It’s the only place I want to be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
IVAN
WAKING UP WITH Emma in my arms brings a deep sense of relief. Those two days I spent in a blind rage thinking she may be gone for good were the worst days of my life. I slept deeply last night, but only for about an hour at a time. My body kept waking me to check that Emma was still in my bed.
I look over at her to watch her sleep. She looks so peaceful that all I want to do is stare at her. At least, that’s what I do until I hear someone knocking on the bedroom door.
I get up, careful not to disturb Emma, and quietly walk to the door. When I open it, I see Dmitri and Mikhail standing in front of me.
“This better be good,” I tell them.
“Everyone is assembled downstairs,” Mikhail says.
“We also have guests in the basement,” Dmitri adds.
“Shit. Give me five minutes. Dmitri, go wake up Lidiya and ask her to stay with Emma,” I say to my brother.
“Right away,” Dmitri replies.
I close the bedroom door and walk back to the bed. I don’t want to wake Emma, but I also don’t want her to be scared if she wakes up and I’m not there.
“Emma,” I say, gently shaking her shoulder. “I need you to wake up,lyubimaya.” Emma stirs and rubs her eyes.
“Is everything okay?” she asks drowsily.
“Everything is fine. I need to meet with my brothers downstairs,” I explain to her while rubbing circles on her shoulder with the pad of my thumb. “I need you to stay in the bedroom with Lidiya. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes. Stay in bed. Don’t leave. Lidiya will be here,” Emma repeats.
“Good girl,” I tell her as I lean in for a kiss. Emma’s eyes flutter closed, so I walk towards the bedroom door to leave as my sister enters the room.
“Thank you for staying with her,” I tell Lidiya.
“Anything for you, Ivan,” she replies, patting my arm.
I walk downstairs to my office and thebratvamembers waiting there. Declan Callaghan and his Irish mafia have started a war they will not win.
“Let’s get through this quickly,” I tell the assembled men as I walk through my office door. “What do we know?”
“Vladimir Zaytsev and his associates were killed at the house where Emma was found,” Dmitri starts. “There weren’t as many as we expected, which means either they weren’t all present, or some of them defected after Zaytsev allied himself with Callaghan. His reduced numbers could also mean that the reassignment of his funds is working and he can’t pay his men.”
“Callaghan has been spotted at his home in the city,” Maksim adds. “He’s pissed things went south yesterday. He’s planning to hit us back, but we don’t have details yet.”
“Get them by lunch today,” I tell him. “What do we know about Patrick O’Brien? Where the fuck is thatmudak?”
“Callaghan’s new underboss is dead,” Grigory offers. “I put the bullet in his head myself, and a few more in his chest just to be sure. His body was left on Callaghan’s doorstep last night.”
“Good,” I tell him. “That’s one less thing I have to worry about today. Do we have eyes and ears on Popov?”
“Yes,pakhan,” Alexei Rostov speaks up. “Several of my soldiers are in contact with Popov’s men and reporting back. Popov is still allied with Callaghan, and planning to make a move against us. It is said that he’s more motivated now that Zaytsev is out of the picture and can take Zaytsev’s share for himself.”
“What kind of move is he planning?” I ask him.
“An ambush to take out you and your brothers. This would allow him complete takeover of thebratva. Allegedly, he also plans to marry one of his sons to your sister,” Alexei adds.
“His son would have better luck with a grizzly bear,” I say with a chuckle. “Denis, you were always good with customer service. Take care of our guests in the basement. Take your time or make it quick. I leave that up to you.”
