“If Viktor knows Sorbacov put a hit on him, wouldn’t he just leave whatever job he’s doing and go into hiding?”
Casimir burst out laughing. “Viktor isn’t the kind of man to hide from anyone. He’s going to go after Sorbacov, which is probably what he’s planning on doing the moment he finishes off his mark. He’s after someone big, Lissa, and he isn’t going to stop because of a little thing like Sorbacov turning on him. He’s always been in the most dangerous of situations. Always. He went after the most high value targets, the ones that were considered extremely dangerous.”
“Isn’t that what all of you do?” Lissa asked. She found the conversation fascinating. She wasn’t alone in what she did, or in her conviction that the job was needed in certain circumstances – when the law couldn’t touch the offender. “The seafood is delicious,” she added, because it was.
“Mine too,” he acknowledged. “And yes, we all go after targets, but Viktor and Gavriil’s targets were men surrounded by heavy protection. One had to find a way to penetrate that protection and get inside the inner circle. They spent months, or even years, doing that and living that life day in and day out, never making a mistake. It’s not easy.”
She nodded. “You admire them.”
“I know how difficult role-playing is. Each character I play is for a short period of time; they have to be that person for months or years. You can lose yourself in a role. Life gets confusing when you don’t have anything to anchor you.”
His gaze held hers. She knew what he meant. Her. She was his anchor. Gavriil had Lexi now. Viktor had no one. “Maybe he’s not alone, Tomasso, maybe some of the men and women he went to that horrible school with are with him right now. Maybe they have one another’s back.”
“Maybe. I doubt it. They went off the grid, one by one. No one has found them. Or if they have and someone quietly killed them, no one has taken credit for it. I can’t imagine Sorbacov not crowing about it to someone. He prides himself on being smarter than any of us.”
“He isn’t,” Lissa said. “His arrogance is going to be his downfall. Uri never married. Is he gay?”
Casimir shook his head. “No. He likes women. I honestly think he got caught up in his political role and just didn’t have time for a real relationship. He’s had a couple of mistresses, but they didn’t last long. I haven’t heard he’s into kink. He was close to his mother and reveres his father. Cleaning up his father’s mess isn’t just about his own political aspirations, it’s also about keeping his father’s reputation clean for the history books.”
Lissa nodded. “That’s good to know. Uri and Kostya Sorbacov are part owners of the very prestigious Krasnyy Drakon hotel in St. Petersburg.”
Casimir frowned. Shook his head. “I know practically everything there is to know about that family. How would I not know that?”
“They bought into the hotel or acquired the shares through a dummy corporation. Renovations were done, mostly to make the hotel over for the Sorbacovs to have an underground tunnel system that doesn’t just extend beneath the hotel, but under other buildings as well. They want the hotel to compete with St. Petersburg’s finest. By staying silent partners, the extra renovations, the tunnels and hidden hallways, enable Uri and Kostya to have a public place to go where they have extra protection.”
“You’ve been reading the file you got from Ivan Belsky.”
She put another forkful of delicious shrimp pasta in her mouth and nodded as she chewed. “Yep,” she admitted after she chewed and swallowed, trying not to moan, the food was so delicious. “Belsky has a reputation for delivering the real information. It was somewhat of a point of honor with him. You got what you paid for. Of course he often killed those he delivered to, but in his mind he earned his money because he actually came up with the information. Nuts, but I suppose in his mind, it worked for him. So, yes, I believe the information is reliable.”
“Gavriil.” Casimir nearly spat his brother’s name. “He had to have supplied you with enough information to give you a direction. Damn him. He put you on the trail.”
“I was already going there, Tomasso.” She emphasized his name to remind him that he was there because his brother had sent for him to protect her. “He knew he couldn’t stop me and apparently he kept his word to me and didn’t tell anyone, not even you, what I had come here to do.”