Chapter 13 Lorenzo
LORENZO
Iran a hand through my hair as I walked to my office.
The smart thing to do would be to send Niko away.
I shouldn’t be involved with him, and if Dimitri found him at my house, there would be no repairing that connection.
But wouldn’t Remington rather Niko be here than in Ivanov’s hands or with someone else who could use him as a bargaining chip?
Whether that was true or not, I couldn’t send him away. He couldn’t defend himself, and I didn’t trust anyone else to do it. Dimitri would be looking for him. He was too important an asset. Dimitri was determined to keep himself afloat, and to do that, he had to get the money from Ivanov.
Was he already on his way here? Would he guess where Niko had gone? I needed to call Remington, then I needed to call my brothers. I had to be ready to defend us all.
How far would Dimitri go to try to retrieve him? I didn’t want to find out without backup. Dimitri needed the alliance with the Ivanovs, but he couldn’t afford to start a war with my family.
Still, I had to let Remington know what was going on. He wasn’t going to like it even if he was ultimately getting what he wanted.
He must not have known the wedding date had changed. Likely, Ivanov and Dimitri hadn’t told anyone. I needed to talk to Dante and Rafe first, but I knew better than to put off contacting Remington. So I compromised and sent him a text.
I don’t think you have to worry about a wedding taking place. Nikolai is here with me. Dimitri beat him, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. He’s safe now.
My phone rang before I had a chance to decide what to say to my brothers. I’d known better than to hope Remington might not see my text for a little while.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Nikolai escaped and came here for protection. He barely made it. He hasn’t eaten in a few days.”
“How did he get out?”
“His mother helped him escape.”
“His mother?” I could hear the surprise in his voice. At least he hadn’t been hiding this from me. “I didn’t think she could stay sober long enough to help anyone.”
“So you’re not the one who gave her my address?”
“Me? No. Why would you think… Never mind, we’ll deal with that later. I have no doubt Dimitri will come looking for his son. I’ll send some guards to help you fortify your house. Be prepared to defend it.”
We would talk about it later. We needed to know how his mother found out. “I’m already working on it. We need to try to find Nikolai’s mother. She wouldn’t come with him, and there’s no telling what Dimitri’s done to her.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Do you want to tell me why he came to you? How does he even know you?”
I didn’t, but the longer I waited to tell the truth, the worse it would be. “Something else happened the night I was at Dimitri’s house.”
“Really? Tell me about it, then tell me why you decided I didn’t need to know after I told you I wanted this marriage contract dissolved.”
“I talked to Nikolai. He was clearly interested in me, so…”
“You talked to him? To discuss how you and his father had the most fragile of alliances?”
“I fucked him, okay?”
Remington sighed. “Right there at his father’s house.”
“Yes.”
I was shocked when he laughed. “I bet you enjoyed the hell out of that.”
“I did.”
“Nikolai is a beautiful young man.”
A low growl escaped me. Niko was mine, at least until he couldn’t be.
“Don’t worry, Henri is enough for me.”
He sure as hell was. Remington’s boyfriend was incredibly gorgeous, and he had Remington wrapped around his little finger. No one would dare speak to the king of New Orleans the way Henri did.
“So you thought fucking Dimitri’s son was a good idea?”
“No. It was a terrible one. I know better.”
“Renzo, you’ve been beating yourself up for way too long. You saw something you wanted, and you took it. I can’t be too mad about that, especially when it ended up preventing Nikolai’s marriage from taking place today.”
“You heard they’d moved the timetable up?”
“I sure as hell did. I was scrambling to figure out what move to make next. Keep Nikolai with you, preferably in your sight. As far as I’m concerned, he’s your prisoner. He doesn’t go anywhere or speak to anyone.”
“Should I move him to a safe house?”
“Not yet. I want to see what Dimitri does to find Niko and what Ivanov has to say to me about the situation. If the groom is missing, then there’s no wedding, and Ivanov has an easy excuse to break his contract with Dimitri.”
“Does he really need an excuse?”
