by Raven Scott
I’m gonna need to take some time to think through this tangle of drama.
24
Vanessa
Swiping my phone off my desk, I pursed my lips thinly as Reece’s contact flashed on the screen. “Hello?” We may have had to babysit our Russian friends, but really, Reece was doing all the work. I could hear him shouting in Russian, and I could hear Igra shouting back. Leaning back in my chair, I held back an irritated sigh. “Reece! Hello!”
“Vanessa! I’m dropping this fucking man-child off at your office before I fucking kill him.”
I don’t think I’d ever heard Reece lose it like he did with these people. I didn’t argue with him.
His voice rang with anger, “Get the fuck out of my car!”
“... Everything okay, Reece?” I knew he was stressed and his blinding hatred for the Russians wasn’t exactly helping things. Only Reece spoke Russian, so I couldn’t understand why he made things so difficult for himself. A door slammed on the line, and I stood up to poke my head out of my office. “Josh, let the guy coming up into my office, please.”
Josh held up a hand from behind the receptionist desk.
I sat on the sofa in my office as Reece scoffed loudly over the line. “I don’t understand what the fuck Carlyle is trying to achieve, but I’m about ready to just fucking shoot that asshole right in his ugly-ass face.”
I’d feel bad, except I did know what Carlyle wanted.
“From now on, you’re babysitting that commie dickhead, Vanessa. I’ve done it for three months. I’m done.”
“Okay. That’s fine.”
Reece hung up on me, and my lips quirked down before a shadow cast long the floor.
Igra was a handsome man and he knew it. His lips showed cocking a smirk as he leaned on the door frame.
“I wish you wouldn’t piss him off, Igra. It makes things harder for me.”
“It’s been a long time, Vanessa. I thought you’d be happy to see me.” His thick accent made him almost unintelligible.
I simply shook my head.
Sauntering over to sit next to me, he flung his arm over the back of the sofa and sighed heavily with a shake of his head. “I can’t stand this anymore, either, you know. Carlyle is helping me overthrow Alexander, but I can’t help thinking... how am I supposed to do that from across the world?”
“Vyachaslav’s just as much your father as Alexander’s, Igra. You’re damned lucky he think’s you’re an incapable, spoiled brat, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. When you go back to Russia, you’ll have Carlyle’s backing, but until then, just take some time to breathe.”
Alexander Makovich... Guy had so many siblings it was hard to keep track.
I glanced over at Igra as his boyish mask fell away. “This is about the long haul, and you know that.”
“If I could just kill him and take over, I’d rather do that. It’s quicker. Russia is falling into a civil war, and Alexander is encouraging it.”
I didn’t know how long this coup was in the works, but Carlyle didn’t deal with Alexander for no reason. It also had nothing to do with money, because Carlyle was already loaded. Influence? Nope. Carlyle didn’t care about Russia, because Russia was weak.
But... Carlyle did love helping the weak become strong, and then taking advantage of that power.
“I’m worried there may not be anything for me to go back to. Ophelia told me Alexander is preparing to run for Prime Minister next year. She’s worried he’ll kill her once he doesn’t need her anymore, and I’m worried because if he does kill her... I’ll be screwed.”
Stiffening at the gravity roughening his tone, I frowned.
Igra held up a hand before I could open my mouth. “Carlyle’s tapped me. He already knows. The issue then becomes... are we going to move fast enough? He’s already told me explicitly that Ophelia cannot come to America. Alexander would find that hugely suspicious. I need her, though.”
“Trust me Igra, I know exactly how it feels to have to wait to get revenge against the person that wronged you.” A soft knock on the doorframe drew my attention, and I glanced over as David hung around awkwardly. “What’s up, David?”
“Ah— nothing important, if you’re busy right now. I’ll come back later.”
“Oh... Actually...” Stopping him before he could rush off, I gestured him into my office. “I’m not very busy, no. This is Igra. Igra, this is David, one of my supervisory employees.”
“Okay. Hi, nice to meet you.” David held out a hand to the Russian on the sofa.
Igra nodded without getting up, leaving him hanging.
Frowning at Igra, I stepped between them.
David cleared his throat roughly. “So, I was actually thinking about that job Carlyle wants me to do. Do you have any more information on it? Like, what specific roles and expectations, pay, and all that?”
“Yeah, I have that.” Turning around, I walked back to my computer to wake up the monitor with a wiggle of the mouse. “I was hoping to bump into you, too. Reece, Igra, his two associates, and I are going to a business lunch on Thursday. Do you want to join us? You already know Reece works for me sometimes and obviously, he’s been using my office a lot lately. He can probably help you manage your expectations and he for sure needs a distraction.”
“I’d be down for that conversation, probably. I couldn’t help but hear a little of your conversation...” Trailing off, David sucked in a sharp breath. “Like, if I take this job, I’m not gonna uncover anything... illegal, am I?”
I printed the document he wanted, “Of course not.” Lifting my head, I arched a brow quizzically at the discomfort on David’s face. “Why would you think you’d find something?”
“I’m not really keen to get in any trouble, Ness.”
Igra stood up and I frowned when he clapped a hand hard on David’s shoulder.
