His (Ties That Bind #2) - Natasha Knight Page 0,31

beautiful. I’ll never take it off.”

“You will,” I promise her, “when we make it official. But for now, just remember that even if it doesn’t always feel like it, I’m doing all of this for you.”

“I know,” she murmurs.

“Kat?” I clutch her face in my hands, forcing her gaze to mine. “I fucking love you, sweetheart. I want you to know that.”

14

Lev

Downstairs, I slip the manila envelope to the concierge with a crisp hundred-dollar bill on top.

“I need this to go out tomorrow morning,” I tell him. “Not today. Not tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning only. Can you make that happen?”

“Yes, of course.” He nods. “Anything you want, sir.”

“How long is your shift today?” I ask him.

“I’ll be here until nine, sir.”

“Good.” I slip him another hundred. “If I come back for it, you give it to me. But if I don’t, nobody else gets it, no matter who they are. You just send it off tomorrow morning. We clear?”

“Clear.” He dips his head. “I will handle it personally for you, sir.”

“Very good.”

I leave him with the package and make my way toward the exit, but before I get there, my phone rings. When I see it’s Alexei, I dart into a corridor and answer.

“Lyoshenka,” I greet him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You’re in a good mood today.” He quirks an eyebrow at me. “For a man who might not live to see the day through.”

“You know how it is.” I shrug. “We’ve got to make the best of it.”

“Ah yes, well...” He scratches at his chin. “I have some news.”

“What is it?”

“The cops raided Andrei’s house. Dug up the backyard. Couldn’t find anything. The place was spotless.”

“Son of a bitch,” I growl. I knew that was a fucking trap. Vasily probably had the body out of there the next day.

“However”—Alexei holds up a finger—“it appears they did find some CCTV footage of Andrei with the missing girl that night. A clerk at a gas station called in the tip.”

“Well, that’s something,” I murmur, “but not exactly what I was hoping for.”

“It’s enough to create a distraction,” Alexei says. “Andrei is still in the hospital, but my sources tell me they’ve questioned him twice already. Vasily has disappeared, gone into hiding by all accounts, but I suspect he’s on his way to New York.”

“I suspected as much myself.” I nod. “We don’t have much time.”

“No, you don’t,” Alexei agrees.

“If you are giving free bad advice, I’m in the market.” I tease him with a smile.

“Lead with Ciara.” Alexei grins back at me. “Always lead with the woman.”

“Are you ready for this?” I ask.

Maxim looks at me like I’m fucking delusional. “Ready to go get my nuts blown off? Yeah sure, kid. Every day of the week and twice on Sundays.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, I laugh. Being around the old man again makes me remember why I liked him so much to begin with.

“Well, at least you can take comfort in the fact that you’re so fucking old you probably don’t even need your nuts anymore,” I tell him. “I have a woman back at the hotel who’s grown rather fond of mine. So, let’s try to keep them in one piece, yeah?”

He shrugs and eyeballs the club. “You sure this is even the right place?”

“Yes. I have good intel that he comes here every Wednesday like clockwork.”

“Well, even a good clock can be wrong.” Maxim shrugs.

We wait in silence, scoping out the building. It’s more upscale than Delirium, but I don’t know the layout. I don’t know anything about what awaits us inside, or what’s going to happen when Gleb actually shows up. He has a reputation for being ruthless, but I suspect at least half of that is just Vory folklore, and the rest is probably the truth.

It takes two full hours before I finally catch a glimpse of him. A black SUV pulls up to the curb, idling while one of his soldiers comes around to the back and opens the door for him. When the old man steps out, he glances down both sides of the street even though his soldiers have already checked twice. A force of habit, I suppose. When you’re the man at the top of the food chain, there is no shortage of men who’d like to take your place.

Maxim and I don’t even speak as we approach, and we don’t manage to get within ten feet of him before one of his soldiers reaches for his weapon.

“Who the fuck