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9.
KRISTOFF
There was something wrong with my chest. I looked over the papers strewn across my desk, then at the big screen Damon was pointing at. My mind was elsewhere though. It was still reliving last night with my wife. Every fiber of my being had railed at me, to continue, to finish what I started, but I couldn’t. Surrendering to my basic desire wasn’t how battles were won. And it was fact that this was a battle of wills between me and my woman. I’d hurt her, yet after her first failed attempt at fleeing from me, she hadn’t tried again, nor had she mentioned leaving. I could read her like a book, in some ways. And I knew she wanted me just as badly as I wanted her. The only thing stopping her from reaching out to me in bed was her damn pride. I wasn’t going to make it easy on her. This time, she was going to come to me willingly, or not at all. Even if it meant my balls might actually explode.
So, instead of fucking her into the mattress every night, I told her stories.
Scheherazade had a sword held over her head for a thousand and one nights. Since it was a fairy tale, it had a happy ending. Real life wasn’t anything like that. Life was dark, dreary, and full of pitfalls and disappointments. I knew that better than anyone. Yet, I continued spinning Katya tales. Late at night, once she’d gone to bed, only leaving on a nightlight, I slipped into our bed and talked. She never responded, but I knew by her uneven breath that she was listening. If nothing else, she gave me her time, her attention.
I brushed a knuckle over my chest, wondering why it ached. Perhaps I had pulled a muscle while lifting weights.
Damon looked up at me, and I noticed the silence that had fallen in the room. Baran sat at his side, giving me a curious look.
I looked at the plasma screen. “Go on.”
My calm face didn’t fool anyone. They both knew I was distracted. In my line of business that could get you killed. I just couldn’t get rid of that nagging feeling that something was amiss.
“Frowning isn’t going to help,” Damon said.
Baran smirked. “It’s just painful to watch, the way your brain works overtime but still doesn’t seem to connect the dots.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” There was condescension in his eyes and I wanted to wipe it from his face.
“Take it from me, that befuddled feeling you have right now, all newlyweds feel it.”
Damon laughed. “Somehow I don’t think that’s what our Katya’s feeling right now.”
“No, she probably isn’t,” Baran agreed. “I should say, that befuddled feeling you have right now is what all newlywedmenexperience.”
I steepled my fingers in an attempt not to strangle him.
“I don’t feel anything of the sort.”
Baran raised a brow. “Are you sure? Maybe you’re still afraid she’s going to leave you. You could just put a chip in her you know. She wouldn’t even notice.”
I bet she would notice, and then take off my head.
“Speaking of her planning to leave you,” Damon said. “I tracked a call a few days ago from her phone to a burner phone.”
I froze. “Who did she call?”
Damon shrugged. “I couldn’t trace it to anyone, which says enough all on its own.” A glint had entered his eyes.
“You think she called the elusive Onyx again.”
“The one and only. She did it the last time she tried to get away, so it makes sense she would call her again.”
This was bad news. Not only did that damn hacker have a history of aiding Bratva women in disappearing, she’d also managed to stay out of the twins’ clutches. Damon could find anyone, anywhere, yet he still hadn’t located her.
I glared at him. “How is it that you still haven’t managed to capture her?” It had been months since Onyx had asked for the twins’ help, got it, then skipped town without paying her debt.
“She’s an international woman of mystery,” he said. “A breed of women who are hard to track. Especially since she doesn’t stay put at the same location for long. Also, I want her brought to me in one piece so that makes it more challenging.”
Which meant that he hadn’t used his usual channels to locate her, like putting a price on her head. He was about to learn that I’d have no such reservations if she aided in Katya’s escape.
“You have less than three months to catch her. After that, I’m taking over.” I had no problem with putting a bounty on her head, dead or alive.
Damon nodded, his jaw tight. It was obvious he didn’t like my edict, but the Bratva always came first. No one touched a Vory wife and got away with it, even if it was with the wife’s consent.
