9. Danil
9
DANIL
I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in days.
This deep-rooted fear has been plaguing me since I killed Isaak, and it’s gotten to where I’m terrified to even go to sleep, because every time I close my eyes, I’m back in the warehouse, standing over Isaak. But instead of kicking the shit out of him, he is the one beating me up.
Every blow is a reminder of how I failed to protect Emily and how much worse it could have been.
And inevitably, the scene changes, and it’s no longer Isaak standing over me, beating me up. It’s Igor.
And his words chill me to the core. “She’ll be next.”
I wake up in a cold sweat, feeling anything but refreshed. The words still ringing loud and clear in my ears, and I hastily jump out of bed and get into the shower, turning the water onto the coldest setting.
As much as it sucks to be stuck in this nightmare, it is a reminder that if I don’t take care of this threat, Emily will end up dead.
After my shower, I quickly dress and head over to Espionage to pick up Luca’s car. He’s been kind enough to lend it to me whenever I can’t follow Emily on foot, and he never asks questions. Probably because I lend him my Porsche in exchange, which is a serious step up from his ancient Prius.
Thankfully, Anton isn’t at the bar when I arrive, which is an added bonus.
Balancing watching Emily and managing Espionage was becoming impossible; so I’ve taken myself off the rotation for the next two weeks while Dimitri and I try to get a handle on this situation with Igor.
From how silent Anton has been over the past couple of days, I don’t think he’s realized. But when he does, he’s going to cut off my balls and serve them up on a silver platter.
“Thanks again for this, Luca.” I slide the keys to my car across the bar.
“Honestly, man, we can just swap permanently if you like.” Luca grins.
He looks surprisingly fresh, considering how early it is.
“Nice try. If there’s even so much as a scratch on the paintwork?—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill. Don’t scratch the paint, don’t get any crumbs on the carpet or cum stains on the seats.”
“What the fuck, Luca? I never said shit about cum stains. Have you been screwing chicks in my car?”
Luca plasters a shit-eating grin on his face. “You’ll never know because I’ve kept that baby in pristine condition.”
I take the keys to his Prius. “I swear to god… We’ll talk about this later.”
“I look forward to it.” Luca offers me a mock salute, and I scowl.
He might be my best friend, but that doesn’t make him any less of a pain in the ass.
By the time I’m parking the car across the street from the café, Emily is already sitting at a table in the window with Jana and another one of her friends, Carla. Despite everything that she’s been through over the past week, she looks radiant.
Her face is free of makeup, and her golden hair is loose around her shoulders. She’s wearing another one of those summer dresses that drives me crazy. I’m not sure if it’s because they show off her long legs in such a way that has my mouth watering, or if it’s because it’s so easy to imagine lifting that dress and sliding her panties down her thighs…
My cock thickens.
“Jesus Christ.” Now is not the time to be thinking about fucking Emily.
I’ll save that image for later.
Despite being in a more inconspicuous vehicle, I still put a cap and sunglasses on just in case Emily looks out of the window.
But she seems to be so deep in conversation with her friends that she’s not paying much attention to her surroundings.
Keeping an eye on Emily has been easier than I thought. She sticks to the same routines and makes sure if she’s meeting up with friends or Zara that she sticks to public places where she’ll be seen.
The close call with Isaak must have seriously scared her, as I’ve never known Emily to follow the rules so religiously before.
I watch her closely as she talks with her friend Jana, who sits opposite her. I know she’s Emily’s best friend, but ultimately, she is the reason Emily is in this mess in the first place, so she’s not exactly my favorite person right now.
Those hostess jobs are to lure in girls like them with the promise of making some easy money. But the fact is, the men who frequent those parties are more than just criminals. They’re the kind of guys who always get what they want. You can’t win against them, and if you try to go after them, you’ll end up dead.
The thought has me pulling out my phone and dialing Dimitri. He’s looking into this situation, but he’s been unusually quiet over the last few days, and my patience is waning.
“If you’re calling about information on Igor, I don’t have anything new,” Dimitri says before I even have a chance to speak. “I told you I would call the moment I find something.”
I keep my eyes on Emily. “I know, I’m just checking.”
“You’ve been just checking practically every hour for the last week.”
“I don’t want to miss anything.”
“You aren’t.”
Usually, I find Dimitri’s easygoing attitude refreshing because it’s the polar opposite of how Alexei and Mikhail are. But right now, with Emily’s safety, it’s pissing me off. “You should take this threat more seriously, Dimitri.”
“You think I’m not?”
“No, I don’t. All you’ve been able to do is confirm that Igor was definitely the one who was targeting Emily, but we don’t know why .”
“These things take time, Danil. Igor is not an easy man to look into.”
