9. Sierra
NINE
Sierra
“The boss is busy,” the guard says, crossing his arms and pointedly blocking the door to the office.
“Oh. Do you know how long he’ll be?” I ask.
The guard shrugs. “He’s taking calls from home. Could be ten minutes, could be an hour.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, which of those is more likely?”
The guard eyes me, and I swear I can feel his slimy gaze raking across my body. His eyes linger on my throat, where Nikolai left a hickey, and he coughs.
I guess there’s one good thing about how these three are marking me up. The rest of the crew here definitely knows that I’m off limits.
“An hour,” the guard finally says. “He just got the call, and calls with his father usually take a while.”
“Okay. Thank you,” I answer, and I start to leave.
“I’ll tell him you were looking for him,” the guard calls out.
I don’t actually want to talk to Konstantin, but I nod in acknowledgement anyway.
Mostly, I just wanted to check how long I’d have to myself before somebody came to bother me again. But Nikolai and Yuri both left earlier, and with Konstantin busy for ‘an hour,’ I can finally take care of a few things for myself.
I walk back to my room, cell—whatever you want to call it. I make sure the door is properly shut, then head to the computer.
It’s old and slow, but that doesn’t mean I can’t use it to my advantage. For example, giving myself admin privileges and setting up an instance that isn’t being monitored by the spyware logging all my activities.
Once I’m fairly certain I’ve got relative privacy on the computer, I use it to call Kyran. I debate turning the video on, but it’s safer to keep it strictly voice.
I don’t particularly want him to see the marks, anyway.
It takes a few seconds before Kyran picks up. “Who is this?” he asks cautiously.
“Your favorite sister,” I drawl, my eyes going to the door. If someone bursts in while I’m on this call, I’m well and truly fucked. “What, did you forget about me?” There’s a bite to my voice.
“What? No!” Kyran says, his voice harsh. “You’re the one who told Silvano to keep me from doing anything ‘stupid,’” he says.
I try to calm myself down. I want to blame him, to blame Silvano, but he’s right. I’m the one who told him not to do anything rash.
But I sort of wish he’d done it anyway.
“Yeah, well. That still stands.” I take a deep breath. “They were threatening Mom, and Carol and the kids. There’s no point in risking everyone’s lives when I’m doing okay.”
That sounds pretty reasonable.
Kyran doesn’t have to know that “doing okay” includes being fucked by three men who hate me.
“We’d get everyone out first,” Kyran argues. “I can still destroy the fucking Russians?—”
“You can’t,” Silvano’s smooth voice says. “Is that Sierra? Put her on speaker.”
Kyran mutters something unintelligible beneath his breath, but I hear it when he switches the call to speaker. “There. I still don’t see why we can’t?— ”
It’s my turn to interrupt him. “Because they’ll destroy you. Silvano, my favorite person ever, hi!” I say with my fakest bubbly tone.
“It’s good to speak with you,” Silvano says. “May I ask, how are you calling us? I was not under the impression Konstantin Voronkov would give you unrestricted access to a phone.”
“Magic,” I say vaguely. There’s a chance Konstantin can figure out what I’m doing, but I’m not going to walk anyone through the process just in case. The last thing I need is for someone to reverse engineer what I’m doing. “C’mon, Silvano. You know every woman has to have her secrets. But if you’re wondering, yes, I’m alone.”
Kyran mutters again, and I can’t quite catch what he’s saying.
“Speak up, Kyran,” I tell him. “I can’t hear you over all the mumbling.”
“I said, this is all fucking stupid,” Kyran snaps. “You don’t really expect me to believe they rolled out the red carpet and they’re treating you like a princess.”
“They are treating me like a princess,” I say with as much cheer as I can. “But that’s beside the point.”
“Yes, the point,” Silvano says thoughtfully. “I never did catch why the Voronkovs decided to infiltrate the manor in the first place.”
“They’re looking for some arms they think Pa hid,” I say, looking at the door to my room. I half-expect someone to barge in at any second, and I quickly add, “They’re not in the house. I’m trying to figure out where he did hide them, but they have me working on this janky-ass laptop that doesn’t do more than lag when I try to dig through it.”
“Weapons?” Kyran asks. I hear him mumble something to Silvano, but I can’t make out what it is.
“You know… I’d heard that at least a few of the weapons that were meant to be traded at that deal with Petrov were missing,” Silvano muses. “I’d chalked it up to the feds not being particularly thorough in their search, what with the high-profile arrests.”
