Force

by Becca Jameson

  Erik turned white. “Are you fucking kidding me? That’s the woman Dmitry has been coming and going with?” He lifted his gaze toward Franco. “Did you say she left town this morning?”

  “Yeah. Do you know her?”

  “Oh, we know her all right.” Boris dropped the entire stack on the table and put his head in his hands. “Fuck.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lauren was wiping down a table when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She stiffened, unwilling to turn around. How she knew what she would find behind her was unreal, but she had a sudden sixth sense.

  And she was right.

  She spun slowly, biting her lower lip between her teeth, to find Leo and Dmitry standing two feet away. Both men had their arms crossed, their feet spread, and a scowl.

  She blew out a long breath. “How did you find me?”

  Leo smiled and dropped his hands to his sides. “Took awhile.”

  “Four days is not awhile.”

  Dmitry narrowed his gaze. “A lifetime.”

  “And I’m pissed at you for leaving after we talked. You promised you would give me a few days to figure something out.” Leo didn’t look nearly as angry as he stated. He fought a grin. She hadn’t shocked him.

  “I never promised any such thing. You wanted me to. I agreed to nothing. And then Dmitry got jumped in the alley. That was the last straw.” She glanced at the bar. The owner was smirking. Undoubtedly Dmitry or Leo or both of them had spoken to the man before approaching her.

  Dmitry angled her chin his direction. “I finally got smart and went through the search history on the computer.”

  Lauren sighed. Of course.

  “Let’s go.” Dmitry’s voice was flat. Tired.

  She shook her head and lowered her voice so no one would hear. “Why can’t you see reason? I’m safe here. Small town. Nobody looking for me.” She paused. “Plus you’re safer this way too. Win. Win.” She forced a fake grin.

  God, he looked good. Tight white T-shirt, worn jeans, construction boots—his usual everyday look that made her, and probably dozens of other women, drool when he walked by.

  She could see the permanent wince from the pain he undoubtedly felt in his side, but he filled the entire bar with his impressive bulk. She presumed Leo did the same for the average onlooker, but for Lauren it was all about Dmitry.

  She glanced around. The few patrons in the bar, the bartender, and the owner were all staring at the scene. She hoped to keep it from escalating into something worth discussing in town.

  The town was small, and the patrons were locals. The bar was not well lit. It had a constant gray hue to it, filled with smoke. There weren’t many public places people could smoke anymore, but Lucky’s Bar was one of them. The long narrow room held a handful of tables on one end and a pool table on the other. Someone struck a ball with their cue behind her, startling her.

  Leo chuckled. “Lauren, you’re never safe. Never. The sooner you learn that, the easier your life will be.”

  She swallowed, turning to face Dmitry, who still held his scowl and hadn’t moved an inch even to drop his crossed arms. “Why can’t you let me go?”

  “You’re mine.”

  She hesitated. The way he said that made her shudder—mostly because she knew he wasn’t wrong. They were in a standoff. Would he physically drag her out of the bar in the middle of her shift?

  Dmitry finally dropped his hands and grabbed one of hers, engulfing her small palm with his larger one. He nearly dragged her from the main room to a hall that led to the restrooms. It was early in the day. There were only a handful of patrons. No one was in the hall.

  He flattened her to the wall and set his hands on both sides of her head. His gaze was intense as he stepped into her space and crowded her until his body lined up with hers and his cock pressed into her belly.

  She squirmed at the effect he had on her, hating the way her entire being reacted so quickly to his touch. Hell, his gaze alone could melt her. Her nipples jumped to attention beneath the tight purple tank and black lacy bra she wore. She knew he could see them. And wetness pooled between her legs to soak the thong she had on under her black denim skirt. There was no way to ignore how he managed to control her body in moments.

  “Baby, you’re mine. And that means something to me. It means I want to take care of you, always. I want you safe. I want to know where you are. I want you in my bed. Four nights. Four long nights I’ve stayed awake worrying about you. Wanting you. Needing you. Stop doing this. Stop running.”

  It was so hard to reason with him when he was in her space like this. “I was safe here. No one would have found me.”

  “I found you.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Baby, it only took me four days. How long do you think it would take Yenin’s men? A week?”

  She bit her lip. Was he right?

  “Tell me you don’t feel the same way I do.”

  She couldn’t do it. She’d missed him terribly. She’d tossed and turned in her run-down motel room from the moment she’d arrived. If she was honest, she would have to admit she had not felt safe even for a minute. She’d never feel the same level of safety as she did when she was with him.

  Every single sound in the night had made her jump to her feet and peek out the window. Every time the door to the bar opened and banged closed, she flinched and spun around to see who entered. She had hoped getting away from Dmitry and not having to worry about his safety would give her peace. But it hadn’t come.

  Dmitry lowered one hand to cup her cheek. “I don’t want to be without you. Even the last six months when I didn’t fully have you were better than you disappearing so I didn’t know where you were. Do you have any idea what it’s like to fear you aren’t even alive?”

  She nodded. She did know. That was why she left him in the first place. “And do you realize I feel the same way about you?”

  “No. I don’t. If you felt a tenth of what I feel, you wouldn’t have run off in the night and left me.”

