Chapter EIGHT

Later that day…

Konstantin sat in the back of the limo he’d ordered to take him to the meeting with Ivanovich. Eduardo sat across from him, the big Grizzly deep in thought. That was the way with their kind. Some thought Bears were slow, but they were simply thoughtful. They took their time weighing and measuring before acting.

He left the Grizzly to his own musings and focused on the meeting ahead. Appearances were everything when it came to the underworld, and Konstantin wanted Ivanovich to understand he was no longer a penniless boy in Russia. He needed the man’s respect.

The limo stopped at a brownstone with gaudy statues and sculpted boxwoods somewhere in Dyker Heights. The neighboring houses were more sedate, more stately. The place reeked of ill-gotten gains and new money. A half dozen huge Russian Tigers dressed in all black milled about. Security, Konstantin figured.

“So obvious,” Eduardo grunted.

“They are not big on hiding where they come from,” Konstantin explained.