Dirty Passions An Interracial Russian Mafia Romance (The Lion and The Mouse #5) - Kenya Wright Page 0,77

it soon. It’s all puppy love.”

“Whatever.” I crossed my legs. “New topic. How was the strip club?”

“Girls take off all their clothes here, and you can touch the dancers anywhere on their bodies.” He winked. “Well, except where most want to touch, but the breasts are up for grabs. Overall, I would give last night’s place a B+.”

“That’s low for you.”

“I need to hit the place up a few times, before I give it a final grade.”

“And you couldn’t take anyone home last night?”

“Yeah. They were immune to my charm.”

“And as far as the touching, did you seize the opportunity and explore the women’s bodies?”

“I have to do what the locals do. It’s only proper.”

I laughed. “Of course.”

“Anyway, I could have taken someone home, but all of the girls were prostitutes, and no one was trying to hide it at all. Taking one home would have meant money not conquest. It’s all about the hunt for me.”

“I guess they’re more accepting of prostitution here than in American strip clubs.”

“Yes. There was another thing. I thought it would all be White girls, but it was crazy diverse. Slavic, Tatars, Central Asians—”

“Tatars?”

“I don’t know what that is, but they’re sexy.”

I grinned. “You’re so crazy.”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“If Kaz thinks that he’s taking you from me, he’s even crazier.”

“David explained your lion’s thinking. Kazimir wants me at the house and on the whole investigation. Personally, I want to be on it too. Whoever it is, will probably be next to Kazimir. I’ll be a fresh set of eyes.”

“True, but I still don’t like it.”

“You can’t get everything you want, Em.”

“Right again. But, I can try.” I gazed out of the window and took in my new district.

This morning, Boris wanted me to go see the shelter first—the one his mother and sister had been working on. Barely a month, I’d bought up two decayed buildings in the district and just gave it to them. Although they didn’t have it long, I was told that people worked around the clock—day and night shifts. Painting, repairing, and making the place a home for all those that needed a safe place to sleep.

Russia was different than America or even the UK. Their state welfare system left a lot to be desired. Most of the poor had to fend for themselves. And since Kapotnya had sparked a special place in my heart, I had to take care of the people that lived there, whether they worked for me or not. But this shelter visit had nothing to do with checking up on my little charity venture.

Max grabbed my attention. “Why are we visiting the shelter again?”

“Boris’s mother may have some information that could help us with the gorilla from yesterday. Mainly, that symbol written in blood on the wall.”

“Sounds good. Anything could help. After the homeless shelter, what’s next?”

“I want to check in on Yuri’s spot. Get some idea of why the person killed him. I keep putting it off. There’s so much going on. It may be the quickest thing we do today. And then we start looking into what Abram has been doing around here. Ending the brothel is my top priority.”

“Did you talk to Kazimir about the underage brothel and drug houses?”

“No. We were too busy on the gorilla.”

“Em, just make sure you move carefully with this shit. We don’t want to piss the brotherhood off.”

“Fuck them.” I scowled. “I’m pissing several of them off for just existing in black skin. I’m not tip toeing around them anymore. If I confirm that young girls are at this brothel, then I’m closing it down with bullets.”

We drove over a small bridge which represented the geographic center of the district. I knew from research that a hundred years ago the bridge was built by the locals. They’d crafted the structure with skill and precision. Each square block was perfectly laid. The arches displayed mathematical semi-circles. Along the edges, there was a handrail of stone carved into dome topped pillars. Eyeing it, I wondered how many blocks it took to build the bridge. How did people, so many years ago, put this all together? And did they know what would become of the place? In this moment of time, no-one in this district had the skills anymore to build such a thing. Everyone starved or had been hooked on drugs.

The shelter was on the other side of the bridge. We arrived within minutes, parking in front of the two buildings that now served as the shelter.

Wow. They