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“I guess your meeting went well since you’re still breathing,” he said casually once the call connected.
Felinus laughed and Issac felt the knot in his chest loosen. “It’ll take a fuck-up of massive proportions for my head to be on the chopping block, baby boy,” he said easily. “Little Volkov just went running to Daddy after the fight he picked and lost, and the Pakhan called the Don to tell me to back off.” He paused. “Sounds rather schoolyard now that I’ve said it out loud.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Issac said, grimacing as he held the stick between his fingers and the phone against his shoulder to twist the cap off his yogurt.
“Good. I prefer it that way,” Felinus said easily. “We are handling the confusion, but Tiger and Bat are going to pick you up and drop you off at the apartment before meeting me for the sit down. Snake will be there already to stay with you until we get back. Do you have any issues with Korean food?”
“I don’t know enough about Korean food to tell you if I did,” Issac replied.
“I think you’ll like it,” Felinus said easily. “It can be spicy, but Snake usually dials it back when he’s feeding other people.”
“Why not have Snake come get me, instead of the other two,” Issac asked, rolling the stick in his fingers.
“I don’t like Snake being exposed,” Felinus said simply. “He works best by being a mask behind a screen.”
“But wouldn’t it be better to have the two of them already at your side for this, instead of them meeting you there?” His stomach twisted painfully and he regretted opening the yogurt.
There was a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry, baby boy,” he said soothingly. “This will be a friendly chat unless someone does something monumentally stupid.” He paused and then, as if he could sense Issac’s lack of agreement, continued. “Think of this as a dinner between two political rivals who have very different approaches to the same cause. They both want the same policy to be put in place but need to get on the same page to see it happen. It’s all very friendly, I promise you. No one is going to start a fight, except maybe Dimitri, and his father and older brother will put him in a corner before they let him do anything like that. You don’t have to worry about any of it. Just don’t get into any cars with anyone except Bat and Tiger, particularly Russians.”
“If they are built like the one we saw in the mall, I don’t think I’ll have much say in the matter if they decide to press the issue,” Issac pointed out but felt the knot loosen.
“All the more reason to eat like the doctor told you,” Felinus said teasingly. “Brutus said you were already eating cereal and bananas when he came up this morning.”
“Is someone going to report what I eat to you every day?”
“If I’m not there to see it myself,” Felinus replied and Issac could hear him smiling. “I may be late tonight. Don’t stay up.”
“Goodbye, Cat,” Issac said mildly, not sure he liked the way his heart beat a little faster as he thought about what Felinus might do if he waited up for him.
* * *
Dimitri gritted his teeth as he watched the massive black man take Issac’s bags from him in the roundabout in almost the exact same spot the Italian that looked like the Cat on steroids had dropped him off that morning. He saw Issac say something to the man and it felt like a stab in the heart. Issac had avoided or ignored him all day and Dimitri found that not hearing Issac’s voice was by far the worst punishment for his actions. Maybe even worse than the hate that had been in his voice last night when he told Dimitri to stay out of his shadow. Issac’s fury was better than his indifference.
He watched Issac climb into the backseat, the man closing the door behind him, the bags going into the trunk. He paused at the back of the car and Dimitri made eye contact with him by mistake, feeling the shiver of fear that had turned his feet to lead when he had recognized the Cat. He didn’t know this guy’s name, but it was obvious he belonged to the Cat, and that made him a danger, to Dimitri and to Issac.
But he’ll be safe soon enough,Dimitri reassured himself as the man pointedly looked away and got into the front passenger seat. Papa knew about Issac’s wish to be left alone and said he would take care of it. He didn’t always know how Papa handled things but he knew that when he said it would be taken care of, it was always taken care of.
Issac could be mad at him, he realized as the taillights lit up and pulled away. He could even ignore him and never speak with him again. So long as he was away from men like that, safe from men who would use him and throw him away when they were done, that was all Dimitri really needed. He could be content with that much.
His pocket vibrated and he pulled his phone out to see Adrian’s name and the missed call he still hadn’t brought himself to touch. “Da, brat?”
“Get your ass home, now,” Adrian said firmly, not yelling but certainly not happy.
“What’s wrong,” Dimitri said, already pushing himself into motion towards the lot where he had parked that morning.
“The Italians have responded to Papa’s poaching claim,” Adrian said and Dimitri felt a moment of relief, believing that Adrian was just mad at him still for going over his head to Papa. “They have asked for a sit down and requested you join us to clear up this mess. They say there is a misunderstanding. Get home now, we leave in an hour.”
Dimitri slowed as the line went dead and stared at his phone. “A misunderstanding?” he muttered, then jogged to the car Adrian had helped him build.
