Chapter 14 #2
“What we shared was amazing, but you don’t deserve to be involved in my life.”
“You mean you don’t want me as anything but your good little obedient assistant. Well, I am much more than that.”
Yes, she was. “I’m aware. We’ll talk advancement in a few days.”
“Fine,” she chirped, faking a smile. “Don’t let the door hit your fine, chiseled ass on the way out.”
When I remained standing where I was, trying to find some words that would bring us back to where we’d been before the night’s events, she moved in a wide berth around me. With her usual drama, she unlocked and threw open the door, holding the edge with white knuckles.
“Saige.”
“Mr. Chertov. Go away. I have work to do before I leave for the office and am forced to face my boss. In case you haven’t heard about him, he’s a real asshole.”
The woman had no idea what part of me she was challenging.
It certainly wasn’t the man she was used to dealing with.
That part of our relationship was over. Now, controlling what we shared from here would prove to be as difficult if not more so than ever before.
I walked out, clearing the door by a few inches.
As expected, she slammed it with enough force the entire frame reverberated. As I walked away, I could hear her cursing me from behind the thick platform.
Why was it that I was smiling as I walked down the stairs?
* * *
“A full report. I want to know everything about my employee.” I stood outside my cousin’s house, waiting for him to open the door.
Roman had been assigned to me from day one.
Thankfully the man had a master’s degree in economics in addition to having served in the American military.
He was a killing machine, which at this point might come in handy.
I wasn’t in a patient mood.
“Yes, sir. Including her family?”
“Absolutely.”
“You got it, sir. I’ll have it on your desk by the end of day,” Roman answered.
“Good enough.” Even before I ended the call, I pounded on the door again.
As soon as my cousin yanked open the door, I moved inside.
“And good morning to you too. Ever hear of the phone?”
“This is personal.”
“Hmm… What in the fuck is wrong with you this morning?”
Dimitri sounded exactly the same as Sean had in my earlier conversation and it was already seven in the morning.
Didn’t anyone get up early any longer? He also looked like shit, as if he’d had a rough night.
Likely partying, the playboy in him refusing to back down even at his advanced age of almost forty.
I pushed my way in, heading to his kitchen. We were family after all.
He scoffed behind me, grumbling as he trailed behind. I didn’t wait for him to offer any hospitality, moving to the Keurig machine. I’d stopped by my house long enough to shower and change.
As well as fume over how to continue handling my employee. All while suffering through full arousal during the entire shower. I’d skipped coffee altogether, but I could use a cup to keep me from crawling out of my skin.
“Alright. Why don’t you tell me the reason for this early visit because I know you well enough to know when you’re enraged about something.”
After shoving a mug under the stream of liquid, I turned toward him.
“I was at Strike Zone last night, checking on our buddy Sean. Lo and behold, there was an attack. Now, while the jury is out, my strong suspicions are that the assailants were working for the Armenians. As you suggested. However, I find it interesting that if what you said was true and that the current leader is days away from being shoved from office, then why pick a fight with the Irish?”
For a few seconds, he acted as if he was truly concerned about my welfare. “Were you injured?”
“No, but I added a few notches on my belt. Had you heard about a possible attack?”
“Hell, no. They were after Sean?”
“Maybe.” The coffee had barely stopped dripping before I pulled the mug. He stared at me as if debating whether to tell me something or ask.
“Another fight?”
“A way of keeping track of our… partners.”
“You mean a way of controlling your rage,” he corrected. “One day you need to talk about why.”
He wasn’t stupid. He knew how much being coerced into joining the family business had irritated the hell out of me. I didn’t like being pigeonholed into anything.
I took a few seconds to laugh before sipping the hot coffee. “Did you encourage Sean to ask for my assistance?”
“Why would I do that?” The fights were no secret, although neither my brother nor my cousin approved but they saw wisdom in my logic.
“What are you worried about? That this girl will sell our secrets? Or is this all about the possibility Mikhail remained in town.”
