by Ariel Marie
“Whatever.” Malena waved her hand as Charlee walked out of the bathroom and over to the chaise. The towel slipped, but Charlee gave up. It wasn’t like Malena hadn’t seen her in the nude before.
“Sorry,” Charlee said, reaching for her clean underwear. She struggled to put them on, but refused Malena’s help again. She slid the leggings on, then looked at the bra.
Malena laughed at her with a pitiful look.
“It’s not funny,” Charlee muttered as her friend came over and assisted her with her bra and shirt. There was no way that she could walk around with no bra. The girls were bountiful, and had to be contained when in public.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m famished,” Malena announced as she adjusted Charlee’s sling.
“Me too. Let’s go downstairs and find food,” Charlee suggested.
She was curious as to where West had disappeared to. She knew that he was pissed about the shooting, and she could tell that he was torn up on the inside about her pain. She didn’t know how or why, but she could feel his emotions. No matter how many times she tried to convince him that it was not his fault that some idiot shot her, he still blamed himself.
Charlee and Malena made their way to the first floor of the building and followed the signs to the dining hall. Charlee’s stomach grumbled with the smell of hot, fresh food. In the few weeks they had been in the wild, they didn’t get this.
“Oh my, what is that smell?” Malena groaned, rubbing her abdomen as their steps quickened.
“I don’t know, but it needs to get in my belly,” Charlee laughed as they reached the dining area. Malena grabbed a tray and pushed Charlee over to the food line. Malena piled food on the tray for both of them. She carried it over to an empty table near a large window that allowed people to enjoy a meal and have a picture perfect view of nature.
Charlee grabbed her fork and took a few bites of her food. It was some native casserole dish, and was amazing. Taking a sip of her drink, she glanced around, and a familiar figure caught her eye out on the terrace. She grabbed her napkin and wiped her mouth.
West.
“I’ll be back,” she said, excusing herself from the table.
She adjusted the sling as she made her way toward him. She walked around a few tables, her eyes never leaving his muscular frame. Her breath caught in her throat as she paused in the doorway. He was speaking in Russian. The tone of his voice was fierce as she listened. It didn’t take all her advanced degrees to sense that something was wrong. She didn’t know what the hell he was saying, but it did something for her. Her core pulsed with his commanding tone.
Down, girl.
He turned, as if sensing someone behind him. His eyes deepened as they met hers. Her heart rate spiked with his one look. Her skin began to tingle as his eyes took their time assessing her. Her nipples pushed painfully against her bra with the memory of their last time together. He motioned for her to come to him. Her body, on autopilot, moved at his command. He brought her to his side as he finished his call.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Better,” she said, feeling comforted by his warm body. Just being around him seemed to brighten her day. But something was wrong. She didn’t know what, but she knew that phone call held the answers to her questions. “What’s wrong?”
His deep sigh confirmed her suspicions. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her face as she waited for him to answer.
“I need to leave the sanctuary…” he began, but paused.
“Okay.” She nodded, waiting for him to continue.
“There’s someone that I need to meet with.” He looked over her shoulder and motioned for someone to come over.
A large familiar man stepped out onto the terrace, shutting the door. She remembered seeing him the at the small hotel back in Lyrino.
“What’s going on?” she asked, looking from the newcomer back to West.
“This is Drago. He’s my top security specialist. While I’m gone, he’s going to assign someone to protect you.”
“Protect me?” she gasped. “From what?”
“We have reason to believe that you getting shot in the rainforest was no accident. They were aiming for you,” Drago announced.
“What? Who would want me dead?” she cried out, her free hand covering her mouth. Fear took hold of her as she thought back to the shooting. Had she not jumped when she did, the bullet that pierced her left arm could have easily pierced the left side of her chest, hitting her square in the heart.
“Don’t worry about—”
“No, you don’t get to tell me that someone wants me dead and then keep secrets. This is my life. Who the hell would want me dead?” she demanded, putting her hand on her waist.
“I’m trying to protect you,” he snapped, frustration lining his face.
“Who?” she backed away from him, needing to put space between them. Hurt flashed in his eyes as she distanced herself from him. Her fear slowly morphed to anger at the thought of someone trying to kill her because of her life’s mission to save entire animal species’.
He cursed and took a few steps away from her. She stared at his back until he turned back to her.
“She deserves to know, West,” Drago spoke from behind Charlee. She nodded her head in agreement. It was her right to know who wanted her dead.
She held her breath as he stalked back to her with a dangerous gleam in his eye that she had never seen before. At least, not in a human. The same look in his eyes was that of a tiger on the hunt. She swallowed hard as he stopped in front of her, causing her to tilt her head back.
“The Ruslanovich Bratva have put a hit out on you,” he announced, causing a gasp to escape her.
Her knees drew weak. The Russian Mafia? That anger she was experiencing immediately dissipated and fear slammed back into her chest. She swallowed a few times, trying to get words to form, but she couldn’t. What the hell had she done to have a hit put out on her?
“I’m going to leave, and Drago’s man will protect you,” he instructed.
