Chapter 23
Pyotr
Alexei takes another step toward the hallway, and I move to block him.
“I said no.”
“And I said bring her out.” He’s glaring at me with the eyes of a man who’s made decisions like this before and slept just fine afterward. “You’re good, Pyotr. One of the best we have. But please don’t think that means I won’t put you down if you get in my way.”
“Then put me down.” I plant my feet and let my hands hang loose at my sides, close enough to my weapon if I need it. “But you’re not getting past me to that door.”
“You’d die for a woman you’ve known for three weeks?”
“I’d die for the truth. Daria is innocent. If you execute her without giving me the chance to prove it, you’ll be murdering a victim and letting the real traitor walk free.”
“The real traitor.” Alexei’s lip curls. “You expect me to march into Yevgeny’s territory and accuse his nephew of betraying our family based on your pillow talk?”
“I expect you to look at the evidence before you make a decision that can’t be undone.”
“I’ve seen the evidence. Dmitri showed me everything before I left Moscow. Money trails. Shell companies. Theories about coercion. None of it changes the fact that Daria’s name is on federal documents. None of it proves that Bogdan is behind this instead of her.”
“I told you, we’re days away from proof. Tony’s been tracing the financial networks. The connections are there. We just need—”
“You’ve had three weeks. The deadline was today. Not tomorrow. Not forty-eight hours from now. Today.” He jabs a finger in the air between us. “Dmitri sent me here because he knew you couldn’t do what needs to be done. He was right.”
“Dmitri sent you here because you pushed to come. Because you don’t trust anyone else to handle family business. But this isn’t Moscow, Alexei. You don’t have a team backing you up. You don’t have the home advantage. And you don’t have the full picture.”
“I have enough.”
“You have theories. Same as me. The difference is, I’ve spent three weeks in this apartment. I’ve seen how she lives. I’ve watched her with her daughter. I’ve heard her side of the story, and I’ve verified every piece of it that I could.”
“You’ve also fucked her, from what we’ve been told. Forgive me if that makes your verification suspect.”
The words are designed to provoke. I don’t take the bait.
“My relationship with Daria started after I’d concluded she was being coerced. I didn’t compromise the investigation. I made a choice based on the evidence.”
“Oh, you made a choice,” Alexei mocks. “That’s lovely. Unfortunately, your choices don’t override Dmitri’s orders. And Dmitri’s orders were clear: If you couldn’t produce evidence by the deadline, I was authorized to handle the situation.”
“Then call him. Right now. Ask if he still wants you to proceed based on what we’ve found.”
“I don’t need to call him. I know what he’ll say.”
“Do you? Because the Dmitri I know doesn’t execute family members without being certain of their guilt.”
Doubt flickers in his eyes. Or maybe I’m misreading it, and it’s just annoyance at being challenged.
“Daria made her choices,” he says. “She married Bogdan. She let him use her name. She fed him information for years instead of coming to us for help. Even if everything you’re saying is true, she’s not innocent. She’s complicit.”
“She’s a victim of domestic abuse who was threatened with losing her child. There’s a difference between complicity and survival.”
“Not in our world, there isn’t.”
We stand there, neither of us willing to move. I feel the weight of the gun tucked into my waistline. I see the outline of his beneath his jacket. If this turns violent, one of us isn’t walking out of this apartment.
Maybe neither of us will.
From down the hall, I hear a small sound. Kira whimpers, and Daria shushes her. The reminder of what’s at stake cuts through the posturing and the threats.
“Forty-eight hours,” I request. “That’s all I’m asking. Forty-eight hours to get you the proof you need.”
“The deadline was today.”
“And nothing has changed in the past three hours that makes killing Daria more urgent than it was yesterday. Give me two days. If I can’t deliver, you can do whatever Dmitri authorized. I won’t stop you.”
“You’ll try to stop me regardless. You’ve made that clear.”
“I’m making you a promise. Forty-eight hours. Hard evidence. If I fail, I’ll step aside.”
Alexei studies me for a long pause. I see him weighing the risks, deciding whether my word means anything. He opens his mouth to respond, but before he can, my phone goes off in my pocket.
I don’t move to answer it at first, but then it goes off again. And again.
“You should get that,” Alexei snickers. “Might be important.”
I pull the phone out without taking my eyes off him. The screen shows Tony’s name.
“Yeah.”
“Tell me you’re not in the middle of something.” There’s an energy in Tony’s voice that I haven’t heard before. “I’ve got news, and it’s the kind that changes everything.”
