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The rest of our conversation is centered around the dogs and the area, but we don’t talk about Gray anymore. I avoid answering any of her personal questions, or I give her half-truths or partial answers. I can’t get too close to her. I want to. God, do I want to.
But I know I can’t do that. After I drop Erika off at her place, I head to mine. When I get inside, I look around at everything I’ve created. I know this phone call I’m about to place is going to put me in my family’s spotlight, but it has to be done. Erika is in danger. First, I message the team I have on Erika and send them a picture of Duncan. He’s had it out for Gray for a very long time. Gray will say it goes back to when he purchased his casino, the Lucky Dice, but I remember it goes back further. I was a teenager at the time.
I dial the number, knowing full well that I’ll be bringing both of my brothers here, and potentially my father if he finds out that Gray’s wife is in danger.
“Ley, what’s up?” Gray answers, and in the background I hear the woman who was more of a parent to me than my own parents. My mother had made sure I knew my father didn’t choose her, so that meant he didn’t choose me either. That I would just be a pawn for him when I got older. Those comments have tainted my relationship with him, and I’ve spent my life proving that I was more than the Bratva printsessa.
“Put it on speaker. I want to hear my malyshka’s voice.” She calls me baby, and it causes my gut to clench because I haven’t seen her in at least a year. I need to tell Gray why I’m calling before I set Babushka straight.
“Don’t put me on speaker,” I growl into the phone. “Just listen, and fucking listen good. You’re done giving her time. You’re getting on that fucking private plane you own and getting your ass here. Now.” I’m not playing around with him. He’s the only one who could save her, and I know it.
I hear movement across the line. “Is she okay? What happened?” The panic in his voice tells me how much he really does love her.
“She is fine, but I suspect there is something going on. She ended up in the ER with dehydration, but she looked like there was a lot more going on. She had tears in her eyes and was worried about something. And the doctor, who is a friend of mine, kinda gave me some hints that it was more than dehydration.” I don’t know, and Ryan couldn’t tell me, but I suspect she’s pregnant.
“She was in the hospital, and you didn’t tell me,” he barks at me.
“Nope, I didn’t. I like her. Now get your ass here. I also saw Jimmy Duncan when she and I were at dinner.” Just like that, I drop the real reason I called. I want him to come to her for her, not for Duncan, but we’ll see.
“What the fuck? I’m on my way.”
“Put me on speaker now, Gray.” I hear the click. “Hello, sweet Babushka. I love you, but I needed to talk to Gray alone. Also, you need to apologize to his wife. She’s a sweetheart and doesn’t have a mean or deceptive bone in her body. The one being deceptive in their relationship was your precious Gray. Now get your ass here, Gray.”
“I’ll call to get the jet ready as soon as we get off the phone. Keep an eye on her, please.”
I hang up after I tell him I will, then I decide to head down to the gym to work out. I’m too keyed up to sleep. I run on the treadmill until the dogs come wandering in. I had a dog yard with a doggy door installed off my house so they can come and go as they please.
Five
RIDLEY
I’ve been following Erika around all day and even sent my brother an image of the sign for a clinic she went to. There was an OB/GYN on the list, and I suspect that’s where she went.
I slink further into the shadows, using the darkness as cover, as I keep my eye on Erika. My eyes keep straying to Leif though. I’m so fucked when it comes to my feelings for him. I don’t want to make Franci leave her college, but I can’t trust that we will still be safe here when everything blows up. I know it’s going to. One of my specialties is strategy and probability. I was a strategic analyst in the military. I’m able to see the bigger picture and figure out the endgame. Except when it comes to my own predicament. Just like in Chicago, I missed the hints, but now I’m seeing that the only thing I can do is kill all of them in order to protect Franci. I’ll have to go after Roger and his men after this. I’ll have to end them before they find her. Even if it means I’ll go to jail or die in the process.
My eyes stray toward Leif again. This man has been taking over my thoughts for months now. No one knows that we have a relationship. Well, that may be pushing it a bit. Leif and I have a standing appointment every other week at his BDSM club. He has helped me with some of my PTSD issues, like hating people touching me. Since he started whipping me, I’ve been able to be around people. Ryan even touched me last time we had our monthly coffee date, and I didn’t freak out or cringe away from him. He knows I’m going to the club but doesn’t know that it’s Leif that I see. No one does. We keep that secret between us. Leif is also helping me to accept my body. I’m muscular for a girl, not overly so, but that’s not my issue. No, it’s the scars that line the majority of my body that I can’t face. Some of which I got when I was in the military, and I’ve accepted those. It’s the ones I received in Chicago that I hate.
Leif is kind and patient with me. I’m still trying to process what happened at our last session, when I finally allowed him to touch me with something other than a whip. The slash of the leather across my skin sends me into subspace. But being in his arms was so much more intense. I cried all the way home and while I took a warm shower to release my muscles after the whipping. Being with him is the only way I allow my body to lose control. I haven’t been able to have sex in five years. Being whipped is how I find my release. Whipping, and fighting. Most of the guys on my team hate fighting with me now though because I kick their asses.
It takes every fiber of my being to look away from Leif and keep my focus on Erika. I really liked meeting her yesterday and feel bad that she got the wrong impression at first, but I like her. She’s the perfect woman for Gray. She’s sweet, kind, sexy, tattooed, and doesn’t put up with shit. She’s going to keep my brother on his toes, and I like that. He deserves it for interfering with my teenage dates.
I’m still shocked that Gray is married, but now that I’ve met Erika, I get it. I knew it could happen someday, but I just didn’t expect it. He was always focused on his casino. He even called it his mistress. Gray worked his way out of the Bratva to own his own casino in Las Vegas. He still has some ties to the Bratva. To be honest, we all do. But Gray keeps his nose clean.
I see movement in the alley and realize it’s Gray. He’s finally here. I make my way toward him without being seen. I sneak up behind him, but he knows it’s me. I was quiet, but he must sense me like I do him and Andrei. We’ve always been close. That’s why the last few years have been so hard on me. I miss my brothers. All of them, including the extras we adopted as family—Alek, Dmitri, and Mikhail. Even Ilya, who’s across the street, is important to me. He hung out with us once in a while before I finally left.
“I knew you’d get here fast.”
“Is she pregnant?” he asks me, and I shrug.
“I don’t know. That’s for you to find out. If so, could you not move away so I can be a part of their lives?” I want to be with my family, but I need to get this plan going and take care of the men after Franci first.
He reaches out to me, and I step back. I see the hurt cross his face, but I can’t stop my reaction. I’m getting better, but I’m not healed completely yet.
“Ley, you can always come home.”
I shake my head as I tip up the side of my mouth. “That’s not my home anymore. Besides, it won’t be for you soon either. If you want to keep her”—I point to Erika—“this is where she belongs. You can go back often for business, but you can live here too. Start a business here.”
He smiles at me. “You knew I already decided to stay here. I know Vegas isn’t meant for her. If she had never gotten in Jimmy’s sights, she’d be safe there.” He turns back to watch her, and I see the man approaching. I’ve watched him come in a couple of other times. I can’t wait to see how my brother reacts to him. The guy steps through the door into the parlor and pulls Erika into a hug. Gray is off like a shot, and I want to laugh.