“He wants that alliance.”
“I’m sure he wants Nikolai, but he can find young men elsewhere. Why is the alliance so important to him? What can Dimitri do for him?”
“I wish I knew. You work on keeping Nikolai right where he is, and keep your hands off him. This is a job.”
I’d already planned to, but having Remington order me around only made me angry. “No one will touch him.”
“Good. I’ve got guards on their way to you now. We’ll talk soon.”
I called Dante immediately.
“What fucking time is it?” he asked when he answered the phone.
I had to look at the time on my phone. “Midnight.”
“What the fuck are you doing calling me at this time? I’ve got an early class tomorrow.”
The last thing I needed was shit from Dante. “None of that matters right now. Nikolai is at my house, and he’s under my protection, and I need you here to help me when someone comes looking for him.”
“What the fuck is going on? Did you kidnap him?”
I pushed my chair back from my desk and stood. “No, he came to me after being beaten by his father.”
“Someone really needs to off that bastard.”
“We do,” I said as I paced my office. “So get over here and help me with that.”
“I told you I want out. I’ve got a job. I’m not your muscle to order around.”
“Dante.”
He sighed. “Fine, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Sooner.”
“Don’t push it.”
“Asshole.”
I called Rafael next. Unlike Dante, he was wide-awake. “How sober are you?”
He huffed. “What are you, the fun police?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve just had a few beers. I’m playing video games. I don’t go out and get wasted every night.”
That was news to me. “I need you over here.”
“Why? What’s up?”
“Nikolai is here.”
It sounded like Rafe dropped the phone. A few seconds later, he said, “What the fuck? Damn, you move fast.”
“He’d been beaten by his father and locked in his room, but he managed to escape. I’m sure his father’s already looking for him. Get over here.”
“Fuck, man. I’ll be there in a minute.”
When I ended the call, I sat back down in my office chair and closed my eyes. I knew whatever happened, this was going to be a shitty night or morning or whatever the fuck it was. I was already running on almost no sleep. If Dimitri came near me, I was going to put him down.
And what the hell was I supposed to do with Nikolai? I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to comfort him, hold him, kiss him everywhere. But what I needed to do was stay the hell away from him.
If Remington negotiated things the way he wanted, would he expect me to send Nikolai back to Dimitri as some terms in the agreement? I would never allow that to happen. I knew Niko couldn’t stay with me, but he would never be under his father’s control again.
My brothers both arrived faster than I expected them to.
I’d already assigned the men Remington sent to keep watch outside.
I wanted my brothers inside with me in case Dimitri or one of his men got through those defenses.
I needed Nikolai surrounded by people I trusted with my life.
The guards I assigned to the perimeter were loyal to the family, but I couldn’t count on them the same way I did my brothers.
They were Remington’s people. Dante and Rafe were mine.
“Where is he?” Rafe asked as soon as he got there.
“In the guest room.”
“Aww. Did you tuck him in bed after you fucked him?”
Dante scowled at him. “Why do you have to be such a child?”
“I just thought with Niko here, Renzo would want to have a little fun.”
I scowled at him. “He’s injured, dumbass. Also, Remington ordered me to keep my hands off Niko.”
“You weren’t worried what Remington thought the other night.”
“No, and look where that got us.”
Rafe grinned. “It looks to me like he got exactly what he wanted. There won’t be an alliance between the Russians.”
“He wanted to negotiate, not kidnap the groom.”
“You’re not really going to listen to Remington about this, are you?” Dante asked. “If you’d like Nikolai as much as it seems—”
“Stop. Nikolai doesn’t belong in a family like ours. He deserves to get away from danger, violence, crime. He needs a chance to thrive somewhere he doesn’t have to worry about dying all the time.”
“How do you know what he wants?” Dante said. I glared at him, and he shook his head. “Fine, I get it. Let’s just see what happens.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve never talked about a guy like this before,” Rafe said.
Dante must have sensed how close I was to losing it. “That’s enough. We’ve got to make a plan. It’s not going to take a genius to figure out this is one of the places Nikolai might’ve gone.”
