“When is that, next week, next month?” she asked, pushing back in her chair. Any excuse to get away from me, she thought to herself.
Gabriel didn’t answer, instead, he stepped back from her.
Watching him as he walked away, she felt her heart pang. Despite all of her best efforts, she had lost him, and she wasn’t sure if she could ever get him back. Since their argument, he was always either coming or going, but never did he stay.
Gabriel could feel Briggy’s eyes burning through his back but he refused to turn around. She was like looking into the destruction of Sodom and Gomora. Catching a beer as Anatoly tossed it, he walked up to the grill and looked at the fat Angus burgers. The smell of the food made his mouth water. “So, I got your message,” he said in a low-pitch sarcastic tone, picking up the bottle opener. “And what the fuck?”
Anatoly turned his back to his father, who was only a few feet away. “Let’s just hope that everything goes as planned and the shipment isn’t compromised once they get back to their country.”
Gabriel shook his head in confusion. “How did we end up agreeing to this is what I want to know? I mean, that’s a huge pay day for us to cover. What are the details? Does he want the cost of inventory only covered at $2,000,000 or the cost of inventory plus the usual profit we make, because that is $10,000,000 in all?” Just the sound of that blew his mind. Yes, he had the money, but no he didn’t want to give it to his fucking uncle every quarter.
While Gabriel had his breakdown, Anatoly flipped the meat casually then looked across the yard. “This is Dmitry Medlov we’re talking about. What do you think he wants 20% or 100%?”
“What do I think? I think we should have just gone on and provided the damn escort like the man asked in the first place.” Gabriel took a swig of his beer. “I mean, they have the shipment now, but anything could happen between Slovakia and Donetsk.” He waved his hand. “And I do mean anything.”
Anatoly hated to admit it, but Gabriel was right this time. However, he didn’t want to tell him that this all stemmed from a bet with his father. “Try not to make a spectacle, eh? So how will you know when the shipment arrives in Donetsk? Is there a check in or something? What was the arrangement?”
“I can check in with Allan Roman in a few hours just to see what the latest status is.”
Anatoly had a thought. “You think that he’d call us if he found out it was jacked?”
“Hell yes. This guy is very serious about his clients,” Gabriel assured. “Trust me. If anything happens, we’ll be the first to know, even if it’s just to let us know this shit is our fault.” He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“The old man is just waiting for this shit to blow up in our faces.”
“Why?” Gabriel asked, voice strained. He turned and caught Briggy still staring at him. Shit. Quickly, he turned back around. “Why is this account so important to him?”
“For as long as I’ve known the man, every single solitary account is important to him. It doesn’t matter if the deal is for one gun or 1,000,000 guns. That’s how he became a fucking billionaire. What can I say? He’s anal.” Anatoly wiped his blonde beard. “Plus, he doesn’t think we provide enough customer service to our clients. He wants more finesse.”
Gabriel almost choked on his beer. “I’m sorry. What?”
Anatoly laughed. “You heard me.” He looked past Gabriel at Briggy and lost his train of thought for a moment. “And I hate to be the barer of bad news on top of everything else, but you have to do something about the fucking elephant in the room. You know that, right?” While Anatoly was glad that he had dodged the bullet known as Briggy, she was starting to make things complicated for his home life too.
Gabriel didn’t have to look behind him to know what Anatoly was talking about. He could feel her staring daggers at him right then. “Honestly, I’d rather talk about the $10,000,000.” Shaking his head, he leveled with his cousin. “We agreed that she’d move to a new place after the baby was born.” He sucked his teeth. “Until then, I have to just grin and bear it.”
Anatoly didn’t beat around the bush. It just wasn’t his style. “Briggy is a ticking time bomb. Five months may be too long to simply grin and you already can’t bear it.” He cut himself off before he said anymore. If it was him, she’d already be on a plane headed back to Prague, baby or not. But it wasn’t him and it wasn’t his child.
“Yeah, I know.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “But what am I going to do, throw her in the street? She’s carrying my kid.”
