“She has children of her own,” I say, not confiding in the men that they very well are my kin too. “And if putting her under our roof keeps Mikhail from attacking us, it’s a wise decision to make.”
“You kidnapped the girl?” Don Rinaldi asks.
“Alessandro, I assure you that she won’t be an issue for you or your family.” I don’t need him up in arms or his muscle and interrogator he brought along, Aurielo, to react.
“Alessandro doesn’t have family outside of the Rinaldis,” Aurielo says. He folds his arms across his chest. A grimace crosses his features. “It’s my son I’m worried about, Ashton. One of the bratva came at him on the playground with a knife. Threatened my boy, which is a threat to all of us.”
Aurielo drops his hands and balls them into fists at his side. “I’ll kill Mikhail if he’s behind the ambush. Let me in a room with him, and I’ll be the last thing that man ever sees.”
My responsibility is to keep them calm and allow us to come together to stop the bratva. We all have a common interest and a common enemy. But we must use our brains, not brawn, to outsmart the Russians.
I hold up my hands. “Aurielo, if we kill Mikhail, there are other Russians who will take his place.”
“What do you suggest? A truce?” Alessandro asks. “You’re crazy if you think the Russians are willing to uphold a cease-fire.”
“They will if we offer them something they want,” Dante says.
“Like?” I ask, wondering what he has in mind.
“You mentioned we have a Russian girl and her children. What relation are they to Mikhail?” Dante asks.
He’s too intelligent and cunning for his good. “I already told you, she’s not a bargaining chip.”
“You’re already using her to secure our safety. Suppose we offer her back to the Russians for a truce,” Dante says.
I grumble. This meeting wasn’t supposed to involve a discussion on Aleksandra. “That would never work,” I say.
“It’s worth bringing the Russian girl in, finding out what she knows,” Moreno says. “There’s no way she’s completely innocent. She’s Russian.”
As if that makes her the enemy because of her bloodline.
“That’s enough! She is my guest, and those children are possibly mine,” I seethe. “She is not a bargaining chip. I won’t be handing her back to her brother.”
There’s a silence that fills the office. A few of the men exchange stares.
It was unlikely that any of them knew she was Mikhail’s sister. I stand from the chair at my desk. “We’ll reconvene in ten minutes.” I need a break and a stiff drink.
* * *
“Sir.” Mario steals my attention the moment I step out of the office. He was waiting for me but chose not to interrupt the meeting.
“Yes?” I ask and gesture for him to walk with me as I head down the hallway.
“You asked me to go keep an eye on the girl,” Mario says.
I did ask him that, specifically when he was upstairs guarding their rooms, which he didn’t do the best job, considering that she’s downstairs with the children.
“And?” What’s his point?
“I believe her children may know the whereabouts of the Russian boss, Mikhail,” Mario says. “They were speaking about a log cabin in the forest, a special house, outside of the city.”
“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” I say. “And they’re four. I doubt they know how to drive to the cabin.”
“You’re correct, but the house has solar panels installed, and it’s in Saugerties, not too far from the Hudson River.”
“Narrow it down. Have Gian get a drone up there if you have to and figure out which property belongs to the Russians,” I say.
“Yes, sir.”