“Fuck. I bet Pa was hedging his bets,” Kyran says. “You know what he was like. Always refusing to go all in. ”
I hum, considering. “Probably. Kyran, do you know where he might’ve hid things like that? It can’t be anywhere too obvious, not if the Russians were willing to go to the manor in hopes of finding them.”
There’s a long pause before Kyran answers, “Pa didn’t really trust me with shit like that.”
Great. Now is not the time for Kyran’s daddy issues to rear their ugly head. “Yes, well, he didn’t trust me with anything either, but I’ve still managed to break into his laptop,” I say. “Not that I can do too much with it. There are so many fucking files that I don’t even know where to start, and they’re all encoded.” I shake my head even though I know they can’t see it. “I wish I had his fucking phone.”
They both go silent, and I wish I did have a video feed.
Silvano coughs. “What do you need the phone for?”
“Two-factor authentication,” I say slowly. “But it’s a moot point, because surely I would know if someone had rescued his phone after he died. Right?”
Kyran sighs loudly. “I have the phone,” he says. “After I—I found the body.”
My stomach churns as the implication of his words settle over me. “If you found the body, why did we have to bury an empty casket?”
“Sierra…” Silvano says, and his tone is strangely gentle. “You and your mother didn’t need to see the state of him. You don’t want to know what Petrov and his men did to him. And we couldn’t let the feds find anything that might have incriminated your entire family.”
“Why would his body have incriminated our family?” I ask sharply, sitting upright. “That doesn’t make any sense, Silvano. What the fuck aren’t you telling me here?”
“The dead body of a notorious gang leader?” Kyran laughs harshly. “Sierra, you’re smart, but you aren’t part of this world.” His words make me bristle, and I want to snap that it’s their fault I was never part of that fucking world. I keep listening, though. “The feds already tore through the house. If they’d seen his body, they would have had every excuse to investigate every single person and operation Pa was involved in. There’d have been nothing left of the Winters by the time they were through.”
“There isn’t anything left of it now anyway,” I retort bitterly. “All part of the Crescis now, isn’t it? How nice for you, Silvano.”
“Indeed.” Silvano makes a thoughtful noise. “I’ll see what I can do about getting the phone to you. In the meantime… It seems you’re perfectly situated to get us some information, too. I realize you are not a fan of the Crescis, but may I remind you that the Voronkov Bratva is the more immediate danger? Perhaps we can find a way to have Konstantin Voronkov join Petrov in federal prison.”
“You’d have to take out Konstantin, Nikolai, and Yuri,” I say without thinking. “It doesn’t matter if Konstantin goes to jail. The others will just pick up where he left off.” And they’d probably kill me if the Cresci family has anything to do with it.
“Nikolai? Yuri?” Kyran asks. “Who are they?”
“Nikolai Bacurin,” Silvano answers before I can. “He’s Konstantin’s second-in-command. His consigliere, if you will.” There’s something different about how he says the word consigliere. It sounds soft, affectionate. It makes me a little sick, honestly, and I wonder just what’s happened in my absence. “I don’t know the Yuri person though.”
“That’s because Sean was responsible for putting him in jail for a while. I’m his favorite person,” I say, my voice teeming with sarcasm.
Kyran instantly pounces on the words. “What? Is he hurting you?”
“Of course not,” I lie, dismissing his question like it was utterly stupid instead of something completely valid.
“I’ll have somebody look into this… Yuri,” Silvano says, and I can hear Kyran muttering in the background. “Now, regarding other matters?—”
I suddenly hear footsteps coming down the hall. “Shit, I’ve got to go. I’ll contact you again.”
“What? When?—”
I close the program before Kyran even finishes, and I quickly switch to the account they’d made for me. I barely manage to pull up a browser with some generic programming help when the door opens.
“You could have knocked,” I say, glaring at Konstantin.
He shuts the door behind him and chuckles. “Why? It is my house.” He strides over to me and places a hand on my shoulder, rubbing with just enough pressure to feel like a threat. “I was told you came looking for me?”
“I thought you might want to know I’m making progress,” I tell him smoothly. “I just have to figure out how to get past the two-factor authentication. I’m working on getting into his emails, but he has a lot of separate accounts.” I pull up a spreadsheet of the information I’ve gathered so far, wanting to make it feel like I’ve actually been at work on this instead of on getting around their spyware.
