Chapter 26
Stash
“No,” Saige said with certainty. “That’s not the man from the picture.”
“You’re certain,” I said, more in disbelief than anything.
The tension in the living room was high.
“Take another look,” Dimitri suggested.
She did, then shook her head. “He was not nearly as tall. But much more muscular.”
“He could be in disguise,” Kirill suggested. He’d managed to find a photograph of Mikhail after his arrival.
After the bombshell that Saige had provided in remembering the photograph Tawny had taken and with the situation regarding the blackmail list, a dozen precautions had been taken.
The limited arms shipments, which had already dwindled to only one in the next month, had been permanently put on hold. While the idea of taking the company public was an excellent concept for the future, the opportunity for Mikhail to purchase stock and take control of the company was too high.
That was also placed on hold.
With the living room jammed with people, the anger and testosterone levels were high. We were in crisis mode, uncertain what Mikhail had planned next, but decided intellectual steps had to be made and that meant everyone needed to be present.
The bad news had already been broken to Kazimir, who would soon be on a plane headed out of Moscow and on his way to New York.
However, we were counting on the fact a deal had been made with Mikhail by Tawny’s father.
Now this added a layer of complication, although I still believed a disguise could have been used.
Kirill had arrived in town just an hour before, his timing impeccable. He’d come into a manufactured game to beat any that I’d been involved with.
Dimitri had called in a couple of his computer technicians, including one who was fantastic at discovering information. He’d been tasked to find out if the Lady Isabelle was registered to Mikhail as well as being on the hunt for Tawny’s father.
“Then who?” Dimitri was as frustrated as I was.
“I don’t know.” What I did know for certain was that Mikhail was in the middle of the situation.
He’d orchestrated the game. So maybe he’d hired someone to play himself, but the yacht’s name being Kazimir and Mikhail’s mother was too coincidental.
Plus, Kazimir had mentioned that his father had talked about christening a yacht with his first wife’s name.
“Fuck this.” Dimitri moved toward the bar, pouring himself another drink.
I had a thought, heading to my laptop.
“What are you thinking?” Kirill asked.
“I’m thinking how best to beat one alliance.” I pulled up the internet, hoping I could find what I was looking for.
“A second alliance,” he mused.
It took a couple of minutes, but I finally found what I was looking for. With my laptop in hand, I took it to where Saige was sitting. “Is that him?”
She studied the picture, narrowing her eyes. “Yeah, that’s him. Even the smile is the same.”
“One hundred percent?” I pressed.
“One thousand. Who is he?”
A laugh rolled up from my chest as I showed Kirill and Dimitri the picture. “I think this man’s campaign is being funded by Mikhail. No wonder he’s expected to win by a landslide.”
“Vardan,” Dimitri hissed. “That motherfucker.”
“Makes sense. And how he was lured from Chicago.”
“Money,” my beautiful private dancer said while grabbing her damaged laptop. She was determined to be in the middle of this. Her kitty was curled up near her, currently cleaning her paws. Why did it all seem so normal?
“So let’s get this straight,” Kirill said while nursing a drink. “Vardan along with Mikhail plan on challenging our authority, their alliance potentially equal in power and in wealth to ours.”
“Exactly.” No wonder Vardan had been so accommodating while pretending not to know who Davit was.
Saige had already identified Davit, the hotel employee as following her on the subway. My guess was he’d been the one to toss her apartment. Only she’d known him as Brian, the man Tawny had been dating before breaking off the relationship, likely because her father had insisted.
I had my suspicions about Tawny’s killer being someone hired by Patrick.
Mikhail was many things from calculated to a little bit crazy, but he was definitely methodical.
He’d want an in with our organization as well as the Irish.
Information was key. But I wouldn’t know for certain until I paid Patrick a visit.
As soon as we were finished, we’d be making an impromptu visit to the Strike Zone.
While we had yet to determine Tawny’s heritage, it was only a matter of time and I’d bet money that she was Russian. Dimitri also expected to hear back from the techs on the voicemail within the hour, which could further help with the identification.
“You also think Patrick Kilborn was bought off by Mikhail and not plotting with Sean to betray us.” Kirill knew the answer. He’d been the one to proctor the alliance with them almost a year before.
