Found

by Kimber Chin

  "Our plan does not please you?" Grandfather lit a cigar, taking short, quick puffs to get it started.

  No, it did not please him. Not at all. "Chan's involvement is unnecessary." Nik threw himself into the booth. "A Kaerta home would be more secure." He didn't like another man having primary responsibility for his fiancee's protection.

  "More secure than Chan's?" Grandfather snorted. "Unlikely." Nik couldn't argue. The man was paranoid. "The killer expects us to use a Kaerta facility. He'll know our buildings inside and out. Chan's home..." He shrugged. "Maybe not. And this allows us another layer of security. Chan's best men. Our best men."

  They'd need them. "He's a professional."

  "As are our men and professionals do make mistakes."

  Rarely. "So, we kill him and then what?" Nik took out his favorite pack of playing cards, shuffling as he thought. "Whoever hired him will find a replacement. It'll be a temporary solution." All this would start again.

  More lines appeared around those wrinkled eyes. "True. But that's next week's problem."

  Next week. Igroek. Tatyana. "What's her relation to Igroek?"

  Grandfather puffed on his cigar. "Could be nothing. Could be something. Next week we'll know." He leaned forward. "Keep her safe, Nikolay. If this goes wrong..."

  War. It'd be war. For that to happen... "Igroek's daughter died years ago." Some sort of hushed-up family situation, the details hazy.

  "Supposedly." Another puff. "After running away with a man her father disapproved of."

  Tatyana's family tradition. "Shit." Igroek was the brat's grandfather. That wasn't supposed to happen. She was his, and only his. Damn it.

  Grandfather chuckled. "I couldn't have said it better myself." He tapped the cigar against the ashtray. "These are interesting times, Nikolay."

  Eyes tracked Tatyana as she moved through the casino floor. Her costume, a red, sequined, body hugging tube dress ensured that. It was bright, bordering on garish, particularly chosen to draw attention. If the killer didn't know where she was before this, he would now.

  When Nikky spotted her, his face would be even grimmer than it was this morning. "Where is he?" She hadn't seen the ass since their meeting with Grandfather and Joey Chan.

  "Security," Boris answered, Ivan following at a greater distance.

  Nikky must be locked up with Pavel, preparing for tomorrow. She had preparations to make too, equally unpleasant. Tatyana perched in front of a penny slot machine, put a dollar in, spun, and waited.

  "Cousin Tatyana." She didn't have to wait long. Stepan sat beside her, his leg brushing her thigh.

  Cousin Tatyana? So now she was back to being family? He must think her a complete idiot.

  She didn't answer, ignoring him.

  "You and Joey Chan looked cozy earlier."

  "Looks can be deceiving, dear cousin." She glared straight ahead, spinning. Pineapple, red seven, diamond. Nothing.

  "Or not. Should your fiance be worried?" Stepan didn't bother playing, staring at her in that creepy, needy sort of way.

  "If I was engaged to any other man, maybe." She pressed the spin button. "But Nikky isn't any other man." A pineapple, purple bar, red apple.

  "I think he should be worried. Joey Chan has influence my cousin might never have. Nikolay reports to Grandfather. Joey Chan reports to no one." Joey Chan also murdered his previous wife and is a male chauvinistic jerk. What was Stepan's point? "There are rumors that you brought this morning's trouble to us, that Joey Chan was looking for a woman resembling you, that Nikolay, like Grandfather, took what didn't belong to him."

  Tatyana knew the source of those rumors. Two-faced bastard. She spun. "You think I should leave Nikky for Joey Chan?"

  "I didn't say that." Stepan squirmed, aware he had gone too far. As he had. Nikky would go ballistic if she relayed this conversation. "But you could get to know him better."

  That was the opening she needed. "Well, I can't help but do that with Nikky and I being at Joey Chan's house all weekend. Oh, no." She covered her mouth. "I wasn't supposed to say anything." She looked to the left and right, feigning concern. "Forget that last bit."

  "It's already forgotten, little Tatyana." The cousin lapped it up. "My lips are sealed."

  Stepan's smirk communicated that they weren't.

  "I knew I could count on you." To do the opposite of what he should. The killer would know exactly where to find them.

