Chapter 076

“Your Highness.” It was John Anderson, his chief of operations. “The Cartel operation is now urgent. Your brother just had a huge find in Alaska and he's expanding his organization. On the land he bought last spring from that Spaniard, Eduardo Cruz.”

“Wait,” Andrei growled. His hands were shaking as he went down the hall to his office. So much for peace. He could feel his heartbeat thrumming in his neck, hear his own blood rushing in his ears. His brother had that effect on him. He closed the office door. “Go.”

“Sir, if the find is as substantial as it seems, we might soon drop from the market, causing the cartel to drop....”

Andrei paced as he listened, clawing back his hair. Usually business calmed him, because he relished a fight. But not when the news involved his brother.

Volodya, Volodya, please wait for me! Closing his eyes, Andrei could still see his baby brother’s chubby face as he’d toddled after him through the snow those long-ago, hungry winters. Sometimes supplies at the homestead grew lean, and Andrei had gone out with their father to hunt rabbits. I want to hunt, too. Once, Viktor had idolized his big brother. Now, he enjoyed taunting and hurting Andrei any chance he could get. Viktor would probably be the death of him.

As his COO droned on, Andrei barely listened. He felt weary. For ten years now, he’d fought this fight. There was no longer any joy in it. He’d taken up hobbies like car racing, risking death for the sake of cutting a few seconds off his time. He’d taken women, in endless, meaningless one-night stands. He’d been starving to feel something. Anything. But lately, even the thrill of cheating death had brought only a tiny blip.

There were no new worlds to conquer. He’d been going through the motions for a long time. He felt nothing.

Not until last night.

Not until Illyra returned to him.

He exhaled. Illyra.

She made him feel, after years of deadness. She’d brought pleasure. Yearning. Anger. Guilt. Desire. All wrapped up in a chaotic ball. He felt as if he’d just woken out of a coma, after years of dull gray sleep.

Perhaps he was incapable of love, with a soul twisted and gnarled like a tree split by lightning. He’d told her the truth: he’d never be the man he’d once been—naive and trusting enough to give away the shirt off his back. Not even for a woman like her.

Barely hearing his COO’s voice, Andrei looked through the window of his villa’s home office. The bright Hawaiian dawn was burning through the low-swept morning clouds still kissing the green earth. The sky was turning blue, as blue as the sparkling ocean below.

He had the sudden memory of Illyra rising from the waves in the moonlight last night, her short silk robe stuck to her like a second skin as rivulets of water streamed down her breasts to her thighs. Andrei shuddered, turning instantly hard. Instead of satiating him, making love to her had only increased his hunger.

“...So what should we do, Your Highness?” his COO finished anxiously.

Andrei blinked, realizing he hadn’t been listening to the man for the past ten minutes. But he suddenly felt bored by business matters—completely bored. Even though it involved his brother. “What is your opinion?”

“We’ll have someone at our Alaska group infiltrate your brother’s operation to see if the data is accurate. If it is, we can try to influence the political process to delay their building. We could even consider some kind of sabotage at the cartel. Although of course it would in no way be traceable back to you, sir....”

You’re ruthless. And you revel in it. The realization of how low he’d sunk caused Andrei to flinch. “No.”

“But, Your Highness...”

“I said no.” Clawing back his hair, he paced across his office with his phone at his ear, prowling in circles around his desk.

“So what are your orders, Your Highness? How shall we make sure your brother does not succeed?”

Andrei abruptly stopped. He’d been wrong about Illyra.

Could he have similarly been wrong about Viktor, overreacting to his brother’s betrayal?

It was an accident. His brother’s voice had been muffled, humble, on the phone the next day from St. Petersburg. When you wouldn’t believe me, I was angry and drunk at the airport bar. I didn’t realize the man sitting next to me was a reporter for the Anchorage Herald. Forgive me, Volodya.

Andrei's hands tightened into fists. But he hadn’t accepted the apology. He’d been angry, humiliated, haunted. And he feared his stupidity might jeopardize the Siberian mining rights that were about to come through, rights that could make or break the fledgling company. “If you can’t trust my leadership, we should end this partnership.”

“Leadership? I thought we were supposed to be equals,” his brother had retorted. When Andrei maintained a frosty silence, Viktor had said harshly, “Fine. I’ll keep the rights in Africa and South America. And you can go to hell.”

Andrei had been angry enough to let his brother go without telling him about the Siberian rights worth potentially half a billion dollars. He’d effectively cheated Viktor out of his half.

Perhaps... He took a deep breath. Perhaps Viktor had some cause to seek revenge against him.

“You will do nothing.” Now, Andrei stared out the window toward the palm trees and blue sky. “My brother’s operation in Alaska does not affect us. Leave him alone. May the best cartel win.”