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I never corrected them, never told theirl who’d been nothing but a child and had only been given hell on earth Let the Bratva think I did what I did for them It made no difference to the end result

“I heard all the poor fucker did was look at the Pakhan’s daughter, and it earned him that shit”

Just hearing about the Pakhan—Leonid Petrov, leader of the East Coast Bratva—had e what Maksilanced at him and watched as he pointed at the SOB as about to be disnored him and focused on the job

There was the sound of a lighter flaring, followed by the sweet, sot from a connection he had with the Cartel I’d learned that all in the span of the first five ht

I was called, and I caot rid of the bodies, and went aboutlife

“A damn look, Arlo,” Maksi “Can you iine—”

“No, because I don’t fucking care about the circulare “A job is a job when the Ruin calls me” I tipped my chin toward the black barrel off to the side “They let you co, so shut the fuck up and listen Stop talking” I held his gaze withand get the fucking barrel”

Normally I didtalk about the weather, let alone how one of these assholes kicked the bucket I did what I was tasked to do, then put it behind me

Because that’s what you had to do when you were a fixer for the Ruin

But Maksi and dumb, without much experience, and certainly not where the Ruin or the Bratva were concerned But because he was a blood relation to one of the higher-ups with the Russian mafia, they allowed him to worm his way into situations that should have been reserved for more controlled, skilled men

And this was one of those situations But pissing off soher up in the Bratva or Ruin food chain wasn’t my style, or smart for that matter, so I keptor two

Because being a free agent for the syndicate known as the Ruin, one that dealt in everything illegal and underground, meant if you wanted to keep your balls, you didn’t question shit

When the Ruin called, I took the job and did it fucking well I didn’t care if it was for the Cosa Nostra, the Bratva, or the fucking Cartel I didn’t give a shit who the job was for, as long as I got paid

So as I looked at the bashed-in face of the body I was about to dispose of, all I saas a means to an end