  "Of course, you can count on him." A warm hand rested on her shoulder. "You are family and Stepan is loyal to family," Nikky warned.

  "Nikolay." Stepan stood. Chicken shit.

  "Stepan," Nikky dismissed his cousin, kissing Tatyana's neck.

  Stepan looked to Tatyana, then Nikky, as though he wanted to stay. Receiving no encouragement, he turned and slinked off.

  Tatyana stifled a smile. Nikky bossed people around simply by looking at them. He shuffled that ragged deck he carried with him always, his long fingers flying. He did that when he thought. And whatever he was currently thinking wasn't pleasant.

  "You going to play?" She loved how fierce he got sitting at the blackjack tables. Like it was serious business and not a game.

  He smiled, slow and sexy. "We're going to play. You and I."

  "But..." She glanced around them. His family was everywhere. They'd notice her bad luck. "I always lose, Nikky."

  "You won't when you're playing with me." He sounded sure of that. She let him draw her to her feet. "I'll show you how to win."

  Shit. Nik stared at the cards in disbelief. The dealer had twenty-one. Again. A push, Tatyana neither losing nor winning. He was engaged to the unluckiest woman on the planet.

  "Amazing, Boss." Pavel shook his head. Ivan crossed himself. Boris simply chuckled.

  The brat smiled at him, happy as anything. "I'm not losing, Nikky."

  No. Because he was switching her cards. They were cheating and she still wasn't winning.

  Impossible, and eventually she'd lose or the dealer would suspect. "Do you want to play some more, Tatyana?" Because he had had enough.

  She shrugged. "There isn't really any point, is there? I don't lose, but I don't win, either."

  "Good." He tossed the cards. "Let's play poker." He'd indulge in a couple of games to calm his mind. Then a night with the brat to settle his body.

  His men flung money on the table, the dealer converting it to chips. "Nikky." Tatyana fingered her own chips, the exact same stack she started with.

  His Walmart-shopping girl was so easy to read. Although it wasn't her own money, she didn't want to lose it. "You wanna be my good luck charm, Brat?" He patted his knee.

  "The odds may be even then." Pavel's ugly face lit up. "It doesn't work that way." Tatyana cast the big man a dark look before moving over, reclining on Nik like he was a chair. The curve of her ass made him harden. She wiggled.

  He groaned. "Brat," he warned.

  She stilled, giving a contented sigh, as though she'd accomplished what she set out to do.

  Which was to drive him crazy. Her frizzy hair tickled his neck. Her scent filled his nostrils.

  Damn, he wanted her. Nik tried to concentrate on the game.

  Tatyana concentrated on Nikky. After the first game, won by her fiance, the far superior player, she shifted so she could watch his almost emotionless face. Almost emotionless because he had a slight tell. When he bluffed, his brown eyes darkened similarly to how they did when he was aroused.

  No one else seemed to notice. She touched his square chin. Because no one else knew that about him. She traced his lips. Nikky kissed her fingertips, not taking his gaze off the cards.

  Only she knew Nikky.

  For all her brave talk about tomorrow, she was scared. She'd lose him. That was guaranteed. If they were successful, there'd be no reason for him to continue on with this farce of an engagement, his commitment to the green-eyed woman done. If they weren't successful, he'd be dead.

  Her heart seized. Her fingers trembled as she gripped his suit jacket lapels
. She wouldn't survive his death. It would destroy her. "Nikky?" She needed him to reassure her.

  "Brat." His gaze flicked to her. They stared at each other, Tatyana letting all her fears show.

  His face softened. "We're out." Nikky tossed the cards on the table.

  "Boss," Pavel protested. Groans erupted from the other players.

  Nikky ignored them, gathering her up in his arms, as though he didn't want to let her go, either. As though he truly cared for her. They moved through the casino without speaking, Nikky nodding to people he knew, Tatyana nestled in his arms, thinking.

  When they reached their room, she had reached a decision. "Nikky." She slid down his body to stand before him. "You shouldn't come tomorrow."

  "I'm coming. Tonight, tomorrow, and the day after that." He tugged her top down.

  He knew what she was referring to. Tatyana placed her hands on her hips, preventing the dress from slipping to the ground. "Pavel and Boris and Ivan can handle it. You don't need to be there." He didn't need to put himself in danger.

