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I smiled. “Zaika, I need you to hack into the security system of the Westside Market on Lexington and erase all their footage for the past...oh, I don’t know, two hours. Just to be safe.”
My sister groaned. “Kozjól,...”
“I know, I know. But I wasn’t as subtle as I thought. Someone from the New York Syndicate caught wind of my arrival. It was a sharp welcome—don’t think I’ll need stitches, though.”
“They can’t know you’re with Bri!”
Not a word about my own physical state. I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine, by the way.”
“Vik!”
“Oh, relax, Soph. I doubt they made my connection to Bri. I left the taxi from the airport and walked block after block to get to her office. There was no tail.”
“Alright, I’ll set up surveillance to watch her condo building.”
And I would have to stay up all night and make sure no one came. But my little rabbit of a sister didn’t need to know that. “Thanks, sis. Talk soon.”
“Play nice—”
I cut her off by ending the call. Strolling down the street, I looked around and didn’t see any goons lying in wait. They had to have seen me somewhere to catch me in the grocery store. But why only send one enforcer? It was either the messenger was brash and confronted me without the backing of the others, or they’d wanted me to hurt him.
My uncle would chew my ass out. Especially since he didn’t know I was here in the first place. The morose thought twittered through my mind that it was good I was more valuable alive than dead. In our cutthroat world, my familial relation to the head of the LA Bratva wouldn’t be enough to save me without all my blood and sweat equity.
And right then and there I realized how alike Briana and I actually were...freaky.That trail of thought kept me occupied all the way back to her condo. After making certain I hadn’t been followed or watched, I lost no time getting into her apartment and starting dinner.
By the time the steaks were resting on the counter, Briana came out of her hole. She slipped into her bedroom, and I pretended not to watch for her return as I chopped the asparagus. When she finally emerged, she’d changed into a little black dress, although her bare feet padded on the floor and her nut-brown hair was still tightly captured in a chignon.
“What smells so good?” Bri asked, snooping at the potatoes as they sizzled in a skillet of olive oil.
“Dinner.”
“You didn’t have to cook, Viktor,” she said with a sigh.
“I come to visit, I cook. You know this.”
She laughed softly, shaking her head. “True—but I did make reservations for us Uptown. I know how much you like Italian, and this place is the real deal. And, yes, it might have been to test your table manners in public and give you a crash course lesson or two, but the chef is from Italy. He cooks like it’s art, and the tables are damn near impossible to score. But I pulled some strings for you, and—” Briana stopped suddenly, blushing profusely. But it was the little note of shyness in her voice that had me doing a double take.
“Is that care in your voice, suits?”
Briana fisted her hands and threw them down to her sides. A groan of annoyance rippled in her throat.Ah, here’s the explosion.
“I was trying to do something nice for you!” she returned sharply. “You’re helping me out; it’s kind of a big deal.”
I stepped forward, handing her a stemless glass of red. She took it, and I wrapped my fingers possessively around her wrist and squeezed. “Thank you, Bri. I’m sorry we’re missing your reservation. Truly.”
Bri stilled, her breath catching as she looked up at me. I could feel her pulse, and it beat more rapidly. Damn, but she was lovely. Heat stirred in my veins, and I knew I needed to pull away.
“What’s this wedding going to look like? Sophia was colorfully descriptive, but I’d rather have your version.” My words broke the strange spell that had fallen over us.
With a derisive laugh, Briana stepped away to the cabinet to get plates. “They’ll want to know how long we’ve been dating.”
“Easy! Since last summer, but as you’ve been focused on school, we kept it casual given the distance.”
Bri nodded. “They’re old fashioned. We’ll have separate bungalows.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
“It is, and I think it’s for the best.” Briana set the plates down for me to dish up. That tilt of defiance was in her chin as she stared me down. Predator. Feline and deadly.
