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I thought back to how he’d been dressed down in a hoodie and jeans, but the sight of him had still been enough to intimidate me. Here, in this setting, in a dark suit that stretched over his huge figure, Kinslee’s words about being scared of him came to mind. There was something about him, something lurking under the surface.
Gathering my courage, I pushed my negative thoughts aside. He’d never been anything but nice to me, plus he was a close friend of Zayde, my boyfriend’s best mate. That was enough for me.
“How do you two know each other, anyway?” I was suddenly curious as I stared between the two of them. Both dressed so differently, but they had the same look in their eyes. That same icy, deadly intent.
They exchanged glances. “That’s a story for another day.” Creed lowered himself into the tall leather chair behind his desk. “Have a seat, and tell me what I can do for you. Z says you want my help, is that correct?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I know you have…connections. You can get things done.”
He eyed me, amused. “I can get things done. But what sort of things do you have in mind?”
“I have this email…”
By the time I’d finished explaining everything to him, he was reclined in his chair, deep in thought.
“You see, Winter, I have a problem here. While I can provide my services for you, in theory, this is a complicated situation. The involvement of the Strelichevo syndicate presents a…problem. You see, they have connections with the Volkovs.” At my blank look, he added, “Russian Bratva.” I nodded, not that his words meant anything much to me, and he continued. “The Volkovs…let’s just say you don’t want to make an enemy of them. And not only that, I’ve had certain dealings with Mikhail Strelichevo myself, and to put it bluntly, if I interfered in his business, it would have unwanted side effects both for me, and a number of my associates.”
“So you can’t help us.” I couldn’t help the defeated sigh that escaped me. “Can you at least tell us anything about the Strelichevos? What kind of dealings do you have with them?”
“I have my fingers in many pies. My dealings with them aren’t exactly on the books.”
Oh. I thought back to the pallets of cocaine we’d found at the docks.
“Are you working with my mother?”
He turned the full force of his golden gaze on me. “No. Absolutely fucking not. Winter, let me tell you something. Zayde here, he’s like a brother to me. You were the first woman he’d ever brought to meet me, and that tells me something. He likes and trusts you.” He glanced over at Zayde. “Z lets very few people in, and therefore you being part of his inner circle means that you, in turn, are part of my trusted circle. Do you see?”
I massaged my temples, my head pounding as I struggled to take in what he was saying.
“Okay. So what I’m hearing is that you can’t directly do anything that affects your business dealings.”
He nodded.
“But you can help us out in some way, right? Like you did when you sent the guys to watch the docks for us, and, uh, cleared away the security guard’s body.”
“What are you proposing?”
I took a deep breath. “This is what I was thinking…”
We talked through the plan, and by the end of it, both Creed and Zayde were in agreement with me. I had amazing negotiation skills, what could I say?
Creed stood, coming around the desk to us, a new respect in his gaze as he looked at me. “We have a deal. You ever want a job after university, I could always use your negotiation skills.”
I laughed. As much as I liked him, shady business dealings weren’t on the cards for me.
“I’ll keep it in mind, thanks.”
“Natalie will show you out. I’ve got plans to put in place, thanks to a certain dark-haired beauty who came in here batting her eyelashes at me and getting me to do things I didn’t want to do.” His eyes gleamed with amusement. “I can see why you like her so much, Z.”
Zayde shifted next to me, clearly uncomfortable. “Yeah. Come on, Winter.” He stalked towards the door, throwing it open.
I turned to follow him, before I paused and turned back to Creed. “Thanks for helping us. I appreciate it.”
“Anytime. And I meant what I said about the job. There’s always a place for you, if you want it.”
“Thanks.” I smiled and left the room, Cre
ed already picking up his phone as I was walking out, ready to get started on our mission.
