Chapter 7

Kraven

Malyshka.

The taste of her sweet pussy lingered on my tongue, which in turn kept my cock far too preoccupied. Even the images floating in my mind were filthier than normal. I was a bad boy given all the dirty little things I wanted to do to my special… guest.

Very few people ever surprised me.

In the world I'd been brought into, I'd been nurtured to navigate my way through liars and thieves with ease, anticipating danger at every turn. That had kept me alive in a dark and dangerous world where violence and spilling blood was all in a day's work. Fortunately, those events were few and far between.

Except when someone tried to end my life out of the blue. That meant I'd be forced to leave no stone unturned, no bad deed unpunished. That included with the beautiful, bloodstained woman standing in front of me with uncertainty in her eyes and potentially treachery in her mind. I couldn't rule out she'd been used as a ringer, a lure to a man like me, finding out if I was inside the restaurant then tipping off the would-be killer. However, I found it impossible to believe she'd then turn around and save my life.

And the fact she had a dog with her inside a piece of crap car made my theory less believable.

One thing was certain. I fucking hated complications in my life and she'd stormed into my world at the worst possible time. I had more money than God, women waiting at my disposal, but I'd laid claim to a woman ten years younger and feistier than a cat in heat.

I was sensitive to the fact she'd saved my life; hell, even grateful. However, she'd seen something she shouldn't have and that made this as complicated as possible. No matter how far I'd brought the Bratva since my father's death, erasing complications was necessary every so often. By all rights, I should have her life snuffed out. But I couldn't. Fuck. I wanted her, craving more than a mere taste.

Although Konstantin had warned me twice not to trust her, I found myself far too attracted, longing to get to learn more about her. Penny Valentine. The name meant nothing but it suited her perfectly. Her copper hair was like spun gold mixed with bronze, her eyes lighting up any space she walked into.

Yet vile thoughts of exactly what I was going to do to her entered my mind, unfurling like a very special Christmas present.

"What did you say to me?" Penny asked, her look of defiance turning to one of shock.

The girl had been stupid risking her life, but the assassination attempt had been the closest I'd experienced to losing my life since I'd taken over for my father. That was a rare feat since I was usually protected by a freaking army. Still, I'd never been placed in a position where I'd had an unwanted witness while handling a situation. I was stymied at what to do and that wasn't like me.

The possessiveness I felt for her had extended to wanting to rip out the Morelli brothers' testicles through their mouths. Their brutality with women was widely known. How the fuck could someone so innocent have gotten herself involved with thugs like that?

Unless she wasn't innocent, a plant and nothing more, the assassination attempt intended to be fake, but something had gone terribly wrong. No, that didn't make any sense, like all of the other shit in my world.

That also irritated the hell out of me. The act had taken balls. I wasn't used to being indebted to someone. It wasn't my style, but I couldn't help feeling something more than just being grateful for her quick reactions. Even if she'd run out on a seventy-five-dollar tab.

"You heard me," I told her.

"But I saved your life."

"One has nothing to do with the other, Penny. I will continue showing my gratitude because of your actions, but you must know you placed yourself in danger. And you stole from me."

"You'd be dead if I hadn't reacted the way I did. If I hadn't been stupid enough to suddenly pop into your shitty restaurant out of the blue."

"You found the place by accident?" I pressed, still able to smell her fear. Good. She should be afraid of me. I was the big bad wolf on steroids. "You expect me to believe that?"

Her face was flushed, terror filling her eyes. "Yes. For fuck's sake. I was just hungry. Don't build some goddamn conspiracy theory. I don't lie. I'm a good girl." Her brow furrowed after making the statement.

She had a way of making me laugh, not just because of her defiance but because she seemed unfazed by who I was. What I had seen was a raging look of desire in her eyes. Her body also told no lies. She was hungry for my touch. "I'm curious. How long have you been in Las Vegas?"

"Five months."

