Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DEMITRI
“Sorry we didn’t get a formal greeting before all that, but I’m James Covey.” The tall man sticks out his hand, and I shake it.
“John Smith.”
“Or Demitri Pavlov.” He grins. “I’m the lawyer who processed your name change for Aunt Linda.”
“Oh. Well, nice to meet you. Did you say Covey?”
“Yes.”
“You know Grace?”
“My paralegal.”
The possessiveness in his voice with those two words catches me off guard.
“She’s nice.”
“Yes, she is. And she’s off limits.”
“Let you in on a little secret,” I tell him, leaning in. “All my limits start and end with Mia. Your Grace is just a friend.”
He straightens up, and I swear if he were wearing a tie, he’d adjust it. “She’s not ‘my’ Grace.”
“Oh, my bad. Anyway, thanks for your help with Luka tonight.”
“It’s what I do.”
Without another word, he turns away from me and speaks in hushed tones to Grady before leaving.
“What did you say to him?” Grady asks after we watch the other man leave.
“I just asked if he’s who Grace works for. Man straight up looked like he wanted to kill me for even knowing she exists.”
Grady laughs. “He’s, umm, protective of his paralegal.”
“You could say that again. Thanks for your help with Luka. Glad you didn’t have to kill him.”
“I don’t kill them.” He gives me a scary as fuck grin. Seriously, I think he’s been taking notes from Joker. That guy’s terrifying. “Just maim them every once in a while.”
“What’s going to happen to the other guy?”
“He was dropped off at the police department. His full confession taped and delivered.”
“Guess we know I’m definitely made now, huh?”
“Probably. But isn’t that what you wanted?”
“It is, but not this way. I’m afraid all of you are in danger now. Two of their kryshas have been removed from the ranks. You know he’s not going to stay silent, and as soon as he gets a phone call, he’ll call Sasha.”
“You let us worry about us. You worry about yourself and staying safe.”
“Part of me wants to talk to her. Find out what she really wants. If it’s the money, fuck, she can have it.”
“I think we both know it’s not just the money. She needs you.”
“Why?”
“Because you have what she doesn’t. It resides between your legs. You were born with it, and therefore, are always a threat to her. If she can’t get you to join her, then she has to eliminate you to demonstrate her power over the ‘rightful heir’.”
“You sure know a lot about crime families and how they work.”
“Had to. Special Ops. We did all kinds of interesting things. I spent a lot of time in areas where the mafia ran everything.”
“Were all of you in the super-secret military society?”
“Not all of us. Some of us were just Rangers.”
“Fuck off,” Daniel calls from the other side of the room where he’s working on a computer with Joker.
“Yeah, fuck off.” Joker grins and I shiver.
See, that grin is terrifying. Grady has some practice to do.
I shake my head, chuckling at the group. What they all have is something I’ve never experienced. Being in the military has made them all family, even if they didn’t serve together or at the same time. I never wanted to be a part of my family, and I knew from an early age I didn’t want to be like my father.
I pull out my phone. Four-thirty in the morning. Mia’s going to kill me.
“I need to get home. Mia’s either worried or pissed, and I’d prefer to grovel as soon as possible.”
“No need to rush, she’s not there.” Grady smirks.
“What do you mean, she’s not there? Is she alright?”
“I don’t know if she’s alright, but she’s safe. Aunt Linda called for a sleepover. All the girls are there.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about Aunt Linda getting so close to Mia,” I confess. “She knows too much, and that could be dangerous.”
Daniel walks over to us, a knowing look on his face. “I can promise she’s alright.”
“What do you know?”
“Not allowed to talk about it, but it’s not bad.”
“I’ll believe it when I know what you do. Until then, I’m going to remain skeptical. I don’t like not knowing the secrets.”
“I know you don’t, but all I know is that there’s an idea being floated. No more, I swear.”
“I need to get to Aunt Linda’s.”
“Nope. We just did a damn fine job not breaking the guy’s legs and turning him over to the cops. We’re going to celebrate with breakfast.”
“Nothing’s open,” I point out.
“Sandy’s is.” I want to punch the grin off the guy’s face, but fuck. Sandy’s breakfast is the best food in the world. Her waffles can make a grown man cry.
“Fine, fuckers. Sandy’s.”
Grady, Daniel, and even Joker laugh at that, knowing they’d all say the same thing. I once told Sandy I loved her after eating those waffles. And shakes. Woman knows her shit when it comes to perfect diner food.
“George, look who it is!” Sandy yells over her shoulder as soon as I walk through the door. “Our lost boy is back!”
“Mama Sandy.” I smile at her, letting her pull me into a hug.
