Matvei stands up out of his crouch and looms above me, as huge and beautiful as he is terrible. “You understand what you’re asking for.”
“You understand that once we start, we don’t stop.”
“You understand that my people are not your people. If this goes wrong, I can’t protect you from all of them at once.”
“You understand that you and I are going to have to lie to everyone we know for as long as it takes.”
“Matvei, I have been lying to everyone I know for the last five years. I’m basically a professional at this point.”
He hesitates, and for as long as that hesitation lasts, I think he’s going to decide that I’m an operational risk, not worth the trouble, and I’ll be right back where I started, only more alone than ever.
Then he sticks out his hand. “Partners,” he says. “Say it back
