“Thank God,” Mallory murmured. “Then may I ask why you’re here?”
“Mr. Kaskov is going to have a discussion with Mr. Tanner and wanted me to check out the premises.” He turned to Tanner. “Everything seems to be in order. I’ve notified Mr. Kaskov and he’s on his way up. I was just in the kitchen preparing coffee. May I get you a cup?”
“By all means. Thank you. Make yourself at home.” Tanner glanced at Mallory. “I believe it’s time you went out on the terrace and had that drink.”
“You’re certain?”
“Nikolai says you’re not needed. But evidently I am.” He turned back to Nikolai. “And I’m sure you’ve chosen the place where Kaskov would want to have this discussion?”
“The library seems to be comfortable and secure. But Mr. Kaskov said that he’d be happy to accommodate you if you prefer another location.”
“He did? Interesting.” Tanner headed for the library. “The library is fine. I’ll wait there for him. You can show him in when he arrives.”
Nikolai glanced at the elevator. “I’m sure it will be any moment.”
Tanner was certain it would be, too. Kaskov’s schedule usually ran smoothly with absolutely no glitches. Since he was head of one of the most powerful mafia groups in Russia and had any number of enemies among the lesser mob hierarchies of the Russian underworld, he wouldn’t have lived this long and gained his present dominance if it didn’t. Tanner hadn’t had any dealings with him since he’d worked out the payment for Mallory’s indiscretion, but he was sure that hadn’t changed. He’d never met a more intelligent or dangerous man nor one he’d more prefer to keep at a considerable distance.
But none of Nikolai’s signals had indicated threat, and Kaskov had ordered those signals. So assume dominance until he knew what the hell the bastard wanted. First, sit down behind the desk in the library and make Kaskov come to him.
He didn’t have to wait long. Sergai Kaskov swept into the library only a few minutes later. He was dressed in a faultless tuxedo and tossed his coat on a chair beside the door. “Hello, Tanner. Thank you for seeing me. I meant to be here earlier, but I just flew in from Rome. I had tickets for a concert at the opera and there was an artist I didn’t want to miss. Superb. You’ll understand, you go there frequently when you’re in Italy, don’t you?” He dropped down into a chair beside the desk and smiled. “Life can be so tiresome; one must take advantage of every minute of beauty.” He looked almost exactly the same as he had when Tanner had last seen him several years ago. He sat there perfectly at ease, powerful, magnetic, totally dominant, gray-streaked dark hair, somewhere in his late fifties. He chuckled as he continued, “But then you know that about me. You investigated everything you could find regarding who I was and how you could get what you wanted from me. I expected it.” He leaned back in the chair. “I even admired it.”
“I could hardly blame you for not coming earlier when I didn’t expect you at all,” Tanner said dryly. “I assume you mean Pierre Lazco. He’s a wonderful violinist. I saw him last night after I arrived in Rome from New York.”
“I didn’t think you’d miss him. I told Nikolai I’d bet him you’d come in at least a day early for your big game. I thought I might even see you there tonight. I have a box at the opera house, and we could have enjoyed the concert together.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me? You very generously fund both the Bolshoi Ballet and the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. Why not spread the largesse around to Rome?”
“Why not?” Kaskov repeated with a wry smile. “And you very neatly sidestepped my gracious invitation to share my box. But you’re probably right, you wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much if you’d had to concentrate on outside influences. I saw you at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall one night, and I might have been looking at myself. It was good to know. The dossier I had on you hadn’t mentioned that passion for music. I immediately dismissed the investigator.”
Shit, he didn’t like the idea that Kaskov knew anything but the bare basics about him. “There’s no way you could use that as a weapon. I like all music from Bach to jazz, but it’s not a passion. It was understandable that your man skipped over it.” He shook his head. “And I’m sorry to disappoint you, but you wouldn’t have been that much of a distraction. I could have closed you out.”
“Could you?” Kaskov asked thoughtfully. “Yes, you might have had the willpower, but you would have had to make an effort. Sometimes the smallest things are the ones that take us down. At any rate, as I said, I admire that you researched me so thoroughly. It shows how determined you were to save your friend. You wanted me to use my influence to get Mallory safely out of Moscow before Narzoff took a contract out on him for luring his mistress into bed. But I don’t know many men who would have come to me about it.”
“Neither do I,” Tanner said. “Believe me, I was out of options.”
Kaskov shook his head. “Mallory made a bad choice. Narzoff is a very possessive man, and he wasn’t even one of my family. I’m usually careful about not interfering with the members of other families as long as they accord me the same courtesy. You caused me a good deal of trouble before it was over.”
“But you still did it.” Tanner’s lips twisted. “And I paid your price. I extracted that man Putin was after. That makes us even. So why are you here?”
“I did it because I’d heard enough about you that I was intrigued and wanted to know more. I’m always looking for men with the right qualifications, and you were very, very good. I thought I might hire you. That extraction was necessary, but it was still in the nature of an audition.”
“Then I must have failed it. I never got an offer from you.” He sighed. “Too bad.”
“By that time, I’d assessed your capabilities and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to persuade you to come over to the dark side. You were moving too quickly out of range of either bribery or intimidation. You’d already had your sights set on your first leap into the big leagues. You’d become an extractor after you left special services, but you knew it was only going to be temporary until you earned a big enough stash for your first casino.” He smiled. “So I decided I’d just take advantage of those capabilities on a one-shot deal and then file you away for future notice. But even if it was temporary, you’d made the right contacts and you did my job superbly. And you were smart enough not to want any connection with me after that one extraction.” He lifted his shoulders in a half shrug. “Why should you? You’re quite probably a mathematical genius, and you’ve already bought several casinos in the U.S. as well as here in Milan and Macao. You’re a fantastic gambler—no one’s better at judging the odds than you. Then you started playing the market and you opened an entirely new chapter. I’ve increased my net worth enormously just watching and following.”
“I’m glad I could be of help,” Tanner said dryly. “Is this going somewhere?”
“Oh, yes.” He took the cup of coffee Nikolai was handing him. “I seldom waste my time on reminiscing. I just wanted you to know that I wasn’t going at this blindly. I’ve studied you and I have faith you can give me what I need.”