“Don’t leave me,” she cried out, panic filling her chest. She had watched enough mafia movies to know that having a hit out on a person was a death warrant already signed. He couldn’t leave her. Not now. She wasn’t expecting his announcement to take this route.
“You’ll be fine,” he stated, grabbing her by the shoulders as she shook her head. “I want you to carry a weapon on you. Do you think you can fire a handgun with only one hand?”
She jerked her head in a nod. Hell yeah, she would be able to shoot a gun. She didn’t care what type of pain it caused. If it came down to it, she’d rip the damn sling off to be able to protect herself.
“Charlee,” he snapped, gaining her attention as her imagination ran wild.
“Are they all like you?” she asked, waving a hand toward Drago.
“Yes, we are,” Drago spoke up. She was slightly comforted, knowing that these men that would be protecting her were like West.
“Where are you going?” she asked, feeling the warm trail of tears along her cheeks. She blinked her eyes a few times to try to clear her vision.
She had never been so frightened in her life. She had been in the depths of dangerous jungles all over the world, and that was nothing compared to knowing that people were going to be hunting her down for the money.
“I’m going to go talk to the Ruslanovich pakhan.” West rubbed her arms as he looked down at her.
“You know him?” She sniffed, leaning into his chest. This was turning into the worst nightmare of all. Never in a million years would she have ever believed that her life would be the backdrop of a real life movie.
“Unfortunately, I do,” he answered as he rubbed her back. “My secretary has set up a meeting with him. A helicopter will be here shortly to pick me up.”
“Don’t worry, West. Ivan will guard her with his life while we’re gone. Let’s move to a more secured area where we can talk more,
” Drago suggested. “We need to discuss the plan, and out here is not the place to do so.”
“I have the utmost confidence in Ivan.” West’s chest rumbled as he spoke. “But you’re right. Let’s go up to our suite to discuss details.”
West guided her off the terrace and through the dining room with Drago leading the way. His hand at the small of her back provided reassurance. She caught Malena’s curious eyes and motioned for her to follow them. Malena would never believe what she had to tell her.
Charlee briefly closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer that Ivan would be as good as Drago was suggesting. She didn’t need anyone dying for her. All she needed was for him to keep her alive and in one piece so that West could come back to her.
24
Diana had pulled off a miracle. He would make sure that she received extra on her bonus this year. He didn’t know how the woman did what she did, but not only had she booked the meeting with Tabakov, she sent a helicopter with a mini wardrobe for him to have decent business attire for his meeting. Now that he knew Charlee was secure, he could concentrate. This meeting with the Ruslanovich pakhan would be one of the most important meetings of his life.
Tabakov was a shrewd businessman, but West wasn’t worried. He knew that he too was a hard businessman, and he could handle the likes of Tabakov. He refused to leave this meeting without his demands being met. The contract would be removed from Charlee’s head.
He shifted in his seat as the pilot announced through their headphones that they would be coming upon their destination soon. They would be meeting Tabakov at his office in the city of Khabarovsk. It was one of the larger cities in Far East Russia, and just so happened to be less than twenty miles from the Chinese border.
West glanced out the window as they flew over the Amur River. The sun was slowly making its way down, drifting past the horizon. West wished he could have shared this moment with Charlee. Once they had reached the suite earlier, it was decided it would be best to move her. His thoughts turned to her concerned eyes as the black sedan carried her away.
He’d had to keep from jumping in the car with her. Her trusting eyes had gazed up at him with love before she got in the car. His tiger paced beneath his skin even now at the memory. She’d put her trust fully into him, and he would not let her down. Once he returned to her, he would let her know his true feelings. The entire world would come to know how Weston Rogavac felt about Dr. Charlee Black.
Now that they knew there was an official hit out on her, the sanctuary would not be safe. This trip to Far East Russia was well-publicized, and anyone with a smartphone would know how to locate her. Hit men would be coming out of the woodwork. So they moved her to a safe house deep in a shifter town, known as Sukhan.
Humans would be fools to attempt to harm her there. A few of his cousins and distant relatives lived in the town, and he trusted that they would protect her. Shifters tended to band together. Even though Charlee was not a shifter, the fact that he’d laid claim to her when making arrangements was good enough. No one would dare think twice about laying a hand on her while she was there. His family was royalty amongst the shifter world for everything that they had done for not only tigers, but other shifter groups around the world.
Claim her.
Just the thought of officially claiming her stirred his cock. His tiger too. His tiger ached to mark her as his. And he would. The minute he returned to her, she would receive his claiming mark and would be his forever. Now that the cat was literally out the bag, he would explain the claiming, and that they were meant to be together, forever. He knew that she had feelings for him, and he could admit that he was head over heels for her as well.
“Please prepare for descent.” The pilot’s words broke through West’s thoughts. He glanced around and met the fierce gazes of Luka and Drago. He nodded to each, knowing that they were ready to walk straight into the belly of the beast with him.
