by Raven Rivers
“Don’t laugh. He thinks he is too large for someone my size.”
“That’s strange as hell. What are you two? Puzzle pieces?”
“He’s self-conscious about his body. You should see him trying to get naked. He doesn’t even like to have sex with the lights on.”
Valisy gasped. “I can’t hear things like this about my friend.”
Bethany rubbed his arm soothingly. “Well, I don’t find anything funny about Mishka’s feelings being hurt. We will have to work on that.”
Stephanie smiled at her. “Thanks, cupcake girl. I appreciate it.”
Shooting her a frown, Bethany asked pointedly, “Does the man tell you everything?”
“He’s a talker. He told me that your husband is the smartest boss he ever had. He says Valisy speaks to his men in sound bites that seem to stick, since most of the security team is only half paying attention during the briefings. Mishka thinks he is good at managing the herd mentality. Says he’s a master at managing people with low expectations.”
Valisy nodded curtly. “Actually, I’ve heard all that before out of Mishka. He is ill suited for his position. Still, where does one put a man with two master’s degrees and limited English skills?”
“I have been encouraging him to pick up a professorship at the university. He wouldn’t be earning the phenomenal salary you bestow upon him for guarding your one and only true love, but it would be more intellectually stimulating for him. It also has the added advantage of keeping him out of the line of fire.”
“I’m hearing you loud and clear, Miss Stephanie. I will guide him in that direction.”
Bethany glanced over at him. “I thought once a Russian mobster, always a Russian mobster.”
Valisy smiled indulgently at her. “Does Mishka look like a mobster?”
“Yes.”
“Well, he isn’t. He’s an employee of the security firm I run for Timur. He’s one hundred percent legit.”
“Looks like I won the husband off,” Stephanie said proudly.
“Last time I checked, sis, you weren’t married.”
“Give a girl a minute, why don’t you. Not all of us get assigned husbands, you know.”
Bethany frowned. “Your sweet little honey cakes is a little too free with information about my personal life.”
“Don’t worry. He’s smart enough to refrain from talking about things like that in front of Mom and Dad. Besides, with his limited command of the English language, they wouldn’t understand him.”
“Great. The only thing standing between me and family upheaval is your boyfriend’s lack of language skills.”
“Well, if they ever learn Russian, they are in for a real treat. Rest assured, Mishka would never embarrass you. He actually adores the two of you. He almost refused to date me because I looked too much like you to suit him. Said it made him feel like he was dating his sister. Three dates in, and a little deviousness on my part, and he decided we were nothing alike.”
Bethany laughed and bit her bottom lip. “Gotta give the man credit for being insightful. You know what they say about books and covers.”
“You got that right, sis.”
Chapter 22
International Intrigue
~ Valisy ~
“I believe your sister was describing typical overly protective mob boss behavior. The Moonello family is steeped deep in the Italian mob. Perhaps you were targeted because of your association with us. Don’t worry, Bethany. We will fix this. I must ask that you stay with Timur until we can make more headway solving this mystery. You will be safer with him.”
“Our house is secure now that you changed the security codes. Why can’t we stay there?” Reaching over, she grabbed his tie and tugged him closer. “I like it when it’s just you and me. I want more of what I got last night.”
His face lit up. “Now, my Bethany, you told me it was good enough to last a month.”
Turing to get into the vehicle, she murmured, “That was before I sat in your lap this morning.”
Opening the door, he responded, “I liked having you in my lap.”
“I know that you did. It felt like setting on top of a mountain.”
Climbing in, she allowed him to shut the door behind her. Sliding behind the wheel, Valisy sighed. “There is something you should know, my sweet, innocent little wife.”
“What is that, my handsome husband?”
Sliding on his sunglasses, he started the vehicle. “I’m hard most of the time you are near. I have been since the first time I ever set eyes on you.”
Bethany’s eyes widened. Before she even thought about what she was doing, she glanced at the huge bulge in his pants. “How did I miss something like that?”
Pulling out, he laughed. “Good little girls don’t stare at men’s crotches, especially not men like me.”
“Well, I’m not little or innocent anymore, so I’m going to make it a special point to look at your crotch more.”
“I’ll make an attempt to have something impressive for you to look at.”
“I know what you’re trying to do and it isn’t going to work.”
“Whatever are you talking about, wife?”
“You are trying to distract me with flirting so you can take me to Timur’s even though I don’t want to go.”
“We have connections to the Moonello family. Give us a chance to try to figure out what is going on. I promise it won’t be for long.”
“Fine. You’re the security expert. I don’t need any more bullets flying around than absolutely necessary. It’s safer for everyone that way.”
“You are more understanding than I ever thought possible in this situation.”
Sighing, she clicked her safety belt in place. “I’ll do anything to keep you safe.”
“Bethany dear, that is my line.”
She smiled fondly at him. “Avoiding danger means you won’t have to run to the rescue, thus endangering yourself and others. I’d be pretty stupid to invite disaster. Your life is dangerous enough without me adding to it.”
“You are a sweet little dream come true for me. Have you selected your sleepwear for tonight?”
“We are doing Santa’s naughty wife. Interested?”
