Chapter 13 Lev
LEV
"It's working." Fyodor tosses a folder onto Yuri's desk and settles into one of the wingback chairs, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.
Dimitri paces near the window with his hands shoved in his pockets while Yuri picks up the folder and starts flipping through the pages inside, his gray eyes scanning the contents.
"The Veche family's in chaos," Fyodor continues. "Our sources inside their organization say Yaros can't contain it. His own people are demanding answers about why Ana would align herself with the Gravitches, and he's got nothing to tell them."
I stand near the fireplace with my arms crossed over my chest, listening. This is exactly what we planned for when we grabbed Vivika off that street corner and turned her into a weapon.
"What kind of chaos?" Yuri asks, still reading. His eyes flick back and forth over the pages while I stand stewing.
"The kind that's making their allies nervous.
" Fyodor leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and folds his fingers.
"Three of Yaros's captains have already reached out to our people quietly, asking questions about the Donna's return.
They wanna know if it's true and she's really working with us now.
They're trying to figure out which way the wind is blowing before they pick a side because they haven't heard from her in five and a half months now. "
Dimitri lets out a low whistle. "Three captains… that's significant."
"It's more than significant," Fyodor says. "It's the beginning of a civil war. These men have been loyal to the Veche family for decades, and now they're hedging their bets. They're looking at Yaros and wondering if maybe they backed the wrong horse."
"And Yaros's response?" Yuri asks. His eyes rise from the documents to look at me first, then at my brother who continues.
"That's the interesting part." Fyodor's grin widens.
"He's telling his inner circle that we've found an imposter, a lookalike we're using to destabilize his position.
But here's the thing—his own people don't believe him.
They've seen the woman at the bank, at the Mariinsky.
They've heard the whispers spreading through every back channel in the city.
And they're asking themselves why Yaros would lie about his own sister.
Why he can't just produce her and put an end to all of this. "
"Because he can't produce her," I say quietly, turning to walk toward the men clustered closer to the boss's desk. I really need a drink. This whole thing has my system in a funk. If I hadn't had to lock Vivika up for the backlash she threw at me, maybe I'd feel better.
"Exactly." Fyodor points at me. "That's what his people are starting to realize.
If Ana were alive and well and just traveling like Yaros claims, she'd be back by now, standing in front of her captains and telling them to ignore the Gravitch propaganda.
But instead, all they're getting is Yaros making excuses and denials.
He can't even produce a phone call or a video from her. "
Dimitri stops pacing and turns to face us. "If they don't believe him, that means the con is working better than we expected."
"It means something's off," I say, and everyone turns to look at me. "Yaros should be able to produce his sister if she's really alive. He should be able to put her in front of his captains and prove we're running a con. But he hasn't done that. He's just… denying."
Yuri sets down the folder and steeples his fingers beneath his chin. "You think she's dead?"
"I think it's possible." Glowering, I stalk toward the side table and pour myself a drink, downing it before turning to continue.
"Ana disappeared five months ago. Yaros has been making excuses ever since—family visits, business abroad, all the usual bullshit.
But if she were alive, he'd bring her back now to shut us down. The fact that he can't…"
"The fact that he can't means he might've done something to her," Fyodor finishes my sentence, and Yuri's eyes wax an inky black. He knows I'm right. We're not just taunting a man who locked his sister up. We're staring down a murder. We just don’t have proof yet.
Yaros Veche killing his own sister to take control of the family is the kind of move that would destroy him if it ever came out, the kind of betrayal that even the most hardened criminals wouldn't forgive.
A man who kills his own blood to seize power is a man nobody can trust. But it would also explain everything—his defensiveness, his desperate insistence that we're running a con when the simplest solution would be to bring her forward and prove it.
"We can't prove anything," Dimitri says. "It's all speculation at this point."
"We don't need to prove it," Yuri replies, a cold smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"We just need his people to suspect it. And right now, they're already asking questions he can't answer.
Every day that passes without Ana appearing in the flesh is another day his captains wonder what really happened to her. "
Fyodor pulls out his tablet and swipes through a few screens. "There's more…" His brow furrows as he continues reading. Then he looks up at me with concern etched on his face. "New intel that came in an hour ago about the shooting at the Mariinsky."
