Zarri woke up alone. She opened one eye, the space beside her was empty, cold, too.
"Where'd he go?"
She pushed herself upright. Her hair was a disaster.
One strap of her nightdress had slipped down her shoulder, her phone was nowhere in sight, and judging by the sunlight flooding through the curtains, morning had arrived without consulting her.
She reached blindly towards the bedside table.
Nothing. Other side. Still nothing.
"Where the fuck is my phone?" Zarri dropped backwards. "Fantastic."
The door opened and Alex entered carrying a tray, coffee, toast, fruits and something covered beneath a silver lid.
She looked at him. "Sergeyev, you're being suspicious."
"I brought breakfast." Alex smiled.
Zarri pulled the blanket higher. "What did you do?"
"Why does breakfast mean I did something?" Alex placed the tray across her lap. "I can be thoughtful."
Zarri lifted the silver lid. Pancakes. She looked at him. Alex looked extremely pleased with himself. "You made these?"
"No."
"Thank God."
His expression soured.
Zarri picked up her coffee. Alex sat on the edge of the bed. His phone vibrated and his attention dropped to the screen.
Just like that, the humour disappeared.
Alex read the message, his jaw shifting once before he locked the phone and placed it face-down beside him.
She took a sip. "You okay? Who died?"
"No one..." Alex looked at her. "... Yet."
Zarri raised a brow. Alex reached for a strawberry.
Her fork stabbed into it first.
He looked offended. "Ouchiee, violence doesn't suit you, my love."
Zarri ate the strawberry while maintaining eye contact. "Talk, you bastard."
"Yes, bossy." Alex leaned back on one hand. "It's just work." The phone vibrated again. Neither of them looked away, then Alex picked it up. His eyes moved across the screen. "Fuck."
He typed something quickly and his phone started ringing. Whatever he saw killed the rest of his mood.
"I need to take this."
"Mm."
He stood, bent to kiss the top of her head, then headed for the door.
"Don't take long," Zarri called sweetly. The door closed behind him and her smile disappeared. She picked up her coffee.
Work. Fine. If he didn't want to tell her, she wouldn't force him. She wasn't his mother. Wasn't going to chase a grown man around his own house demanding his secrets.
Zarri took another sip.
đź’ś~~~~~~~~
Chaos was already in his office when Alex walked in. Xavier stood beside the desk.
Alex dropped into the nearest chair and pointed at Chaos. "Before you even start, please don't."
Chaos looked up from the document in front of him. "I haven't said anything."
"I know your face."
Chaos returned to the page. "You were given a simple meeting."
"And I attended your simple meeting." Alex frowned.
Chaos's eyes stayed on him. "You insulted him." He closed the file.
Alex's amusement vanished. "Didn't you hear his offer when I reported back? Sixty-eight million euros by Wednesday."
Chaos leaned back.
"He practically confessed without confessing." Alex crossed one ankle over his knee and rubbed at his jaw. "My supply is already fucked."
"The obvious solution would be to pay him."
Alex immediately looked at him.
Chaos's gaze remained on the desk. "Paying him solves Wednesday."
Alex nodded. "And creates Thursday."
Xavier looked between them.
Chaos tapped one finger against the armrest. "He asks for sixty-eight now... "
"A hundred next time," Alex said. "Then something else. Then his fucking son needs a campaign, his wife wants a foundation, and maybe his mistress needs a house."
Chaos looked up.
Alex shrugged. "What? I'm Greed, not Delusion."
Xavier almost smiled.
Alex continued. "He has political reach. People in the right places. More importantly, he knows where people aren't supposed to look."
"And now he's making them look," Xavier said.
Chaos rose and crossed towards the windows.
Alex watched him. "We could kill him."
Xavier looked up. Chaos said nothing.
Alex spread his hands. "What? It's efficient."
"No."
Alex frowned.
"You're becoming boring, brother."
Chaos turned. "Kill him now and every person he has positioned becomes a question mark."
Alex's expression sharpened.
"You can't kill everyone who refuses to move according to your piece," Chaos continued. "I'm a businessman, Alexander. Not a fucking gangster."
Alex's glare hardened.
Chaos ignored it and looked back over the city. "We don't know which belong to Vross and which he merely convinced us belonged to him."
That was the problem. Vross had been useful for years that they had stopped asking how much of the machinery behind him was actually necessary.
Alex clicked his tongue. "So we find another way."
"Yes." Chaos looked over his shoulder. "Preferably one that makes him feel poor."
Xavier stepped closer. "Alternative political protection would take time."
"Alternative routes?" Alex asked.
"Possible," Xavier said. "Not immediately. And if Vross has enough influence over the current points of entry, changing one route without understanding the extent of his reach may simply move the interception elsewhere."
Alex's fingers drummed against his thigh.
Chaos was silent for a moment.
"How long before this becomes a serious problem?"
Xavier looked at him. "It already is sir."
Chaos faced him fully. "Find out exactly how much of our access runs through Vross. I want names. Institutions. Anyone directly connected to him. Anyone he has influenced. Separate what belongs to him from what he merely takes credit for."
"Yes, Young Master."
Alex stood. "And me?"
Chaos looked at him. "You need product... I might know someone."
Alex muttered something vicious in Russian. Xavier pretended not to hear it. Chaos picked up his cigar.