wasn’t so easily commanded. “If you can figure it out, Roman, I’m sure I can.”
He poked his tongue at her; she poked her tongue out at him.
I shook my head, almost endeared by their sibling like bickering, before turning back to the vault. The amount of information was nearly overwhelming. It would take time to dig through, time that I did not have.
I opened the box closest to me, pulling out the first loose piece of paper. It was dated over 20 years ago, a transcript from the Corsican Union versus Chicago Outfit war. A discussion between the late Don of Chicago and Charles Pelletier, the French mobster who had tried to ruin Chicago and failed. Both were discussing peace, but even the inked words conveyed the threats in their tones.
Another box was dedicated to the Lombardis. I flicked through a pile of images, surprised to see the funeral of Vitale’s first daughter photographed. Photographing the wake of a child felt unethical—unacceptable.
It seemed the organizations in the States had begun to forget how cherished children were and should be. Not only were they our heirs and future, but proof that innocence still lived in this dark world of ours.
To my surprise, I also found Thaddeo’s medical records. We had found heart medication in his home, but the medical records explained more about his condition. It had shown up overnight a few months ago—Olezka had told me the moment it had.
Elena’s scent washed over me, and she peered around my arm. Her neck peeked out from her sweater.
My blood heated at the sight of it, my dick no smarter than it had been in my youth. I wanted to score the unblemished skin, mark her. I could already feel the taunt skin breaking and swelling beneath my teeth, already hear the echo of her cries in my ears.
The papers crunched as my grip tightened.
Elena’s eyes flicked up to me. She caught my expression, a loose breath escaping between her lips. I saw her glance back over my shoulder, spotting Roman and the rest of my byki.
I dropped the medical records and leaned closer to her, enclosing us in our own private circle. “Why don’t you like being in here?”
She snapped her eyes to me, nostrils flaring. “Maybe I’m claustrophobic.”
“If you were, I would have carried you out of here ages ago,” I murmured. “The real reason, lyubimaya?”
Her features hardened as she internally fought with herself. Some part of her wanted to confide in me, but another part also wanted to keep her privacy. Eventually, she replied, “I don’t like it in here.” The finality of her tone indicated she was done talking about it.
I relented, letting her believe she had won this battle. Elena’s discomfort in this vault was not for such a simple reason. I knew it had something to do with the reason she kept cupping her bicep, like she was applying pressure to a wound.
“Roman,” I called, “ring Rifat. Tell him we got him an early birthday present.”
A soft knock on the door interrupted me from my work.
“Come in,” I called.
I wasn’t surprised when Tatiana slipped in, breakfast tray in hand. Artyom and Dmitri both had hard knocks, whereas neither Danika nor Roman bothered to knock. Roksana avoided my office when Artyom wasn’t with her, like she was avoiding the beacon of the Bratva.
Tatiana looked sprite and healthy, her stomach swollen and hair glossy. When she smiled, she looked like her old self.
“Kostya, I brought you some tea.” She lifted the tray in her hands, two steaming teas resting on it. “Am I interrupting?”
“Tanya,” I returned the affectionate nickname. “You’re not interrupting anything. Please sit down.”
“Are you sure? You look busy.” She gestured to the stacks of papers I had been sorting through.
Rifat had gifted them to me from the Falcone vault, a collection of drug transfers. It had revealed little about the Falcones I hadn’t already known but had let me know that the Lombardis and Falcones got their drugs from the same suppliers.
“It is nothing we don’t already know.”
Tatiana laid the tray down on the corner of the desk, before placing a cup in front of me and sitting down with the second tea between her hands. The herby scent of the tea wafted over me.
She ran her fingers through her hair before taking a sip of her tea. “I...I came to thank you. I know the lengths you went to help me—both you and Elena.”