Not necessarily long enough to have learned the ins and outs of playing games in the city where ruthless men ruled. However, she wasn't stupid. That was easy to see by the flash in her eyes and the way she'd scanned her surroundings. "The hallway behind me leads to two additional bedrooms. Mine is on the other side along with my office. Please select whichever one you'd like and take a few moments to freshen up. After that, I'm going to get the discipline over with so you can rest and enjoy your time here."

She stared at me incredulously. "You must be joking."

"I rarely joke about anything, especially when someone steals from me. Now, go. I have a phone call to make."

"Let me guess. You're going to rip off my fingernails one at a time if I don't obey your every command."

"You've been watching too many movies, Penny. But I will tell you that each punishment will be much harsher than the one before. I suggest you heed my advice and do what I asked."

Her gaze became wary, but she turned around, yanking one of the bags off the bellman's cart before motioning to her pup. She was also cursing under her breath. I had to admit, the furry pup was cute with his golden tight curls and happy tail. I had no experience with animals, had even believed I wouldn't be able to tolerate one, but I might be proven wrong.

As soon as she was in the hallway, she turned around to study me. If she was the innocent little Penny that I believed her to be, I certainly understood her confusion. However, what concerned me almost as much was the fact she'd worked for one of my enemies.

The Morelli brothers ran a couple of decent clubs, at least as far as their guests and high-paying players were concerned, but they were shitty to their employees. Plus, the rumors floating around them were atrocious. They were also very true. They were into human trafficking, using their clubs to find the perfect type of girl for their wealthy clients.

I gritted my teeth from the thought.

I'd killed one of the men who'd beaten a girl who worked in my club months before. The asshole had believed the auction the Morellis used to sell off kidnapped women was legit. I'd taught him otherwise. Since then, I'd kept my eye on the brothers and their bullshit. At least they'd been laying low.

Up until now.

It was more than possible Penny had been trained or lured to pull me out in the open by one of the goons. I couldn't put it past the jugheads, even if they were more like vermin than men.

My father hadn't been the best man alive and certainly not father of the year, but he'd taught me that if you treated people badly on the way up, they'd crush you if you were forced to take a step down. I had a reputation for treating my people right, paying them extremely well, and providing the best benefits of any resort in town. In exchange, I required their loyalty and looking the other way when necessary. It usually worked out very well.

Until shitheads like David acted out of turn. Were the two events connected? I couldn't be certain of that either. But now, I had to be particularly cautious.

I pulled out my phone, checking to see if my brother had moved from my estate. He was old enough to stay alone, two guards always watching him, but he was also a free spirit, refusing to follow the most basic orders.

Why did I have the distinct feeling Penny would fall into that category? I'd installed a tracker application so I could hunt him down when necessary. I'd been forced to use it more times than I could count. The kid was going to get himself or me killed at some point. He was still at the house. Good. I'd make certain he stayed there. After that, I dialed the front desk.

"Mr. Sokolov. What do you need?" Chastity asked. The girl had worked with me for years, likely knew me almost better than anyone else.

"I assume there's a pet store somewhere close."

"Absolutely, sir. One of the biggest and in my opinion the best in the country. What do you need?"

"Well, um. Everything." I laughed.

"I think I understand. For that cute baby you took with you to your suite."

"The very one."

Chastity was obviously happy to help. "I'll make certain a selection of toys is purchased. What about food?"

"The very best."

"Yes, sir. Anything for your other guest?"

I thought about what she might like and sighed. "Some lovely dresses and other items."

"Her size?"

"I'd say an eight." I only hoped I had a fucking clue. I'd found it next to impossible to take my eyes off her, even while wearing blood and brains, but that didn't mean I knew enough about the woman. My God. What had I gotten myself in the middle of with her?

"I'll take care of everything, sir, and have the items brought to your room."

"Excellent." I ended the call, immediately hitting the single button for Konstantin's phone. He answered on the first ring.

"I thought you'd be calling. I checked over our killer after I placed him in the cooler. No identification but he had a brand carved into his skin like he was a gang member. Clueless as to which gang."

