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The next text isn’t so amenable.
We need to talk.
It’s from Natasha’s father, head of the Orlov family. Is this about the broken betrothal or about Sergei’s recent demise? There’s no telling what his spies may have already told him. If he’s still sore over me breaking off with his daughter, he may have a thing or two to say about me stepping into Sergei’s shoes.
Where?I text back.
Collins 1pm.
I consider it a moment. That’s his seat of operation so this is a clear powerplay. Yet the alternative would naturally be Last Call, the place I swore to Madison I’d never step foot in again. His place may have had some action going on in the back rooms, but at least it wasn’t a full-blown strip club.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but I’ll do it to keep Madison happy.
2pm and you get 5 minutes of my time.I say exerting some authority, I won’t give another inch.
He hesitates, then types.
2pm sharp
The dick. I close out of the conversation. Is he going to make a move for the throne, basically declaring war? We’ll see. It’ll be the last thing he does. I cut my teeth on Sergei, I’ll devour Orlov.
Now, to the matter of the gun Madison hid away. Hid away…not tossed in the river like she’d told me while I’d been in the hospital. She lied to me. I mean, I get it. She didn’t really know me then, was trying to protect herself, keep an insurance policy. I can’t really fault her from lying to me. I fucked up over Natasha and she did over the gun.
We’re going to forgive and forget on both counts. But I need her to understand that she must never to lie to me again. At some point, she’ll come to understand that her future is as much at stake as mine. Our fates are inextricably intertwined.
I hear her stirring upstairs. I’m surprised as how resilient she is. How the whole ugly incident has left her unshaken, like she believes it was all play acting and she was a hundred percent certain I’d save her before any lasting harm was done.
I’m smiling at the thought. I like being Mads’ knight in shining armor. I liked the way she looked at me, clung to me for shelter and warmth, despite being the little badass she is herself. Jesus, what she did to Boba…it’ll be talked about for years. With some training and guidance, she could become quite the lethal…
Stop!
Madison’s services as a surgeon are all that will be required of her. I need her to be happy which means ensuring that her plans fully come to fruition by whatever means necessary. Dabbling in my word on occasion needn’t jeopardize that. I need to keep her hands clean enough to be respectable but dirty enough to keep her in.
She’s coming down the stairs now, sexy bed-hair and one of my t-shirts. God, I love her like this. My brilliant, and sexy as hell girlfriend. Girlfriend. I plan to upgrade that status this weekend at Yuri’s wedding.
“Morning, sweetheart,” I call to her as she reaches the bottom stair. “How about a nice omelet, some toast and coffee this morning.”
She closes her eyes and smiles. “Sounds perfect.” She saddles up to one of the bar stools in the kitchen.
“You sleep alright?” I ask as I retrieve the ingredients from the fridge. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, no, you’re fine,” she says batting a hand at me. “I slept for as long as I needed to. I’m ready to start my day.”
I turn to look at her. “You remember you don’t have to go to the hospital today, right?”
She gives me a wry look. “Yes, silly. I didn’t get bumped on the head, you know?”
“So, what are your plans today?” I ask as I pull the skillet from the lower cabinet.
She drops her head back, thinking for a moment before her eyes lock with mine. “We need to get your gun out of the attic of my apartment. But here’s the problem, I’m pretty sure the police are watching my every move.”
I toss out the cracked eggs shells and turn to her. “Don’t you think that if they were tailing you, they would’ve seen Sergei’s men take you?”
“Yeah, I been trying to figure that one out,” she replied, leaning forward on elbows. “My guess is that they just wait outside the parking deck and then follow me from there. I mean they know we’re living together and always seem to know when I’m at work. So, they’ve got to be tailing me, right?”
“That’s a fair assumption,” I say as I whisk the eggs. “So, we go to your place,” I look at her, “which I think you should give up, and get some more of your things to bring over here. They shouldn’t find anything suspicious about that. One of those items will happen to be my gun.”
“I know, but if they pulled us over for any reason and found it on us, we’re both majorly screwed.”
