24. Konstantin
TWENTY-FOUR
Konstantin
I wish I recognized more people—or any at all. The masks make for a fun atmosphere, but they’re terrible for the sort of networking I want to be doing.
At least Sierra stands out in her gorgeous dress and matching mask. I let my hand slide a little lower on her back, inside the shimmering fabric.
“No groping my ass,” she mutters. Her anger has abated, and I can see her watching the room with a keen eye.
I approve. No matter how much the guard had pissed her off, she understands that if ever there was a time and place to spy on people, this is it. I didn’t bring her to be simply eye candy, though she is very, very good at that role too.
“The ruse worked,” I whisper into her ear. “I told you the guard would be too busy staring at your tits to notice anything else.”
“Gee, thanks,” Sierra says with a huff. “I guess I should be grateful that the slit of the dress doesn’t go all the way up, too, I guess?”
“In that case, you really would need to hide something in your pussy.” I laugh when she slaps my chest. “You’ll be the reason they start cavity searching at these events. ”
“I would not,” Sierra mutters. “I wouldn’t get caught.”
I smile and lament that I can’t easily kiss her bare neck, not with the masks in the way. Later.
“Of course not. Let us make our own rounds, then.” I begin leading her around the room so we can meet some new people and make small talk.
After the third conversation proves unfruitful, I feel the growing irritation. Don Marino has to be around here somewhere.
My eyes catch on a woman arguing with a tall man. It’s not particularly strange to see, but she’s wearing a tight dress that accentuates all of her curves.
Specifically, the curve of her belly, which has a slight swell to it. It could just be her form, of course, but the rest of her is so well toned that I think she’s pregnant.
The man on her other side puts his arm around her waist. I can see the half-smile underneath his mask.
The three look more interesting than the last few people we talked to, so I lead Sierra closer to them.
The tall man instantly goes alert and angles himself between us and the woman. “Yo. Can I help you?”
I extend my free hand to him. “Good evening. My name is Konstantin Voronkov.”
The woman’s eyes are shrewd as she looks at me, then Sierra. She’s sizing us both up, and it’s interesting that she regards Sierra as a potential threat. “Angelo Guerra,” she says, gesturing to the man whose hand I’m shaking. “Lucia Bellini, and Victor Corvi, at your service. Who’s this lovely lady?”
I inhale sharply.
Victor Corvi is the top dog in Benton City. He removed his largest competitor, as well as a boss of a New Bristol crime family, all in the span of a few months.
He doesn’t look like much from where I’m standing, but if he commands men like Angelo here, then he must be doing something right.
Sierra snorts in a very unladylike fashion. “Sierra Winters. Nice of someone to acknowledge me beyond the tits. ”
Lucia chuckles. “But they do seem to be very attractive tits. Very… distracting.” Her eyes linger on the mark on Sierra’s chest, making Sierra shift uncomfortably under the scrutiny. There’s no hiding that mark, not in the skimpy dress I chose for her.
Let the entire world know who she belongs to.
“Winters?” Victor Corvi sets his gaze on Sierra, ignoring Lucia. “Any relation to Kyran Winters?”
Sierra tenses, but she nods. “He’s my brother.”
Corvi nods, and I wish the mask weren’t keeping me from seeing his eyes properly. “Of course. Well, I spoke to him and Silvano Cresci earlier. I admit, I don’t do much business in New Bristol outside of my dealings with Giulio Pavone. It was nice to meet a more level-headed person.”
Sierra lets out a little laugh that isn’t amused at all. “Guess you mean Silvano and not Kyran.”
My arm on Sierra tightens. “I didn’t realize Cresci was invited.”
Angelo Guerra starts laughing. “Dude, these invites were so fucking hush-hush. Don Marino kept saying how he wanted it to be a true masquerade, where nobody knew anybody else. Saturnalia in modern times, or whatever. Except I don’t know who he’s fooling.” He reaches out to fondle Lucia’s ass. “With how much skin the ladies are showing, it’s easy to recognize them.”
“You’re a pig,” Lucia says. She moves to take a step away from Guerra, but Corvi’s arm around her waist keeps her in place. “Have I told you that recently?”
Silvano Cresci is here. Somewhere in this crowd of masks, there are two people who want to take Sierra from me.
I pull Sierra even closer, making her squirm. “Nobody knows the guest list?” I ask Victor Corvi.
“I can take a guess. Carlo Pierino for sure,” he answers.
Angelo Guerra nods. “I saw his son Raul earlier. And nobody else could have arranged the entertainment.”
