2. CHAPTER 2

2

JULES

What a night. I love this side of the job, the interrogation, the violence, but I fucking hate clean up. I’m covered in sweat and blood, with the tangy aftertaste of the dead body left lingering on my tongue. So fucking gross. I want my shower and my bed, but Dima will flip his shit if we don’t get this done before morning.

I’ve worked with the Kozlov brothers, Dima and Lev, for years, since we were teenagers. They had a pretty chill set up going on with their drug business that has kept us all in good living. Then as time has gone on and the more notorious our names have become, that chill life has turned to multiple problems and fucking clean ups, leaving the runt jobs to fall to me and another guard, Simon. I have to be honest, I’m not loving it. Thirty years old and cleaning up this shit is not what I had planned for myself, but we’re a family in this house. I owe my life to Dima and Lev. They gave me a job and home when I had nothing. A teenager scrambling to make something of myself, because I sure as shit wasn’t going to go to college. My mom and step-dad tried their best, but we were dirt poor, living in a town where there were zero opportunities. I have an older step-sister, but my parents kicked her out when she got pregnant at eighteen. She’s ten years older than me and always looked out for me since she and her dad came into our lives when I was four years old. But as she grew older, the age gap became more noticeable when she started hanging out with boys, and not the best kind of boys my parents would have wanted for her. I didn’t see her again until I was sixteen, when I found her contact details in my mom’s old shoebox that she had hidden in her closet. I was snooping one day, looking for cash, and found the old tattered thing, shocked to see my step-sister’s name and cell number. I’d missed Jenny so much and decided to reach out. We may not be blood, but I’d always considered her my big sister. I called her and arranged to meet her in secret, along with her son, my step-nephew, Kai. It was odd having a nephew who was only eight years younger than me, but it was great having my sister back in my life, especially as life at home got harder.

The distance between myself and my parents grew after they kicked Jenny out in such a cold manner, I couldn’t get past it. Seems like they didn’t either as their indifference to my existence just pushed me further away. So predictably, I started hanging around with the wrong crowd, getting into trouble along with my friends. It’s not like I had anything else to do, plus they were a welcome distraction to keep me out of the house. After I turned eighteen, I met the Kozlovs when I got tangled up in a drug deal gone wrong. I won’t say they pitied me, as they don’t give a shit about anyone, but I think they saw themselves in me. Dima and Lev were looking for help dealing and offered me money and a home. I took that shit up without even thinking.

My mom and step-dad both died not long after I moved out, my mom first from an aneurysm, my step-dad a year later from a heart attack. It was such an odd and confusing point in my life as I felt nothing. In the years leading up to that I grieved the loss of them, their steady neglect after Jenny severed that tie. I didn’t blink an eye when they passed. The damage was done long ago, and I wasn’t the same boy, a fortress built so tightly around me that not even an atomic bomb could destroy it. People are shit. Love is bullshit. Have no expectations and nothing can disappoint you.

I’d stayed in sporadic contact with Jenny over the years, lessening when they moved away. While on the surface we appear to care for each other as siblings do, we never acknowledge that underlying tension that exists. The older I got, resentment set in on my side as the teenage me had decided that if Jenny hadn’t gotten pregnant, our family would never have blown apart. And I know she resents me to a certain extent, this perception that because I remained at home I had the perfect parents that she was so desperate to be a part of, which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Just like I know that I can’t blame her for our parents’ response to her pregnancy. Now, it’s only the occasional text around the holidays or birthdays, not like the one I received this afternoon from Jenny, asking me to call her.

“You going to Desire tonight?” Simon asks me, pulling me back from thinking about Jenny and why she’s contacted me. Desire is a strip club run by the Kozlovs, in addition to their burlesque/cabaret bar called Starlight. While Lev oversees Desire, I spend most of my time there making sure things run smoothly for the brothers. I must admit, it has its perks, with most of the dancers having sampled my dick at some point, but like anything else in life, the monotony gets old. Sex is just a release for me, and I’m selfish when it comes down to the act. I know it makes me sound like a dick, but I’ve never gotten pleasure in someone else’s enjoyment when fucking. I actually find it annoying, especially loud girls. Half the time it's fake as fuck, but that part doesn’t bother me. Sex has always felt like something was missing.