Throwing the burgers on the platter, Anatoly patted Gabriel on the shoulder sympathetically. “Better you than me,” he said, walking the platter over to the food table.
For some reason, that remark hit Gabriel in the wrong spot and instantly turned his stomach and his mood. Maybe it was the stress of the deal or just the stress in general, but he felt suddenly irate. Turning up his beer, he looked out to the pool where the kids were splashing in the water and tried to calm the ramping chaos inside of him.
“Gabriel,” Royal said, taking off her sun hat. Huge blue diamonds sparkled in both of her ears.
“Yeah.” Gabriel spun around and wiped his face with his hand. “What’s up?”
Having been married to Dmitry for many years, Royal knew when a man was at his wits end, even if he didn’t say so. “Why don’t you go get out of that suit and tie and put on something more comfortable. You look…stuffy,” she said, eyes full of understanding.
Gabriel smirked. Was it that obvious or was she that good? Either way, he appreciated her gently veiled concern. His smile thanked her. “Yes ma’am. Going to do that right now.”
As he darted into the house avoiding all eye contact, Briggy stood up and quickly followed him, taking with her the unwelcomed tension that was starting to sour the day for everyone else.
Leaning over to Royal as she rocked the baby, Renee whispered. “Thank you for that. I don’t know how much longer I could take her sitting there like a cat on a hot tin roof.”
Royal put her hand on Renee’s arm. “No problem.” She felt bad for her friend and for her situation. It was no secret that Anatoly had been with Briggy first, but since the fall out between Gabriel and Briggy, it had suddenly become a sore subject.
“I just wish that they’d get her ass out of here. Every time I turn around, she’s grinning in Anatoly’s face now.” She shook her head in utter frustration. “I’m going to lose my shit.”
Anatoly walked over to Renee and reached out for Alexandria. “She’s asleep,” he said, taking her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head gently and cradled her.
“I didn’t realize,” Renee said, picking up her glass of wine.
Anatoly picked up on her tone. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
Renee wasn’t one for arguments or making things complicated, but she had grown tired of the situation with Gabriel and Briggy. “Do you really want to know?” she asked, looking up at her husband with fire in her eyes.
Anatoly wasn’t sure how to respond. Every time Renee asked that particular question, the answer that followed was usually something he regretted knowing. “Tell you what. Let me go and put her down to sleep and when I come back, I’ll let you know if I want to know or not, da.”
Renee cut her big brown eyes at him. “You’re such a smart ass, Ana.” He had a way of making light of any situation. Even then, she could feel a smile tugging the sides of her mouth.
Pleased with himself, Anatoly bent down and kissed his wife on the lips. His voice growled. “Be a good wife now. Don’t make trouble.” He said it knowing it would only make her bristle more, still he liked to make her mad. It made for great sex later.
The taste of him lingered on Renee’s lips and created a major distraction. As she watched him make his way for the door, she stood up too. “I better go and help him put the baby to bed,” she said, licking her lips.
Royal laughed as she flipped through her magazine. “Okay, girl. Do what you do.” Everyone knew
exactly what that was.
Dmitry smirked. Women. They were such fickle creatures. One minute they were angry; the next minute they were horny.
After everyone had gone, Dmitry stopped playing with his twins and got up off the ground. Standing to his full seven feet, he wiped off his jeans and stretched his wide body. “Finally alone,” he said, relieved that all four of them had gone away for a while. He looked down at his twins crawling by his bare feet. “Mostly alone.” Taking a seat beside Royal, he picked up his chilled glass of vodka and looked out at Anya still swimming with Dylan in the pool. “She’s going to be exhausted tonight. No story time. No bouncing around. Just straight to bed.”
Royal had tunnel vision at the moment. Pursing her red glossed lips, she turned to him in a quiet panic. “Baby, why don’t you do something about this?”
Before she could get an answer, the new family nanny stepped out on the patio. “It’s time for lunch and bath.” The older Russian woman eased over to the children and picked them both up in her arms.