He kilted off balance a bit with a faint oof.
My lips thinned as the tension in the air snapped in half.
“If you want danger, come back to Russia with me. America’s greatest crime is just regular business. Your movies are really inaccurate about the Mob. It’s not as illicit and creepy as Hollywood makes it out to be. I have certainly killed people in dark alleys, but not these people. They treat it like business. Boring.”
David looked mightily uncomfortable with this information.
Igra walked back to the sofa to drop down heavily. “It used to be like that, but not anymore. Carlyle owns the world. He has no need for shady stuff.”
“... Um— yeah, okay. That’s not exactly what I meant, but...” Shaking his head, David simply ignored what Igra said.
I grabbed the papers off the printer. I felt bad, but Igra wasn’t wrong; business was business, whether it was illegal or not.
David continued, “Anyway, I was thinking that I don’t really know much about this offer, so I can’t really make a decision without more info.”
“Sure, of course. Here you go. If you want to know anything, just ask.” Handing him the leaflet, I sat down behind my desk.
David scanned the pages briefly. He looked tense.
My heart ached for him. “Did your sister get released yet?”
“She told the doctor she was going to kill you, so... no. My mom went to see her this morning, but Sarah’s quickly inching closer and closer to a psyche stay. I’m kinda hoping she stays in. She needs help. There’s just a blank for the salary? And what’s this for?” Wandering over to me, David leaned over the side of my desk to point at the empty lines on the page.
Taking a moment to skim through the paragraph above, I took the page and licked my lips in preparation. “Yeah, so…this is just the preliminary contract, but you can choose your own salary.”
David’s jaw almost dropped right onto my desk at this.
I couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. “Of course, it’ll need to be approved.”
“That’s nuts. Why can I choose my own salary?” He sounded dumbstruck.
I would probably see
stars twinkling around his head if I looked close enough. Smiling broadly, I sat back a little. “You’re technically a contractor if you take this job. You can pay yourself whatever you want as long as it’s reasonable. This is a money-saving venture for Carlyle and you’re being brought in to crisis mitigate, basically. Whatever you think the stress and time to get the job done successfully is worth, is what you should be paid. Remember when I said Carlyle indebts people? This is one of those things. If you take this job, David, you’ll probably be expected to work for Carlyle like this for the rest of your life.”
David’s grey eyes swirled with uncertainty.
My smile turned assuring. “It’s not as ominous as it sounds. Like Igra said. Business is business.”
“But... okay— I get some stuff, but I don’t want to be balls deep in dirty money, Ness.” My brows rose as I barked out an involuntary laugh.
David stared down at me with worry deepening the lines around his mouth.
“Sorry. I just...I don’t know. Maybe, I’ve been on this side of the line too long.” Sighing softly, I stood up to put my hand on top of the sheath of papers.
David’s frown darkened.
“Nothing illegal is going on with this job, David. And if it was, you wouldn’t know about it. You’re perfectly safe. I promise.”
For a long moment, David just watched me suspiciously before his shoulders relaxed a bit.
I knew it was a lot to process, but I was also hopeful that David understood...
25
David
“Hey.”
Glancing up from the contract I’d been reading, I tensed even when Igra held up his hands in surrender.
“Relax.” The backs of his hands were tattooed, screamed gang-slash-prison tat, but I highly doubted he got them in a prison. Seating himself across from my desk, he swiped back his long, brown hair. His eyes glittered with intelligence as they held mine.
Something about him just shouted don’t fuck with me and even when he smiled, it was kinda creepy.
“It’s daunting, isn’t it?” Igra’s Russian accent was gone, like he was just another New Yorker who couldn’t spot Russia on a map.
My brows twitched in curiosity. Clenching my jaw, I almost wished I hadn’t gone up to Vanessa’s office today, but... couldn’t take it back now. Why was this man in my office now?
“Do you want to know what’s worse than having the opportunity to work for someone like Carlyle, without taking any risk on yourself? The first time I met him, I realized that my elder brother was not the scariest person in the world. I realized that my brother is an ant and Carlyle will step on him on a whim.”
“Yeah... I got that impression from him, too.” Discomfort dried my mouth. “What’s worse than actively deciding to jump into this kind of life?”
Igra frowned under furrowed brows “... Not having a choice in the first place.”
He spoke so softly that I almost had trouble hearing him, my eyes widened even when his teeth seemed to be sharpened into fine points.
“This opportunity you have does not make you a criminal. Carlyle is far too smart, and far too powerful for anything he does to be considered criminal. It is a job, a good job, a once in a lifetime job…and you shouldn’t not take it. The legalities do not concern you.”
“What does that even mean? The legalities don’t concern me? I don’t want to jeopardize my life and my freedom for money. If what he’s doing is going to get me in hot water, I’d rather not get involved since I have the choice.” I was in a pickle, I knew; I didn’t want to know more about whatever shady shit was going on, but I also desperately needed to know, so I could make a decision. Igra had said it and I knew it— this job was the opportunity of a lifetime, and if I said ‘no’, it’d be gone forever. Life was gradients of grey and being set for life for myself, for my mom... did that outweigh the risk that I’d see something that I couldn’t unsee?
