Page 97 of Midnight Sanctuary
“What do you want?”
“What are you offering?”
I roll my eyes and sigh. “You know what I like about you, Dominik? You’re a straight shooter. Don’t ruin that now by acting coy. You want something for the risk. I respect that. Just lay it on me so that I can either accept or walk away.”
Dominik’s jaw flexes. His eyes darken just a little and he licks his lips. “You have three clubs in the city. I want ownership of one of them transferred to me. And I want an additional property. An empty lot, a suburban house, a decrepit shack—I don’t care, as long as I hold the deed.”
“That’s all?”
“And five million dollars. Cash.” He eyes me carefully, waiting for me to balk. “I can live without avenging my father if doing so means risking my Bratva and my reputation in the process.”
“Allying with me will only help your reputation,” I growl.
“Unless you lose.”
“I won’t lose.”
“If you knew that, Mr. Bugrov, you would never have sat down with me in the first place.”
I consider his requests for a moment. “I’ll transfer my least profitable club to you. There’s a small warehouse on the edge of the city that you can have. And as for the money—I’m willing to agree to one million dollars.”
“Four million.”
“Two.”
He lifts his eyebrows. “Agreed.”
We shake hands and Dominik reclines against his high-backed wingchair. I get to my feet. “I’ll be in touch. Until then, prepare your men. I need them ready to move at a moment’s notice.”
“Understood, Mr. Bugrov.”
I give him a parting nod and leave the Barrington’s lounge. Dimiv is standing by the entrance, smoking a cigarette when I approach.
“Well?”
I grab the cigarette from between Dimiv’s fingers and bring it to my lips. “He’s in.”
44
URI
I’ve only been gone for a few hours and I actuallymissher. It’s a new feeling and I have no idea how to deal with it. Maybe that’s why it annoys me so much to walk into the private hospital room I’ve paid for to find her laughing it up with Nikolai.
She certainly doesn’t look like she’s missed me. Hell, she barely seems to register that I’ve been gone at all.
“What’s so funny?” I demand irritably when I walk in and catch them mid-joke.
The laughter dies at once. Nikolai doesn’t respond aside from getting up and drifting towards the window. Alyssa just gives me a little wink. “He was sharing stories from your childhood.”
“Ourchildhood,” Nikolai calls over. “You don’t have exclusive rights over those stories, you know.”
“Maybe not, but I do have exclusive rights over this room. And I’d like to be alone with Alyssa now.”
“Uri!” Alyssa snaps at me. “Don’t be rude. Nikolai, it’s fine—you can stay.”
That annoys me as much as anything else. Nikolai just shrugs. “All good. I’ll leave you to Sir Sunshine here. If you need an escape from all his warm optimism, just give me a ring.”
Alyssa giggles but tries to suppress it behind a cough. The moment the door pulls shut, I turn to her. She reads my face and rolls her eyes at once. “He was kidding, Uri.” Reaching out to me, she asks, “Can you walk that grumpy face over here, please? If not, I’m coming over there.”