  "You are my fiancee." Nikky cupped her breasts, kissing her neck. "I will be there."

  "Your fake fiancee," she reminded him, forcing herself to remain strong. "There's no need to do this. You're too important to put yourself at risk."

  That stopped him. Nikky stepped back, eyes flashing. "Too important to the family, you mean. Did Grandfather put you up to this? No way am I going to be chained up here like a damn dog while some assassin hunts down my fiancee. If he thinks that..." He headed to the door.

  What the hell was he talking about? "This isn't about the family or your grandfather." She scowled at his back. "This is about me. You're too important to me." She rolled her eyes as he looked over his shoulder. "Me. Ass."

  He stopped. "I'm important to you?"

  "Didn't I just say that?" What was he? Hard of hearing?

  He turned, grinning. "You care about me?"

  "Of course I do. Why else would I still be here?" That grin spread. "If I didn't love you, I would have run long ago. Nothing you or your pathetic security team could have done would have stopped me. Believe me." His shoulders shook. "If you laugh at me, I'm going to punch you in the nose." She waved her index finger at him. Idiotic man.

  "You love me." That imprudent confession set him off. He bent over, laughing.

  Bringing his beautifully straight nose within striking distant. She intentionally missed, making a solid connection with his square chin, the smack of flesh against flesh loud in the quiet room.

  "What the hell?" He rubbed the red mark.

  "I warned you." She backed up as he straightened. "I will not have my feelings laughed at and my fears dismissed like they don't mean anything, like I don't mean anything." The long skirt hampered her movements so she pulled her dress down, stepping out of the circle of fabric.

  "Oh, you mean something, Brat." His gaze swept over her heaving breasts.

  Was sex all he thought about? "Pay attention." She threw a stiletto at him. Nikky caught it easily. "Tomorrow, you will stay here, let your men handle the psychopath."

  "No one handles you but me." He took a step forward.

  "I am not the psychopath." She threw the other shoe at him. He caught that one, too, dropping it on the carpet. "Damn it."

  "Language, Brat."

  Language? He was about to get himself killed and he worried about language? "You're staying here. I mean it."

  "Only if you stay here." He backed her into a corner. "I'll be wherever you are."

  "You'll get yourself killed." She used her bra as a slingshot, launched at his face. He caught that, too. "That'll really piss me off, Nikky." She couldn't deal with that thought.

  "Language, Brat."

  She ignored him, funneling all her fears into her anger. "You haven't seen me truly pissed off, but if you die, you will, I promise you. I'm going to beat you until you can't see straight."

  "Because you love me." He was so close she could feel his breath on her skin.

  She shook her head. "I said that already. Focus, Ass." Why wasn't he touching her? That's what she needed. She arched an eyebrow. He looked down, pointedly. Right. She was still wearing her panties. He was a lazy bastard, wanting her to undress herself. She pulled them down and kicked them at him.

  "I'm focused." He captured her ankle, raising her leg, his other hand on her waist, securing her. "I'm not going to die, Brat." He kissed her. She leaned against his hard body, wanting to believe him. "I need you to trust me."

  She trusted him. She worried, but she did trust him. "I'm in your arms naked, aren't I?"

  "You are." He kissed her again. "And you love me."

  He kept repeating that. Had he not known? "I do." She kissed him back, focusing all her love in that kiss.

  Another damn early morning. Nik paced within the small room, a pack of his best men watching him. "Chan done with his preparations?"

  "Yes, Boss." Pavel folded his massive arms.

  They had a copy of the floor plans, a map of Chan's land. The men knew where they'd be positioned. They'd have snipers and ground crew and even a man in the air. Was there anything they missed?

  "Have a team look over the grounds as soon as we arrive." Nik didn't trust Chan. He didn't doubt that the house would be locked down. Chan was paranoid, lately doubly so, fearing the assassin was after him, not Tatyana. What concerned Nik was that protecting Tatyana wouldn't be Chan's first priority.

  She was his first priority. She loved him. Him. Not his wealth, that didn't impress his Walmart-shopping girl. Not his family, she saw them as much of a pain in the ass as he did.

