“Who are you?” he asked calmly.
“Just a man wanting to talk.”
He scoffed. “Talk? Take the gun away, and we’ll talk.”
I laughed. “How about we visit your library? I heard you have quite an impressive collection.”
I pushed him forward and let him lead me to the side of the house.
We came to a stop at two huge wooden doors. I pushed the gun further into his back. “Open it,” I demanded.
He opened it calmly. I had to give him credit. He didn’t even seem a bit scared that I was pointing a gun at him or that I’d crashed his niece’s birthday party.
I shoved him into the room and closed the door behind me.
He turned around and took me in with a dead expression.
I wondered how many men he had killed to look like that. When we’d found Nikolay at twenty-five, he had looked like that.
Though Nikolay didn’t stop killing, he now had a purpose, considering he worked as our enforcer. Not like the death match he participated in to pay off Alina’s debt.
Ricardo Ricci smiled at me. “I’ve been expecting you.”
I kept my expression neutral. There was always the possibility he knew we landed in Vegas.
Damien and Nikolay came in from the side, their guns out.
“Yeah?” I asked. “Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Call it curiosity, Mr. Volkov. I wanted to know what you could possibly want with me.”
“Seventeen years ago, you helped a woman escape a brothel in Sicily. Remember that?”
If I hadn’t watched him, I wouldn’t have noticed the reaction in his eyes. It was brief and gone before I could blink, but it was there.
“I’ve been to many brothels, Mr. Volkov. Had to. It’s a sort of … ah, let’s say meeting place with like-minded people, yeah? I’m sure you’ve been there many times.”
I knew from the glint in his eyes he wasn’t talking about me visiting the brothel but sold there. Nikolay let out a small growl and moved closer.
“Can’t we just fucking torture the information out of him?” Nikolay asked.
Damien held up his hand, his eyes landing on me. He was letting me take the lead on this.
“Nina Golubev. I want to know where she is,” I said.
“Are you sure this is the road you want to go down? Sometimes, the past is best left in the past. Sometimes, it is easier to leave the scab alone and just let it heal, son.”
I aimed my gun at his feet and pulled the trigger. It missed him by inches. He didn’t even flinch. I supposed, doing what he did, he had been prepared for death for a long time now. It was a miracle he’d made it to the age he was. I estimate him to be in his mid-to-late-fifties. Most enforcers didn’t live to see their fortieth birthday.
My eyes briefly went to Nikolay. I wouldn’t let that happen to him.
“I’m not your son,” I said, aiming the gun at his heart. “Tell me where she is. If she’s—dead or alive.”
He looked me directly in the eyes. I fought against the urge to shiver. The man had dead eyes. “You go to her, and she’ll be in danger. Do you really want to risk it?”
That meant she was alive. My heart pounded fiercely in my chest at the thought. I really had been expecting him to tell me she was dead.
“Do you really think I’m the kind of man to leave behind a trail?” I asked.