Amy looked baffled. “How do they know where you are? And what if this Victor guy shoots all of us?”
Alexi laughed. “Everyone in Boston knows where I live, my dear. As for Victor,” he shrugged. “I suppose there is always that chance he’ll manage a lucky shot. But I have more men than him. All of them with legal concealed carry permits and legal handguns.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better. I’m too young to die. If my parents ever find out they’ll blame all of this on Eric and my friends and I’ll never hear the end of it.” She buried her head in her hands.
“You are over twenty-one, no?”
“Yeah, and?” She ran a thin manicured hand through her hair.
“Then you are a grown woman and your parents should respect your decisions. Now, how about vodka?” He gave her a smile in hopes she would just relax and be a good little bargaining chip. The last thing he needed was a female who would emotionally break on him.
“Okay,” she agreed. “But can I have some juice with it? Like cranberry or orange juice or something?”
Gary scoffed and mumbled something in Russian that translated loosely to ‘unconscionable’ and ‘doesn’t know how to drink’ under his breath, making Alexi smile. He motioned toward Gary. “My friend Gary likes his Stoli and is always offended when people drink their vodka with juice.”
She shrugged. “It’s gross otherwise. But now they have the flavored vodka…”
Gary groaned and Alexi laughed. Despite his objection to Amy’s choice of drink, Gary begrudgingly brought the young woman a screwdriver.
She took a big drink followed by a deep breath.
“You might need two of those.”
Shaking her head she said, “I better not or I’ll be on the couch here snoring when Victor and his gun arrive.”
He watched her for a few moments and gave her an appraising look. “So you are…”
“Engaged,” she finished quickly, licking the drink from her lips.
Another chuckle escaped his lips. This was, by far, one of the most amusing nights he’d had in a long time. “As am I, though that’s not what I was going to ask. I was actually going to ask you how you know Laura and ask if you were into the same kinky habits as my old friend, Victor.”
She glared at him. Evidently it was too personal a question. But she answered anyway, “That’s really no one’s business. What Laura does is her own business, too.”
“Fair enough. I’m just curious what possesses lovely women to allow males to dominate them.” He gave her an innocent shrug.
“For some it’s just a bedroom thing and for others it’s complicated,” she said, taking another long drink, draining the glass. “May I have another, Gary? Besides, don’t you dominate your women, too?”
Gary growled a little but stepped forward, took the glass, and moved back to the bar to fill the glass a second time.
“Victor is a Bljadun’, it means pimp. He is not right in the head and it makes me wonder how many of these men who have these kinky inclinations are not right. My women get to make their own choices and I don’t tie them up.” He looked at his watch.
“Not all men into the scene are like this Victor guy. I don’t know exactly what he did to Laura, but it was enough to cause her to move across the country to hide from him and change her name.” Amy didn’t seem to want to talk about it anymore.
Alexi thought it best not to push it. “I know Victor. I am pretty sure I know what he’s capable of.”
Gary handed Amy another drink. She immediately took another sip.
Just then the front gate buzzed the intercom. One of his guys by the door took it, said something back then turned to Victor, “Militsiya.”
“Make sure there’s a female with them and let them in.” Alexi said. “Don’t bother patting them down. I imagine they’re armed.” He smiled at Amy who seemed to be getting a bit anxious despite the alcohol. She still had a third of her drink left. He nodded toward the glass she held, “Do you need more?”
She shook her head. “I need my head clear.”
“Rory, take Amy up to Helena’s study and keep her up there for now. We don’t want her in any danger.”
Amy’s wide eyes denoted the inevitable protest coming. “But I have to talk to Kal- Laura!”
He shrugged. “I might send her up, but I’ll need to see what she’s wearing,” Alexi said thoughtfully.
Rory took Amy by the elbow and firmly led her from the room. Minutes later the door opened and several of the security staff led four men and a woman into the house. Alexi stood to greet them.
