Chapter 15 #2
“Steve. Don’t do it,” Mark told him. “She’s our captain.”
“Yeah, bud. That’s crazy shit, man,” Jeff added.
As if they were finally able to come to my defense. Maybe I was a little bit hurt. I’d thought of several of the guys as friends. Okay, maybe they’d been my husband’s friends first, but over the last year, we’d gotten close.
Or so I’d thought.
“Nah, Captain,” Steve finally said. “I ain’t got nothing to say.”
He finally threw up his hands and I backed away, still glaring at him in anticipation of another attack. Thankfully, he chose not to. Smart move.
Damn, I was in a bad mood.
The others studied me for a few seconds before starting to head out.
“You’re on engine clean today, Steve.” Sure, it was my way of lashing out, but I was his captain.
He groaned as expected but sauntered off. So did everyone else but Mark who leaned against the lockers.
“Don’t say it, Mark. I just don’t need to hear it.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything.”
“You bet you were. Just do it.”
His sigh was heavy and he glanced around as if not wanting anyone else to hear what he had to say. “Okay, look. You’re a big girl. You’re right. You deserve to have a life without anyone interfering including photographers or whoever that was that tried to kill you, but let that sink in.”
“Which part?”
“Someone tried to kill you.”
“No, they tried to kill my date.”
Mark’s brows furrowed. “Your date who happens to be a member of the most powerful and notorious Bratva family in the country. That means organized crime. You know, guns. Killing. Violence.”
“The family in their entirety happens to be wealthy and highly respected, not just in Vegas but all throughout the United States. Don’t believe everything you read.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t either. There was a reason someone tried to kill him.
That’s all I was going to say. You’re an amazing woman, Halle.
I’d hate for you to find yourself in the crossfire.
People like the folks responsible for the assassination attempt use weaknesses against men like Alexsey Dmitriyev. ”
He backed away, concern in his eyes.
Something else I hadn’t thought about.
If someone wanted to finish the job they’d started, they could try to do that through me.
“Are you crazy?” Liam yelled.
“Maybe. For what this time, Liam?” After the long day with four engine calls, including barely rescuing a dog from a burning house, I was finished with being a nice girl. I needed a clean shirt since I smelled like smoke and urine. The poor pup had pissed all over me.
At least he was safe.
Before the last call, I’d been recognized by a woman at the scene of a small electrical fire at a diner. That had prompted two other customers to come over and grill me about how Alexsey was. In bed! I’d been shocked.
I placed the phone on the sink in the bathroom, pressing the speakerphone. Other than my cramped office, this was the one place I could usually find privacy and quiet. The other two women firefighters usually worked different shifts.
“Because he’s Bratva!”
“So I’ve heard. So what? That means nothing to me. He’s also a smart businessman.” Which is something you aren’t. I didn’t make the statement out loud, but I was thinking it. My brother-in-law had all but run the bar into the ground. He was more of a partier than a manager.
I also wasn’t stupid. I knew the kind of extracurricular activities he’d been rumored to be involved in.
“He’s dangerous. He’s an enemy.” His insistence was more than irritating.
“An enemy? Not of mine.” He didn’t need to know the details of our illustrious meet cute. That would be kept very private. So would everything else at this point.
“Of the family. You need to remember you are an O’Leary through and through.”
The arrogance in his voice was about to tick me off to the point I was ready to quit my second job. While being accepted into such a tightly knit family when I’d met Sean had been wonderful, since Sean’s death Liam’s actions had been suffocating.
“Liam, do I need to remind you that I have a life outside of the O’Leary family?
I am my own person and quite frankly, I’m tired of being treated as if I owe you something for keeping the O’Leary name.
That’s not cool with me. At some point, we are going to talk about the status of the lawsuit. I’m sick to death of waiting.”
“Now you bring that up. You know what’s going on with the suit.”
“Actually, no, I don’t. And the attorney is going to provide me with a real time update. Now I’m at work. After a shitty night, I’ve had an equally shitty day. I’m finished with this conversation. Period. I care about you but leave me alone.” Oh, I was ready to wring his neck.
I didn’t give him a chance to retort in any way. I hung up on him. I wasn’t in the habit of doing so, but why did every male suddenly think they had a right to tell me what to do?
Including the sexiest man alive?
I’d seen the look in Alexsey’s eyes when he’d said we weren’t finished yet. It had been as if one taste wasn’t enough. Would never be enough.
I couldn’t lie and say I didn’t feel much the same about him, but the last thing I needed was any complications in my life.
Then why was it that just thinking about him in any manner made me tingle all over? Why was it that he’d found a way of getting under my skin? More than that, he’d awakened me.
A heavy sigh left my lips and I ripped off the dirty shirt, tossing it aside. After grabbing a couple of towels, I turned on the water, wiping my face and neck, and washing my hands. I peered at the face staring back at me in the mirror.
She certainly wasn’t the same woman who’d married Sean on a whim.
Fresh faced and eager for everything. Only after marrying him had she realized his family had been involved in some fairly illegal activities.
Had Liam or his father tried to involve Sean?
Thankfully not, yet there’d been a small black cloud hovering over us during the entirety of our marriage.
Weird phone calls.
Hushed words.
Our increasing arguments.
Maybe that’s why hearing Liam yelling at me as if I was stupidly getting involved with someone he didn’t approve of was so infuriating. Even laughable. Maybe everyone was right. What did it matter? I wasn’t going to see Alexsey again. I’d made that decision all by myself.
Still grousing under my breath, I grabbed the clean shirt. At least there was only an hour left on my shift. With any luck, there wouldn’t be another call before I was able to go home, grab a bite to eat, play a little with Emily, and sink into bed with a good book.
And try not to think about Alexsey.
His hard body.
His chiseled features.
His dazzling smile.
His long, thick cock.
His…
Oh, this was nuts. I needed to shake free of any feeling about him.
When my phone rang again, I knew in my gut it was Liam. He was the one who always had to have the last word.
Without looking, I picked it up.
“Look, Liam. I am fed up with being told what to do. Just leave me alone right now. Okay?”
Suddenly, there was deathly quiet as if there was no one on the other end of the call.
But I could hear them breathing.
And a slow and dark chuckle.