Chapter 27 #2
I close the folder. "What are you implying?"
Pietro turns to face me, and for a moment, I see our brother Riccardo in his expression. That same strategic patience. That same willingness to play the long game.
"We've done this before, Nico. The Feretti alliance gave us a foothold in New York that took our competitors decades to achieve. We could do the same with the Baganovs."
"The Ferettis weren't holding debt over one of our people." The words come out sharper than I intend.
Pietro's eyebrow arches. "One of our people? Or your person?"
I don't answer. Don't need to. We both know what Kristen has become to me, even if I haven't said it out loud. Even if I'm not sure I can.
"The debt is cleared," Pietro says carefully. "You made sure of that. Whatever leverage they thought they had through Jack Walker is gone."
"Which is exactly why their sudden interest in alliance makes me suspicious." I start pacing. Old habit. Helps me think. "They were watching us, Pietro. Openly. Aggressively. Now they want to be friends? That's not how the Bratva operates."
"Unless they realized watching us wasn't getting them anywhere." Pietro returns to his chair, settling into it with the ease of a man comfortable with power. "We're not an easy target. Maybe they decided partnership is more profitable than war."
"Or maybe this is the long con. Get inside our operation, learn our weaknesses, then strike."
"Which is why we don't commit to anything until we're certain." Pietro's voice carries that tone of finality I've learned to recognize. The decision is already made in his mind—he's just bringing me along for the ride. "I want you to meet with them."
My pacing stops. "Me?"
"You're the one who handles the hard conversations. The ones that require reading between every word someone says." Pietro's lips curve into something that's almost a smile. "And you're the one who won't let personal feelings cloud judgment."
The irony isn't lost on me. Personal feelings are exactly what's clouding everything these days. Every time I close my eyes, I see Kristen's face. Her laugh. The way she looked at me last night like I was worth something more than the violence I'm capable of.
Dangerous thoughts.
"When?" I ask.
"Tomorrow night. Neutral territory. Bellini's back room." Pietro slides another folder across the desk. "Dmitri Baganov will be there. Their new pakhan's younger brother. Word is he's the reasonable one."
"Reasonable for Bratva."
"Reasonable enough." Pietro stands again, signaling the meeting's end. "Feel them out. See what they're really after. If it's legitimate, we consider it. If it's not..." He doesn't finish the sentence. Doesn't need to.
I take the folder, flipping it open to study Dmitri Baganov's photograph. Mid-thirties. Cold eyes. The kind of man who's killed before and sleeps fine afterward.
Takes one to know one.
"And if they bring up Kristen?" I ask, not looking up from the file.
Pietro's silence stretches long enough that I finally meet his gaze.
"They won't," he says. "Because as far as anyone outside this family knows, she's just a housekeeper. Nothing more."
Nothing more.
The words taste like ash in my mouth.
"I'll handle it," I say, tucking the folder under my arm.
"Nico." Pietro's voice stops me at the door. "Whatever's happening between you and Kristen... it doesn't leave this compound. Not until we know what the Baganovs really want."
I nod once, sharp and final.
But as I walk down the corridor toward my office, I can't shake the feeling that keeping Kristen separate from business is about to become impossible.
Because in our world, the people we care about always become leverage.
And I've just handed the Bratva everything they need to destroy me.
The phone buzzes against my desk, cutting through my review of the quarterly construction reports. The family attorney I assigned to handle Kristen's divorce papers three days ago is calling.
I answer on the second ring. "Talk."
"Mr. Sartori." Her voice carries the clipped professionalism I pay her handsomely for. "I've made contact with Mr. Walker's representation regarding the dissolution of marriage."
My jaw tightens. The fact that Jack Walker even has representation irritates me. The man borrowed money from the Russian mob and let his wife take the fall. He shouldn't be able to afford a public defender, let alone a private attorney.
"And?"
"He's declined to sign."
My fingers stop their rhythmic tapping against the wood.
"Declined." I repeat the word slowly, tasting the wrongness of it. "On what grounds?"
"His attorney cited irreconcilable differences in the proposed division of assets and custody arrangements. Mr. Walker is contesting the terms."
Contesting the terms.
I lean back in my chair, the leather creaking beneath me.
Through the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office, Chicago sprawls gray and indifferent under the February sky.
Somewhere out there, Kristen is visiting her mother with Lily, blissfully unaware that her soon-to-be ex-husband is still trying to control her life from a thousand miles away.
"Send me the papers," I say.
A pause. "Sir?"
"The unsigned divorce documents. Send them to my office.
"Mr. Sartori, I should advise you that any... unconventional methods of obtaining a signature could—"
"I'm aware of the legal implications." My voice drops, quieter than a whisper but sharp enough to cut glass. "Send the papers. I'll return them to you signed within forty-eight hours."
Another pause. Marchetti didn't become the Sartori family's attorney by asking unnecessary questions. "Understood. They'll arrive by courier this evening."
"Good."
I end the call without pleasantries. My thumb hovers over Liam's contact for exactly two seconds before I press dial.
He answers before the first ring finishes. "Sir."
"Where's Kristen?"
"Still at her mother's residence. They arrived approximately forty-five minutes ago. Lily is inside with Mrs. Thomas. Kristen stepped onto the porch ten minutes ago—looked like she needed air." A brief pause. "She seemed... tense when she went in."
Of course she did. Her mother sold her out to Jack. Kristen's walking into enemy territory every time she visits that woman, and she does it anyway because she's too goddamn stubborn to let anyone see her break.
"Estimated time of return?"
"Based on what she said, another hour. Hour and a half if the child falls asleep."
"When you get them back to the compound, come to my office. I have a task that needs handling."
Silence on the line. Liam's been with the family long enough to read between every word I say. He knows task means something outside normal parameters. Something that requires discretion and possibly violence.
"The ex-husband?" he asks, because Liam always was too perceptive for his own good.
"He declined to sign the divorce papers."
"Ah." That single syllable carries a world of understanding. "And you'd like me to... encourage his cooperation?"
"I'd like you to deliver a message. One that ensures Mr. Walker understands the consequences of continued obstruction.
" I pause, letting the weight of my next words settle.
"He put his hands on her, Liam. In front of Lily.
And now he's playing games with paperwork because he thinks distance makes him untouchable. "
"Distance is relative," Liam says. "Especially with the right resources."
"Exactly."
I hear the subtle shift in his breathing. "Rules of engagement?"
My free hand curls into a fist against my thigh. The old scars across my knuckles pull tight. "Nothing permanent. Nothing that shows. I need his signature, not his corpse. Pietro's already dealing with the Russian situation—I won't add a murder investigation to his plate."
"Understood. Anything else?"
"Find out who's funding his legal representation. Jack Walker doesn't have two nickels to rub together, which means someone else is bankrolling his custody fight."
"The Bratva?"
The thought had crossed my mind. If the Russians couldn't get to Kristen through the debt, using Jack as a puppet would be their next logical move. Keep her tied up in legal battles. Keep her stressed. Keep her vulnerable.
"Find out," I say. "And Liam? When you talk to Walker... make sure he understands that Kristen Thomas belongs to me now. Her and the girl both. If he ever comes near them again, distance won't save him."
"Consider it done, sir."
The line goes dead.
I set the phone down. Jack Walker thinks he can control Kristen from across the country. Thinks his legal games and custody threats give him power over her.
He's wrong.