“Carlyle owns Brass Herring Solutions. By your own rationalization, you are already at risk.”
Stunned, I sucked in a breath at this unknown truth and I parted my lips to let out shocked air.
Igra sat back to cross his legs regally. He held himself like Carlyle, although he lacked the obvious aura of mortal danger. “Do you know what kind of criminals get caught? The dumb ones. You’ve met him. Carlyle is not stupid and he’s not inexperienced. He’s been embroiled in this life since he was born and he wouldn’t use some no-name fuckboy as a scapegoat because he will never need a scapegoat. No offense.”
“None taken.”
Igra chuckled lowly at my absentee response.
I rubbed my jaw and mouth I contempation. “I don’t know. Whoever thinks they’ll be in a situation like this?”
“You’re overthinking it because Vanessa killed the guy who raped her and was probably nonchalant about it, right? What kind of work does that to a person?”
My breath hitched at this statement.
Igra shrugged lightly. “Everyone knows about it. The point is, David, that that’s just who she is. This business didn’t make her that way. Everyone knows Vanessa’s story— the illiterate, barefoot church girl that ran away and was afraid to talk, becoming the second-most powerful person in this business in just a few years. The Syndicate is not some backwater, old-world Mafia like in my country. Brass Herring Solutions is a good example to this. It’s a front. Many of Carlyle’s companies are fronts. But they’re very, very, successful fronts that can withstand any investigation.”
“Did you come here to convince me to take the job? How’d you even find my office?”
“I came here because you seem to think that poor people and rich people commit crimes the same way.”
Holding my breath at Igra’s extremely blunt reply, I clenched my jaw hard.
“A poor man robs a bank. He goes through the front with a mask and a bag and a shoddy exit plan. A rich man buys the bank and uses it to launder money. That is the difference between you and Vanessa. I was not joking or being facetious when I said Carlyle owns the world. And he does it by legal means. You seem to be under the impression that one day, your government is going to storm your office and drag you out in cuffs. That will never happen.”
“You sure know a lot for someone that’s only been in the country a few months.” I wonder what Vanessa said that made Igra feel he needed to come down here. I mean, how’d he find my office, anyway?
He cast me a handsome smile that made him brighter.
I blinked hard.
Standing up, he clapped his hands before pointing a finger at me. “I thought too much about a job and as a result, my brother is running my country into a civil war. Do not be like me, David. It sucks. Also, don’t tell anyone about me dropping my accent. It’s a secret.” Strolling out of my office, Igra closed the door behind him.
I inhaled a rattling breath. I unfurled my hands and painful indents sent prickles up my arm from my fingernails digging into my palms.
Igra’s cautionary tale ran circles in my head, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to make of it. Well, except the part about the fact that Carlyle Santino owns Brass Herring Solutions, so I’m already in, even when I didn’t know it. I’m dating the second-most powerful person in his whole circle, too. Covering my mouth to squeeze my cheeks together, I shut my eyes tightly and exhaled shakily.
“I can’t wait until Christmas break, so I can fucking think.” Grumbling to myself, I ran my hand through my hair and swiped my phone off the edge of my desk. Not only was all that shit with Sarah going on, but my dad was coming, and this job was weighing on me... Groaning softly, I tapped Reece’s contact to hold the phone to my ear.
“Hello?” He sounded pissed.
Well, I was overwhelmed…great to mix with some beers. “Hey, Reece. It’s David. Wanna grab a beer tonight? Or six? I need your advice and you’re the coolest head I know.”
“Don’t gotta ask me twice. My girl is making dinner tonight, though. You wanna come to my place? You can bring Vanes
sa, too.”
My lips twisted in discomfort, but I was too far in, now. “Um, yeah, I don’t think Vanessa can really help me right now. I just wanna be a little bitch and not feel emasculated.”
Reece laughed tightly into my ear.
I held my forehead in my free hand to sigh heavily. “Seriously. I don’t know what’s goin’ on anymore.”
“No problem, David. I’m always down to bitch about my sister and not feel... emasculated.” He chuckled again.
A little chuff escaped me as some of the pressure eased off my chest.
“No, I get what you mean. Sometimes, you just need that friend that’s not invested or trying to give you advice, but you don’t wanna feel like you’re using that person to complain to. The feeling’s mutual, David.”
“Thanks. Text me your address and let me know what time.” When we hung up, I felt a lot lighter than when I’d called Reece, and I sat back in my chair to flop my head back. “Why do things have to get so stupidly complicated...?”
26
Vanessa
“Were you upset about the dirty money comment earlier?”
Humming softly, I tore my eyes off my computer screen.
David frowned under brows furrowed with concern. “I realize that it may have come off as harsher than I meant it.”
“No? I mean, you’re right. Carlyle’s got investments all over the world, in too many currencies to count, so the logical draw is that some of it is probably dirty somehow, at some point along the line. But you wouldn’t find any evidence of it, and you’d never have to look over your shoulder or anything.” I felt like the more I reassured him, the less sure David felt about the job, about me.
His eyes unfocused in thought.
“I don’t know what you want me to say. This is... it’s just business. That’s it. I don’t know how else to explain it.”
