Chapter 15
Oleg
Oleg returned to his gaudy mansion in Rublyovka two hours before dawn after far too many rounds of blood-wine and toasts.
Ivan’s men surely liked to party, and they were very long-winded. Fortunately, there was now a reward waiting for him when he arrived home.
He poked his head into the office he’d reserved for Tatyana on the ground floor of the east wing.
She was sitting in front of her computer, tapping away at the machine and wearing a very attractive pair of eyeglasses he had never seen before. He watched her from the doorway, contemplating how clever he was that he’d convinced her to be his wife.
“I hear you there,” she said softly. “But I am editing a few details on a construction contract, so you will have to be patient.”
Oleg sat in a chair near the fireplace where one of the servants had lit some oak wood a few hours ago. “I have no problem waiting for what I want.”
The tap-tap-tap of her delicate fingers on the reinforced keyboard reminded him of rain pattering on a metal roof.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Their blood connection was soothed every time they were together. When she was away from him, he felt a constant restlessness. It wasn’t bad for his focus—in fact, the imbalance kept him sharp—but it put others around him on edge.
But when they were together, his energy felt even. Balanced. Stronger.
“I like having you near,” she said softly. “Is it the blood?”
“No, it’s just me.”
She laughed a little.
He was glad she enjoyed his arrogance, because after claiming her as his wife in private and now in public, he wasn’t likely to ever be a humble vampire.
“Tell me when you are finished with work.” He kept his eyes closed and ruminated over Ivan and his other men’s reaction to seeing Tatyana seated at his right hand.
Ivan—despite his new ear piercing—had been amused and somewhat patronizing, as had his older sons, but the younger vampires at the banquet were properly awed by the appearance of a lavishly dressed, beautiful woman who clearly didn’t fear their boss.
Ivan had never trusted women. He took after Truvor in that, but Oleg was of another mind. He came from a human clan with nearly as many female warriors as male. He credited the faint memory of his fierce human mother with his respect for the power of the feminine.
“What are you thinking about?”
Oleg opened his eyes. “Are you finished with your work?”
“Yes.” She closed her computer and took off the gloves she used around electronics.
The corner of his mouth turned up. “You look like a very sexy clerk in those glasses.”
She took them off. “They’re for blocking blue light from the screen.”
He frowned. “Is this something that can affect immortal vision?”
“I have no idea.”
“Hmm.” He held out his hand. “You have something on your mind.”
“Yes, and yet I was asking about your thoughts.” She stood and walked toward him, but instead of sitting on his lap as he was hoping she would, she pulled over a tufted ottoman and sat on that, putting her hands on his knees. “Are you thinking about Ivan’s brush with death?”
He hadn’t been. That had been too amusing. “No, but how did you hear about it?”
“Rumors fly.”
“Sándor.”
She shrugged. “He has his own ears in secret places.”
“Good.” Oleg sat up straight. “Ludmila shot him in the ear.”
“Wait, it was her?” Tatyana frowned. “Why?”
“Because he irritates me, and I wanted him bleeding and wounded for his ridiculous birthday celebration.”
“The birthday party for your sire.”
Oleg rubbed his temple when he felt the twitch in his jaw. “My sire was a monster, and no one should celebrate him.”
“But those men out there tonight.” She shook her head. “They love him.”
“Of course they do. Ivan has turned Truvor’s life into some kind of origin myth for our clan. They have no idea what the real story is. Or if they do, they make excuses for why it wasn’t all that bad back in the old times.”
The times of endless blood. And pain. And death.
His wife’s eyes were far too perceptive. “So you decided to shoot Ivan but not kill him. What was the point of that?”
Oleg decided to change the subject. “Truvor loved it when his sons fought each other. In a way, it was the most appropriate gift to celebrate his birthday.”
“What was the point of shooting Ivan but not killing him, Oleg?”
He smiled. “I love it when you’re demanding.”
“Oleg.”
“And stern.” He leaned forward, pinching her chin between his fingers. “You delight me when you are stern.”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
“I wanted to make him look foolish in front of his men, of course.” Oleg gave her an answer that was not a lie. “He was rushing around to change his suit before the party. It was quite amusing.”
And yet seeing his brother with panic in his eyes, blood pouring down his neck…
He stood alone in a field of black, his hand sticky with dried blood.
“So you were just having some fun?” Tatyana narrowed her eyes.
Oleg shrugged.
Ash, blood, and earth mixed with the cold, grey water falling from the sky.
“Send the next!”
