I took a few gulps of the liquid. “The Italians managed to get an entire team into one of our building that’s dead center in our territory. They managed to go unnoticed, unmarked, and then attacked our own family. Trying to take Rosaria back and if she wasn’t such a damn fighter, they would have succeeded. She took down seven guys. With a bunch of fucking knives and probably a stolen gun. The fuck we doing, Aleksei?”
He sighed and took a drink of his own poured glass. “YA ne znayu. Vozmozhno, my stali myagkimi.” [“I don't know. Perhaps we have become soft.”]
His admittance didn’t help any. If anything, it made me angrier. I downed the rest of the whiskey and slammed it on the desk.
“Plane?”
“Fueling now.”
I nodded. “Poydem.” [“Let’s go.”]
“Yes, pakkun.”
I glared at him. “Not today, Al
I wondered if Rosaria would like the mess that was Bronya’s life. It was soap opera-y and seemed something to entertain her. At least the other stories I told seemed to capture her attention. She also hadn’t fought me when I pulled her out to watch the my sisters interrogate Bronya.My jaw set. How many times had I talked to her now? Five? Six? Christ. I was the worst. I shouldn’t have left for Moscow. Hindsight but still. Bronya didn’t need help. Well, she did but I didn’t deal in psychiatry. When I called Kam I should have warned her that Bronya probably was going to dump on her later.“We’re here.”I patted Lec on the shoulder. “Stay put. This should be too long.”“Yes, sir.”Getting out, I grabbed the cigarette Aleksei was holding out for me and lit it. After a single puff, I walked into the warehouse that we owned just outside of the dump. It smelled awful but the
We got there pretty fast considering the traffic but the closer we got, the more anxious I became. I started to scroll through emails but not opening them. Just giving my fingers something to do. It was the same feeling I had when was taping up her wound on her arm. This never should have happened and I should have been there to protect her.Pulling into the driveway, Aleksei, Lec and I got out. We probably would have turned heads but we’d been here so many times together even I knew the neighbors names. Before I could knock, the door opened and my sister was standing in the doorway, a hand on her hip. I looked behind her and Damir was crossing his arms in an X shape and the dragged his thumb over his neck. Great. Kamilia was really mad.We stepped in without so much of a word but the door slammed so hard behind us I’m pretty sure the wreath on the front door fell.“You have some serious fucking explaining to do. On multiple fronts,
“The music.” She raised her eyebrow so I elaborated. “You hadn’t answered so I called Keenan to get your schedule for the day. He was still there. You could hear the music from outside the door and he said it had been playing for a while.”Her eyes widened. “You remembered our conversation in the car.”I nodded. “Of course.”Her surprise and slight tint to her cheeks made me wonder if that was really something special. I looked at Kamilia for confirmation and she just gave me a sloppy smile.We finished our dessert talking about nothing in particular and mostly work. It got to be around nine and Kamilia kicked us out. I had to call for one of the guys to come pick us up. Taking a cigarette outside, Rosaria stood next to me as we waited.“You killed him, didn’t you?”I nodded, knowing who she was talking about.“The family?”“I’m taking care of them. Though, they have the five mil
Getting out, I definitely needed a coffee. It was Sunday so I’d hoped we could finally relax after getting the new keycards downstairs. I realized I needed to talk with her about what she knew about our world. What weapons she specialized in. What she knew about her brother and how deep his pockets were. Not to mention I needed to dig deep into my own guys. The fact that Vlad was paid off had been disturbing but it could have been anyone. At this rate, if I didn’t get some kind of caffeine in me, I was going to be completely useless.I got dressed and I headed back down the stairs. Rosaria held out a mug for me and I took it. Sniffing it, I was surprised it was coffee. She had already turned back to the food she was making.“Thanks.”“You seem like you needed it.”I chuckled softly. “I do.”Rosaria didn’t turn except to plate what looked like blini. She pulled some smoked salmon, sour cream, hon
I wiped down the back of my neck with a towel. Really, I hadn’t meant it to go that long. I’d decided to tell my security team what happened to Vladimir. Not all of them were sworn in but they knew my job and why people were out to get me most times. That level of trust was hard to come by and I looked at each one of them, giving them an ultimatum. Either they would be officially sworn in or I would provide them a glowing recommendation letter to their next place of business with three months of severance pay.When I was thinking about Keenan and swearing him in to protect Rosaria, I realized that I wasn’t about to split my trust between my family and my guys. Most of these men had been with me for over ten years. The new guys looked up to them but I needed them to know I was serious. The consequences for betrayal were far worse and there was more on the line. There was a sense of loyalty and weight to your actions. One that should never be bought and if it
*** Rosaria’s POV ***I stared at Marek for a moment, wondering if he really said what he did. His face was so serious as he watched me. He was the most dressed down I’d ever seen him and it had been shocking at first. Marek was so laid back about it though, I had to remind myself that I was in his home now. This past week I’d been alone and I hadn’t really gotten a feel for his normal routine, or his normal dress.Now, dressed so casually, he was asking something as huge as giving me Enzo or my father to me. Would I love Enzo’s head on a platter? Absolutely. My father? Definitely. Did I think they were worth it at this point? I didn’t know. My father was going to die. If it wasn’t going to be his heart, it was going to be Enzo. His days were numbered and I think we were on the lower end of those days now.Enzo was a different story. Enzo was a maniac. Enzo would be just craziness to live like a cockroach.
The shock that rippled through me could only be reflected by the shock on Marek’s face. Except his dropped into worry. He didn’t say anything though as he watched me. I didn’t know what to do. Embarrassment flooded through me and I tried to move out of Marek’s reach. This was not who I was. I did not cry. I went through torture session after torture session without making a sound. I’d taken the abuse at castle thinking I had no other place I could go. I’d clung onto the fact that I could somehow survive in this world despite being told otherwise.I was not someone who had a soul or a heart. I couldn’t. Not in this lifetime. Yet here I was, one after the other, falling down my face because someone actually cared for once. Looking up, I wiped my eyes hard with the palm of my hand. The slight pain slowed my heart beat down and helped settle me.“Búsinka…it’s okay…” Marek’s voice now sounded like sandpaper to me and I shook my head.“No. I don’t have a soul. I lost it a long time ago. I
The music switched songs and I closed my eyes, listening to the soft piano play. I’d had the water fill the bath at a temperature just shy of boiling. It helped when any of my thoughts wandered to Marek and I splashed my face with it. Now, it was a more comfortable warmth and no longer helped me forget.Marek was power but it wasn’t raw. It was honed, curated, and entirely controlled. Everything about him, his body, screamed powerful. Just the memory of being caged under him, feeling the force of his anger, was enough to send my heart into palpitations. He was beautiful, stunning, and exquisite. There was more to Marek than just his looks though.Somehow the darkness of our world hadn’t tainted him completely. He could kill and I had a feeling Vlad did not receive a quick death. If he really was the backbone of the Baranov Bratva, then there would be no way he was clean from that. However, his heart still beat and bled. He still thought of others as people, not tools.Marek cared. Orig