“YOU HAD BETTER EXPLAIN yourself, Yuri.” Valeri sat at his desk, watching the image of his brother’s face on the private teleconference screen. The familiar reflection stared back at him, a constant reminder of a bond neither would ever be free of and a competition that could never be won. “I can’t help if you refuse to reveal your entire plan.”
Yuri rubbed his beard and hunched toward the screen. “Just keep Lara out of sight until I send for her.”
“I’ve better things to do than play hide and seek,” Valeri said. “What exactly do you plan to do with her, and when. I don’t want her underfoot any longer than necessary. And her name is Sophie.”
“I don’t give a f**k what her name was; it’s Lara now you khuyesos.”
Valeri kept his temper. “You plan to marry her? To please father? That’s absur