“Can’t you get Rurik on this or something?”
“He already is. Like I said before, if you can’t handle this, Danil…”
“I can handle it. It’s just…” I rub at my jaw as I watch Emily tuck into her food. “I don’t like the idea of Emily walking around while these fuckers are still out there.”
“Then you better make sure you don’t let her out of your sight.”
I ball my free hand into a fist as I watch Emily laugh at something Jana said.
The thought of someone like Igor Ivanov getting his filthy hands on her…
“Maybe it was his plan all along to have our whole family protecting Emily.”
“You think he’s using her as bait?”
I grind my teeth. “I think so.”
“It might be time to speak to Alexei, Danil.”
As Emily throws her head back and laughs, exposing her delicate neck, I’m overcome with a primal need to storm into the place and demand she come home with me. The thought of anyone looking at her, let alone Igor, ignites a possessiveness in me I didn’t know I had.
“I agree.”
Dimitri hangs up the phone, and I turn all of my attention back to Emily.
She keeps picking up her phone to check it and then looks disappointed.
Is she expecting someone to call?
If Emily was seeing someone, I would know about it. She’s terrible at keeping secrets.
But then again, she kept this entire situation a secret from me for weeks, and I had no idea.
Maybe I don’t know her as well as I thought I did…
I’m selfishly tempted to send her a text just to see if her eyes light up when she receives a message from me when my phone buzzes again.
“Fuck,” I mutter as my phone lights up with an incoming call from Anton. I can’t avoid him forever, so I might as well get this over with.
“Anton—”
“Where the hell are you? Luca said you’ve taken yourself off the rotation.”
“Yeah, I, uh… A job came up for Dimitri?—”
“You have got to be fucking kidding me, Danil!”
“It’s really important.”
“I knew I was giving you too much responsibility. I thought you could handle it.”
“I can handle it!”
“Clearly, you can’t.”
I grind my teeth at Anton’s comment.
He has no idea what he’s talking about. If he knew what Dimitri had asked of me, he would back off.
But Emily wants this kept under wraps, so I swallow my retort and take the hit.
Ultimately, what matters here is Emily’s safety, so if I have to put up with some snide comments from Anton in the meantime, then so be it.
“What’s the job, then? It must be important if my business is allowed to suffer because of it.”
“Your business isn’t suffering. I made sure all the accounts were up to date, and the event next week is completely taken care of. I’ve already briefed the team?—”
“Save it, Danil, I’m not interested in your fucking excuses. I’ll talk to Dimitri myself.” He ends the call.
“Prick.”
I open up my texts and quickly type one out to Dimitri, telling him that Anton is in a mood when a message from my brother appears in our text thread.
Dimitri
We’re meeting with Alexei in an hour.
Me
Where?
Dimitri
Family penthouse. Don’t be late.
When I step out of the elevator, I bite back a groan of annoyance when I see who’s waiting for me.
It turns out this meeting isn’t just with Alexei, but with the entire family. Even Lev, Nina, and Anton are here, and the latter looks just as pissed as I expected.
When he finally spots me, I get nothing but a scowl.
Asshole .
I bypass Anton and head straight over to Lev, who is standing in the corner of the living area looking like he wants to be anywhere but here. I know family meetings like this aren’t his favorite, especially when he doesn’t have Elle by his side. So, I decide trying to put him at ease.
“It’s good to see you, Lev.” I slap my brother on the shoulder.
I’m still getting used to having Lev as part of our family, but he’s a nice enough guy, which is a miracle, considering the hell Igor put him through.
I lean against the sideboard, crossing my arms over my chest. “How are things with Marco? He’s what, three months old now?”
Lev’s shoulders visibly relax at the mention of his newborn son, and the hint of a smile tugs at his lips.
He keeps his eyes down. “Good. He is a happy child.”
“And how’s Elle?”
“She’s doing amazingly well. I’m so proud of her.”
It’s actually adorable the way he talks about Elle. They might have had a rocky start to their relationship, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people so right for each other.
“I’d love to come and visit. If that’s okay?”
“I would like that.”
Nina appears, looking as ethereal as ever. She offers me a glass of vodka, which I take without question.
Being Russian, I know I should love the stuff, but I don’t. I think it tastes like lighter fluid, and it gives me the most god-awful hangover, so I stick to whiskey when I’m not in the presence of my brothers.
But for the sake of saving face, I take the glass and down half of it.
Nina smiles. “Thought you might need that.”
“I take it Anton filled you in?”
Nina nods, and I take another sip of my drink, trying to hide my wince as it burns my throat.
“How pissed is he?”