Tatyana met his gaze with her cool blue stare that was the summer sky. “And what about the man that Mika took? The man with the rifle?”
“One of Mika’s many Estonian spies,” Oleg said. “He’ll be back in Tallinn tomorrow night, and Mika will tell Ivan that he killed him and buried the body in the bogs.”
…he turned, the blood-soaked mud sucking at his feet and pulling him down into the rotting gore…
Tatyana sat back. “How much of being Oleg the Terrible is lying and subterfuge?”
“A lot of it,” he said. “Obviously. It’s not very terrifying to manage a corporation well and expand your logistical capacity in the North Sea.
The young ones don’t want to hear about that when they’ve been fed tales of Truvor the Red and his savage conquests along the Volga as if it were milk for their new fangs. ”
She sat back and looked at her desk, pursing her lips. “Your logistical capacity is quite terrifying if you look at the numbers in your shadow fleet.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He hooked his hand around her knee and tugged her toward him, spreading her legs. “I do plenty of marauding when the urge strikes me.” He reached a hand under her skirt and cupped her heated sex. “I believe the urge may be striking right now.”
Her laugh was low in her throat, and the sound of it went straight to his already-hard cock. “We’re not finished talking about Ivan.”
“Later.”
“Do you ever doubt yourself?”
“No.” Oleg looked up from the paperwork he’d been skimming to see his brother watching him with narrowed eyes. “And neither do you. Doubt is a luxury of the young.”
His brother huffed out a slight laugh. “You don’t have to sit in on this meeting. I’m older than you.”
“But I’ve been working in the grey to light markets for longer,” Oleg said. “Trust me, this human will react better to seeing two of us.”
“He’ll be pissing his pants. That is what his reaction will be.”
“These rich humans all pretend that they are monsters.” Oleg set the file down and glanced out the dark window where snowflakes were sticking to the warm glass.
“They really think they are something. But all they are is spoiled children who don’t want to share their toys.
That is all. They have no concept of the power of generosity. ”
“They don’t understand brotherhood as we do.” Ivan lifted his chin. “You are right.”
Brotherhood.
The word slapped Oleg in the face.
“Speaking of brotherhood, do you want to have some fun later tonight?” Ivan lifted his eyebrows. “Flex that fire you have to contain too often?”
Oleg raised one eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”
“There’s a gang of vampires from Kazakhstan who set up shop in a warehouse northeast of town. They told me they were distributing industrial chemicals, and they were paying me a good percentage.”
“What’s the problem?” The structure was exactly how vampires were supposed to operate. Permission to set up in a foreign region with tribute to the vampire in charge of that region. It was how things had worked for millennia.
“They’re hiding profits, cutting down my share.” Ivan reached up and flicked his thumb against his chin. “Disrespecting both of us, and they think I don’t know.”
“I see.” Ivan was lying, but Oleg could play along. “I’d be happy to join you. And yes, it would be delightful to burn down their facility, but I’ll have to double-check the chemicals they’re shipping unless we want a natural disaster on our hands.”
“Excellent.” Ivan nodded. “When do you leave for Saint Petersburg?”
“Tomorrow at dusk,” he said. “There are numerous preparations for the wedding that I wish to oversee myself.” And I hate your city.
He didn’t love Saint Petersburg much either—the winters were damp, windy, and frigid—but as it was the traditional seat for the Kievan Rus and the grand palace was there, that was where the state wedding must take place.
“It was a good idea to align with the Poshani like that.” Ivan’s eyes flashed. “Once Tatyana Vorona is my sister-in-law, she’ll have no excuse not to do business with me.”
“Hmm.” Oleg let Ivan console himself with the thought.
There was a tap on the door, and then Ivan’s sultry, green-eyed secretary cracked it open. “Victor Borchin is here, Mr. Sokholov.”
“See him in.” Ivan seemed to puff up in front of Oleg’s sight.
A moment later, a human wearing a dark blue suit and a purple tie entered Ivan’s office.
Oleg liked the purple.
“Victor, how are you?” Ivan didn’t rise, and Oleg decided to let his brother set the tone of the meeting, so he stayed silent in the corner.
Borchin glanced at Oleg but clearly had no idea who he was and looked back at Ivan. “Ivan Sokholov, you must know why I wanted this meeting.”
“Of course.”
Borchin was the owner of the industrial processing plant Lazlo had demolished.
“I thought we had an understanding.” Borchin remained standing, his hands stuffed in his pockets, though Oleg could see they were fisted.
Ivan’s billionaire was unhappy.