Chapter 27
Stash
Grief was different for everyone. I’d grieved my father as a child, always knowing he’d never wanted to have anything to do with me.
Mikhail had grieved the same man first when believing he’d had something to do with his beloved mother’s death and then again when his own father hadn’t cared about to be with him during his long battle with cancer.
The final time had been when my mother and I had been brought in.
In his eyes, my mom had replaced his and I’d become more important to Vladimir than he’d ever been.
That last part hadn’t been true, but I’d been too busy wallowing in my own self-pity to give a shit about Mikhail. Or Kazimir for that matter.
I didn’t handle grief well. I’d learned to shut down. That made it so much easier.
Through spending time with Saige, I’d come to understand through her grief in losing her best friend that sharing pain wasn’t about wallowing in it. Doing so was providing a remembrance of another person.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked for the fourth time that morning. We were on our way to pay our respects to Tawny and her family in a funeral home near the Hamptons.
In the days following her death, we’d put the pieces together in business that Saige had suggested while laying low, using the same methodology that Mikhail had used against us. Time.
We knew exactly how we wanted to draw him out in the open. It was simply a matter of keeping our patience.
And laying the groundwork. One piece was about to occur.
“She’s my friend, Stash. I don’t care that she didn’t tell me who she was. She died trying to protect me. The least I can do is to honor her now.”
She continued to fidget in the passenger seat.
“You’re truly the strongest woman I know.”
Her laugh was hollow. “You called me conniving last night.” She unfastened her seatbelt, taking another deep breath.
I removed mine, immediately shifting and cupping her face, pulling her toward me. “Yes, you are. Absolutely a true con artist, but I adore that about you.”
She shifted her body as well, clamping her hand around my shirt. “Hmmm… Let’s talk about conniving. Shall we? My mother called this morning.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Mmm… You knew she would.”
“How is she?”
“Perplexed. She mentioned the taxes were paid in full, the ranch paid off, the back account suddenly appearing with six figures and the owner of the land development company trying to fleece them was arrested on extortion charges. Imagine her surprise.”
“Wow. That is a surprise. Any idea what happened?”
Using the vantage point, she jerked me closer. “You did that. Didn’t you?”
“What?”
“You are so infuriating, the kind of man I just want to…”
“To what? Tell me, moya lichnaya tantsovshchitsa. I dare you,” I said in a low voice while drinking in her sultry perfume.
“You should know better than to dare a woman like me. To kiss.” She captured my mouth, holding our lips in place for several seconds.
I eased my hand around to the back of her neck, yanking her even closer. Right now, all I wanted to do was to spend the day in bed examining every inch of her luscious body. Sadly, we had business to handle. But tonight was a different story.
She slipped her tongue inside while rolling her hand down my chest. I’d be damned when she teased me, crawling her fingers between my legs. When she wrapped them around my cock, it was all I could do to keep from pinning her down on the seat.
Maybe on the way home.
When she pushed away, she purposely bit my lower lip. “You’re delicious.”
“And you’re a bad girl.”
“Mmm… Don’t forget it. I don’t know what to say. You didn’t need to do that. But you don’t know what it means to me.”
“Yes, I did need to assist. The company your parents were tangling with is corrupt. They needed to be stopped.”
“Why? You don’t know them.”
“But I know you and how important your parents are to you. Call it a wedding present.”
Her eyebrows furrowed and she burst into laughter. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“Why not? We are good together.”
“Generally, the man has a ring, falls onto one knee, and just a little thing that really isn’t much but typically, it’s not done while sitting outside a funeral home.”
“Oh, that. Well, I guess I’ll need to ask you at a later time or until you say yes.”
She shook her head. “You are such an evil man. Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
There were easily four dozen people inside when we walked in.
While the viewing was for three hours, I’d ensured that Vardan wouldn’t be in attendance.
What I suspected was that Mikhail had betrayed Tawny’s rich father, killing her to keep the Chertov family from discovering the truth behind the arranged marriage.
I’d learned enough about Anton Pushkin to know he was many things.
Ruthless. Powerful. And hated in Moscow and beyond.
He’d stolen from the poor to create his empire.