The agents pulled out their badges and flashed them as feds and cops often did. “I’m Brocco and this is Salazar,” the older one said.
Alexi nodded politely. “Come in and sit.”
The two nameless agents, dressed in slacks and nice shirts, stayed by the door while Brocco, Salazar and the woman entered the living room.
“This must be this Laura who Victor is so enamored with. You look familiar,” he observed.
She gave him a curt nod. “I was there the night Victor told you the deal fell through and screwed you out of your money.”
“Ah. Yes, now I remember.” He looked her up and down. She had auburn hair and fine features. She was actually a striking creature and it would be fun to play act with her, but the clothing she wore was common. He shook his head. “This won’t do. If I’m going to pretend this creature is one of mine she will need finer attire. Victor is not an idiot. He’d see through the charade.”
“Sorry, I don’t own any designer gowns or diamonds,” Laura countered with a frown. “Where is Amy?”
“Upstairs,” Alexi said offhandedly. “I’ll have Gary take you up in a minute. You’ll have to put on some of Helena’s things. You look to be about her size. If not, you can look through Anastasia’s things. I think both Anya and Galina are much shorter than you. None of my girls are here. I left them all in Saratoga. I plan on being back there by tomorrow night.”
“We’ll try to make this as quick as possible,” Brocco said. “We appreciate your cooperation Mr. Amelin.”
“I do what I can. Dangerous men like Victor Kolknov need to be taken off the streets,” Alexi agreed.
“We’re glad you think so. Here’s what we need from you,” he started. “We need to catch Victor committing an act we can arrest him on whether it be attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, assault, something of this nature. We have two murder cases we already think we have him on, but we need this to be solid. One of these charges has to stick so we can put this guy away.”
“I understand. So the story is that I took his woman, she took his money, and all of this was my payback to him for taking my quarter of a million dollars.” Alexi smiled.
“You’re a fast learner, Mr. Amelin.” Brocco returned the smile.
“I don’t have all that I have by being a stupid thug, Agent Brocco.” He motioned to Laura. “Gary, take Ms. Laura upstairs to Helena’s room to put on something better than this and then let her see her friend. I want Laura back down here when Victor arrives.”
“Yes, sir,” Gary said. He turned his head to Laura. “This way, ma’am.”
Brocco nodded to Laura. She got up and followed Gary.
“What else do we need to know?” Alexi asked.
“Do all of your men wear vests?”
Alexi chuckled and opened his button up shirt a little to reveal the vest beneath. “Indeed they do.”
“Interesting, considering you’re just a legitimate businessman,” Brocco said with a sly look.
“It isn’t the nature of my business that makes my friends and employees cautious, Agent Brocco. It’s the people who want a piece of what I have that I have to worry about.” He rubbed his hands together, feeling how dry they were. “Now, let’s consider ways to provoke my old friend Victor. Shall we? Or is that entrapment?”
Brocco narrowed his eyes. “If you don’t say anything, we won’t.”
***
Kali followed Gary up the wide staircase to the second floor. They passed room after room until finally, Gary stopped outside a door where another man stood. “I have to take this one to Miss Helena’s room.”
The man nodded and let them pass to the next door. There, Gary turned the knob and pushed the door opening, motioning her inside. “You can find the clothing in the closet over there.”
She nodded and walked past him into the big, lavish room. He closed the door behind her. She felt like an intruder into this woman’s space. Whoever she was she certainly was spoiled. She wondered then how better off she might have been if it was Alexi she’d gone for over Victor. He was a very attractive man, more so that Victor. But then Alexi wasn’t one of the men she had been in frequent contact with back then.
She smiled at the dressing table with expensive perfumes on it and the open jewelry box with sparkling diamonds gleaming out at her from it. She paused to pull out a diamond necklace and put it up against her neck. Such beautiful things. Victor bought you beautiful things, too, Kal, she told herself. Just because a man bought a woman expensive things didn’t necessarily mean he loved her. No, more often than not it meant he wanted to placate her. If that was the case in this instance, Alexi was likely just another jerk with a lot of money. Of course some women liked it that way.
