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But her large amber eyes clouded my vision. Her scent — flowers, summer, and vanilla— - still lingered in the air, following me home from the American-French restaurant and confusing my thoughts.
Heavy footsteps thudded on the floor behind me, past the screen door and the deckchairs, and a male presence settled beside me. He crossed his arms in front of his chest so that his tattoos were visible where the black, short-sleeved T-shirt encased his biceps.
Pregnant silence brewed between us until he cleared his throat and made an uncomfortable tap with his shoes. Typical. The length of his patience was the same stretch as how long it took before he grew bored—very short.
“What are we looking at?”
I jerked my chin up. “The view.”
“Ah,” he pulled on his lip with a thumb. “The view. The view’s spectacular.”
I knew Viktor as well as I knew my guns. There was something on the tip of his tongue, but he was stalling, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and pretending to enjoy the view. I groaned and massaged my temple.
“If you have something to say, just go ahead and say it.”
His head whipped to the side, and he frowned. “She’s ordinary, Rafa.”
Maybe I should have known whom he referred to, but the woman I had in mind was far from what he described. I faced him. “Who?”
“The girl?” He arched a brow, glaring suspiciously. “The blonde from Le Coin Brulet? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about her already—even if I wouldn’t put that past you. Back there, you were drooling ...”
“I never drool,” I hissed.
“Yeah,” he scoffed, disregarding my irritation. He was used to all of me. Had grown comfortable with all shades of ‘Rafail Varkov.’ Nothing I did got under his skin. Not even if I had a gun pressed to his head. “For the whores in Moscow, you never did. This one though ... she drew your eyes on her the entire time, like a magnet. I’m talking about Juliana Blair.”
Juliana.
My lips twitched to the side when I remembered how she’d shuddered nervously after I called her name. “What were you saying about her?”
“That she’s ordinary. Normal. Fucking boring.” He turned back to the view with a frown like talking about her was a waste of our precious time. “Artyom’s been keeping an eye on her, following her from dawn till dusk. Simple, decent life. We got all the info we needed before noon today. She’s twenty. Practically an orphan, absentee mother, and father. No records of any other relatives and she keeps a low profile. Nothing on social media. Smartass art college student with a part-time job at Vaughn’s restaurant. That’s all. Konets. [The end.]”
“Social life?”
“The end, Rafa.” He spared me a glance, possibly wondering if I hadn’t caught on to the emphasis of his earlier description. “School, work, apartment, and back again. The girl basically lives in a triangle.”
Hearing that pleased me. That day, she’d spoken with a little spitfire, but judging by her background, she was going to be an easy one to tame, break, and mold. Just the thought of the things I’d planned to do to her sent a delicious hot rush down my body.
My phone chimed in my pocket and then buzzed, distracting me. I took it out and glanced at the screen.
+8 (495) 243-54-67
It was a Russian number. Someone from home was calling. A wrinkle formed between my brows, reeling Viktor’s concern. He watched me attentively and expectantly as I pressed the phone to my ear.
“Privet.” [Hello.]
“Rafail. Davno ne videlis’.” [It’s been a long time.] The crease between my brows relaxed and the tension rolled off my shoulders. I recognized that brittle voice anywhere. Uncle Oleg.
He was one of the only surviving relatives I had, except Vlad, Igor, and Damien, my second cousins, and was the main reason I had to deal with idiots like Colsen.
“Novosti pravidgy? Ty ego nashyol?” [Is the news true? You found him?] He sounded skeptical, doubtful. Like he didn’t believe I’d finally caught the man I'd hunted down for years. But I’d done it. I’d locked in his location and tracked the fucking cunt.
“Da. Ya yego nashyol.” [Yes, I found him] I found the bastard who did it.” Who dared to cross me. Who’d dared to betray us and hurt my family. And I had sworn to make him pay with his life. “I am going to have my revenge. On zaplatit krov’yu, I swear it.” [He’s going to pay with his blood.]
“Ostorozhno, Rafail. Caution. You must be careful; Liam Fetcher is not stupid. If he was able to blend amongst us and manipulate everyone years ago, I wouldn’t it past him to be even smarter now. You don’t know the people he works with now.”
Searing hot anger blinded me like a turbulent wave crashing against the seashore but my muscles barely flexed. They seldom did. My eyes narrowed and I curled my fingers in my pockets, gritting my teeth. “I am always ten steps ahead, Uncle.”
“That’s what you say until he slithers past us again like a snake, right under your nose.” He rubbed it in. “Just like he did to us years ago. Do you want a repeat of what happened?”