“Yeah, I need to stop by to check things over. Why? You tagging along?”

“I’m tempted. Just hope that fucker Carlos isn’t there,” Simon grumbles. Carlos took over the supply of Dima and Lev’s imports earlier this year. He spends a lot of his free time at Desire, and I’ve noticed he takes great pleasure in winding up Simon at every opportunity. Simon, for the most part, is the quietest one out of our group, but Carlos stokes a fire in Simon of such epic proportions that it’s hard not to notice.

“Come on, man. Just ignore him. The more you rise to his bait, the more he’ll do it to get a reaction from you.”

“I suppose. Let me get cleaned up, and I’ll head out with you,” he says as he puts away the hose he’s been using to clean the flooring in the holding pen. The room is now spotless, the black shiny floor sparkles, and there is no sign that anything bad happened in here. I remove my gloves and disposable overalls that we wear when doing the clean-ups and follow Simon out the door.

We don’t live in the mansion with the brothers, but we all share a single-story building that Dima built on the property grounds for us guards. It’s a decent size, and we all have our own rooms. Lev and Dima frequently discuss expanding and building individual properties for each of us on the land. There’s so much space, but it's just something they’ve never gotten around to.

As we both head to the rear door, Lev calls out to me, as Simon continues out of the property.

“All done?” Lev asks as he approaches me.

“Yeah. We’re just gonna wash up before heading out to Desire.”

“I’ll come with you. Those two are already fucking and my ears will start bleeding if I have to hear princess Seb cumming again,” Lev says, rolling his eyes. Dima and Seb are definitely in your face when it comes to PDA. I don’t mind it too much but it pisses Lev off, which I find more than amusing.

“Don’t be jealous,” I tease.

“I’m not jealous. I just don’t enjoy hearing my brother get the little shit off, it’s fucking annoying.”

I chuckle and shake my head, before turning to leave.

“I’ll meet you out front in twenty,” I say over my shoulder as I head over to the guards’ house. When I enter the single story open plan home, I can hear the shower running from Simon's room as I pass it, heading towards my own room, which is at the end of the corridor. I quickly wash off in the shower and dress in our standard attire of black shirt and black pants. As I pick up my cell phone from the chest of drawers in my room, my eyes drift back to the text from Jenny. I’m not sure why I’m hesitant to reply, but she hasn’t reached out in forever, and it makes me panic. Has something happened? Is Kai okay?

Before I know it, I’ve pressed the call button next to her name, and I’m taken aback at how fast she answers, barely on the second ring.

“Jules,” she says, followed by a sigh that is full of exhaustion and relief.

“Jenny, what’s wrong?”

“Well, hello to you too,” she quips, but I’m not a fool.

“I know you. Now, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Kai. I just can’t deal with his shit anymore, Jules. He was arrested tonight, and I just don’t have it in me to deal with his bullshit again. I’m tired. He’s a grown man, and I’ve had enough. You’re my last hope of getting through to him.”

“Hold on, arrested? For what?”

“Fighting. He was out drinking with those dumb friends of his at a bar, and they got into a fight with another gang.”

“He’s in a gang?” I’m shocked. Kai was always such a sweet boy, kind and funny. It’s been years since I’ve seen him, and I know he’s a man now, but it still rocks me to the core that he’s caught up in shit like this. Then I remember who I work for and the term hypocrite comes to mind. Jenny doesn’t know the full extent of my work. She thinks I work in security, which has some truth. A grain of truth.

“Yes. He’s been hanging around with them for a while. Nothing I say or do is helping. I know he doesn’t want this life, Jules. My sweet boy is still in there, but around here, I think he thinks he has no choice. I don’t know; maybe it’s my fault for moving,” she says, her voice cracking on the words.

