by Zoe Blake
She placed the back of a hand to her forehead and leaned back. “So basically, your cock decided for you. I just might faint from the romance of it all.”
“Anyone ever tell you, you’re a real ballbuster?”
She smiled. “All the time.”
I leaned in and touched her forehead with mine. “Good thing I’ve got big balls made of steel.”
Her cheeks flushed and she got off my lap. “I should finish my nuggets before they get cold.”
I stood. “When Dimitri gets back, we need to leave to handle some business, but Emma will be here to keep you company.”
She dragged a fry through her ketchup but didn’t make eye contact. Her voice sounded strained when she asked, “So what time is your meeting?”
Years of military training in interrogations came to the fore. She was fishing for information. My meeting was at nine p.m. “It’s at eight. Why?”
She shrugged, still not making eye contact. “No reason. Is it at that place I heard you mention on the phone earlier? Near the cemetery?”
I rolled my sleeves back down and put on my suit jacket. “Yes, why are you asking?”
She cleared her throat. “It’s just dangerous around that area, that’s all. I’m worried about you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I think I can take care of myself.”
Her laugh was high-pitched and forced. “Of course.”
Sounds in the entryway told us Dimitri and Emma had returned.
I kissed the top of her head. “Be a good girl while I’m gone.”
“I’ll probably just take a nap in one of the spare bedrooms.”
After telling Emma Dylan was in the kitchen, I left with Dimitri.
We waited till we were in my car to speak.
Dimitri nodded toward the house. “So, what’s the verdict?”
“She’s lying. You were right. Her family is planning on stealing the shipment.”
Dimitri rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, my friend. I did not want to be right. What are you going to do about it?”
I pressed on the gas. “I’m going to head to the warehouse and meet my future in-laws.”
Yes, that’s goddamn right. I was marrying her the first chance I got if I had to bind her in duct tape and carry her down the aisle. She may still have doubts about us, but I didn’t. First, I needed to take care of her toxic family once and for all.
We drove to the warehouse an hour early to prepare.
Maxim arrived with more intel. He smirked. “They have a crew of only five. Their plan is to ambush us during the exchange and load the guns into a rented U-Haul.”
Vaska frowned. “I for one am fucking insulted by such a stupid plan.”
Dimitri leaned back in his chair. “I agree. Are you sure we shouldn’t just kill them? We’d obviously be doing the world a favor.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. When I got back to Dimitri’s, I was going to tan Dylan’s ass for making me deal with this bullshit. Then I was going to fuck her senseless and not let her leave our bed for days. “I’ve already killed two of her relatives this week. Killing more might affect our relationship.”
Maxim sat at the makeshift card table. “I had our guy hack into Susan’s and Justin’s phones. The idiots laid out the entire plan in traceable texts. They are blackmailing Dylan. Apparently, she thinks they have a gun used to kill someone in a botched robbery from when she was just a teen.”
I cradled my fist in my palm. “And do they?” This could complicate things. Besides scaring the fuck out of them and ensuring they never set foot near Dylan again, I would have to recover any evidence they had against her. I may have to kill them after all, even though it would be a huge pain in my ass having to dispose of their bodies when I’d rather be in bed with Dylan.
Maxim smiled. “Nyet. They showed her a different gun. The original is long gone. Dylan probably doesn’t know that the guy who committed the murder already admitted it and is in jail.”
Vaska shuffled a deck of cards. “I don’t mean to sound like a judgmental asshole, but I’m not sure I like your in-laws, Ivan.”
I flipped a chair around and straddled it as I motioned for him to deal me in. “Yeah, well, after tonight we’ll be Dylan’s new family.”
Dimitri gathered up his cards. “Sounds like for once she’ll finally have a family that has her back.”
I leaned over and fist bumped him.
Maxim arranged his cards. “I’ll never understand it. What is wrong with these American men? From what I have seen, each of you has beautiful, intelligent, strong women. Why do these men and their families mistreat them? Why do they not treasure and spoil them as they deserve?”
Dimitri lifted an open bottle of Stoli and poured out four shots. “To our women!”
We lifted our glasses. “Budem zdorovy!”
I looked at my cards. “This deal is shit, Vaska.”
He laughed. “You always say that. Ante up.”
We played cards for an hour until we heard the loud engine of what we assumed was the U-Haul truck. There was the slamming of doors and then the sound of arguing.
We exchanged a look. Jesus, these people were amateurs.
We continued to play cards.
They approached like a herd of drunken elephants, even succeeding in knocking over several crates in the loading dock area.
Vaska laid eyes on them first and burst out laughing. I looked up and roared with laughter as well.
All five were dressed as ninjas from some kung fu movie.
They pulled guns on us.
Dimitri gestured to Maxim. “Are you in or do you fold?”
Maxim looked at his cards. “You’re bluffing.” He tossed some cash into the pile. “I’m in.”
One of them cleared their throat. “Hey? Hey! We’re here for the shipment. Anyone tries anything, they’re dead.”
Vaska shivered. “Oh! I’m so scared. Aren’t they scary?”