My jaw tightens at the memory. I've lived through a million scenarios just like that. It's like my nervous system has been immunized to it so it no longer affects me, but it fucked Vivika up. I'll never forget the fear in her eyes and the way she clung to me.
"We assumed it was an attempt on Lev's life," Fyodor says. "An effort to take out the handler so they could grab the woman. But our sources are saying otherwise."
"Meaning what?" I ask.
Fyodor looks up from his tablet, meeting my eyes. "The target was the woman. They hired heavy hitters out of the Ukraine. Yaros gave the order himself—he wants her dead."
The anger bubbling beneath the surface is going to come out and when it does, I won't be able to control it.
The idea that that sick fuck wanted to kill Vivika is the only proof I need that he's already gone and killed his sister.
And he dares to even think that he can touch something that's mine. I won’t stand for it.
"Why would he want her dead?" Dimitri asks. "Taking her out doesn't help him."
"It helps him if she's exposing a lie he can't afford to have exposed," I say, and I pour myself another drink so I can think straight. "Think about it. As long as our Ana is alive, his own family's going to keep asking questions. But if she's dead—and he blames it on us—"
"Then the questions stop," Yuri says. "The threat disappears.
He goes back to his story about Ana traveling abroad, and nobody can challenge him.
" Every man in this room is getting the point now and the knowledge is sinking like a brick in murky water.
We've not only pressed the wrong button, but we're creeping in on territory Yaros hoped no one would ever touch.
"He's protecting whatever he did to the real Ana," Fyodor adds quietly. "By killing the fake one. If our woman dies, the questions die with her."
The thought makes my blood boil. Vivika, used as a pawn and then discarded. Killed to protect the secrets of a man who probably murdered his own sister.
Dimitri shakes his head slowly. "This is getting complicated. If Yaros knows she's a fake and he's actively trying to have her killed, we're operating on borrowed time. The con could fall apart any day now."
"Or," Yuri says slowly, "we could use this to our advantage.
Yaros's reaction tells us something important.
He's scared. He's desperate. He's acting like a man with something terrible to hide.
Whatever happened to the real Ana, he can't afford to have anyone looking too closely at it.
Our woman is forcing him into a corner, and cornered men make mistakes.
They panic. They overreach. They expose themselves. "
"So, what the hell do we do?" I ask.
Yuri leans back in his chair and sighs hard. "Kolar and the other Balkan leaders are already watching this situation closely. They had arrangements with Ana specifically, and they're very interested in her sudden reappearance. If Yaros keeps acting guilty…"
"They'll start to wonder what he's hiding," Fyodor says, nodding slowly.
"Exactly." Yuri's cold smile returns. "We don't have to prove Yaros killed his sister. We just have to make everyone else wonder if he did. The suspicion alone will be enough to weaken him."
If that bullet had even so much as grazed her, I would lose my mind. Not a Veche man alive would be left standing. I'd mow them all down like the cattle they are and feast on their carcasses. She is mine, and I will protect her.
"We need to move her," I say. "If Yaros is actively trying to have her killed, she's a target. We need to get her somewhere safe."
"Or," Dimitri says carefully, "we could just terminate her ourselves and be done with the whole thing." He opens his hands and shrugs like what he's suggesting is the most logical option.
The room goes quiet.
"Think about it," Dimitri continues. "The situation's getting dangerous. Yaros knows she's a fake. He's trying to kill her. Sooner or later, he's going to succeed, or the truth is going to come out, or both. Maybe we should cut our losses before this blows up in our faces."
I'm across the room before I realize I'm moving and grab the front of Dimitri's shirt, slamming him back against the wall. His head bounces off the plaster and his eyes go wide.
"Say that again," I growl, my face inches from his. "Say it again and I'll break your fucking jaw."
"Lev." Fyodor's on his feet, moving toward us.
"She's a person, Dimitri. A fucking person. And you're talking about killing her like she's a rabid dog needing to be put down."