  But him.

  He wouldn't lose her.

  "You have the vests?" Nik asked again. The bullet proof vests weren't much protection against a trained killer, but they were better than nothing.

  "Yes, Boss."

  "Grandfather's limo?" Grandfather's vehicle was a moving safe room. So secure it could possibly survive a nuclear bomb. That he offered it for Tatyana's transport signaled how concerned he was.

  "Guarded and waiting by the private entrance, Boss."

  His phone hummed against his hip. Nik glanced down at the screen. A text message from Boris. Tatyana was ready.

  Time for the pep talk. He stood, hands folded behind his back. "Today, we face a threat to our family," Nik addressed his men. "A serious threat. You are the best of the best and this best will be tested. We cannot make mistakes. If we make mistakes, family members will die." He paused, allowing that thought to sink in, before continuing. "Our goal is to stop this asshole and we will stop him. But not by putting our women at risk. Our first priority today is to protect my fiancee, is that clear?"

  The men rumbled uneasily. Did they have a problem with those orders? "What the fuck is it?"

  Pavel stepped forward as spokesperson. "Sergei communicated that you were to be protected at all costs, Boss."

  That interfering old man. "You report to me, not to my grandfather. I would protect your wives before I protected you. I expect you to protect my fiancee before you protect me, understand?" He looked at each man, ensuring they nodded agreement before his gaze settled on Pavel.

  "Understood, Boss." The big man's eyes glittered.

  He was laughing at him. Because his feelings for the brat showed. Nik glowered. "I can protect my own damn self." And he'd protect Tatyana, too.

  "Yes, Boss."

  Eight

  "The best protection a family has is preparation."ȄSergei Kaerta Perched on Nikky's knee, Tatyana squirmed. "This vest is uncomfortable." It was hot and heavy.

  "A bullet in your gut is more uncomfortable, Brat." Nikky surveyed the collection of guns on the limo's leather seat.

  "I could move faster if I didn't wear it." The vest had to weigh at least ten pounds. She wouldn't be able to run with it on.

  He strapped the harness with a holster and ammo carrier around her shoulders. "If you don't wear yours, I won't wear mine."

  He'd used that threat on her all
morning. She sighed. The problem was...it worked. "You're a bossy man, you know that?"

  "But you love me." He picked up a small gun, balancing it in his palm.

  "But I love you." If she was to be so open about loving him, just once she'd like to hear 'I love you' from him. She wouldn't hear those words. Tatyana glanced across from them.

  Pavel talked into a phone. Boris grinned at her. At least, not now. Not in front of his men.

  Nikky set the gun down and picked up another. "One gun or two?"

  "One. If you want me to remain upright, I can't carry much more." She already had her bra stuffed with plastic wrapped dressings laced with hemostatic agent, her pants pockets full of gauze and bandages. "And I'd like it to be the gun I used in the shooting range. I know where the trigger is on that one." Some of the weapons looked too complicated to use.

  Boris chuckled.

  Nikky's head snapped up. "You think this is a laughing matter?"

  The laughter stopped. "No, Boss."

  "Because this isn't. People are going to die today." Tatyana shivered at the certainty in his voice. "One of those people better not be my fiancee." Nikky picked up the gun she was familiar with. "This is loaded and ready to go, so be careful." He tucked it into the holster.

  "I'll try not to shoot your ass." It was only half a joke. Her aim was good with a target, but she doubted the man coming after them would be standing still.

  "Language, Brat." The car slowed. They were already there. Tatyana had hoped the drive would go on and on.

  "Nikky."

  "No need to worry." He gathered her hair up in his hands, moving it to the side, kissing her exposed neck. "I'll protect you."

  But who would protect him? Every loved one had faced death and died. Everyone. Why would Nikky be any different? "Nikky." Her grip on him tightened.

  "You'll be fine." Nikky gently extracted his hand. "Stay here. I need to talk to Chan." He brushed her lips with his.

  Tatyana needed to talk to Pavel and Boris. She would have liked to talk to Ivan also, but he sat up front with the driver.

  The door closed. Nikky and Chan talked outside the vehicle, hands flying. She couldn't see Nikky's face, his back to her. Would she ever see his face again? After today?