“Sean isn’t that stupid, but we will make certain,” I answered, noticing Saige had grabbed her laptop and was seated on the couch with it in her hand. She’d taken everything in stride, refusing to fall into any level of emotionalism.
Except when I’d told her that her hard work had been put on hold for the foreseeable future.
She was a true piranha and I adored her for it.
She thought she remembered the necklace as being around Patrick’s neck, but I planned on using the information anyway if necessary.
The man was going to tell me the truth about Mikhail and their plan.
“What I don’t know is why Tawny was killed. Unless she was willing to talk.” I could tell Saige was watching me closely. “We need to play this carefully.”
“Stash is right,” Dimitri added. “You know Mikhail will want the glory all on his own. But he needs backing and a solid base. You know how closed New York is to newcomers. Without having someone who’s been here and willing to vouch for him, as a leader, he’ll be eaten alive.
The Armenians will be a decent stronghold for now.
But he’ll likely betray them. Besides, he doesn’t have anything Sean wants.
But with Patrick, he could promise a much higher position in a brand-new empire just for information, including sharing when you were going to be at the club. ”
“Why turn the tides with Saige there?”
“You said so yourself, I’m your weakness,” she popped in. “Maybe he knew you’d rescue me and could more easily be killed. Maybe if Tawny’s father had arranged a marriage, Mikhail was going to start picking off his family one by one.”
“Why the change?” Kirill asked.
I thought about the question. “Oh, I think there was every intention on killing her last night. She was too resourceful for them.”
She huffed. “I just acted on instinct with running.”
“You know better than to put anything past Mikhail. He was at the damn Christmas party months ago. Just watching. Planning. And I gave him ammunition on a silver platter with my interest in Saige.” I moved away from the desk, my hand tightly wrapped around my drink.
“Yes,” she interjected. “But he must have been confused when I wanted nothing to do with you after the party.”
“You mean when I wanted nothing to do with you,” I countered while throwing her a smile.
She shrugged, a hint of her defiance returning. “Ha. I know the truth.”
“She has you pegged, cuz,” Dimitri tossed out.
“A match made in heaven,” Kirill added.
“I have some advice and a thought on how you can get control of this game being played,” Saige tossed out.
“This I need to hear,” I told the others.
“You should consider using your blackmail bridges. But not in the way you were originally thinking.”
All three of us looked at each other. The two men were well aware of her success in breaching my security. “Meaning?”
“He was provided with another gift in seeing the list since he or his men trashed my apartment. If Mikhail wants to use this information, all he has to do is threaten to take it public. Imagine if he has a dummy corporation that needs investors. Or he simply uses the information as blackmail at one time. He could have control over several powerful entities in this city, Toronto, Chicago, and I believe Philadelphia. I think those were the cities represented.” She offered a cagey smile.
“You need to make certain she’s paid very well,” Kirill said in passing.
My laugh was joyful enough. “She’s right. We need to turn the tables and if we do this right, he’ll be placed in our crosshairs.”
“It’s still blackmail information,” Dimitri offered.
“Not if played right,” I said.
“So you’re suggesting Mikhail is now more interested in destroying the family and our business, which will allow him to take control?” Kirill was starting to put the pieces together.
“But he wants to drive a stake through our hearts,” Dimitri insisted.
“Why not start professionally? Then he’ll go for the jugular when you’re scrambling around trying to regroup after your horrific downfall,” Saige added, her lilting voice something I hoped to hear for a very long time.
“That isn’t possible if you take the upper hand, utilizing those companies on the list. They could become your partners, investing in the Chertov Corporation.
If provided with the initial stocks, they’d give their funds and promised loyalty as well as discrediting the blackmailer, which will be Mikhail.
Now, you’d have to be careful in how you handle doing so since you’ll need Mikhail to tip his hand after you’ve taken control. ”
My God, the woman was making my cock swell. “Go on,” I encouraged.
“He’s been led to believe professionally, he’s about to destroy you. He’ll want to see that through. The looks on your faces or the moment when you’re arrested. That will be a memory he can hold forever. Then he’ll try and kill you.”
“You need to keep this girl very close,” Kirill added.
“I definitely will.” The woman was amazing. “That doesn’t mean you’re leaving my sight. You’re already aware of the lengths he’ll go to, including murder.”