Page 36 of Sinner's Sacrifice
“He shoots at marksman level,” Yvgeny said. “I’m sure he’s got the visual acuity to determine if it’s me or not.”
“Huh.” She turned to Brian. “Are you carrying?”
“Um...”
“Because you should be.” She smiled with her teeth. “It’s dangerous to be around this guy for any length of time.”
“I’m dangerous to be around?” Yvgeny asked with mock indignation as they headed for the stairs that would take them down to the main level. “The second time I met you, you were trying to save the life of a teenage gang member who’d been shot.” He turned to Brian. “The shooter was standing not ten feet away and was about to fire at her, too. Took about a hundred years off my life.”
“A hundred years,” Sam muttered. “How old are you? Thirty, thirty-five?”
Yvgeny ignored her guess. “He kept shouting at you to get out of the way so he could finish the other kid off.”
“You stepped in front of me, Mr. I think I’m bulletproof.”
“I was, in fact, wearing a ballistic vest made especially for me that looks exactly like a suit jacket.”
“And if he’d aimed at your head?” she asked sweetly.
“I would have ducked.”
Sam burst out laughing and kept laughing as the three of them walked into the restaurant.
Chapter Six
Sam wanted to punch Yvgeny. Punch him hard for thinking any kind of ballistic vest could save him from the bullets of an irrational person who was also higher than the empire state building.
“You are so full of shit,” she told him instead. A glance at the FBI agent made her want to laugh harder, though. The guy’s mouth had been hanging open the entire walk from Yvgeny’s office to the restaurant. Not that she could blame him. Objectively speaking, their conversation likely sounded bonkers.
They sat at Yvgeny’s permanent booth, and a waitress handed them menus before they were even settled in.
“Coffee for me, please, Carla,” Yvgeny said to her. He gestured at Brian. “This is my new assistant, Brian Stettler.”
“The FBI agent?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Carla gave Brian a head shake. “No offense, but I can’t be friendly. This is the best job I’ve ever had. Mr. Breznik takes care of his people.”
“How is your mother, Carla?”
“Feeling much better, sir. Her hair is growing back now that the chemo treatments are done.” She looked at Brian. “Mr. Breznik paid for my mother’s cancer treatments and gave my oldest son a scholarship to go to college. How many employers do that for their people?”
Yvgeny cleared his throat. “I offer the same benefits to all my employees.”
“Exactly,” she said with a smile for him. “Mr. Breznik is generous and thoughtful,” she said to Brian with a scowl. “What do you want to drink?”
“Coffee, please,” Brian said.
“Make that three,” Sam added.
Carla nodded and hurried off.
No one said anything while she and Brian looked at the menu.
“I don’t understand,” Brian said after a minute, closing his menu. “I really don’t.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific, Mr. Stettler,” Yvgeny said, with one raised eyebrow. “What are you confused about?”