There’d been sightings of him all over the world, which could be fabricated.
“Maybe both and I’m concerned the Irish aren’t being truthful with us,” he admitted. “I don’t like the alliance any more than you do. I think if push came to shove, the Irish would betray us. But no, I didn’t have any idea there was a fight last night.”
He had no reason to lie to me, but I also wasn’t convinced he wasn’t holding something back. “We need to find out everything we can about Vardan Zargarian, including when he was in Chicago.”
His grin meant he’d already activated the deep dive. “Already started. Do you think there is any possibility Mikhail bought his soul?”
“Maybe.”
“Sean thinks Vartan is well connected in several arenas.”
“That makes sense. What about Davit?”
I took another sip of the coffee, wondering why in the hell he drank the flavored shit. “Maybe we throw him a bone and see what he does with it. Is there any chance the current Armenian Authority was also at that restaurant at the same time the photographs were taken?”
“Yeah, it’s possible. As I told you before, it’s a favored location and one that goes back for generations. I’ll keep an eye on Davit. Do you think it’s possible you were the intended target last night?” He cocked his head when I didn’t immediately say anything in response.
“I don’t know.” What I did know was that Mikhail would try to pick off the family members one by one. He’d been incensed when I’d come into the family.
“While you like to think of yourself as anonymous, you’ve been in town long enough you can’t hide any longer. Plus, you’re someone of value and power.”
He was right, although I hated to admit it. Was it also possible someone knew of the connection with Saige and planned on using her against me? There were too many questions.
“At this point with no real answers, we should assume this is a fight between the McCarthy family and another party.”
“I suggest we beef up security for all our buildings and the hotels. We’ll say we had some threats.”
“And have we?” There was something odd about how he mentioned the plausible excuse.
His shrug provided an answer. “We always have threats. Now that we’re more mainstream,” he said with both hands in the air and two fingers on each providing air quote symbols, “the variety and frequency have changed. I don’t take any of them too seriously.”
“Let me be the judge of that.”
“Since when were you made head of security?”
“Since you’ve yet to fill that position,” I barked. The situation was an irritant, although up until now there’d been no real need to hunt down the right person. Maybe in hindsight that had been a huge mistake.
“Fine. I’ll fill your inbox with what we’ve received in the last sixty days. How’s that?”
His irritation was as strong as mine. “That will do for a start.” We were on equal footing in the corporation, neither job more important or on a higher plateau in the organizational chart than the other.
It was a bone of contention since he not only invited but allowed Kazimir to assume control as Pakhan within both Russia and the United States.
While I wasn’t trying to start a war with him, not having a close personal relationship as Kazimir did allowed me to notice small details that would otherwise be overlooked. That could mean the difference in life and death at some point.
“What about the Armenians?” he tossed out, knowing I wouldn’t let this go.
“I don’t know yet. However, I am curious what the possible new… leader has in mind for his kingdom.” Maybe that warranted a visit.
“It’s funny,” he said as he moved closer, pushing me out of the way so he could finally grab some coffee, “you came here to accuse me of not telling you everything about our possible new friends the Armenians. I think there’s more going on, which irritates me.”
“Irritates you? Would you like me to provide a list of irritants, cousin?” We glared at each other. At some point, at minimum we would come to blows. We both knew it.
Anything worse would be detrimental for the regime.
His grin was his lame attempt to bypass the heavy tension. “Why is it that I think something happened last night you’re not willing or ready to discuss?”
He knew my moods better than I wanted. “I need to work through a few things. Whatever happened last night I was placed in the middle of. And I don’t like not knowing by whom.”
“Then I guess we need to find out. Before you go off and do something halfcocked.”
He was right about one thing. I could and would whatever it took to keep my world exactly the way I preferred. Even it meant destroying a corporation, a family name, or a relationship.
And I certainly didn’t care about the consequences.
I’d learned over the past few years that very little mattered.
Death. Sex.
Money.
Power.
Only one thing had managed to cause a stirring set of emotions and needs.
Her.