“Do you need some help, Ms. Gala?” Royal asked. It was hard for even her to lug both of those huge boys around. She didn’t understand how the 60-year old woman did it with such ease.
But Gala was old school, straight from the old country.
“Nyet. They are fine…very light.” She bounced them both, alternating kisses on both their chubby cheeks. “I’ll leave you two to talk and take babies upstairs to the nursery. And Gala is fine. No need for formalities.”
Biceps bulging in his thin gray T-shirt, Dmitry leaned over on the arm rest and touched his wife’s caramel face when they were alone again. “Do something about what?”
Her eyes grew big. “All of it,” she said, blinking fast. Had he not paid attention to anything that just transpired right in front of them? Uncrossing her long legs, threw down her magazine. “Briggy-gate is going to tear this family apart. Gabriel hates coming home now. Anatoly has to walk on egg shells with Renee. It’s ridiculous.”
Dmitry tried to be the voice of reason. “Living together under one roof can be difficult for multiple couples, even if they are family. And sometimes, no matter how big the house is, there is going to be occasional friction. But I’ve never been one to get involved in domestic affairs of other men, even my own children. Honestly, it’s a bit below me.”
Royal wasn’t buying it, no matter how cool he behaved while the world burned at his feet. Her head tilted as she probed deeper. “So you mean to tell me, being the control freak that you are, all of this turmoil happening under your roof doesn’t bother you?”
He shrugged. “I have bigger worries than who is squabbling with whom behind closed doors. That is your job. You’re the woman of the house. You’re supposed to keep things in order with the other women, not me. What would that look like anyway?” He might have been more relaxed these days but he was no mother hen.
Royal cooled her heals and tried another approach. This wouldn’t work if she didn’t have his buy-in. “If the men are distracted, it’s going to affect your cash flow eventually.” She watched him take pause. “They can’t have their head fully in the game if they are fighting between each other. This Helen of Troy situation is going to blow up. You watch what I say.”
Dmitry didn’t agree. “Or maybe it will work itself out. You can’t always play mediator. We have our problems, and they have theirs. This is normal.”
Royal raised a brow. “You may trivialize this now, but the last woman who created a problem for us in our relationship ended up with a bullet in her head and buried in an Italian winery if I recall.”
Dmitry laughed at Royal, ignoring her adorable little scowl. “And tell me, who called for that particular hit? True enough, I carried it out like I said that I would, but it was my dear sweet wife’s will after I told you that she was leaking information on Anatoly.” He winked at her. “Secrets, secrets.”
Royal rolled her eyes. “That’s beside the point. Briggy isn’t with Gabriel anymore. They broke up, but she’s still here and that’s a problem.” Grabbing his large hand, she looked into his crystal blue eyes and rubbed a hand across the side of his blonde hair. “What is your concern? Why haven’t you done anything? I know you see it. I know you too well, Dmitry. You see everything around here whether you say something or not.”
“Briggy is not family – not in the traditional sense at least. I agree with you on that. However, the child she is carrying is a Medlov. If we send her away, we send away our family, and we take away that child’s safety. That happened to Anatoly; it happened to Gabriel. It won’t happen again to another generation, if I can help it.”
“So, do you think that she’ll just give it up when it’s born?”
“No.” Dmitry lifted her slender hand and kissed it. He knew she meant well and that was all that mattered to him. “But what has to be done must be done after the child is born.”
“I don’t like it when you keep secrets from me. What are you planning to do?”
Dmitry glared at his wife. “She’s not family,” he said, using her own words. “What does it matter what I do, if I do anything at all?”
Royal looked upside his head. “Well, just for the record, I’m not ordering a hit on the damn girl,” she said facetiously. “I’m just asking for some other arrangements to be made.”
He took another sip of his drink. His voice was low and grave. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes,” she said sternly.
