Chapter 23 - Arseny

I arrive at the butchers and sit in my car. I need to make sure that Elena isn't followed. It's a hot day today, so I put the air conditioner on. It will be cooler in the shop when she arrives.

I see a car pull up to the butcher, and sure enough, she climbs out. I wait a minute, watching her look around before I climb out of my car and cross the road.

"Elena," I call out. "Were you followed?"

"I don't think so," she says. She pulls me into a kiss, and I lose myself for a moment before I break it. "Not in the open like this; someone could see, and you could get in trouble. Come with me."

I take her hand, and she follows me. "What did you want to show me?"

"My latest acquisition." I lead her into the cool butchery and let her look around. "I have purchased this for myself. Off the books so no one will know it's me, not yet anyway."

She turns on the spot, smiling brightly. "It suits you… oh."

Roger comes out from the back and looks at her. "Hello, ma'am."

"It's okay, Roger. Elena is here on my request."

"You let Roger run the butchers?" she asks curiously.

"Well, I already have a job, which is time-consuming, and I wanted someone who was good at what they do. I'm paying him a better salary than what he made when he owned his store."

"So show me around."

"Well, this is the shop front, which is what the customers will see. Then we go through here," I lead her to the back. "To the right is where the employees can change into their uniforms." I take a few steps forward. "The manager's office to the left here, and then here is where the magic happens."

I sweep my arm around the back to show the expansive area where the meat is prepared. "There are three walk-in freezers, which is more than enough for our little operation here."

She looks around curiously. "It looks amazing," she says with a giant smile. "With the right advertising, this could really take off."

"I've got my sister-in-law working on the advertising. She's into podcasts and stuff. So between Hannah broadcasting it and Asher designing everything, we'll be big enough to turn a profit, which is all I really want."

"This is amazing. I'm so happy for you." She leans up and kisses my lips softly. "Thank you for sharing this with me."

"That's not all." I grin and take her hand. "We're going to go out back and use my brother's car "cause it has tinted windows. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure." She trusts me. That"s what matters most.

I lead her out back, and we get into Luka's Mustang. I drive her through Vegas and uptown, parking in an alleyway.

"We're here."

"Where is here?" she asks curiously. "I mean, I know we're near the high end of the fashion streets, but what is this place?"

"Follow me and find out." I wiggle my eyebrows at her as I talk.

We walk up to the back of the shop, and I take out a set of keys. I let us in and deactivated the alarm.

"This is mine. All my own. It's registered under my name and everything." I turn the lights on. "Here in the back is a storage room, and to the right is the manager's office and a break room for the staff.

I lead her out to the front and smile.

"The walls are made of oak, and each display case for the knives is made of shatterproof glass. I'm just waiting for them to come do the lettering on the windows before we open. And here I sell a collection of my carvings…"

I lead her over to a shelf to the left.

"You're opening a knife specialty store? That suits you so much," she rushes to the carvings. "You made some of these when we were together in the mountains."

It matters to me that she doesn't refer to it as a kidnapping anymore. Now, it was just us spending time together.

I move behind her and hug her from behind. "I didn't want to sell them because they reminded me of you, but then I wanted to share this with the world. Pick one. You can have anyone you want."

"I want a knife I can strap to my upper thigh," she says suddenly. "So if anyone tries to hurt me, I can protect myself."

"I have the perfect blade." I lead her behind the counters again and pull out a lady"s holster with a sharp blade in it. "This is made for the ladies. It can do damage or even kill if it is in the right hands. Here."

I kneel down, and she lifts her skirt. I kiss her thigh softly as I wrap the holster around it and do the buckle. Then, I use the clasps to connect it to the inside of the top of her skirt.

"It won't fall down now," I say. I get up and look down into her eyes. I kiss her softly. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Arseny," she murmurs before kissing me again.

"Want to go see the laundromats?" I ask curiously, not wanting our time together to end.

"Of course," she says. "But after that, I should probably get home before my brothers think I'm missing."

"We'll get you a cab straight to your house," I promise.

I reactivate the alarm and lock up. Before we climb into the Mustang, we both glance up and down the alleyway, making sure no one is watching us.

I drive slowly, resting my hand on her leg. She rests her hand on top of mine. I'm content just like this, and I wish we could be more open about our relationship.

I pull up to one of the laundromats and smile. "This way."

I take her around the back and unlock the door. "It's me. I've got a guest."

Wynter and Clyde, my two older cousins, look up from where they are playing cards. "Arseny, isn't that Elena Sokolov?" Wynter asks.

"Hi," she says, stepping forward and holding out her hand.

The air in the laundromat smells of detergent, but still musty. The noise from the front carries through to here, so we have to raise our voices slightly or lean in to talk. Wynter shakes her hand, and then Clyde does.

