Viktor shook his head. "I was the first," he said. He pressed his thumb into the middle of his palm. "When this is over, I'm going to stake my claim. She won't like it, me being gone so long, but..." He shrugged. His features were hard. Implacable.
Casimir didn't think that boded very well for his woman. "Does this woman know she's been claimed?"
"She'd better know it," Viktor said.
"Really?" Lissa asked, her voice innocent. Too innocent. The sheer arrogance of the man rubbed her the wrong way. "So you kept in touch with her for the past... how long have you been undercover? Five years?"
Viktor narrowed his gaze. "Deep undercover means no communicating with the outside world that might put someone you care about in jeopardy."
Lissa nodded. Casimir shifted closer to her, uncertain what exactly was taking place between his wife and his brother.
"So this woman of yours knew you were going undercover."
"Wife. My fucking wife."
Lissa's eyebrows shot up and her fingers tightened around Casimir's. Glancing down at her, he realized she was angry. "Your wife then. You told her you were going deep undercover, right? There were ways you would let her know you weren't dead."
"She knows."
"Good. Otherwise she might be dating someone else, or maybe, if she didn't know she was already someone's wife, married to someone else."
Viktor went still. Scary still. The room shuddered. "That happens, sister, and her new husband won't have long for this world."
"Not a good idea to leave a woman alone for five years, brother," Lissa continued, "especially if she's smokin' hot. And a runner. She goes running down the highway and she's bound to stop traffic and then where are you going to be? Oh wait. I know. Somewhere deep undercover while she's all alone and lonely. Surrounded by men who think she's smokin' hot, because she is."
"What the hell, Giacinta?" Casimir demanded.
Beside him, Lissa moved restlessly, drawing Viktor's sharp gaze. Lissa looked down at her wedding ring, the band that was tucked up tight against the diamond he'd given her earlier in the day.
"I just wouldn't want you to ever do that kind of thing to me, Casimir," Lissa said. "I wouldn't be in the least understanding, and I'm a little outraged on all my fellow sisters' behalf."
There was a small silence, Viktor staring down at her face for a long moment before he sighed and changed the subject. "Tell me about the farm. You live there, right? Where my brothers live?"
Her gaze jumped to his face. "They're happy." Her voice was strictly neutral. "Even Gavriil. He's still in a lot of pain, but Lexi is working with that and hopes to alleviate it, at least most of it. All of them are doing well."
Casimir waited, but Lissa didn't mention her other sisters. He took a breath and then let it out. The temperature in the room had gone up a couple of degrees. That wasn't his brother's temper. That was Lissa.
"Your brothers are going to want to know what your life is like."
"My life?" Viktor echoed. "Baby, my life is totally fucked, but I put myself there and I'm going to get the job done no matter what. Then I'll go claim my life." There was no bitterness in his voice, only a statement of fact.
Casimir knew that no matter how bad they might think Viktor's situation was it was probably a hundred times worse, or he would have at least contacted his brothers. "You know the Sorbacovs have a hit out on all of us, Ilya included."
"I heard. I know that you told Lazzaro that your woman planned to go with you to take them out for us."
Viktor didn't sound in the least approving. In fact, he sounded like a freaking male chauvinist. Just looking at him, seeing the hard, set lines in his face, she could see he was implacable. He'd be hell to live with. Difficult to understand. And he wouldn't care. His woman would be expected to live life his way. On his terms.
Lissa's fingers tightened in Casimir's. "Actually, Casimir is going with me," she corrected, her chin going up. "We figured with him along the chances were better that we'd get them both and walk away alive."
"You do that, call Lazzaro. He'll be waiting for that call and he'll get the two of you out of the country fast if you need it. He's more than willing to help, and he's one of the few we can absolutely count on."
Casimir nodded, not bothering to correct his woman. He'd been planning all along to kill the Sorbacovs. He still wasn't certain he liked the idea of Lissa going with him and taking center stage, but he knew there was no dissuading her. She had a stubborn streak and she'd made up her mind, even more so now that she knew he had planned to get rid of them.
"These men backing you up, Viktor. You're sure of their loyalty?"
Viktor nodded. "They grew up with me. We're all that's left of the old school. Eighteen of us from one hundred and thirty. We stuck by one another in training and after. The strongest, all psychics, all men Kostya Sorbacov couldn't control. He was afraid of every one of us. One by one, the others slipped Kostya's leash and signed on with me. Our target was the president of the motorcycle club called Sword. The club started in the United States but now has chapters in Europe. He ran drugs, arms and was the number one suspect across Europe for human trafficking. He's originally from Greece. His mother took him and ran to the United States to get away from her husband. She ran with the club in the States, and he detested her man. Actually, her man's son. When I say detested him, I mean, he thinks about killing him every minute of every hour of every day. The target inherited a shitload of money from his brother and with that, the ships to help hide the worst of his trafficking, and that includes children."
Lissa pulled in a breath. "You're talking about Evan Shackler-Gratsos. Airiana and Max rescued four children from one of his ships. They say he's a ghost."
"He's no ghost. Word is, he wants to kill Jackson Deveau himself. He put the word out that no one else can touch him. He'll have to come out of the shadows to make his try and then we'll have him."
"You're telling us this because?" Casimir said. "Deep undercover is for your protection, Viktor, not just those you care about. You shouldn't have said a word of this to us, or anyone else."
"I don't get the fucker, you tell Gavriil and the others. They have to get him." His gaze lingered on Lissa's face. "You know enough to keep your mouth shut until there's no other way."
Lissa nodded slowly. Casimir could see that she was more inclined to feel favorably toward Viktor, although she still had a look in her eyes that indicated she wanted to rip into him and the temperature in the room hadn't gone down in the least.
"Viktor, these men you have with you, are you certain they'll stand with you? You take down the president of a club that size and you're vulnerable. The members know you. They know your face. You've ridden with them for five years. Say you manage it, what's to say they don't come after you a year from now, and you're hunted, just like the Sorbacovs are hunting us now."
"They'll stand with me. They've always stood with me." Something crossed his face. Something dark and sinister. In that moment, Viktor looked every inch of what he was - what he'd been shaped into. It was dark and it was ugly. "That school, Casimir..." He shook his head. "We had to hold on to something or we would have died like the rest of them. We had to trust one another. We've been doing that since we were boys. They're solid. They'll stand with me, before it's done. While we're getting it done and after. They'll be with me."
"After?" Casimir echoed.
"We'll get this last job done, and if you do manage to rid the world of the Sorbacovs, we'll finally be free."
"The club will send someone after you, Viktor," Casimir repeated.
Viktor shrugged, his face hard, eyes dead and flat. "Let them. Sea Haven isn't their territory. They can't just ride around openly with their colors and not get retaliation from the local clubs. We'll be together, and there isn't one of my brothers that isn't lethal. Most of us are too fucked up to try to live in society with society's rules, but we have a plan. We'll stick to it and we'll be all right, looking after one another."
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"Do your blood brothers have any place in that plan of yours?" Casimir asked, trying not to be hurt. They'd all waited so long to be together. Casimir was risking his life to free them all, and it sounded as if Viktor didn't plan on hanging around.