“Oh, I am not getting involved in whatever is going on with you two. With a teething toddler who won’t sleep and a summer showcase to rehearse for, I have enough to deal with. Whatever is going on with you and Anton, I suggest you fix it sooner rather than later.” She takes Lev by the arm and leads him over to the bar cart to fix him a drink.
Just when I think I might have a moment of peace before Dimitri and I come clean to the family about this situation with Emily, Mikhail slaps me on the shoulder.
“Long time no see, brat .”
I swear every time I see him; he has another addition to his tattoo collection. Soon enough, there’s not going to be an inch of skin that he hasn’t inked.
I shake out of Mikhail’s grip. “I’ve been busy.”
“Who’s the girl?”
“There is no girl.”
Mikhail narrows his eyes at me, but thankfully, Alexei interrupts before he has a chance to grill me further.
Out of all my brothers, I’m closest with Mikhail, which means he can read me like a book. He might be quiet, but that’s only because he’s paying attention to every tiny little detail.
It’s a miracle he hasn’t worked out that I have a huge crush on Emily, but it’s only a matter of time.
Alexei settles himself in one of the armchairs and crosses an ankle over a knee. “What’s this about, Dimitri?”
Dimitri glances at me from across the living room, and I nod.
Here goes nothing.
I lean forward. “There’s been a situation with Emily.”
When all eyes turn in my direction, I stand up straight and set down my glass.
Alexei frowns. “What kind of situation?”
The room is silent as I recount the events that led up to Emily’s attempted kidnapping the other night. From the hostess job and the gifts that have been left in her apartment, to what Isaak admitted to us the other night in the warehouse before I killed him.
Alexei stares at me. “And you didn’t think to mention this at the time?”
I envy how Alexei can always look so calm and collected. Don’t get me wrong, he inherited our father’s temper, but he manages to keep it in check for the most part, even when shit hits the fan.
Dimitri crosses his arms over his chest. “I wanted to wait until I could confirm that it was truly Igor behind all of this.”
Alexei glancing back at me. “And?”
Dimitri nods. “Isaak’s story checked out.”
I run my hand through my hair. “We just don’t know why he’s looking into Emily specifically. It doesn’t make sense.”
Mikhail hums. “Usually, when Igor goes after someone, it’s because he’s using them as bait.”
Anton nods. “But Emily’s only linked to us through Zara. It seems like there would be easier avenues for him to take if he wanted to get to us.”
“Perhaps.” Mikhail eyes me closely, but I keep my expression neutral.
No one knows how I truly feel about Emily, least of all Igor . If he’s coming after her, it’s not because he’s trying to get to me.
Lev shifts in place. “Maybe it’s because she’s not directly linked to any of you that makes her an ideal target,”
“What do you mean?”
“She was coming home to an empty apartment every night, whereas Bianca, Zara, Lucia… Each one of them had direct protection from one of us, as well as guards and top-of-the-range surveillance equipment. Emily had none of that, so not only is she an easy target, but she would be strong enough bait to at least lure in Dimitri.”
A deep frown appears between Alexei’s eyebrows. “Lev has a point.”
Dimitri grunts. “If that was his plan, it fucking worked.”
I pick up my discarded glass and down the rest of the vodka, hoping that it will numb me out.
All this talk of Emily being used as bait by Igor is putting me on edge.
Dimitri takes a sip of his glass. “I’ve had Danil tracking her every movement since the attack. She refuses to have a bodyguard, but we couldn’t leave her completely unprotected.”
I finally look at Anton, and surprise flashes in his eyes as he glances in my direction.
I nod. “I told you this was important.”
Anton goes to speak, but Alexei cuts in.
“I think Danil should continue watching over Emily for the time being. He knows her best out of all of us and can easily contact her without arousing suspicion if need be. So, I’m afraid you’re on your own at the bar for the time being, Anton.”
Anton nods but keeps quiet. I’m sure he feels bad for ripping into me earlier, but I doubt I’ll get an apology any time soon.
After all, I am the family’s scapegoat.
“That’s all well and good, but I can’t watch her twenty-four hours a day. I took my eyes off her for an hour to head to work, and she almost got fucking kidnapped.”
Dimitri looks at me. “Zara has convinced Emily to move in with us until this situation is sorted. The security is better at our place, and it means I can keep an eye on her in the evenings to give you a break.”
Alexei nods. “That’s a good idea. I’ll send some guys over to her apartment in case anyone else decides to show.”
Mikhail leans forward to support his arms on his knees. “I can have Rosa look into the list of guests present at the party. Danil’s focus should be on nothing but Emily.”
“I agree,” Alexei says. “Are you sure you can handle this, Danil?”
Every person in the room turns to look at me, but I don’t balk under the weight of their stares.
“I can handle this.”
At least, I hope I can.