Silent Heart (The Vlasov Bratva #5)

Chapter 34 – Kolya

T here was a vast difference in temperature. The cold autumn air and the gust of Lake Michigan wind were a relief to skin dried by the Arizona desert. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The skin on my arms prickled, but my jacket remained threaded through the handles of my duffel bag.

“You’re supposed to wear that,” Luka teased, exiting his truck.

I took another deep breath, grateful to be off the plane, before opening my eyes to look at my brother. “Any news on the girl?”

“Straight to business,” my brother muttered.

“Did you expect anything else?” Dimitri chuckled, coming up to slap me on the back. In a soft voice, he added an Old Russian greeting.

Which I returned.

“It’s good to see you, cousin,” Dimi murmured.

Guilt tickled the back of my mind. “I’m just here for Camilla.”

“I know,” Dimi sighed. Together, we walked to the back of the running pickup. My cousin held the door open for me. “It was good of you to come for her.”

“We’re family.” Did he think me such a heartless monster that I wouldn’t try to help if I could? Granted, it was convenient for me, because there was a contact who’d been trying to have a face-to-face meeting for the last fortnight. So while I was here to do anything and everything I could for Camilla, there was the added bonus that I could scope out a new contact in person.

Not that my mobster cousin knew that I had other business while in town. There was the criminal underworld that he was an active member of, and then there was the even more shadowy realm. The dark web was one of the few places to access the blacker side of society.

“Before we dive into the details, there’s something you should know about Cami’s new roommate,” Luka drawled.

Dimitri growled in warning.

I rubbed my eyes. It had been too many nights since I slept properly. “She has a new roommate already? Her other disappeared not even a week ago.”

“That was technically a girl living in the suite adjacent who disappeared. They share a bathroom and kitchen with Cami and her old roommate. But Cami up and moved across the hall last week—she changed from a four-person suite to a two-person one. This transition has been one the little minx has been scheming about for a lot longer, but only recently put into play,” Luka explained.

“Quit being so cryptic,” I snapped.

My sour attitude only made my brother laugh.

“Apparently the woman living across the hall from Cami is more studious,” Dimitri began.

“And they share a lot of the same classes,” Luka butted in.

“And they share classes,” Dimi repeated. “It would be a better living arrangement if they were sharing a space, Cami argued.”

I shifted in my seat. I was glad for Camilla, but I didn’t see the point of it. I was here to do a job, not to lend wisdom on the kid’s personal growth.

As the silence stretched on, it became apparent I was supposed to add something to the conversation.

Resignedly, I muttered, “Did you need me to vet the new roommate?”

I hadn’t helped with the last three girls. But maybe in light of the current circumstances that was why they were asking my help now? What the hell else it could be, I couldn’t fathom.

Dimitri opened his mouth, garbled sounds forming on his tongue.

But Luka interjected with a question. “Do you know what our brilliant little Cami Joe is studying?”

Closing my eyes, I leaned back into the seat. Fuck. I was going to fall asleep. I’d kept myself awake on the plane with a schematic report, but there was no chance of reading with Luka quacking as we drove.

“Doctor stuff,” I muttered.

“Yeah, you remember me telling you how she sat down with Father the summer before her senior year of high school and planned her future as a doctor?” Luka quipped.

From the smile lacing his words, I could tell there was some big joke there. It irritated me to no end, because I couldn’t fathom what he was talking about.

I murmured in assent, and he continued. “Well, doctors have a lot of prerequisite science classes. And Cami needed to pass them before she jumped into more human-doctor classes. Say, pakhan, don’t other medical professionals have similar science prerequisites?”

“Luka,” Dimitri growled in warning.

“That’s right, I thought so,” Luka beamed. “Professions like dentists, veterinarians, and surgeons all have to take a shit ton of science classes. So much studying time!”

A spike of cold rushed through my veins. I knew without hearing it what my brother was beating around the bush. It’s not possible.

The few times I’d been back to Chicago, I watched Harley from a distance. I never saw her with Camilla. The University was big.

“So anyhow,” Luka drawled.

Dimitri’s strangled groan filled the cab, but even as pakhan, our cousin wasn’t going to interrupt whatever tirade my asshat of a brother was hellbent on continuing.

“Cami’s new roommate, while on a different career path, is heavily invested in the sciences,” Luka explained gleefully. “And no, to answer your question, we don’t need you to vet her. We all had that pleasure this past weekend, didn’t we, Dimi?”

The pakhan’s voice was strangled. “Yes.”

“And we think she’s just lovely. She’ll be damn good for our Cami Joe. Oh! And it’s smart to have little Cami change living arrangements. We can better control the risk of any bad guys preying on her. This nnneeewwww roommate won’t be dating anyone. Serious student, that woman. Hope you’re okay with it, Kolya. It’s a big change. But you don’t need to be involved if you don’t want to be.”

“Luka.” I spoke very slowly, enunciating each fucking syllable. “What is the name of Camilla’s new roommate?”

“It’s some motorcycle name. Very cute and small town, but I think it’s a nickname. Dimi? You ran the background check on her, it wwaassss a nickname, wasn’t it?”

Ice stabbed my gut. “Luka,” I warned.

While Dimitri could grumble and growl, and my brother didn’t pay him any heed, it took one change of tone for me to sober my little brother.

“Okay, it’s the girl you were seeing in Wisconsin. We didn’t plan it—I swear! It just was one of those flukes. They lived across the hall but took the same classes and hit it off.” Luka was breathless by the time he finished speaking.

Only the sound of the engine, the wheels on the highway, and our breathing filled the cab for the next mile. They waited for my reaction, but the funny thing was, so did I. I couldn’t believe what luck—good or bad, I was undecided—that they happened to be so close. I knew when Camilla went to that school that Harley was also going there. But never in a million years would I have thought events would unfold that way.

“I can’t see her.” But I can watch her…again. There had been precious few glimpses of the beautiful water sprite since our parting last fall. Any excuse to come north, any reason to drop in and reassure myself she was okay—I took them.

Now it seemed I had a reason to watch over her from the shadows.

My declaration sent Luka into a tizzy of protests. I ignored him the rest of the drive to our family’s house. The thought of working so close to Harley was stronger than any shot of caffeine. The need to drift into sleep’s pull vanished.