Page 7 of Claimed in the Dark

“Hmm…” She continued to look at me critically, as if trying to figure me out. This woman would be one of the very few who could claim to have gotten far in figuring me out at all. I liked having women in my life. There was no point denying that fact. My brothers and cousins would forever give me shit about being a player, sampling all the free pussy out there. For living up this status of never having to pay for or even try hard to get a woman. That womanizing, lackadaisical style of life fell into the before category. I hadn’t really cared to get laid since everything started to crumble in my family.

But letting any woman get close enough to matter?

For them to have the privilege of claiming to know me?

That was unheard of.

Only Paloma, my main housekeeper for the last ten years, could come close to “knowing” me. She’d become more like a surrogate mother to me and my brothers and cousins when my grandmother was killed by Gregori. We’d all received Paloma’s no-nonsense affection in the big mansion where Adrik and Elena now lived with my father dying upstairs. When I moved into my first house, though, she’d come to work for me. Her excuse that I’d need the most “help” was a joke between us, and she wasn’t fooling me. She enjoyed having her job in my home, having me to talk to. Like several other staff members in our organization, she’d become more than a housekeeper.

“You don’t smell like you were out partying hard,” she commented in wry agreement.

“Because I wasn’t.” I didn’t answer to her, but I’d humor her.

She sniffed again.

“I just showered,” I quipped as I grabbed the protein drink she’d already prepped for me.

“So I see.” She pursed her lips. “But you don’t realize how much the women’s perfume clings to you. How the alcohol bleeds from your pores.” She grimaced, always so theatrical. “And I smell… something.”

“I didn’t realize you wanted to double as a bloodhound.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t realize you’d go back to your old habits of staying out all night drinking and dancing and whatever else fancies you.”

“I didn’t,” I replied patiently. “I was working.”

She raised her brows. “Oh? So those old habits aren’t coming back?”

I leaned my forearms on the counter. “Why are you so invested in my habits?”

She sighed, letting her shoulders slump. “Nikolai, I’m not getting any younger. If I’m going to ever have a chance to help you with your children, you need to settle. You need to find a beautiful woman and have a family.” She enunciated it like I was stupid.

“We have a family,” I reminded her. “If you want to hold a baby, go visit mt brothers.” I stood to drink more of my shake, never having been a sit-down-and-eat-breakfast kind of guy. “They’re popping them out left and right now.”

“I want to see your children,” she said. “Don’t keep an old woman from being a god-grandmother.”

“Yeah, well, all I want to see is a good reason to be following that target.”

“Hmmm. Someone related to whoever wanted to shoot Adrik?”

Talking about business matters with her wasn’t a crime. She was too embedded in our family, working for the Bratva for over forty years. Because she was always around and in our lives, it was impossible to ever see her as “just” a housekeeper. Of course, she was informed about some details and the comings and goings of those in our circle.

I nodded. Then I shook my head. “No. Rico Johnson’s office told Adrik that Gregori’s dead.”

She gasped, dropping a glass she’d taken out of the dishwasher. My reflexes were fast enough that I could shoot my hand out and catch it.

“He’s not,” I replied.

“Oh.” She scowled.

“We doubt he’s dead. But Adrik’s men tracked a rumor that there’s surveillance feed from some small security firm that could prove he is dead.”

She smirked. “Oh, sure.” Even she was skeptical about Gregori being dead. That was expected when he’d lied about dying years ago.

“That’s what I was doing all night. Following this civilian employee from the security firm.” I shook my head and stared at the floor, revisiting the frustration I’d encountered. “And it doesn’t add up. The person they identified as the target can’t be who they need me to take care of.”

She didn’t flinch despite knowing full well that “take care of” meant that I was assigned to kill this witness. “Why not?”

“It doesn’t add up.” I leaned against the counter. “Rico Johnson got the intel about Gregori’s supposed death from someone at that firm. They claimed to have video evidence of the body but then ‘lost’ the video. The employee whose name was registered as being on the shift at that time doesn’t seem like anyone who’d be a target in a simple cleanup like this. If she’s a loose end, a witness to these rumors about Gregori’s death…” I shook my head.