  “But you’re wrong. It’s because I care about you so much that I left.”

  “Lauren, that makes no sense.”

  “Dmitry, you’re pig-headed.”

  He grinned. “I’ve been called worse.”

  She slumped her shoulders. “People will kill you if they find you with me. I can’t live with that. If anything ever happened to you because of me…”

  He held her face tighter and gently kissed her lips.

  It felt like heaven. There was no denying the chemistry between them. One simple kiss and fireworks went off in her head. Her lips tingled as he pulled back.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to me.”

  “How can you say that? Two men beat the shit out of you behind the bar. You could’ve died.” She glanced at the spot above his eye that had begun to heal after his attack in the alley. It looked amazingly improved.

  “And I told you that had nothing to do with you.”

  She wasn’t sure she believed that.

  “Those men wanted me to throw the fight for any number of reasons. They’re only interested in money. Bets. I told you, it could have happened anywhere at any time.”

  “So, what you’re saying is that your chosen line of work is extremely dangerous even without my added involvement in your life, and I should probably be scared for your life every time you leave the house in general.” She grinned.

  He rolled his eyes and set his forehead against hers. “Touché.”

  “Has fighting always been this dangerous?”

  “In theory. Although no one has ever jumped out and mugged me. No.”

  “You didn’t fight last night, did you?”

  “No. But only because the fight got moved to next Friday.”

  She gasped and pushed him away a few inches. “Are you serious?” She glanced down at his torso. “You can’t possibly risk fighting that soon, either. That doctor said you could die.”

  Dmitry shrugged. “I’ve fo
ught under worse conditions. I heal fast.”

  She looked at his face and then ran a finger across a cut over his left eye. “You aren’t even close to healed. It’s too risky. Maybe you’ve done it in the past, but this is too dangerous.”

  He sighed. “Baby, it’s how I make money. And this fight is huge. I’ll not only fight, but I’ll win.”

  “Or die trying.” She pushed him away and set her hands on her hips. “Did you come all the way out here to let me know you were going to die?”

  Dmitry stepped back. “No. It took me four days to find you. And I came here to let you know I was in love with you. And to bring you back. Nothing else matters.”

  “Then you’ll bail out and not fight.”

  “I didn’t say that.” He wiped a hand over the top of his smooth head.

  “You want me to come home with you and go back into hiding and sit like a good girlfriend in that apartment while you go out and get your ass kicked? Perhaps even die. This coming Friday night?”

  “Don’t think about it like that. I want you to come back with me because you can’t get me out of your head. I want you to come home because you’re as in love with me as I am with you.”

  “But you expect me to sit back and let you endanger your life. What if I don’t like your line of work? What if I asked you to give it up?” She paced a few feet away and then turned to look at him.

  He exhaled slowly. “Can we discuss this later?”

  “No. We can discuss it now.”

  “Baby, I don’t have a lot of other options. My skill set is rather limited. I’m trained to fight. I’m good at it. And I make a decent living.”

  “When you are living. You won’t be very good at it dead.”

  He flinched. “Can we stop discussing my doom? I’ve managed thus far. I think I can hold on a few more years. Besides, I feel much better. I can hardly notice the pain anymore.” He stretched to the side to indicate his mobility.

  She narrowed her gaze at his idiocy. “And I’m asking you not to take that risk. If you bowed out of the spotlight, we could go anywhere. Do anything. If you’re so hell bent on keeping me safe, go away with me somewhere where no one will ever find us. No fighting. We could save up, buy our own bar, run it together.

  “If you got out of the spotlight, the Russians wouldn’t be able to find you, and anyone else who wanted a buck wouldn’t threaten your life.”

  He pursed his lips while she spoke and then opened his mouth. “It’s not that simple.”

  “It is.”

  A shadow fell over them from the entrance to the hall.

  Lauren lifted her gaze to find Leo standing a few feet away.

  “I hate to break up this reunion, but could you possibly have this argument on the way home? It’s getting late. I’d like to put some miles behind us.”

  “I don’t think we’ve come to an agreement.” Lauren cross her arms under her chest and tapped one foot. “Dmitry?”

  “We agree on the important things.”

  “Really now…”

  “Yeah.” He smiled and stepped into her space. “You’re in love with me, and you can’t live without me. Grab your stuff, and let’s get out of here.”

  She rolled her eyes. Men. Unbelievable cocky bastards. “My boss—”

  “Already spoke to him,” Leo interrupted. “Nice guy. He understands.”

  Her face heated as she considered how many times these guys interfered in her life. So far she’d lost two waitress jobs in a week because of them. “I suppose you talked to Gill at Inked too.”

  “Mikhail did.” He smiled. “He called him the morning after I was attacked. He said Gill was very understanding.” He reached for her hand. “Can we go?”

  There was no denying the outcome of this particular moment. And there was no need to continue to stand in the hall in a small bar in the middle of Nowhere USA and discuss Dmitry’s safety. She could harp on him in the car. “Fine.” She spun around, marched down the hall to the main office, and grabbed her purse. “I need to stop by my motel and get my things.”

  “Okay.” Dmitry sounded contrite this time. At least he wasn’t smirking over his small victory.