“I’ll be thinking of it all day long.” He pulled into their driveway, put a finger to his lips, and took the bug out of a glass jar and placed it back into the dome light.
As they entered the house, Valisy spoke loud and clear. “My sweet, time to pack for our trip. Don’t forget the sexy lingerie. We’ll be having a repeat performance of last night that lasts all weekend.”
Bethany picked right up with his impromptu speech.
“Can’t we stay and perform sexy acts all weekend? We don’t need a scenic location to celebrate our belated honeymoon.” She picked up a nail file and began trimming up her nails. “Aww, come on. Unzip those custom-made pants and give me a little taste to hold me over.”
A smile ghosted across Valisy’s face. “You are being a naughty little elf this year. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Santa overlooked you entirely.”
“Have a look at these knockers and tell me again if Santa would overlook me.” She winked at him and continued filing her nails.
“You are tempting me to miss our flight. Now get a move on before I turn your pretty little ass as red as Santa’s suit.”
Bethany huffed in an exasperated voice. “Killjoy. I don’t know why I married you.”
“I’ll make it up to you. You can shop to your heart’s content once we arrive at the casino.”
“Remind me to pout more often.”
Twenty minutes later and they were loading their bags into the car. They chatted about nonsense all the way to a private airstrip. They boarded a small jet, enjoyed some wine, and crept back out again once it got dark. The plane took off as they slipped into a new vehicle. They were at Timur’s within the hour.
“Timur answered his own door, which was strange. “Come in, you two. Bethany, what a harrowin
g experience this must be for you. Valisy has told me all about this situation with the Italians. We have some connections. I am waiting for a call back from a friend of mine. We will soon have answers to our questions.”
Bethany slapped her palm to her forehead. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. I have connections as well. Nothing works faster than the girlfriend connection. She pulled out her cell phone, which Valisy took out of her hand before she could even dial. He flipped the back open and removed the battery. Timur, in perfect concert with his bodyguard, opened a small wooden box sitting nearby. Bethany could see it chocked full of cell phones. He pulled one out and tossed it to her. She recognized it as a burner phone. She dialed Sharon’s number and her childhood friend picked up on the third ring.
“Sharon, it’s Bethy. How are you?”
“Great. Cassandra married a Russian. Can you believe that?”
“Is he a doctor?” She held her hand to the receiver. “Her sister’s a heart surgeon.”
Timur nodded. That didn’t sound like new information to him.
“No. He isn’t a surgeon like Cassandra. He’s more like…well, he is similarly occupied as our family, only here.”
“He’s a…oh, I see.”
“What can I do you for, Bethy?”
“It’s Stan. For some reason I can’t seem to figure out, he’s stalking me. Bugged the house. He’s being extra creepy. Any idea why? I thought your family really liked me.”
“That snot nosed little brat. Anthony, get over here. Your boy is at it again.”
They could hear some muffled talking going back and forth, then Tony’s voice. “Bethy, you’re on speaker phone. Stan hasn’t been around for almost a year. He screwed up one too many…jobs and we gave him the boot. Sharon said he’s been stalking you. Is that true?”
Cassandra’s voice broke in. “If so, he’s all mine and Viktor’s. I’ll nail him down so hard he will think the sky fell on top of him.”
A smooth male voice with a Russian accent interjected. “I have connections there. Say the word and he won’t be a problem anymore.”
Timur sighed and spoke. “Miss Bethany is my accountant, Viktor. She recently married my bodyguard. Valisy is one of my inner circle. Do you think his behavior is directed at Miss Bethany or more toward her because she married one of us?”
Viktor murmured, “It doesn’t really matter at this point. I say pick him up, beat the information out of him, then dispose of him in the traditional manner.”
An older male voice with a thick Italian accent spoke up. “If anyone whacks the stupid bastard, it’s going to be me. Timur, I just got your message and was coming in to call you. Bethy, you need to lay low for another week. I don’t know what’s going on here, but Stan’s into something big. The man can hardly walk and chew gum at the same time, and now he’s installing listening devices? Something strange is going on here, but it’s nothing to do on our end. We’ll be in Moscow through the end of the week, and then we’ll be back. I’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Bethany answered for all of them. “That’s good enough for me, sir.”
“Don’t sir me. Makes me feel like an old man.”
“No insult intended, but you are an old man.”
“You’re not helping your plight one bit, young lady.”
Snickering was followed by goodbyes all around. She handed the phone back to Timur. He took out the battery and dropped the phone in the trash can beside his desk.
Valisy sighed. “Guess that explains why you take our line of work in stride. You grew up around mobsters.”
“Time to let Bethany in on our little secret,” Timur said.
Valisy nodded, and they all got comfortable.
Bethany wrinkled her nose. “This isn’t the kind of secret that might get me whacked later, is it? I really don’t want to be whacked.”
Timur’s smooth voice explained. “We have always been mobsters. I made several visits to America over a twenty-year period before moving here, building the connections we needed. I knew the opportunities that lay waiting for us here. However, coming to America was our new start. We aren’t as involved in criminal enterprises as most people think.”