The helicopter began to make its descent down to the landing pad in the small airport. West watched as a dark sedan drove up to wait for him. The whirl sounds of the blades filled the air as the pilot gently put the copter on the ground.
They quickly exited the helicopter and made their way over to the dark sedan. The driver stood by the opened back passenger door. West nodded to the driver as he entered the vehicle. It was time to go meet with the head of the Ruslanovich Bratva.
They had arrived. West’s tiger growled as they entered the ancient building in what was known as the downtown of Khabarovsk. Three large human security guards in black suits stood from behind their security posts to greet them.
“Mr. Danilovich has been expecting you, Mr. Rogavac,” the first guard announced in Russian as he walked from behind the desk.
West’s animal was instantly on alert. He glanced around the lobby of the building, taking in the old rustic decor that was updated, yet still held an old-world charm to the building. It was nothing like the modern office building that Tabakov owned in Moscow that stretched high up into the clouds.
“I’m glad to know that Tabakov is sending down a welcome committee,” West stated, speaking in his native tongue.
“But of course,” the second guard stated. “For safety reasons. Hope you do not mind.” The guard waved the security wands in front of him.
West’s tiger growled low, but he knew that neither of them had weapons on them. But if it made the humans feels safe, so be it. He kept his cool about him as they walked around them, waving the wands around their bodies to check for anything metal. He didn’t shy away from the humans as they made sure that no weapons would enter into the Russian business establishment.
“Thank you for your patience,” the first guard said. West didn’t like the tone in the man’s voice, but he would let it slide for now. He was not who West needed to see, and he had more pressing things to worry about than knocking the smirk off the guard’s face.
They were then escorted over to the elevators. The six of them were a little too close for comfort in the elevator. Drago ensured that he was directly behind Luka and West as they rode up the elevator in an uncomfortable silence, up to the fourth floor.
Once the doors opened, West relaxed slightly as they silently walked down a hallway toward a reception desk. West took note that there were no other humans around. Granted, it was after hours, but he found it weird that there weren’t even signs of a cleaning service.
“Mr. Rogavac is here to see, Mr. Danilovich,” the first guard announced as they reached the desk. She motioned for them to have a seat while she picked up the phone. She was a slightly older woman, with blonde hair painfully pulled back into a bun. Her suit looked sharp and fresh. Neither West, Luka, or Drago moved to have a seat. They would stand. She briefly spoke into the phone, announcing their arrival.
“He will be with you shortly,” she informed them before going back to typing on her computer. West glanced around at Luka and Drago, who had yet to take their eyes off the guards. The guards were not making any excuses for openly staring at them. They may have checked them for weapons, but West was certain that each of the human guards had at least one weapon on them. Not that West, Luka, or Drago had anything to worry about. The human bullets would do little to nothing to a shifter.
It didn’t take long before the phone next to the receptionist rang. She promptly answered it, listened, and hung up before turning her sharp features toward West.
“Mr. Danilovich will see you now, Mr. Rogavac,” she stated as she turned back to her computer.
“Please, this way.” The guard waved his hand, indicating for West to follow him.
“Only Mr. Rogavac may enter the office, gentlemen,” the second guard announced as he and the third guard blocked Luka and Drago’s path. West shook his head at them. He would not need them in the room for what he had to discuss with Tabakov.
“I’ll be fine,” West assured them, with a hand raised in the air to stop Drago’s protest. He knew that if he really needed them, there wasn’t a person in
the room who could hold back two ferocious tigers. He followed the guard toward a solid oak door. He held it open for West to allow him entrance.
West entered the office and found its decor dark and masculine. The sound of the door closing behind him caused him to turn. The guard did not enter, but West was sure that he was standing outside the door. The wall to wall windows gave a breathtaking view of the town. West looked around and found himself to be alone. He took his time walking over to the window to admire the view.
The muffled sound of a toilet flushing filled the air, followed by the sound of running water. West’s shifter hearing picked up on movement in the bathroom before the door opened. He turned and found Tabakov Danilovich striding toward him. He was of medium height for a human, with an athletic build. His blond hair held a touch of gray on the sides. He offered a smile that West was sure he thought was warm and welcoming, but West saw immediately through the pakhan’s facade.
“Weston, how have you been? Beautiful view, isn’t it?” Tabakov asked, his hand outstretched. West gripped his hand in a tight, firm handshake, grateful that the mafia boss had decided to wash his hands before exiting the facilities. “Wow, strong grip you have there.”
“I’m fine. How have you been?” West asked in Russian as he followed Tabakov over to his desk. He took a seat in the plush leather chair across from Tabakov’s desk while the pakhan settled into his chair.
“Business is going well,” he said. “I was a little surprised to see that you were requesting a meeting with me. It’s been too long since we last spoke, but I would be interested in any business proposal that Rogavac Industries would be willing to present.”
“I’m not here on official Rogavac Industries business,” West announced, trying to tame his tiger. His animal paced, not liking the too smooth front that the pakhan was presenting. He was a snake in the grass, just waiting to strike.
“Oh, no?” Tabakov tried to appear shocked, but West knew that it was a front.
