AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“How do you know about that?” asked Viktor.
I held up my phone and jiggled it. “I’m afraid I have bad news, boys. The whole city knows about it now. Is that why you all look like you want to kill someone right now?”
Andrei chuckled and instantly relaxed. “We’re sorry, sestrichka. Come, please. I make you coffee this time.”
“Seriously. That marriage proposal is still on the table.”
It was Misha’s turn to look shocked as Andrei and Viktor both laughed.
“Where’s Ivan? And Stephen, was it? I didn’t meet him. I just heard his name last night.”
“Ivan is on his way back here. He was at that building that exploded, yes. We think it was a trap,” said Viktor.
Misha clicked his tongue at Viktor and said something in Russian to him. Viktor just shook his head and said, “She will find out sooner or later. Boss wants us to be honest with her, so I am honest with her.” He looked at me like a proud older brother, winked, and added, “She’s stronger than she looks.”
“You know I can only marry one of you, right? Andrei already got the proposal. Are you trying to steal it from him? That’s rude, Viktor. But I might warm up to the idea of you two fighting over me.”
He laughed as there was a sharp knock on the door. Misha went to the door, gun in hand. Andrei covered him and Viktor stood in between me and the door, his hand on my arm like he was ready to pull me away at a second’s notice.
Misha just said, “Ivan” as he opened the door. Everyone relaxed as Ivan’s imposing figure filled the doorframe. His bald head and face were covered with soot. If he wasn’t already wearing all black, I would’ve bet good money that his clothes were covered in soot as well.
“Well, you look like you’ve had an exciting morning,” I said.
He walked into the kitchen, eyebrow raised, and his intense gaze burning holes in my soul as usual.
“I see your brush with death didn’t help you develop a sense of humor,” I mumbled under my breath.
Viktor and Andrei both choked back laughter as they had both heard me.
Misha broke the tension in the room by asking Ivan what happened. He started to respond in Russian, but Misha stopped him. “Net. In English,” he said, motioning toward me. Ivan once again raised an eyebrow and stared at me but, nonetheless, continued his explanation in English.
“I got tip that Anthony was at a warehouse three miles from here. Too close, so I wanted to check it out myself. We get bad information always right now on where that little fucker is. If information is bad this time, I take it out on my source.”
While Ivan was talking, Andrei was making coffee for everyone. He sat a coffee cup down in front of me and I signed “thank you” to him. He winked and went about giving everyone else their coffee.
Ivan continued, “When we got to the warehouse, there was activity, but not enough that I suspected Anthony was there. At least not at that moment. There was maybe 10 guys there. I sent Stephen back here to take Boss home. I wanted a closer look, so I moved my position. I was twenty-five yards from warehouse doors, watching. Trucks come in, men unload, trucks leave. Everything was quiet for maybe an hour, then boom.”
“Holy shit,” I said, under my breath. “Are you okay?”
Ivan looked at me, somewhat surprised. It was like he wasn’t used to people inquiring about his well-being, and he didn’t know what to say. He nodded his head, saying “da” as he took his jacket off. When he turned his back to hang his jacket by the door, we all noticed a huge gash on the back of his shoulder.
“Your definition of fine and mine are clearly different,” I said. Misha went to inspect the gash.
“Looks bad, you might need stitches,” Misha told Ivan.
“Net. No hospital.”
“At least let me clean it up for you so it won’t get infected. I should have bandages that can cover it,” I said standing up from the barstool to go take a closer look at his injury. I quickly went to my bathroom and came back with a well-stocked first aid kit. They all raised their eyebrows when they saw my medical supplies.
“What? I’m clumsy. I get hurt a lot.”
I looked at Ivan and motioned to him, “Come here. Take your shirt off.”
He stayed where he was, without moving for a few seconds. Like he was torn between following my orders and not allowing me to help him.
“Or you can be stubborn and not let me help, in which case that gash gets infected, and you end up useless to anyone because you’re lying in bed with a fever for days, maybe weeks.”
Misha chuckled and kicked Ivan in the butt, effectively making him take a few steps toward me.