I slapped him on the shoulder, as I put in my ante and then called.
One ninja fired a round into the ceiling. “We’re not messing around here.”
Plaster rained down on all five of them.
Dimitri gestured toward them. “Now that is a shame. Their cute little ninja costumes are all ruined.”
I held up a finger. “One moment. I called, whatcha got?” I laid my straight flush on the table.
Maxim smirked and laid out his royal flush.
Vaska threw his cards down. “Dammit. Every fucking time.”
Sighing, we all nodded to one another and rose. Drawing our guns, we stalked toward the thieves.
“Now we’re ready,” I said as I raised my gun.
They raised theirs. The one in the center sneered, “It’s five against four. We have the advantage.”
Vaska frowned. “That can’t be right. Is that right?”
Dimitri responded as he also raised his gun. “No, the math is all wrong. These are just stupid boys. They don’t count as a full man.”
One of them raised his gun to Dimitri’s face. “I’ll shoot you right here and now, old man.”
Dimitri turned to me. “Ouch!” He then knocked the gun out of the idiot’s hand, twisting his arm till it broke and slamming him into the cement. Then, for good measure, he shot him in the leg. The man screamed and rolled around.
I glared at Dimitri.
He shrugged. “What? You said not to kill them. You said nothing about hurting them. Trust me, this way is much easier.”
Turning my attention back to the now extremely nervous group, I gestured with my gun. “Take off those stupid masks.”
One by one, they pulled off their black ski masks.
I recognized Justin, Dylan’s cousin, from earlier today. “I want you to listen very carefully because I don’t enjoy repeating myself.”
“Fuck you,” Justin spat out.
I shot him in the shoulder.
Turning to Dimitri, I shrugged. “You’re right. This way is easier.”
“You bastard, you freaking shot me!”
I placed my booted foot on his shoulder and leaned in.
“Fuck! Stop! Okay! Okay! I’m listening.”
I crouched down and tapped his head with the barrel of my gun. “Listen up. You and that mother of yours are going to leave town or I’m going to personally show you and her where I buried your daddy’s corpse. And the three of you can spend eternity together. Do we understand one another?”
He gripped his shoulder and groaned. “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.”
I continued in a casual tone, “And another thing. I know that gun you showed Dylan is not the real one. You ever threaten her again or even try to contact her, and I’ll rip your balls off through your throat. Got it?”
He moaned as his eyes rolled back in his head.
I slammed my gun against his forehead and repeated, “Pay attention! You got it?”
Justin sobbed. “Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
“Good. Now, as you may suppose, I know where you and your mother live. You have until dawn to clear out of town, or I’ll burn your house down with you both in it. Now go.”
Justin crawled onto his knees and then stood. He and his pitiful friend hobbled off.
I turned to the men. “Too much?”
Maxim shook his head. “No. Not at all. I thought the eternity bit on top of his father’s rotting corpse was a nice touch.”
Vaska chimed in. “I particularly liked the part about burning down the house with them in it. Always liked the classics.”
Dimitri slapped me on the shoulder. “If we are done with your domestic problems, we need to get this blood cleaned up before our client arrives.”
I nodded. “Good point. Anthony is known for having a twitchy trigger finger with deals like this. At any sign of something wrong, he’ll light the place up with bullets and ask questions later.”
I needed this deal to be done, and quickly.
If I had my way, I’d be on my plane with Dylan and on my way back to Russia by sunup.
Chapter 26
Dylan
I burst into the library where Emma was resting and reading after her doctor’s appointment. “I fucked up!”
She looked up from her book and frowned. “What?”
I wrung my hands as I paced in front of the fire. “I fucked up.”
She patted the chaise lounge to get me to sit, but I shook my head and kept furiously pacing. “It’s bad, really bad.”
She laid her book aside. “I’m sure it’s not that bad. Tell me what it is, and I’ll help you fix it.”
I covered my face and groaned. “No. Don’t be nice to me. It makes this all so much worse.”
Both she and Mary had been so freaking welcoming to me. After my terrible experience as a teenager, I became very closed off and my only real friend was Carinna. Even in college, I was crazy insecure about making friends, always thinking I’d be found out as a fraud who had no business being there. But Emma and Mary were so damn sweet and welcoming and so freaking non-judgy it was hard not to like them and worse, want them to like and accept me.
And now I had ruined everything.
Emma struggled to stand up. I ran over and grasped her hands, helping her out of the lounger. “Now you’re starting to worry me. What’s happened?”
“I fucked up.”
“You’ve already said that, Dylan. What did you do?”
“Before I tell you, you have to understand that my family are pretty much all terrible people, and I wasn’t much better than them a few years ago.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder. “Uh… hello? You know who I’m married to, right? I’m the last person to judge anyone’s past… or present for that matter.”
I started pacing again, unable to look her in the eye. “When I was sixteen, I did a bad thing. I was involved in an armed robbery, and someone got killed. My only defense is I had no idea what my friends had planned.”
Emma remained quiet, as if sensing I just needed to blurt it all out.