"It wasn't a gang given the expensive clothes he was wearing." Which was another red flag I didn't like.

My counselor laughed. "Yeah, you're right but the goddamn thing wasn't crude. It took some time and I can't imagine the pain the dude went through. Anyway, I did take a picture. I'm currently loading it into one of our databases. So far, no direct affiliation to anyone. You're right in that the suit wasn't off the rack, but there were no labels anywhere. He had no keys in his pocket and was wearing no jewelry."

"That doesn't sound like something the Morelli boys would do." They were garish with everything, including gold chains hanging around their necks. They'd obviously watched one too many Stallone movies. Even their friends were like that. Disgusting.

"No. They're not that sophisticated."

"Interesting," I said as I pulled my glass of bourbon to my lips. "Did you get the make or model of the vehicle he was riding in with his buddies?"

"No, other than it was a dark sedan. Typical. But I didn't see a plate."

I rolled the glass over my head even though it didn't help my headache to any degree. "Send me the picture and get two other men watching my estate. With Vissarian there, I don't want my family to be picked off one at a time."

"Will do. Incidentally, I might have a lead on David. He was seen by one of our informants at a convenience store with his girlfriend. Although it would appear they're taking their… winnings and heading out of town."

"Oh, really? The kid isn't that bright." Or as I'd heard my own father say about dozens of people while he was alive, the kid has gusto but zero intelligence.

Dense in the head.

Granted, if he was on the run, it could mean he'd been told to leave.

"Keep me abreast of what you discover. Fucking find the asshole, Konstantin. I can't let this ride. However, it would appear tonight I'll be unexpectedly busy."

"Don't worry. You know how the vermin in this town talk," he chortled. "I must admit, boss. I'm a little surprised you took her to your hotel." My Sovietnik scratched his head. Shit. Why had I resorted to thinking about my organization as old-style Bratva all of a sudden? Maybe because it was possible I needed to… break bad on a few people to keep everyone else in line. Just like I had six months before. There were days I hated my job.

"Where else was I supposed to take her? She was seen. I have no doubt about it. That means the assholes who arrived with the fuckhead know she was responsible for saving my life. They will want her dead just to teach her a lesson if nothing more. Plus, I owe her."

"Yeah, I just don't like it."

"Go ahead and do a deep dive. Penny Valentine. Supposedly out of Roanoke, although I have no clue what state that might be." I knew she'd told me, but I hadn't been paying any attention.

He chuckled. "You need to get away from Vegas and explore the country. Virginia? She mentioned it."

"I was a little busy wondering who'd just tried to kill me. Find out what you can. I'll be busy for a couple hours. Then we'll have a little fun ensuring David is made well aware that he crossed a very dangerous line."

"I'll be around. I'll do some hunting for myself, including getting a few of the boys to put an ear to the city streets. Someone must be talking."

"Make sure that includes activities with the Morelli brothers."

"Why?" my counselor asked. "Did something else happen?"

"It would appear the lovely redhead was employed by them until earlier today."

"Ah, shit. You don't buy that's a coincidence. Do you?"

"I will find out."

Konstantin sighed. "I'll see what I can come up with."

"Also ensure none of our people had a strange phone call or email. Someone knew I was going to be at Giuseppe's tonight."

"Shit, boss. You're not thinking Misha, Dima, or Ivan?"

He'd called them my inner sanctum. While not all my soldiers and certainly very few of my regular employees were Russian, those closest to me were. It was a lesson my father had taught me. "I need to rule out every possibility."

"Maybe the woman followed you. We weren't looking for a tail."

That was true enough, but I wasn't a man to jump to any conclusions, especially with a woman so beautiful. Now I was thinking with my dick. Another surprise. "Just do as I say."

"Yes, sir."

I ended the call, holding the phone to my head. Whatever was going on would need to be dealt with quickly.

My complication would indeed need to stay by my side. Now I was determined to keep her.

I couldn't help but wonder if the reason was to keep her safe or to defile her in every filthy way imaginable.

The answer was the easiest one of the night.