“Speaking of pigs,” Lucia mutters. “One of these days…”
“I thought Pavone would be here, but he said that it sounded boring and that he fed the invitation to his pet iguana.” Corvi shakes his head. “I suspect his consigliere vetoed the idea. It’s a long drive for not a lot of benefit for them.”
“He doesn’t have an iguana, does he?” Angelo asks.
“Iguana, snake, whatever. One of those reptiles.” Corvi waves his hand dismissively. “Regardless. I know which local players are here. And I know why he invited Cresci and Pavone. I’m less sure I understand why he invited you , Voronkov.”
“Bad taste,” Sierra offers sweetly.
A trap, in which I walk into his lair.
But Silvano Cresci is here, too.
“You know, I’m not sure I understand it either,” I say, my voice brittle. “I thought he had business interests he wanted to discuss. But that’s hard to do in this setting, isn’t it?”
Lucia nods, and she must be staring at me from behind the mask. “Perhaps he wants to make new friends. He doesn’t have many friends in New Bristol. Not since… Oh, that must have been a hard time for you, Sierra. I apologize.” She doesn’t sound sorry at all.
“Yes. Thank you for your sincere condolences,” Sierra bites out. She moves restlessly against me, signaling just how badly she wants to get away from the three of them and this strange conversation that’s both enlightening and baffling.
“The Voronkovs took some losses then too, didn’t they?” Corvi regards me steadily. “That’s why you’re in charge now.”
Angelo barks out a laugh. “Oh, is he one of those? ‘The boss conveniently disappears and now I’m in charge’ types?”
I bristle at the accusation. “I had nothing to do with what happened to Petrov.”
“Your mind is so suspicious, Angelo.” Corvi turns to me. “This is intriguing nonetheless. Have you met with Don Marino yet? I’m happy to introduce you. Since you aren’t actually friends yet.”
I clench my teeth, but I can’t afford to turn down this invitation. I could spend ages trying to find Don Marino on my own. “I’d be very grateful,” I say. “You’ll have to tell me more about Benton City as well. ”
Corvi glances at Angelo and Lucia, then nods. “Follow me.”
I keep my arm tight around Sierra as we follow.
“You’re hurting me,” Sierra hisses.
I lean down so I can whisper in her ear. “Did you know they’d be here?”
She hesitates, and that’s enough to confirm my suspicions.
“If you’re very lucky, we won’t run into them. Because I won’t hold back on account of your affections for your brother.”
“They haven’t done anything,” she replies, her voice brittle. “And neither have I. I’ve been perfectly behaved, no matter what you assholes do to me, and they’ve stayed out of it.”
I know that technically, she’s right. I have that “truce” with Silvano Cresci. I also know that the truce is worth absolutely nothing at all, and that we’re all just biding our time.
This whole situation reeks now. I’d known I was walking into a trap.
I’m no longer so sure I know what the trap is.
Corvi stops next to a man whose half-bald head and graying hair peek out from the sides of the mask. He’s got a bit of a paunch that his suit doesn’t quite hide, and I imagine he looks more dignified without the mask on his face.
This must be Don Marino—I hope.
Sierra tries to pull out of my grasp again, but I keep my grip firm.
“Don Marino,” Victor says. “You didn’t tell me your guest list would be so diverse. If I’d known Konstantin Voronkov would be here, I would have made Lucia dress up more.”
“You’re the one who picked out the dress,” Lucia drawls. “But maybe that was just because you wanted to wear it.”
Angelo Guerra snickers in amusement. Corvi is completely unbothered by the suggestion, which is not what I would have expected from a man like him.
Don Marino laughs, although his gaze is on me. “She looks plenty dressed up to me, Victor.”
“Ms. Bellini is indeed beautiful.” I smile as best I can. “You’ll have to tell us where you bought that dress, so Sierra can go shopping before we leave Benton City.”
Sierra shifts in my arms, but she’s being more subtle about her desire to move away from me.
“I’d love to take her,” Lucia says, her smile obvious beneath her mask, for all that I can’t tell if she’s being as sincere as a mafia woman can be or if she’s toying with Sierra. “I know all the best places.”
Glancing up at me and offering her own sweet smile, Sierra says, “You know, I think I’d like that.”
“Oh, are you staying for longer?” Don Marino asks me, ignoring the women. “Do you have business in Benton?”
“I’m just here for the party, but I might as well do a bit of sightseeing while I’m here.” I nod at Don Marino. “Thank you for the generous invitation, by the way. It was a pleasant surprise.”
Sierra doesn’t quite react, but there’s slight tension in her body that I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t have her pulled so close to me.
