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“What about sleeping arrangements?” I asked and Mikhail chuckled.
“Get a bigger bed. We all share one big bed most of the time, but we did make sure we also had our own rooms too. Sometimes you just need some space to yourself for the night or to take a breath. It doesn’t have to be a bedroom either.” Mikhail said, grinning at my frown.
“Tol and Rosslyn have their rooms that are set up like libraries and relaxing spaces. Tol has a pull-out sofa in his that can be used if he wants, and we built Rosslyn a custom day bed that she can sleep on. I have a normal bedroom and Gabriel has… his own space.” He muttered and Gabriel stared at him pointedly.
“Do you get jealous?” I blurted and both Wyatt and Beau looked at me before I looked away.
“I can’t speak for the others, but yes, sometimes. Not as much as I did in the beginning. Especially because Gabriel had a history with Rosslyn and Tol got to be with her more than I did in the beginning. But now it doesn’t matter so much. Usually, it is because they get child-free time when I don’t.” He said, earning an eye roll from Gabriel.
“You need to stop overanalyzing this. If you are all on the same page and can communicate, you will make it work. It probably helped that we had seen this kind of dynamic a few times with other families, so we knew it was possible.” Mikhail added before he sat back and looked at Beau in the rearview mirror.
“Tell me about these Boone men. How does the entire setup work?” He asked and Beau sighed.
“We move the products with our trucks. We load the cattle or sheep then add the drugs or on occasion weapons to head to the various locations. The Boones grow and pack the product, opium mostly, and the Chase family were the ones who laundered the money.” He said, turning onto the Boone ranch driveway.
“When the product is ready, I call the collector and he gives me the coordinates of the latest shipment and we plan the cattle truck routes to ensure they pass those locations. It is never the same place.” He continued and Mikhail nodded.
“So you will call him today for the next locations?” Mikhail asked as we got out, the looming greenhouse in front of us seemingly innocent from the outside.
“Yeah. They just need a hand with the last of it, but it is pretty much ready to go. Usually, one of my guys would drive the trucks, this time it is probably going to have to be us since they all left.” Beau said.
“The question is, how do we untie ourselves from this mess? The ultimatum they gave Anya was to work for them or keep doing this. We are stuck.” I said and Gabriel raised an eyebrow at me.
“You are never stuck. You just have to show you mean business. If you can prove to them that you are more hassle than it is worth and willing to disrupt their entire operation, they either kill you or they let you go.” Gabriel grinned and I stared at him, not sure if he was serious.
“The whole point is not getting killed,” I said and he rolled his eyes.
“Obviously. That’s where we come in. You show them that you are also a bigger threat than they realized. You come in with a backing that means trying to take you out would require a war they don’t want to start.” He slapped me on the shoulder as Beau pushed open the door to the greenhouse.
“And how do we do that? There are only a few of us. That isn’t exactly a threat to them.” Wyatt said from behind me and Mikhail grinned.
“You think that it is only us? We may not work for the Russians anymore, but Katerina has thrown her support in and that woman isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty, unlike her predecessor. We also have the weight of the Mexican, Irish, and Italian mafia at our back too.” Mikhail added and I swallowed, looking at Beau.
“Who the hell are you, Mik?” I asked and he smiled, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I am my father's son.” He said before he walked inside.
I looked at Gabriel, unsure of what that cryptic message meant and he shrugged.
“We know a lot of people and the crime families over the years have formed alliances that benefit us all. This so-called Fellowship may be powerful, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay tied to them forever. If you can’t take them down, you take yourself out and we will help you. We were indebted to the Russian bratva. We got out without taking them down. It can be done, Will.” Gabriel said and with that, he walked inside.
I looked at Wyatt who sighed, looking as wary as I felt.
“If anyone can help, it would be them. They are personally invested in this as well. They are family.” He said and that was when I realized the truth of it.
I had always seen Mikhail as Anya’s brother and a mate, but being with Anya made him family to me and the others too.
I walked inside the humid greenhouse and saw the men tending to the poppies. Beau was already talking to the Boones and Mikhail was at a table, looking over some numbers.
“This is what I think we do. With each shipment, we add a tracker. Then we see where that takes us. Even if we don’t find the Collector, someone of importance will have to check the shipments so we take one of them and slowly work our way up the food chain until we get to a big fish.” Mikhail said.
“I can work with that. I’ll make the call.” Beau said, the others looking determined but grim.
“Let's go fishing,” Gabriel said with a psychotic smile.
Twenty six
Anya