I continued, “Like an idiot, I told my bitch of an aunt about it and gave her the gun from the robbery. Now she’s blackmailing me and threatening to go to the police with it.”
Emma placed a hand on her chest. “Is that all? Oh, my God, you had me worried for a second there.”
I stared at her, flabbergasted. Admitting to armed robbery and murder weren’t exactly casual things. Well, maybe in this household they were, but still.
Emma crossed the room to where I was standing. “This is no big deal. Ivan has stupid amounts of money, just like my husband. Just tell him about your aunt and he’ll pay her off. Problem solved.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Sweetie, it really is. It’s hard for us normal people to understand, but these men really don’t care about the money.”
How many times had Ivan told me that and I hadn’t believed him?
I groaned and turned away. “You don’t understand.”
Emma sat back down. “I think I do. You’re worried you only just met Ivan, and that he thinks you’re just a hot piece of ass and nothing more, so why on earth would he want to get involved with your family problems.”
I swung around and stared at her. For starters, she gave off this super sweet book nerd vibe, so hearing phrases like a hot piece of ass from her was unexpected. Second, she came damn close to hitting the mark.
Emma waved a dismissive hand. “Been there. Done that. Trust me, just ask Mary. These Russian men are like crazy decisive. Like caveman—me want that, me take that—decisive. Dimitri has already told me that Ivan has it bad for you. If he’s anything like Dimitri, that man would give you the world if you wanted it.” She wrinkled her nose. “He’d also burn the world down if you wanted. They’re kind of sexy villain bad guy cool like that, so use your powers wisely,” she said with a wink and a laugh.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I blurted out, “Your husband’s in danger and it’s my fault!”
This time she didn’t need help rising. Despite being nine months pregnant, she shot up. “What? Tell me everything.”
“The men are doing a gun exchange tonight and I told my aunt and asshole cousin where and when. They’re going to show up and steal the guns.”
“Fuck. I need to call Dimitri.”
“I tried calling Ivan. He’s not answering his phone.”
“Dammit, sometimes they keep their phones locked in their cars depending on the buyer. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Emma pulled out her phone and called Dimitri. He didn’t answer. She called again and a third time. “I’m calling Vaska,” she announced. She called him several times. No answer. “Fuck.”
I waved my hands in front of me as tears blurred my vision. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”
She gripped my upper arm while she dialed another number. “Mary, we need you now.”
There was a pause, then Emma continued, “No, it’s not the baby. Just get over here.” She hung up and turned to me. “Mary lives a few streets over and the way she drives she’ll be here in two minutes.”
Now we both paced as we waited.
Emma rubbed her forehead. “Mary will know what to do. She asks more questions of Vaska about his work. I don’t like talking about it with Dimitri. Plus, since the baby, he doesn’t want to worry or stress me out.”
“Oh, God.” I wrapped my arms around my stomach and curled into myself. “Your baby. I’m stressing you out. I should have just handled this on my own. I never should have said anything to you. If something happens to the baby, I’ll never forgive myself.”
She stroked my hair. “It’s fine. It’s fine. You definitely should have told me. You can’t deal with this alone. You have Mary and me to help. Should we call Carinna?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve involved her in this mess enough.”
> Her mouth quirked. “Something tells me she’ll be thanking you later.”
My brow wrinkled. “What?”
She waved me off. “Nothing. One Russian crisis at a time.”
Even in the house, we heard the screech of tires. Then the front door slammed open. We heard Mary run through the hallway straight into the library. As always, she looked like she’d stepped out of a 1950s pinup calendar. “What’s happening? Are you sure it’s not the baby?” she asked as she put a comforting hand on Emma’s stomach.
Emma placed a reassuring hand over hers. “It’s the boys. They might be in trouble.”
Mary looked between us. “Tell me.”
Emma nodded to me. Swiping at the tears in my eyes, I rapidly brought her up to speed.
After I was done talking, Emma asked, “Do you know the location for the exchange tonight?”
Mary closed her eyes and groaned. “They have like eight warehouses all around the city, not to mention the different safehouses and back storage areas of shady businesses. They switch it up all the time. I didn’t think to ask when Vaska left tonight. He implied this was a simple business deal, and they’d probably wind up playing poker most of the time.”
“Wait! I know where they are!” I blurted out, grateful to at least be a little useful in the mess I created.
Mary turned and headed toward the door. “Let’s go.”
I was right behind her, but we both turned when we heard Emma follow.
Mary held up her hand. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Emma’s brow wrinkled. “I’m coming with you.”
“The hell you are! Do I look like I have a fucking death wish? Dimitri would kill me if he learned you left the house in your condition,” Mary objected.
Emma crossed her arms above her stomach. “If you don’t let me come with you, I’ll just follow in my car.”
Mary scoffed. “Like you could keep up with me. Besides, you never drive. You’re terrible at it.”
“Exactly. So, I’m safer with you.”
Mary sighed. “Fine, but you stay in the car. No exceptions.”
“Deal.”
That settled, we all piled out of the house. Two of the perimeter guards approached, but Mary waved them off. “Preggo craving. Just heading out for some ice cream and pickles.”