  Ten minutes later Lauren had paid for the unfinished night in her small motel room and collected her meager belongings. They were on the road before she could manage to tell herself this was a bad idea.

  »»•««

  Anton flung a stack of papers across his desk and plopped down in his chair. He’d been out of jail less than a day, and already he wanted to kill several of his men. And it was uncanny how little his father had accomplished in his absence. Grigory had put all his energy into running the lab and not an ounce of effort into maintaining the rest of Anton’s operation. Yes, they needed the work in the lab to pick up in pace. It was crucial, but Anton had other interests as well.

  His fighters were important to the task. According to Grigory, they had exceeded their usefulness. In fact, Grigory believed they’d exceeded their usefulness within weeks of their arrival to the US. Once blood samples had been taken under the false pretense they’d received nothing more than a physical, what more were they needed for?

  Anton disagreed. He wanted to keep an eye on them always. He wasn’t sure when there might come a day when he needed them for something else. More blood work. Other studies. The possibilities were endless. Letting them get away from his control was not an option, even if dear old dad didn’t see it that way.

  The man was getting older, more fragile. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He had a one-track mind. It was understandable under the circumstances, but his decisions were becoming more and more unreasonable.

  Luckily, Grigory was only planning to stay in Vegas another few days. He needed to get back to New York and wrangle his own men.

  “Boss?” Viktor stepped into his office but kept a grip on the doorframe.

  “What is it?”

  “Leo’s been AWOL. He’s presumed to be in Chicago also.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Thought you’d want to know.”

  “Did anyone tell my father? How long have you known this?”

  “Grigory knows. I told him last week. He didn’t seem to care. Leo hasn’t been in the gym for days.”

  Anton gripped his hands in his lap. He wasn’t surprised to find Leo gone. That was to be expected. It was his own fault that his six boys from the old country were so close. He’d brought them together to train and work more than a decade ago. It was only natural they would form an alliance. In fact, he preferred knowing they stuck together. It made it easier to keep track of them. “Don’t worry about Leo. I’m sure he’s with Dmitry and Mikhail.” Hopefully the other three stayed put locally. At least he could manage things better if they were together in two sets.

  “What do you want Boris and Erik to do next, sir?”

  “I want those three back here. It’s time for Boris and Erik to confront them. Someplace public. I’d rather not use force. See if they can convince them to come in. Maybe they’ll see fit to come to Vegas now that I’m out of the slammer. Have Boris talk to them. It would be better if they didn’t think they were being coerced. If that doesn’t work, we’ll come up with another plan.”

  Viktor nodded. “You’ve got it, boss.” He cleared his throat. “About your father…” He tipped his head out the door and glanced both ways down the hall.

  “What about him?” Anton sat up and straightened his papers on his desk. The last thing he wanted to do was answer questions about his dad.

  “He’s been a little…off. He seems weak and more aggravated than in the past. I’m worried about his health.”

  “He’s fine,” Anton muttered. “Just getting old. Don’t worry about my father. The man’s invincible.”

  Viktor chuckled. “I believe that.” He slapped the doorframe lightly and walked away.

  Good. Anton was more worried about his father’s health than any other single person alive. And with good reason. What he needed to do was get to t
he lab and find out how much his men had accomplished in their research in the last six months. He’d had regular updates from the men who visited him, and rarely had that been Grigory, but one thing Anton noticed was that Grigory had indeed slipped more in recent months. Even his mind didn’t seem as sharp. And that worried Anton more than anything else.

  It might be too late for a miracle for Grigory, but Anton hoped he held on long enough to at least act as a guinea pig for his research. Willingly or unwillingly, Anton intended to use the man for his own purposes. Blood ties be damned. There was no way Anton intended to risk his own future. Not even for his father.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Boris grabbed the car keys and opened the motel door. He was sick and tired of being holed up in this dump. His nerves were frayed. Even though Yenin was out of jail, no one had suggested better accommodations for him and Erik in Chicago.

  “Do you suppose all three guys will be at the fight tonight?” Erik asked as they headed for the car.

  “Can’t say, but I’m betting so. Not sure if Leo’s going to show his hand and let it out that he’s actually in town, or with Mikhail and Dmitry. That remains to be seen.”

  “And Lauren? Did you tell the boss about her?”

  “Fuck, no.” Boris yanked his door open and slid inside.

  “You shitting me? Why the fuck not?”

  Boris turned to nail Erik with his gaze. “You think I want Yenin to know the woman we lost six months ago has been right here under our noses for weeks, and we never knew it?”

  “It’s not like we fucking saw her. How could we know?”

  “Exactly.” Boris started the engine. “And you want to tell Yenin we have relied solely on Franco for info and haven’t bothered to follow up ourselves?”

  Erik exhaled slowly. “Shit.” He scratched the top of his head. “So, what do we do now?”

  “Not sure yet. Let’s see if that bitch shows up at the fight. I’d like to get my hands on her. Hoping we have the opportunity to wring her fucking neck without anyone being the wiser.”

  “What does Yenin want us to do?” Erik asked.

  “He wants us to casually let those three know he’s back in Vegas and requests their attention.”