When I first met Aunt Linda, she brought me here for breakfast in the pre-dawn hour. I’d just unloaded twenty-plus years of pain and rejection and heartache on the woman, and I thought she was ridiculous for suggesting waffles at four in the morning. She neglected to tell me the fucking things are magical. Sandy took one look at me and pulled me in for a hug. It was one that only a mother can give, and it had been so long since I’d felt any kind of affection that wasn’t attached to strings that I broke. Right there in the middle of the diner. I was a snotty, blubbering mess. That woman held me for what felt like hours, shooing away anyone who came near. Including Aunt Linda.
When I pulled myself together enough that I could let go of her, her husband, George, took me into the kitchen and taught me how to make an old-fashioned milkshake. For a few months, I practically lived in this place. They fed me, and Sandy brought me clothes that her son had left when he moved out.
George isn’t behind the stove anymore, mainly sitting at the counter bullshitting with the other customers because of a back injury. Hasn’t stopped him from being everyone’s favorite with his big, sparkling white teeth etched in his dark skin with laugh lines showing how well he’s lived.
“How’s my boy this morning?” Sandy asks, gripping my chin and turning my face left and right, like she’s checking for damage. Did she call me her boy? Yes. Am I almost a foot taller than her and probably seventy pounds heavier? Also, yes. Will I ever stop her? Hell no.
“I’m alright, Mama S. Just had a long night.”
She turns to Grady, Daniel, Joker, and Aiden and narrows her eyes at them. “You better not be upsetting my boy here. Or getting him into trouble.”
“Sandy, you wound me.” Daniel grins, giving her a side hug. “You know I’d never.”
“Bullshit, Danny. I know too well you would.”
He laughs, moving past us and grabbing the corner booth. Each man, in turn, stops to give Sandy a hug. She’s the town mom if there ever was one. I look out the windows and see James on the sidewalk, making a call. That man is so strange.
Sandy takes my arm and pulls me over to George, who gives me his own once over.
“I’m alright, you two, promise,” I tell them.
“You do look better than the last time we saw you. You got a girl or something?” George asks, his smile firmly in place.
“Ahh, well…” I rub the back of my neck, my face getting hot.
“Tell us all about her,” Sandy demands.
“She’s perfect.” I smile. “She’s a smartass who puts me in my place, but she loves her people hard.”
“Sounds like a winner. And when are you bringing her in for some good cooking?”
I laugh, shaking my head. “I don’t know. She doesn’t come over the mountain very often.”
As I’m speaking, the door opens, and it takes me a minute to realize what I’m seeing. Mia, Grace, Nola, and Sofie all flank Aunt Linda.
“Unless she does,” I say more to myself, watching the group. Grace looks more pale than normal, her eyes darting from one side of the diner to the other. Nola and Sofie look like they might have been on a bender all night, and Mia is swaying a little bit, too. But she’s got this goofy grin on her face as she meets my eyes, and I can’t look away.
“Ladies,” Sandy greets before freezing in her tracks. “My girls.”
The way she says it, like she’s feeling everything they’ve ever been through. Like it’s a relief to see them alive, and like it’s been a lifetime since she’s laid her own two eyes on them. She lets go of my arm, almost like she’s lost the ability to hold on, and her feet carry her to the women.
They all stare at each other, not sure what to do, when Sandy decides for them. She pushes Aunt Linda out of the way and grabs all four women at once. It’s almost comical, but this isn’t a funny moment. This is a healing moment.
“My girls,” Sandy repeats, tears in her eyes.
All five women are crying now, Sandy pulling each one in for the same hug she gave me. Each with the same heart-healing arms. No words are spoken, but you can almost see the love they all have for each other.
“George, your wife is an amazing woman.” I lean into his shoulder.
“You’re damn right she is,” he quietly replies. “Which one is yours?”
“Mia. Mia is mine.”
“That’s a fine choice, son.” He nods. “She needs someone like you to help her through it. You won’t leave when it isn’t easy, and she needs that.”
“I know.”
“So,” Sandy says, wiping her eyes. “Who’s ready for waffles?”
The girls all blink away their own tears and raise their hands. The guys in the corner, who have been watching all of this, also yell their answers, and James opens the door, eyeballing us until he notices Grace in the group. Without a word, he walks to her, takes her arm, and guides her to one of the tables by the guys. The other girls follow her, with Mia squeezing my hand as she walks by.
“Your girl is Mia?” Sandy asks, stopping to stand by me.
“For as long as she’ll have me,” I confirm.
“Treat her well. I’d hate to have to cut off your supply.”
“If that’s not a horrible idea, I don’t know what is.”
We laugh, and Sandy takes my arm again, guiding me to the group where we’ll all pretend that last night didn’t happen.