“I refuse.” Kirill pushes past him and heads toward the house.
Damien follows after him. “Come on, you know you want to.”
“No, I don’t.”
“What if I pay you?”
“Not interested.”
“What if we bet on something?”
“Still not interested.”
“Even profit?”
Kirill gives him the side-eye. “How do you even know the meaning of that word?”
“Couldn’t give a fuck about it, to be honest, but I’m good at it, and I know you understand its value.”
Kirill continues walking without saying anything. Damien follows him inside, seeming so pleased with himself.
“You okay, Sash?” Maksim wraps his hand around my shoulder in a bro hug, forcing me to stop staring at the house.
“Uh, yeah. Sort of.”
“If it’s any consolation.” Yuri joins my other side and hits me on the back. “None of us can win against Boss. He’s just…made of stone.”
“Yeah, don’t sweat it, Sasha,” another guard says.
“You held out pretty well in front of his alien stamina,” one more says.
They all either pat me on the shoulder, ruffle my hair, or hit me on the back. The latter does more damage to my aching body, but I smile through it.
Suddenly, all the embarrassment and weakness I felt earlier gradually disappears. I haven’t known these guys for a long time, but they’ve slowly but surely become like a family to me.
“Let’s get you something to eat.” Maksim and Yuri drag me in the direction of the kitchen.
“Is Damien really here just to fight?” I ask Maksim. “Or does he have an ulterior motive?”
“I was wondering the same thing,” Yuri says thoughtfully. “If it were any of the other Bratva members, I’d be certain they were here to spy, but according to the data I gathered about Damien, I’m pretty sure he’s really here to fight after he had a taste of Boss’s strength the other day.”
“Yeah,” Maksim adds. “I’m gonna throw a wild guess and say he’s not sophisticated enough to be a spy.”
“He could do it unknowingly, though,” Yuri says, his tone of voice changing. “There’s absolutely no trustworthy people in the organization. They all want to be at the top, whatever it takes.”
Kirill included.
He’s at the top of the list of people who would use any methods to reach his goal.
Maybe he’s started to rub off on me, too, because ever since he asked me to punch him and told me he’d reward me with anything, I’ve been thinking of an important position.
One where I would have as much access to the main office as Viktor and could finally investigate what Roman left behind.
22
KIRILL
Reaching goals doesn’t happen arbitrarily.