“You just did what you thought was best. You’re a great mom.”

A small sob comes through the phone. My instinct to make things right for them both takes over, so I decide to take charge of the situation.

“Look, let me talk to my bosses and I’ll head over in the morning to the station. Text me where he is and I’ll try to talk some sense into him.”

“Really? You’d do that?”

“Of course. I’ll head over to you after. I just need to run it past the boss here first. We’ll sort this out. Trust me.”

“I trust you. Thank you, Jules. I know we’ve drifted apart, and I’m sorry for being a shitty sister.”

“Stop. We’re good. I have to go now, but I’ll text you later. Get some sleep.”

“Okay. Night.”

As I end the call, my heart starts to race. A slight twist of unease rises in my belly at what I’m letting myself in for. But I’m determined to help them.

“You ready, man? Lev is pacing around like he’s about to lose it, waiting on us,” Simon shouts through my bedroom door.

Placing my phone in my pocket and grabbing my jacket, I follow Simon out to be greeted by a scowling Lev. I ignore him and his broody ass as we get into my car and drive off in silence to Desire.

As we enter the club, the base of ‘When I’m Gone’ by Dirty Honey vibrates beneath my feet, and the smell of perfume and lust fills my lungs. It’s pretty packed in here tonight. The girls are on stage, their gorgeous bodies rolling to the beat of the music. Simon wanders off to the side of the room to talk to one of the girls, his flirty smile in place. Lev and I head to the bar and grab a soda each before we make our way through the packed tables towards the back where Lev’s office is situated. I scan the crowd as we move, always checking for potential threats. That is my job, after all. As Simon predicted, Carlos is here, sitting in the corner with a couple of his men, watching the show. Well, his men are leering at the girls on stage, Carlos is currently watching Simon with narrowed eyes like he’s about to run over there and beat the shit out of him. I may not be gay, but I know when a guy wants to fuck, and I’m convinced Carlos wants not only to beat the hell out of Simon but to fuck him while he’s doing it. I could be wrong, but I’ll keep my thoughts to myself.

I close Lev’s door behind us as we step inside his office. The room screams masculine dominance: the sumptuous leather chairs and large mahogany desk, the lingering scent of cigars, leather, and aftershave fills the space.

“What's up with you?” Lev says, as he sits behind his desk, and I take the seat in front of it.

“Nothing’s up with me,” I say. He watches me closely with those vivid green eyes, detecting bullshit, no doubt.

“You’re acting like a kid. Moody and silent. Should I beat it out of you?”

“Fuck off, Lev.”

Lev quirks a brow at me, taking my words as an invitation to fuck me up. Such a dick.

“Fine. My nephew is in trouble, and I need to go to collect him from jail tomorrow as my sister is freakin' out.”

“Isn’t he in his twenties?”

“Twenty-two.”

“Why can’t he sort his own shit out?”

“Because he’s caught up in some gang, and Jenny can’t deal with it anymore.”

Lev rolls his eyes like this is the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.

“Fuck, it’s like listening to a fucking soap opera.”

“I want to bring him here to work with us,” I say, and I have no clue when that became an idea. Lev just continues to stare at me, and the silence forces me to continue talking to fill in the awkwardness.

“Now that Zayn’s dead, we’re a guard short. I can train him up. It’s a win for us all.”

“How do you know he’ll be good enough? I don’t even remember the last time you mentioned him or Jenny. He’s a stranger.”

“He’s my sister's son, and that's good enough for me.”

“Step sister,” Lev corrects.

“She’s still my sister, and they’re family. Please, Lev. It’s just a trial. If you don’t like him, then I’ll send him back home.”

“Please stop begging. It’s embarrassing.”

“Is that a yes, or do you need to run it past Dima?”

“Shut the fuck up, I don’t need to run anything past D. Kai can come on board, but it’ll be on trial. He’s your responsibility, and I’ll hold you accountable for any trouble. Got it?”

“Got it.”