"This is Wynter, and this is Clyde. They work for me in the laundromats."

Elena nods. "You guys look similar, though."

"We're cousins," Wynter says gruffly as he takes out four shot glasses and a bottle of vodka. He pours each of us a shot without asking and then looks at us expectantly.

Elena takes a shot and passes it to me before she takes one for herself.

"Mozeltov," Wynter says before downing his shot. I meet Elena's gaze as she downs her shot. I follow suit.

"Everything going okay?" I ask. "Nothing happening?"

"It's the same as every other day. Old women come in bitching about the prices of the machines while in the back, we're continuing business as usual." Wynter eyes Elena out, not sure whether he should trust her or not.

"You can trust her," I say. "I do."

He gives a curt nod and picks up his cards again. "We're waiting for the next drop-off, and then I'm going to call it a night and walk the dog."

"Is that code for something?" Elena asks.

"What? Walk the dog?" I chuckle. "I wish. The other day, Wynter found a puppy in the street, and he turned it in only to find out it was sold to dog fighters. He impressed upon the men that it was actually his dog now and took the puppy back. He isn't too happy about it, though."

"Damn thing chews on everything," Wynter grumbles. "I've been through five phone chargers."

Clyde chuckles quietly. "Imagine if you had kids."

"I already want to strangle the damn dog. Don't bring kids into this," Wynter says.

"But you'd be a good papa," Clyde teases, though he falls silent when Wynter gives him a look.

"Well, I just wanted to show Elena around. I'm going to take her back to the butchers so she can get home. Thanks, guys," I say. "Also, if you could not tell Kervyn about this…"

"We know nothing," Wynter mumbles to himself before throwing his hand down. "I got nothing."

"Two pairs," Clyde says, laying his cards down.

"Come on, Elena, let's leave my crazy family to do their thing," I say, taking her hand and leading her back to the car. We start to drive back to the butchers in midtown.

"Your cousins seem nice," Elena says finally. "Although Wynter looks a bit terrifying."

"Everyone says that, and yet I don't see it. You heard about the puppy. Wynter may be a ruthless mobster by day, but at home, he's a teddy bear."

"Is he seeing anyone?" she asks. "Cause surely that person is spoiled rotten."

"Wynter is an enforcer, like me. It's hard to come across people who can accept that is what we do in our lives. You're in a unique position in that you belong to a family that does what my family does. So it's not new to you." I rest my hand on her leg. "And I'm lucky for that. I doubt Wynter will ever find someone who will put up with his grumpiness."

I pull into the back alleyway behind the butchery. "We can call from inside…" My phone rings, and I glance at the screen. It's Wynter. I answer it. "Did I forget something?"

"You bring the Sokolov girl here, and next thing, I'm sitting with a building on fire," Wynter says. I can hear sirens behind him. "You're lucky you left when you did."

"What?" I ask, looking at Elena. "This isn't Elena's fault. Luka and I will look into it, okay?"

"Best you do because otherwise, I'm going to have to report your little visit to Kervyn," Wynter hangs up.

Elena looks at me, confused. "What's happened?"

"Someone's just attacked the laundromat. I don't think anyone was hurt, but it's on fire. Let's get you a cab so I can meet my brother there and see what's going on." We hurry inside, and she orders an Uber while I text Luka to meet me back at the laundromat. I give her a deep kiss before I help her into her Uber and watch her go. I cross the road to my car and get in.

She could have been hurt or killed. My blood feels like ice, knowing I put her in harm"s way by showing off what it is I do. It could be nothing. It could be the Pachecos looking to start trouble again. But if it is the Sokolovs, Kervyn's going to want his pound of flesh.

He can't have Elena.

As I drive, my fear of what could have happened to her boils over to rage for the person who would have hurt her. The fucking bastards need to be found and dealt with the best way I know how.

I pull up a block away from the burning building and instantly spot Luka.

"Arseny," he calls. "Over here."

I walk over where Luka, Wynter, and Clyde are standing, talking to a fire marshal. "We were just telling Captain Hammersmith here that a search won't be necessary. Clearly a tumble dryer caught on fire," Luka says.

"We could offer a donation for your time," I say quickly. "Would a thousand dollars do?" I ask.

"Cash. Right now," Hammersmith says.

Wynter takes out some cash, counts out a thousand dollars in hundred-dollar bills, and hands it over.

I look at Wynter. "Was anyone hurt?"

"No, but that fire wasn't started by a tumble drier. I'm telling you it was deliberate." Wynter looks over to where the firefighters are putting out the fire, and I turn to Luka.

"We're going to find out who did this," I say. "And you and I are going to make them pay."