Chapter 2

“You’re an ass.A whole and complete ass, you know that, right?” Marlena seethes in the elevator with me as it glides up to Andrei’s apartment.

I stare down at the back of her pretty head. She trimmed her hair again; it’s clipped sharp at her chin.

It would be so easy to slide my hand up her neck into her hair and fist the short tresses, pulling her back into me so she can feel my body pressed hard against hers.

The elevator comes to a stop, and the doors open. My fantasy crumbles.

“You’re welcome for the ride,” I say as we enter the apartment, and she stalks straight to Izzy standing at the foot of the stairs waiting with a warm smile.

Without looking back, Marlena raises her right hand and lifts her middle finger in my direction.

“I didn’t need or want it,” she says.

“Marlena.” Izzy frowns. “I asked him to pick you up.”

I could have told her that to dampen the fire, but the flames were too beautiful to put out.

Marlena turns halfway to me with her lips thinned. “I didn’t realize that.”

I lift a shoulder, waiting for an apology.

“You should have told me that instead of threatening me.” She continues to confront me.

What fun would there have been in that? Marlena Schmitt has a hard shell covering her entire soul. Spikes cover her armor, but I’m resilient. I’ll break through eventually.

“He threatened you?” Andrei questions, popping up from behind me.

“She made me chase her,” I answer without looking back at him. He’ll understand the frustration of my situation.

“Oh.” He steps forward. “Sergei is here, we need to talk.”

“Yes. Go to your corner of the apartment, and we’ll go to ours.” Marlena smiles, folding her arms over her chest.

“Let me know when you’re ready to go home,” I say.

“I can get there myself,” she sighs.

“Let me know.” I turn on my heel and head to Andrei’s office with him. If Sergei’s here on a Friday night and it’s not to play cards, there’s trouble.

“I see you’ve made no headway in that department.” Andrei slaps my back as he passes me on his way to his desk.

“She hasn’t threatened to call the police today. That’s progress,” I point out, shucking out of my jacket.

“That’s only because Izzy explained the police looking at you means the police looking at us, and it would be a bad look.” Andrei pushes back in his chair.

“If she doesn’t want you, leave her be. Don’t chase a woman.” Sergei points his finger at me from where he’s lounging on the leather couch.

“There are plenty of women in this city, and if not here, we try New York, Los Angeles, Miami. Anywhere in the world.” Sergei waggles his dark eyebrows.

“I’m not chasing,” I argue. “I’m patiently waiting for her to come to her senses.”

Andrei laughs. “She’s pretty set on her decision to stay away from any sort of relationship.”

“Not true. She went on a date not long ago.” Some jerkoff from a coffee shop she frequents. Lucky for him, she wasn’t taken by him and only saw him the one night. Even luckier for him, he hadn’t put his hands on her.

“A date and a relationship are two different things. And you don’t want to go on a date with Marlena,” Andrei points out. “You want her. I can see it with the way you look at her, but I’m telling you, Viktor. You can’t force that one. She will only rebel harder.”

“Ah, but her defiance is so pretty.” I can feel the tug on my lips just remembering how red her cheeks bloomed when I threatened to take my belt off in that alley.

It wasn’t a bluff, but she wasn’t entirely sure. Thankfully for her, she didn’t test it, and she climbed into the car, cursing me under her breath.

Sergei rolls his eyes and frowns. “Is there something you needed, Andrei? A reason I’m missing out on a night with Naomi?” Sergei swings his legs off the couch and leans his elbows on his knees.

“Ah, at least this one has a name,” I counter him. Sergei buries himself in a new woman each week. Too many times he’s forgotten their names before they leave his apartment.

“They all have names. And I don’t have to chase or threaten any of them into my bed.”

“All right.” Andrei stops the storm before it erupts.

“What is it you needed us for?” I turn my attention to Andrei. Sergei’s in a mood. It’s no fun talking to him when he’s being a grump.

“Last night, two cars were broken into at Kraze,” Andrei tells us.

“So? We don’t offer security to the parking lots around the club. They’re not owned by us,” Sergei points out with a bite.

