Page 50 of Cashmere Ruin
That was the one concession I couldn’t make: another man. Another fucking man, putting his hands on her.
April Flowers ismine.
But you didn’t want her, whispers that sadistic little voice in my head.You rejected her to her face, then threatened to force her to die alone. And you still wonder why she left?
“Shut up,” I growl into the silence.
But it does nothing. The voice prattles on.You didn’t have the balls to go all the way. You cut her out, then locked her up. What else did you expect? That she’dobeyyou?
“Shut up.”
That she’dstaywith you? That she’dloveyou?
“I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
I throw the glass across the room. Shards go flying everywhere: the couch, the table, the bed. The liquor trickles down from the wall to the carpet, spreading like blood.
“… Motya?”
Only when I hearthatvoice do I snap out of it. “Yuri.”
My brother rushes to my side. “Who were you talking to?” he asks, eyes filled with concern.
I hate it. I hate being looked at that way. “No one.”
“‘No one’? Matvey, you were yelling. I heard you from the street. If it’s about one of thevory?—”
“It’s not about the goddamnvory.”
I have no idea what Yuri sees in my eyes. These days, I barely recognize myself in the mirror. But whatever it is, it’s enough to make him back off with his hands up. “Okay, okay,” he says. “I just came by to… I can come back later.”
“No. Tell me now.”
He swallows, as if hesitating to speak. As if afraid this madman that’s taken his brother’s place will wring his neck again for uttering one wrong word. “It’s about the D.C. deal,” he rasps eventually.
My ears perk up. “Talk.”
“I found something, I think,” Yuri stammers out. “In the paperwork.” He reaches for the files in his bag but fumbles, scattering sheets everywhere.
Jesus fucking Christ.If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was staring at a kid caught with his entire arm down the cookie jar, not my Bratva-hardened brother. Am I really that scary now? “Leave that. Just tell me.”
Yuri gives a shaky nod. “You know how we thought it was Carmine? Given, you know…”
The kidnapping and timely appearance in our territory.“Go on.”
“Well, here’s the thing…” He wrings his hands and the papers with them. “It’s not. Or rather… it’s notjusthim. It can’t be.”
I snatch the files from his grip and spread them out on the table. “Show me.”
“See here, here… and here?” He points at a few underlined pieces of data. “This is thevory’s login records around the timeof the acquisition. As you know, they’re technically nominal, but…”
“But the lazy sons of bitches just use whatever computer’s already on when they need it,” I fill in. “Grisha already told me. Well?”
“Well, the timing’s suspicious. See how the timestamps match here?” He points to another stack of papers.
No, not papers:emails.“Where did you get these?”
“From the database of the company that ended up acquiring the building. Look how the exchanges happened just after the logins. It’s too perfect, Matvey.”