“I… yes, of course.” Don Marino raises his wine glass and takes a small sip. “I’d love to hear more about New Bristol. I am sorry about what happened to Petrov.”
I can’t tell what he’s getting at, and I wish we were in Russia, with everybody speaking Russian, so I had an easier time parsing the nuances of their speech.
I struggle to come up with a suitable response when Yura walks up to us. He taps me on my shoulder. “A word, boss?”
I nod, reluctantly releasing Sierra so I can excuse myself to hear what Yura has to say.
We get a little further away from the group, and Yura leans in to whisper in Russian, “Nikolai says there’s an afterparty. Something with the bigger players in town. Carlo Pierino will be there, Victor Corvi too. A few others from Benton. Nobody from outside that I can tell.”
I nod. “I should try to get in there.”
“Yeah, something must be going down. And for the other thing… I’ve figured out how to get Sierra to where she needs to be. ”
I grimace and glance over to Sierra, who’s awkwardly chatting with Don Marino and Corvi’s contingent. “All right. You can have her. Just… keep a tight rein on her. My gut says something’s up.”
“Something?” Yura asks.
“Her brother is here, somewhere. In the very least, we have to keep her away from him.”
Yura tenses. “Fuck. Okay, I’ll make sure to keep her hidden.”
We head back to Sierra, and I wrap and arm around her shoulders once more.
“Sorry about that. Apparently somebody back home couldn’t find his own asshole.” I press a kiss to Sierra’s forehead. “Why don’t you and Yura go get some food and drink, so I can have a real conversation with Don Marino?”
She nods, stepping out of my arms and closer to Yura. “It was nice to meet you,” she tells them, and she smiles at Lucia. “Just text Konstantin when you want to go shopping. Something tells me you can find his number pretty easily.”
Lucia chuckles, but she doesn’t correct Sierra.
Yura’s arm slides around Sierra’s waist, pulling her close, and I can only imagine how annoyed she is at being passed from one of us to the next.
“For fuck’s sake,” I hear her say as Yura starts to lead her away. “I can walk, you know.”
I shake my head, hoping I appear amused. “Women.” After a beat, I add, “No offense.”
“None taken,” Lucia says, her voice mild. “She seems sweet.”
I wish I could see her expression beneath the mask. The rumors I’ve heard about Lucia Bellini have been almost fantastical in nature. I don’t believe most of them are true—but I do believe that Victor Corvi loves her, or at least considers her his. No matter how I handle this evening, I don’t intend to piss him off.
“Sierrochka is very sweet,” I agree. “But I’m sure we aren’t here to discuss our lovers.”
Victor’s attention is on me now. I can feel the calculating gaze, even if I can’t see it properly. “Hmm. Lucia, love, I think you and Angelo should go entertain yourselves. ”
Lucia smiles at him. “Of course, darling. Maybe we’ll avail ourselves of the entertainment.” Her head turns as she glances at Angelo, and he offers his arm to her before they disappear into the crowd.
Don Marino stares after Lucia as she departs. “That is a damn fine piece of ass, Victor. If you ever get bored of her…”
“Unlikely,” Victor says mildly. There’s no indication that he’s bothered at all by the comment, but he did shut it down quickly.
I wouldn’t be able to keep that calm if somebody talked about Sierra like that.
“All right, all right.” Don Marino waves his hand dismissively. “Now that the bitches are gone. What did you want to discuss, Victor?”
“Nothing in particular. But it seemed like you wanted to say something, Don Marino,” Victor says.
Don Marino hesitates, then nods. “Yeah. Maybe not here, though. I’m curious about a few things, Voronkov. And since you said you’re sticking around… I’ve got a little private rum tasting session after the party ends, if you want to join me and Victor.”
I internally bristle. That must be the afterparty Yura told me about.
This feels too easy.
This could be another part of the trap, although I don’t know how Corvi plays into it.
Refusing would be insulting, though. I’ll just have to stay on alert, and make sure I’ve got a clear exit plan.
“Sounds good. As long as your rum tastes better than the American vodka,” I answer.
Don Marino laughs. “You’re a walking stereotype, you know that?” He closes the distance between us and claps me on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later, then. And now it’s my turn to go have some fun with the entertainment.
I watch him leave, then look back to Victor. The mask reveals nothing.
“I look forward to chatting with you,” Victor says. “You probably want to inform your friends where you’ll be. Just in case. ”
I grimace, but he’s right.
Time to find Nikolai. Hopefully Yura and Sierra will be done with everything before things go down.