“I’m listening.”
“Morozova’s accounts. The ones connected to Bogdan’s network.
I finally broke through the last layer of encryption.
” He takes a breath. “Pyotr, it’s all there.
Direct transfers to three organizations on the federal watchlist. Dates, amounts, and routing numbers.
The authorization codes trace back to a single source. ”
“Bogdan.”
“Bogdan. His personal accounts. His digital signature. There’s no way to spin this as Daria’s operation.
The money moved through her name, but every decision point leads back to him.
This is it. This is the proof we needed.
Hard evidence, not theory. Enough to redirect the federal investigation and clear Daria. ”
Relief hits hard, but I don’t move. Not yet.
“You’re certain?”
“I’ve triple-checked everything. It’s airtight. I’m sending the files to you now, and I’m copying Dmitri. By the time Alexei gets back to Moscow, Dmitri will have seen all of it.”
“Alexei’s here. In the apartment.”
A pause. “Well, shit. How’s that going?”
“About how you’d expect.” I glance at Alexei, who’s watching me with narrowed eyes. “Hold on; I’m going to put you on speaker.”
I tap the screen and hold the phone between us.
“Tony, tell Alexei what you just told me.”
“Alexei.” Tony’s voice fills the small space.
“I know you came to St. Petersburg expecting to clean up a mess, but the mess isn’t Daria.
It’s Bogdan Lebedev. I have documentation proving he’s been running money to federally blacklisted organizations using shell companies in Daria’s name.
The evidence is conclusive. Dmitri is receiving it as we speak. ”
Alexei’s shoulders drop a fraction of an inch. The tension drains from him as he recalibrates the situation.
“You’re certain this will hold up?” he asks. “If we take this to Yevgeny and use it to justify action against his nephew, it needs to be ironclad.”
“It’s ironclad. Bogdan got sloppy. He thought the encryption would hold, but he used the same protocols across multiple accounts.
Once I cracked one, I cracked them all. I’m also sending the files to a contact at the federal prosecutor’s office.
Their investigation will have a new primary target.
Daria’s name will be cleared, and Bogdan becomes the most wanted man in St. Petersburg. ”
Alexei straightens his jacket and takes a step back from the hallway. “Dmitri will want to see this evidence before he authorizes any action against Bogdan. But assuming Tony’s assessment is accurate, we’re no longer looking at eliminating a traitor.”
“We’re looking at hunting one.”
“Yes.” A cold smile crosses Alexei’s face. “Bogdan Lebedev has been using a Kozlov to build his empire. Using her name and her connection to us. He thought he could hide behind Yevgeny’s protection while he bled our family dry.”
“He was wrong.”
“He was very wrong.” Alexei rolls his shoulders, and some of the coiled violence drains out of his posture. “I’ll need to call Dmitri and update him on the situation.”
“What will you tell him?”
“The truth. His operative was right, and I was ready to make a mistake that would have cost us. Dmitri won’t be surprised.
He’s always had better instincts about people than I do.
It’s why he’s pakhan, and I’m the one who shows up when things need to get bloody.
” He chuckles then adds, “Well, that and he’s an old man. ”
“You don’t sound bothered by that.”
“Why would I be? Everyone has their role. Mine is to be the threat that makes people cooperate. Yours, apparently, is to be the conscience that keeps us from going too far. Dmitri will find that amusing. He’s been telling me for years that I need someone to balance my… enthusiasm.”
“I’m not interested in being your conscience.”
He smirks and replies, “No. You’re interested in protecting Daria. That’s fine. Protect her. But understand that what comes next won’t be clean. Bogdan has resources, connections, and a survival instinct that’s kept him alive this long. Taking him down means getting dirty.”
“I’ve been dirty before.”
“Good. Hold onto that. You’ll need it.” Alexei moves toward the couch and sits, stretching his arms across the back. “Now, get Daria. I want to apologize before we start planning her ex-husband’s funeral.”
I don’t move. “You’re staying?”
“Until we can get a plan formed. I came to handle a problem. The problem changed, but I’m still here.” He crosses one ankle over his knee and waves a hand toward the hallway. “I promise not to bite.”
I turn toward the bedroom, where Daria and Kira are still waiting. The woman I’m falling for is probably crouched against the wall, straining to hear every word, wondering if she’s going to live or die.
She’s going to live.
And Bogdan Lebedev is about to learn what happens when you target a Kozlov.