“Don’t you have to send money to Russia? Don’t they expect you to be involved in such things?”
“They just want their cut. They don’t particularly care how we come by the money. We are not squeaky clean by any stretch of the imagination, but we aren’t involved in drugs, arms, or the more derogatory aspects of the skin trade. We deal with unsavory people. Because of that, sometimes opportunity presents itself. We usually pass along the opportunity to someone eager to make better use of it.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
“Most recently, we discovered an individual passing counterfeit currency at one of my establishments. We tracked down the individual responsible and confiscated the plates. An honest person would have contacted the police. We are less reputable. We sold them for over three hundred thousand dollars to my boss back in Russia.”
Bethany nodded. “I see. What will they use them for?”
“I imagine they will print currency and push it through international markets. You can pass a lot of counterfeit currency in Asia and the Middle East without anyone realizing it is fake. Passing too much in one location in America is different. Americans are used to the look and feel of their own money. They are more likely to notice it’s fake.”
“There it just gets circulated round and round. That is as close to victimless crime as you can get.”
“My thought as well.”
“That’s rather clever, Timur.”
“I am smart that way. The closest thing we have to an illegal enterprise are my strip clubs. They are all licensed according to the law and the girls are forbidden from prostituting there. Still, it’s a never-ending battle to keep the drugs and exchange of sexual favors for money to a minimum. Most of our girls are nice women who are just trying to make a living. They like working for me because other establishments pressure them to perform the duties we discourage. They feel safer with us.”
“I’m certain that leads them to be very generous with your men.”
Timur smiled slightly. “You are a very astute woman, Miss Bethany. The women who work for me do love to engage with my men.”
“Well, being the recipient of Valisy’s intimate charms, I can easily see why. Mind if I ask you why you chose Valisy for me?”
“Honesty about my devious deeds always makes me feel uncomfortable. Like a little boy being forced to take bitter medicine.”
“Out with it.”
“I originally thought of Dimitri.”
“I’ll bet Draj didn’t care for that solution.”
“Dimitri turned me down immediately. He told me about the conversation between you and Dina.”
Bethany looked surprised. “I said Valisy was the most attractive of your men.”
The older man nodded. “You told me the DEA was trying to get their hooks into you. Though there is not much to report in that regard, federal agents tend to make an elephant out of a fly when it comes to my business dealings. I did not want your reputation damaged in any way. As I said, I’m not squeaky clean. I wanted to bind you closer to us. I liked you and wanted to retain your services. You needed a protector, though not for the reasons you thought. I also noticed Valisy’s eyes all over you when you were around. You fascinated him on more than a sexual level. He saw you…really saw you, like I did, for the smart, capable woman you are. He wanted you, and the way you acted in the limo when he was shot convinced me you felt something different for him. I rolled the dice. You didn’t have to say yes, but you did.”
“At this point, I can’t say you were wrong.”
“I could see how rightly I had judged your situation when we put one behind the collar at my restaurant. After a few drinks, you let your appreciation for my Valisy shine through for all to see.”
“Thank for you giving me Valisy.”
“I was certain I would one day get thanked for that. Just remember, I gave you to him, not the other way around.”
“I wasn’t yours to give.”
“Let us agree to disagree.”
Chapter 23
Blown
~ Bethany ~
Bethany and Valisy spent the better part of the week on lockdown inside Timur’s home. Bethany was surprised how quickly the time flew by. Spending time with Valisy was a genuine pleasure. The man was smart, funny, easygoing, and always seemed to have something interesting to talk about.
They swam in the indoor pool, relaxed in the Jacuzzi, and Valisy spent time teaching her basic defense and shooting. At first it seemed strange and awkward, but as the hours of training wore on, she found her flow. Bethany was motivated to learn because if it ever came down to one of her friends or family being hurt or killed, she knew she would prefer to fight. The thought of someone hurting Valisy really got her back up in a way she never would have expected.
Miss Jade was becoming a very regular feature at Timur’s home. It was strange, but sometimes Bethany would come into the great room and find them cuddled up quietly listening to his kitten scratch his furniture. They had the same silly smile curling their lips. They were sharing a secret and she was sure curious about what it was.
Miss Jade and Bethany did Pilates together, watched chick flicks, and had someone in to do their nails. It was like having a slightly older best friend. Cassandra and Sharon would have liked her. She was filled with charming Eastern sayings. She seemed to have a proverb for every occasion. It left Bethany believing the woman was filled with wisdom beyond her years.
Word came back that one of Valisy’s security team had found someone prowling around her home. They exchanged gunfire, earning the man a shoulder wound. Thank goodness it wasn’t Mishka. Her sister would have had a fit. Still, the fact that anyone had been hurt bothered her greatly.
Timur’s men had turned a corner of his huge multi-car garage into a gym of sorts. They took turns lifting weights and punching a sandbag. It was just a basic workout in their spare time to keep fit. It smelled kind of sweaty and gross, but Bethany did help Draj keep the mini fridge stocked with water, power drinks, and fancy little iced coffees. Helping out was the least she could do, considering she was staying there for free, and Timur’s whole team was busting their collective asses to keep her safe.