"She's an asset," Dimitri spits back. "That's all she's ever been. When something stops being useful, you get rid of it. You know how this works."
I draw my fist back and Fyodor grabs my arm, yanking me away before I can connect with Dimitri's face. He puts himself between us, his hands raised.
"Enough!" Yuri's voice cuts through the chaos. "Both of you, stand down. Now."
I'm breathing hard, my pulse pounding. Dimitri straightens his shirt and glares at me, rubbing at the back of his neck. I can't believe he has the nerve to suggest terminating her. Our plan is working. I'm not killing her, not over this. And I won't let them kill her either.
"Lev." Yuri's voice is calm but carries steel. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
I force myself to look at my uncle and know he's not going to like what I have to say.
"She's mine," I snarl at him. I don't care what they planned to do with her once this whole charade is over.
Dimitri is right. When we have those trade routes secured and the Balkans are in our pocket, we'd have to find a way to explain Ana's magical vanishing act too, and it would definitely lead to suspicion.
But I won't just let someone walk in and kill Vivika.
I don't care what they say. She belongs to me now.
"Excuse me?"
"Vivika. Whether the con goes forward or falls apart, I'm keeping her. She belongs to me now, and I won't let anyone lay a finger on her. I won't let Dimitri terminate her, and I won't let Yaros put a bullet in her head."
Dimitri stares at me like I've lost my mind as silence settles over the room.
Fyodor sets down his tablet and I watch his jaw tighten.
I know Dimitri has no soul. He's barely a member of this family.
But my brother just had his own little run-in with a woman he won't let go of. Surely, he understands how I feel.
Yuri's the only one who doesn't seem surprised. He studies me for a long moment, then sighs and leans back in his chair.
"I wondered when this would happen," he says quietly.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I've seen the way you look at her. The way you watch her, hover over her, touch her." He shakes his head. "You've gotten attached, and now you're willing to throw everything away to protect her."
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes," I say, still feeling defensive, but I straighten my jacket and run a hand through my hair.
"Even if it puts this family at risk?" Dimitri glares at me with hardened eyes. What would he know? Forty years old and never had a woman in his bed who could stand to be around him. He's a class-A idiot. I don't care what he thinks.
"Yes." The word comes out without hesitation. The trade routes and Kolar will line up with or without Vivika's act, but I will not be the same man I was three weeks ago if I lose her.
"Yaros has already tried to have her killed once," Yuri says. "If you keep her, he'll try again. He won't stop until she's dead or he is."
"Then I'll make sure it's him." I turn, narrowing my eyes on my uncle and ignoring the rest of the family.
"You're talking about war, Lev. Open conflict with the Veche family." Yuri's voice hardens. "Do you understand what that means?" He leans over his desk and narrows his eyes at me.
"I understand."
Yuri stands and walks around his desk, stopping directly in front of me. "Once you start down this path, there's no going back. All for a woman you've known for two weeks."
I hold his gaze without flinching. "When I see what I want, I take it. You taught me that. And I don't let anything stop me once I've decided."
He chuckles and grips my shoulder hard, almost painfully. "You really are my nephew. Stubborn as hell and twice as dangerous. Just like your father was before someone put a bullet in him."
"Does that mean you'll support me?"
"It means I won't stand in your way. But you're on your own with this. If Yaros comes for her, you handle it. I won't sacrifice this family's position to protect your obsession."
"I wouldn't ask you to."
"Good." He returns to his desk and sinks in his chair, dismissing me with a wave of his hand. "Now get out of here and go protect your woman. Before Yaros sends someone else to finish what he started."
I turn and walk out of the study past Fyodor's knowing look and Dimitri's venomous glare, through the halls and out the front door.
The gravel crunches beneath my feet as I head toward my car, trying hard to keep myself in check.
Knowing the bullet was a failed hit only riles me up more.
I had my suspicions, which of course I kept back from Vivika, but now that they're confirmed, I know I have to step up my game.
Vivika is waiting for me, locked away and alone, probably terrified and hating me for everything I've put her through.
And I'll burn down anyone and everyone who tries to take her.