, then pulled away. “You do not need an invitation, Irina. I’d rather a pleasant visit with you than this.” He waved behind him and I took his gesture to mean there were others already in the house, possibly Yannick.
“I’ll be sure to visit more often in a less formal capacity then.”
“I am not long left of this world, child,” he said softly, taking my hand. “I would like some quiet comfort for a change.”
“Are you sick?” Staring up at the man, there were no obvious signs of illness, just old age.
He laughed and pinched my fingers. “Dorogaya, I am not ill, I am old. I’ve already been fortunate with the years I’ve had.”
“And you’ve softened.” I smirked, my nerves finally flittering away. Old age had indeed mellowed the man.
“Only for you.” He winked. “Don’t let my secret out. Now come, there are people you need to meet, people to make alliances with if you are to let Yannick disentangle from those chains we have bound him in for far too long.”
“You didn’t approve of the contract?” Yet he’d never saw fit to sever, or to dissolve the partnership and would hear nothing of it since the day we had signed the godforsaken thing.
Lev tutted. “Necessary however, just as Yosef’s death was. I needed the time, you needed the purpose.”
He’d had always talked in riddles, ones I was used to and could never figure out for the life of me. Lev refused to unveil his plans until the perfect time presented itself, and just like I’d expected, he’d had one for this eventuality all along. He liked Yannick, enough to let him leave it seemed, but I also needed someone beside me who could do what Yannick had. I wasn’t foolish enough to think my ex husband wouldn’t take his men with him, and I needed to fill the void they would leave.
“You’ve brought people from Russia?”
“Ah, just wait… I don’t want to spoil the surprise, I went one better. You can thank Sergey later.” Ominous. I didn’t like the tone and the fact Sergey had had a hand in something he wouldn’t normally. Lev had a trick or two up his sleeve I would undoubtedly not agree with or enjoy very much. “Relax, old friends, moye ditya, old friends.”
Yannick
“Where’s Tayte?”
Everyone except Tayte had gathered in the office at Andrey and Sandir’s house, and it was a question I was asking all too often these days.
“He’s with Lev.”
“Lev?” Irina was with Lev and it didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. I guess this had been the answer to Lev’s plan for going forward, and to say it disappointed me was an understatement.
“He just texted a minute ago.” Andrey held up his phone showing the simple message from Tayte. Now I wasn’t feeling so confident in the loyalty of my men. Clearing my throat, I thumped down in a chair and shoved my hand in my pocket, feeling for the flick-knife there. God, this was ridiculous, not a single one of them would stab me in the back like this. It had to be a coincidence, right?
“Hey.” Sandir sat next to me. “That’s not us, I know what you’re thinking.”
“Appears to be Tayte though, so why not you?”
Sandir looked like I’d slapped him. “Fuck you, prick.”
“Whatever he’s up to, there’s a reason for it,” Andrey became the voice of reason, as per usual. “I’m surprised you’re here and not there.”
“He didn’t summon me. I’ve spoken to Lev already, there was nothing more to discuss.”
“Maybe Tayte has?”
“Yeah, that can’t be good,” Greg murmured. “Guy can take care of himself, but this is Lev we’re talking about.”
“Fuck.” They hadn’t quite pieced it together yet. Tayte was the replacement, the one who would open the gate and let me bolt. My friend, the one I didn’t know as well as I thought, was giving me my freedom, but at what price?
All four of us sat looking at one another. “Lev’s going to offer him something, and I bet it’s something he can’t refuse. He does his homework, he’s got Tayte’s number somehow,” Sandir mused.
“No.” I shook my head, sweat cresting along the hairline. “Tayte’s offering Lev, and Lev’s the one in no position to refuse. He’ll want strings because this is Lev we’re talking about. She’s his priority, he’ll want Irina looked after.” It all fell into place. I’d seen it, hadn’t I? Brushed it off because it was as ludicrous as Tayte betraying me, though could I really call it a betrayal? Whilst it hurt like a scalding poker in my chest,