He’s wanted to purchase the surrounding lots, but we’ve not made any moves in that direction. The Agosti family keeps their wallets fat with the parking lots in this part of the city; not touching anything in that realm keeps peace between us.

“They weren’t parked in the lot across the street. They were parked in our VIP garage, beneath the club.” Andrei’s jaw tenses. “Someone broke into the garage and broke into two cars.”

“Only two?” The VIP garage is kept for those that don’t want to chance their luxury cars on the street or in an unarmed lot. They’re usually carrying more than passengers.

“Security got down there within minutes,” Andrei explains.

“Security camera?” Sergei prompts.

“Feed showed nothing at first. They noticed a tremor on the screen, didn’t look right, so they went down there. Whoever it was was gone already, but the two cars had already been wiped. Everything they could take that was worth anything was gone, including a package one of our guests was holding.”

“How much?” Car radios could be replaced. Other things could not.

“Hundred grand.” Andrei presses his forearms into the desk. “I already repaid it and had the cars taken to our guy to be repaired. The guests were well compensated. There shouldn’t be blow back from that end, but it remains. Someone broke into our fucking VIP garage and ripped off people in our club.” His eyes harden. “We need to find out who the fuck is responsible.”

“You think they’ll come back?” Sergei questions, already moving to his feet.

“I don’t think anyone’s dumb enough, but if word gets out that we don’t protect what’s ours, there will be other issues.”

“I’ll ask around,” Sergei promises. “Could be just some asshole kids getting their feet wet in the car game.”

“You think kids could get into our garage?” I ask.

“Like I said, I’ll ask around.” He checks his watch. “Anything else?”

Andrei narrows his eyes. “No.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Sergei grabs his jacket from the arm of the couch and marches to the door.

“Tell Naomi we said hello!” I yell after him.

“Fuck off, Viktor,” he calls back before shutting the door.

“Why do you mess with him when he’s in a mood?” Andrei shakes his head.

“He’s just being an ass. Leave him be.” I head to the bar in the corner and bring a bottle of vodka back to the desk.

“What did you threaten Marlena with to get her in the car?” he asks.

“Same you threaten Izzy with every time she makes you chase her.” I shrug. “I’m hungry. Let’s find food.”

He laughs. “Izzy wanted Cantonese. The food should be here already in the kitchen.” Andrei leads the way to the kitchen where the aroma from the takeout has already started to fill the air.

“Have you had anyone look at the footage of the security film again?” I ask while I dip some sort of dumpling into the dark sauce next to it.

“I have someone on it. No amateur would know how to cut into our feed,” Andrei answers as the kitchen door swings open, and Marlena swoops in. I catch her eye, and she pauses. A soft smile touches her lips, but in a blink it’s gone.

“Sorry. Didn’t know you were in here.” She rounds the kitchen island and goes to the fridge, grabbing a water and twisting off the cap. “Did you say someone cut into your security feed?”

Andrei quirks an eyebrow. “Something like that, yeah.”

She takes a sip. “Hmm. It’s easy to do if you know what you’re doing. What’d they do it for?” she asks, taking another sip.

“To break into some cars in the garage,” I answer just as she swallows. Her eyes go round, big and round.

“Oh?” Her voice is small. “Did any of the cars get lifted?”

“No.” I exchange a glance with Andrei. “It’s not that easy to steal a car out of our garage. They would have encountered security just outside the doors, and then again at the main alleyway entrance.”

“Did you, uh, catch them?” She plays with the bottle cap.

“Not yet.” I keep my gaze trained on her. A blotch of red blossoms on the side of her neck and grows up toward her cheeks. “But we will.”

She nods, but it’s a nervous nod.

“Right. I’m sure you will.” She twists the cap back on her bottle and heads for the door.

“Did she look nervous to you?” I ask, still watching the door swinging.

“A little. Did you ever find out what her problem was a few weeks ago, when you took her home after the card game?” he asks.

I shake my head. “No. That woman’s lips are a steel trap. Unless she wants to tell, she won’t.”

Andrei hands me a fork. “Maybe it’s time you make her want to tell.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”