Konstantin leans down to get a better look at the screen, and my heart pounds faster in my chest. There’s no evidence that I was calling anyone. The room isn’t bugged—I’d searched it thoroughly the first time I’d gotten some alone time. And unless Konstantin has super hearing, he can’t have known I was on a call.
That doesn’t prevent the fear, but I know I can’t show any hint of nervousness.
“What is this account?” Konstantin asks, pointing to a line on the screen. He’s practically boxing me in, and I can feel his warmth against the back of my neck.
I glance at the line. “This is one of his public-facing business accounts,” I tell him, trying not to flinch. “I guess he put less security on it because there was nothing to hide. It was the easiest to get into.”
“No,” Konstantin says. “That address, I know it. There is nothing there. Just small offices.” He strokes his beard thoughtfully. “We may need to visit that place.”
I glance at the line again, and try to see what he’s seeing. If the address is bogus, that’d be one hell of a tell to the IRS. I’m sure Pa did lease or own the location… but it’s also possible there’s a clue there .
“Let me know what you find,” I say carefully. “Even if it’s nothing. That’ll at least cross something off my list.”
“Yes.” Konstantin sighs and stands up again.
I sigh in relief, but when I look at Konstantin, I notice that he’s scowling. “Is something wrong?”
“What would be wrong?” Konstantin asks, still tense. “You are making progress.”
Those two things aren’t necessarily related, though. I remember that the guard said Konstantin was talking to his father. If his father is anything like mine was, I’m sure he isn’t the nicest of guys.
“Things okay back home?” I ask carefully.
Konstantin’s gaze turns sharp. “Back home?”
“Your phone call?” I prompt. “I overheard some Russian when I went to see you earlier.”
It’s probably smarter not to let him know the guard talked to me. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, especially not anyone who’s been helpful to me.
“You heard Russian, and so you assumed I was talking to people in Moscow?” Konstantin chuckles. “I speak in Russian to my associates here, too.”
I shrug. “Well, am I wrong?”
After a few seconds, Konstantin shakes his head. “No. You are not wrong. I was speaking to my father. But that’s none of your business, Sierrochka.”
“Not much does seem to be my business,” I grumble. “It’s boring , Konstantin. I’m just trying to get to know you. My father is a real piece of work. I’m just curious about whether yours is as bad as mine.” Was . I should say my father was , but I don’t want to face it even now. My father might not have been the best man in the world, but he’d still been my dad.
“You are a woman,” Konstantin says as he sits down at the edge of the bed. “My father would have married you off to somebody by now, and you would be another man’s problem.” I try not to scowl at him, but I don’t quite manage to keep it back. “But for his sons, he demands complete loyalty and obedience.” He laughs bitterly. “ He wants results, but he does not believe I am capable of delivering.”
That makes my scowl soften into a frown. I have to tread carefully if I want to find out more, but I still don’t know him well enough to know what exactly is safe and what isn’t. “Why not? You seem plenty capable to me. Everyone seems to have solid allegiance to you here.”
“Because I picked these men carefully. When Petrov was arrested—thanks to your family—I replaced anybody I didn’t think I could trust.” Konstantin smiles at me, but it’s not a pleasant smile. “They know that I reward those loyal to me, and I destroy anybody who even think of betraying me.”
My heart hammers in my chest, and I wonder if he can sense my nerves. “Sounds effective,” I say, trying for sarcasm but not quite managing it. I don’t point out that Petrov had my father killed, so he was the one who got himself into all that trouble.
“Well, Sierrochka. You’ve given us a few clues to work off of. How should I reward you ?” He gives me a very pointed look.
My mouth goes dry, and I wonder if he knows. He can’t, though. I was too careful. “You could let me return to my classes,” I say. “Hell, you could just let me out of here at all. I’m getting bored of being in the same four walls. And, no offense—” Okay, I mean every offense, but I don’t say that — “but the working conditions are kinda shitty sometimes.”
“Now that, I am not sure you’ve earned.” Konstantin pats his thigh. “But perhaps you make my day better.”
Great. Here we go again.
Maybe I can turn this to my advantage though. I’m no femme fatale—but a little sex, a few cuddles, and I might get more about all his daddy issues.
The more of his weaknesses I know, the faster I’ll be able to get out of this.
“Sure,” I say, smiling. I go over to him and straddle his lap. “I can do that.”
I might even be able to turn this around, and get one leg up on them.