With a heavy sigh she put the necklace back and went to the closet, pulling the double wide doors open. The lights came on automatically. “Fancy,” she whispered under her breath.
What caught her eye made her breath catch in her throat. “Oh my God!”
She couldn’t help the surprise. The woman who claimed this closet had her own boutique and shoe store. She walked in, slowly dragging her hand over the sheer fabrics and pausing to pull out clothing whose color and fabric caught her eye. The woman had more little black dresses than one could count. When she found one with a scoop neck she took it off the rack and held it up to herself in the full length mirror. She didn’t want to go too flashy. Instead, she wanted casual chic. After all, it was her style.
She began undressing and when she got to the bullet proof vest she groaned. There was no way she was getting away with wearing that beneath a dress. She’d have to go without. When she was down to nothing but her panties she slipped the dress over her head. Alexi was observant. It fit like a glove and looked like it was tailor made to her figure. She smoothed the bodice and turned sideways to see if the dress flattered from all views. It did. It was long enough to be conservative, but still short enough to be informal. Then she found herself a pair of stockings and a pair of classic black heels to complete the look.
With her clothing dealt with, she went to the dressing table and picked out a simple pearl necklace and matching earrings then proceeded to do her makeup. Last, she dabbed a few drops of Chanel No. 5 on her wrists and neck and looked at herself in the mirror. She cleaned up pretty good if she did say so herself. There was no way Victor would guess she wasn’t really with Alexi. Unless, as Brocco said, Alexi was working with Victor. Of course she was still pretty positive that wasn’t the case.
She gathered her clothes together and folded them, setting them on a chair with the bullet proof jacket on top. Then she made sure to close the closet and left everything as she found it. Criminal or not, she was still Alexi’s house guest and a guest into this woman’s personal things. She didn’t make it a habit of being rude or careless. When she was done and felt confident all was well, she stepped out of the room back into the hallway to find Gary and the other man talking.
“Ah, are you ready to go back down?”
“No, first I want to talk to Amy. Alexi said I could. She’s in here?” She calmly strode past the men to the door of the room right next door and opened it. She gave them a quick, tight smile. “I’ll just be a minute.”
Neither man stopped her.
When she saw her, Amy jumped from the chair she was sitting in. “Kali!”
Kali took Amy’s hands into hers and looked her over. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Alexi just wanted me out of everything until Victor was caught, I think,” she said, looking Kali up and down. “Nice digs, but what if you get shot?”
Kali motioned her to sit. “You might as well get comfortable. Victor won’t be here until at last twelve-thirty, possibly as late as one in the morning.”
“It’s twelve fifteen,” Amy pointed out, directing Kali’s attention to the clock on the mantel.
Kali looked around. The room, like the bedroom, was furnished lavishly, held a small bookcase of books and had a small bar on the side. “What is this? Another living room?”
Amy lifted one hand and tipped it gracefully as if presenting something, “This, my darling, is a ladies sitting room.”
Kali laughed. “Nice.”
The laughter was short lived, however. Amy was right. In this getup, she could easily be shot.
“Are you sure you can do this?” Amy asked.
She shook her head and put on a brave smile. “No, of course not. But do I have a choice? I can either let Victor make me run forever or stand up to the bastard and make sure he’s put away for good.”
“Why don’t they have you in a bullet proof vest?” Amy was going to bring it up until she answered and she knew it.
“About that. I had one, but it seemed nothing I put on went with it. I’m going in without it. There is no other way if we’re going to get Victor to believe I’m Alexi’s woman.” She shrugged and gave Amy a half-hearted smile. “Eric is worried about you, but I told him not to worry. I have no doubt Alexi will keep his part of the bargain.”
Amy frowned. “How can you be sure?”
