Page 3 of Sinner's Sacrifice
“You’ve got eyes and ears all over the place,” Baz pointed out. “What are they saying?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Business is good right now, lots of new construction.”
“The construction arm of your business has gotten bigger?”
“Yes, a couple of big companies pulled out two or three years ago when the price of lumber doubled.”
“So business is good, but you’ve noticed something that doesn’t fit?”
“I’d probably be able to figure it out if my office hadn’t gone up in smoke along with my assistant.”
Baz thought about Yvgeny’s predicament. “Are you doing anything illegal these days?”
Yvgeny snorted. “Aside from family business you mean?”
At Baz’s nod, Yvgeny continued. “No actually. Your mother instructed me to divest myself of anything hinky about five years ago.” He paused. “Outside of family business.” He shook his head. “Maybe she saw all this coming.”
“My mom is a strategic thinker.” An idea occurred to him, and he grinned. “Hire one of those law enforcement types to be your new assistant, then get them looking for whatever is bothering you.”
“I need an assistant for both businesses.”
“So, bring in a family member to help you with family stuff. Or get my mom to send you somebody. Someone to train even from an allied family.”
“I don’t think she’ll go for that.”
Baz shrugged. “Won’t know until you ask her.”
“You could help me,” Yvgeny said in a diffident, small tone that didn’t fool Baz for a second.
“Taking on that much responsibility would not be wise.”
“But—”
“No.” Baz threw the word at his cousin, hard.
It had taken him five hundred years to get to a point where he could allow himself to love again, to trust anyone again. He was not ready for more responsibility than that. Besides, they were still waiting for the other shoe to fall. Baz, Nika, and Yvgeny had killed several vampires from South America after they tried to kidnap Nika. That many deaths would cause unease, unrest, and possibly retaliation within their small community of obsessive-compulsive, blood-sucking weirdos.
His mother, for one, had already graced them with a visit, and issued a few threats.
More were sure to come.
“Fine.” Yvgeny sighed like he’d been caught in a lie by his teacher. He took a couple of steps away, then turned. “I’ll see if I can find a car matching your incredibly low standards.”
Baz watched him walk away and get into his limo. Watched as the long, black vehicle drove away, and knew he was going to have to keep watching Yvgeny closely.
His cousin was subdued and distracted. Both were dangerous for men in their position. None of them could afford to make any costly mistakes, or they could all end up dead or worse.
Chapter One
Yvgeny Breznik studied the young man sitting across the desk from him. He had a pleasant expression, an interested gaze, and he was leaning forward slightly. Eager, engaged, and earnest.
He was also an FBI agent, recently graduated from their academy. He had a degree in finance, a black belt in two different martial art disciplines, and shot at marksman level. Only the degree was on his resume, however. The rest came from Yvgeny’s security analyst. Hacker. Whatever.
This over-achiever was vastly over-qualified for the position of Yvgeny’s administrative assistant. Yet, here he sat in a suit and tie, looking like he’d never gotten his hands dirty before.
“Where do you see yourself in five years?” Yvgeny asked him. He wanted to see how the kid would respond to one of the most standard interview questions.
“My goal is to move up in your finance department, sir.”