While I couldn’t care less about Russian politics, I knew he’d prefer to stay in New York and in the good graces of the Russian people living in and near the city.
Through Kazimir’s stories, I’d also learned that he and our father had once been friends, each going in different directions. That’s what Mikhail had played on when convincing him that he should be the next great syndicate leader, which is what I expected Mikhail wanted.
Vardan had no idea how corrupt Mikhail had become. He’d thought he would be in control of both the Armenians and the Russians. Maybe in the beginning until our empire crumbled into the dust.
While I had four soldiers ensuring our safety, they would only interfere if necessary. I doubted Anton would give us any trouble. From what I’d witnessed in my surveillance of him, he was suffering the loss of his only daughter.
His only child, his wife dying years before. The man was alone with his billions and would suffer the grief for the rest of his life.
Especially since he was the reason Tawny had been killed.
Once inside, I scanned the crowd and could tell instantly when our arrival had been spotted. He had several of his own soldiers, men hired to keep him and his family safe. Yet he’d had a child who’d demanded freedom. Much like Saige had done.
“Is that her father?” she asked when we neared the closed casket.
“That’s him.”
I found it interesting that we didn’t need to approach him. He walked toward us, pushing his men away.
“You must be Saige Mitchell. Tawny told me how important your friendship was to her.” He held out his hand and it was easy to tell he was distraught. “Thank you for coming.”
“As you said, she was my best friend,” Saige answered, accepting the gesture although she was stiff in her actions. “An incredible woman with her entire life ahead of her. A woman who didn’t deserve what happened.”
“She also said you speak your mind. Why don’t we talk in the other room?” He eyed me carefully and expected us to follow.
Before we left the area, Saige laid a white rose on the girl’s casket. “I miss you, girl. I’ll never forget what you did.”
As I passed the security, they puffed up as if they planned on causing us trouble. I simply unbuttoned my jacket, allowing them to see I was armed.
Once inside a private room, he closed the door behind us.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Mr. Chertov.”
“Why is that?”
“Your father wasn’t my biggest fan.”
“Yes, so I heard. I wasn’t his.”
My statement surprised him. “Ah, yes, the son he adored from afar.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I do, Stash. Your father adored you. We were still friends when you were born and even up until you were about six years old. He used to show me pictures of you, telling me how proud he was.”
“Anton, we’re not here to discuss my childhood. We’re here to discuss the reason your daughter was murdered.”
He seemed confused. “My daughter wasn’t murdered. She was distraught because of what I was doing to her. She jumped to her death. I’m to blame. She didn’t want to honor our name. I pushed her anyway.”
“She was murdered, Mr. Pushkin. For trying to protect me.” Saige’s voice was strong and obviously believable enough Anton was taken aback.
“That’s not true. The police told me what happened.”
“And I was there minutes after, chased by the man who killed her.”
“What?” He looked to me for guidance.
“She’s not lying, Anton. Mikhail couldn’t take the risk of Tawny sharing what you must have told her, perhaps about why you were suggesting the marriage.
Including that she was in danger. You did tell your daughter that.
Didn’t you? You were starting to feel as if the deal made was more dangerous than you’d originally thought. ”
He turned white and as he brought his hand to his face, his arm was shaking. “Mikhail.”
“Yes. He’s in control of Vardan. The deal you made for the alliance included taking Mikhail along for the ride. Vardan has been gaslighting you the entire time. And why? Because my brother has a vendetta against my family.”
“Do you have proof?”
“The death of your daughter is proof. Have you seen Vardan since the news broke?”
“Briefly. As with arranged marriages, they’d yet to become close. But he offered his condolences.”
“And did he try and pressure you into continuing your alliance?”
He glanced away. “Yes, he did. Promises of ensuring I have control over the ports.”
“Which isn’t his to offer. The Chertov Corporation has control. You’ve also considered continuing to bankroll his political aspirations because you believed he could provide you with additional power, including protections for your wealth.”
“I was considering it,” he admitted. “You are correct about how he sold his services to me.”
“Think of Tawny, Mr. Pushkin. She didn’t deserve to die and while Vardan didn’t pull the trigger, he was as responsible as you for her death.” Saige was determined to protect her friend’s memory.
“What would you have me do?”