“I like to think I’ve honed my ass-spotting skills. While Alexi is no saint and he’s certainly not an upstanding citizen, he does appear to have an honor code. And if I’m wrong about that he is at least self-serving. It doesn’t serve him to harm you, any of the FBI agents, or me. It does serve him to get rid of Victor and to please the FBI in exchange for closing any current investigations on two of his businesses. He has no interest in anything else.” She drew in a deep breath. “Just in case things do go wrong though, you have to promise me something.”
She could feel the tears coming, but she stopped them before they caused her mascara to run.
Amy nodded and gulped. “Anything. What is it?”
“If for any reason I do get shot and it looks like I’m not going to make it, make sure Brad knows that I love him.” She choked back that last part and dabbed at the corners of her eyes, hoping the mascara and eyeliner wouldn’t run.
Jumping up, Amy embraced her. “You’ll be able to tell him yourself,” she said confidently, fighting back her own tears.
Kali nodded and sniffed. “Where’s a mirror. I need to fix my makeup.”
Amy pointed to the wall behind her.
After finding a tissue, dabbing her eyes, and blowing her nose, there was a knock on the door. “Time to go Miss. Laura.”
“Good luck. Be careful and if there are bullets, jump behind one of the couches. They seem really sturdy,” Amy called after her.
Kali couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll try to remember that.”
***
Brad couldn’t stand it. Here they were watching car racing pretending nothing was wrong when Kali and Amy were in danger. He looked over at Eric whose eyes seemed to be staring right through the television.
Two agents had been left at the house with them just in case. Whatever that meant. He dared Victor Kolk-whatever to show up on his doorstep. He’d kill the bastard with his bare hands. Shoving his violent fantasy aside, he grabbed the television controller and changed the channel to a cooking show.
Eric turned to him but didn’t say anything.
“Sorry, were you watching that?” he asked, knowing damn well neither of them were watching television. One FBI agent was playing games on his phone and the other was reading the paper.
“No.”
“Maybe you two should get so
me sleep,” said the agent playing with his phone. “We got everything here.”
Brad and Eric looked at each other, then at the agent.
“I think it’s unanimous that we’re not sleeping until we know Kali and Amy are safe,” Brad said.
Eric gave him a nod and turned back toward the television. The older woman cooking was making pan seared salmon.
“Suit yourselves,” the agent said. Then he went back to his game.
Brad couldn’t sit here. It was driving him crazy. He stood up, causing all three men to look at him. “I’m making some coffee.”
He left their mumbles of agreement behind him and embraced the silence in the kitchen. It was always easier to think alone than in a room with other people. You never knew who was watching you think. If there was one thing Brad didn’t like, it was showing too much emotion in front of other people. It gave them clue to your kryptonite and with that, you could be destroyed. He almost laughed at his own thoughts. He knew his emotions weren’t a weakness and there was nothing wrong with worrying for Kali’s safety. He worried about Amy, too. She’d become a good friend and she made his best friend happy. He wasn’t sure what he’d do if he lost either of them. Then there was Eric, who was just as quick to bury his emotions like Brad did. Not only did Eric just find out one of his old friends had been killed by the Russian mafia, but the woman who was his world could be facing a similar fate. Neither of them could do a damn thing about it. It was the waiting that was the worst.
Maybe sleep was a good idea. He looked at the door to the medicine cupboard. He had some Vicodin in there from when he had a root canal six months ago. That would certainly relax him enough to sleep. The thing about sleep was that when you slept, time didn’t matter. One’s perception of time wasn’t linear. You simply fell asleep and when you woke up, hours had passed. All the same he didn’t want Kali or Amy thinking that while they were facing an uncertain future, the men who loved them were asleep and wholly unconcerned about them. He poured the ground coffee into the filter and put the filter basket back into the coffee maker. It was already filled with water, so he turned it on. It came to life with a few pops and slurping noises. He made a mental note that he probably would need a new coffee maker before the year was out.
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