Dmitry winked at her, smile lines showing on his tanned face. “That was a just a joke. Relax, little drama queen. I’m not going to kill her.” Reaching over, he put his hand on her thigh and caressed it. There was something else on his mind, and it had nothing to do with Briggy or Gabriel. “Let’s just sit here and enjoy a quiet Saturday like we planned, da? No more discussion about other people. It bores me.”
She looked over at her handsome husband, lounged out on the chair, sexy corded muscles protruding, and felt the need to be closer to him. Standing up from her chair, she slipped onto his wide lap and threw her legs over his. Nestling her head into his chest, she sighed. “There. Is that better?” she asked in a whisper.
A gentle breeze brushed past them, cooling both tempers. “Much better, spasiba,” Dmitry said, lifting her small chin with his index finger. He looked her in her eyes and drew her to his mouth. Kissing her lush lips slowly, he clinched her waist and pushed her down on his growing erection. “That’s what you need to be concerned about,” he groaned.
Royal giggled as she kissed him, her fingers twisting in his feathery hair. “I’m always concerned about that.”
Dmitry teased her with his free hand. “Really? How concerned are you?”
Royal was about to reply when Anatoly walked back out of the house, visibly brooding.
Moving his lips from Royal’s neck, he looked back at his son. “You do know that there was no rush to put Alexandria to sleep, right?” he quipped.
Anatoly clutched his cell phone. “We just got a call from Allan. Looks like we’ve got to go to Donetsk after all.”
Dmitry rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. Every time that he thought things were under control with those boys something else happened. “Was the load jacked?”
Anatoly bit his lip and slammed his cellphone into the palm of his hand. “Yep. Couple of casualties too.”
Dmitry clenched his jaw until his teeth scrubbed together. “Get the men to my office now.”
Royal wasn’t exactly sure what Dmitry and Anatoly were talking about, but she knew whatever it was wasn’t good. Pulling herself out of his embrace, she stood up. “So much for a quiet Saturday.”
Chapter Three
Make Good on My Name…
More than any other quality that could be attributed to the infamous Czar of the Russian underworld, and there were many, Dmitry Medlov was a man of action. It was not just a perception. It was his mantra in life - what he lived by, what he had built his fortune upon one pain-staking dollar at a time, w
hat he built his family upon with every life lesson. He was the rock of this organization and this family and his word was his bond – solid oak. His name was his legacy. And he did not compromise that for anyone, not even his precious boys.
No matter how much Dmitry loved Anatoly and Gabriel, no matter how proud overall he was of how they had turned out as individuals, at the end of the day, they were still his captains, bound to do his will and to follow his orders. It was because of that he could not go easy on them, because if he did, they would never learn anything, and they would never be able to run this organization with an iron hand the way that he had done for two decades.
With the sun at his back, sitting behind his large wooden desk in the elegant study, Dmitry’s intense gaze zeroed in on the men who would eventually carry on his work. Both Gabriel and Anatoly sat silently, the grandfather clock ticking in the background and the crystal pendulum swinging from side to side on the desk, waiting for him to convene this emergency meeting.
When Boris stepped inside and closed the door behind him, he nodded for this boss to begin.
Hearing the door close, Anatoly didn’t wait for the lecture that he knew was coming. Instead, he started in with answers immediately. “We’ll handle it, Papa,” he said flatly. “The jet is being fueled as we speak. We’ll arrive in Prague tomorrow and get the new shipment ready. By the day after tomorrow, we’ll have arranged something with our officials in Kiev to get to Donetsk. I’ve already informed Allan, and he’s letting his people know.”
“I’m sure he appreciated the call, despite the collateral damage,” Dmitry said, easing at the sign of progress.
Gabriel looked between the men and wrung his hands. “How did we get to this?” he grimaced, disgusted that suddenly he was responsible for the Ukrainians’ incompetence.
Dmitry’s head snapped to his nephew, perplexed by the young man’s tone. Barely holding on to his composure, he pushed out a breath. The thud of his fingers tapping on the desk before he simply said, “Explain yourself, Gabriel.”
Gabriel's Regret: Book 1 (The Medlov Men Series 2) Page 6