“Well, Dimitri is certainly no genius, as far as I know.”
“He’s not,” I said, “but he’s vicious. He needs this alliance. The last thing he wants is for his son not to show up at the wedding. So yeah, he’ll likely come here.”
“Why would Nikolai come here? Was he that sure you’d protect him?” Rafe asked.
Dante gave him a pointed look. “Where else was he going to go? His father kept him isolated. It’s not like he has friends or any of his own money.”
“True, but why would he think an enemy family was going to protect him?”
Dante huffed. “Have you met Lorenzo? He exudes protectiveness. He’s the first person most people who’ve met him would come to if they needed protection.”
“He’s also scary as hell when he wants to be,” Rafe said. “But I bet he was gentle with Nikolai. I bet he made it so good for him.”
“Oh my God, shut up,” I yelled. “Show some fucking respect.”
“For you or for Nikolai?” Rafe asked.
“Both.”
“All right, can we meet him?”
I frowned. “You’re not waking him up.”
Dante grinned, and I knew I was letting my possessiveness show.
“Do you actually know that he’s asleep?” Rafe asked. “We’ve been pretty loud.”
“He should be. He’s hurt, and he hasn’t been eating. He needs to rest.”
Dante laid a hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you go check on him?”
“Without the two of you hovering over me?”
“We want to meet him,” Rafe insisted.
Dante glared at him. “We’ll stay right here. He’s been through enough trauma.”
“Meeting me would not be traumatic. It would be—”
I growled. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
They both grinned at me. I’d let them see through me again. I had to get it together. I needed to treat Nikolai like anyone else I was assigned to protect. I’d worked my way up in this business. I’d been a bodyguard for the Theriots before I’d been given my own responsibilities.
I open the guest room door, trying not to make a sound. Nikolai lay on the bed, curled in a ball. He stirred when I entered, then sat up suddenly, looking terrified.
I should’ve known he’d be a light sleeper. He would’ve had to learn that as a survival instinct, just like I had. “It’s okay. It’s me, Lorenzo. You’re at my house, and you’re safe.”
His eyes were still wide, but he nodded. “I guess I fell asleep.”
“That’s good. You need to sleep. My brothers are here, and I’ve got men guarding the outside of the house. We’re going to make sure you’re safe. I was just checking on you.”
“I wish…” He looked down at the sheets and twisted them in his hands.
“What? What do you wish for?” It was a dangerous question, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking it.
“I wish you could stay here with me.”
I wanted to badly, but I needed to be on alert, and if I was curled around his warm body, I couldn’t guarantee that. “I’ve got to make sure we’re prepared in case your father or some of his men come. We will not let them get to you, but we have to be ready.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, not for wanting to be taken care of.” Fuck, I was in trouble. All he had to do was look at me, and I wanted to pull him into my arms and promise him everything. “I’m going to go talk to my brothers, then I’ll come back. They want to meet you. How do you feel about that?”
He frowned. “I’m a mess.”
“They’ve seen people far messier, and you still look beautiful to me.”
He smiled but still seemed uncertain.
“They’re going to keep hounding me until they see you.”
“What are they like?”
“Dante is the middle child. He didn’t want to be a part of the family business.
He went to college, graduated early, and continued on to graduate school.
Now, he’s a professor at Dumonde University.
He manages to straddle both worlds, even though he wishes he could just teach, do research, and be left in peace.
Anytime we need him though, he’s there for us. ”
“Is he as hot as you are?”
I narrowed my eyes at Niko as he gave me a cheeky smile. I couldn’t decide if I was happy to see him looking better or if I wanted to choke him for asking. “Hotter, probably, but you don’t need to be looking at him like that.”
“Really?”
“Nikolai.”
“So what about your other brother?”
“Rafael or Rafe is the youngest, and he’s… Fuck, I don’t know. He’s a lot smarter than he acts. He turns everything into a joke. He runs our casino, and he loves to party. I keep thinking eventually he’s going to settle down, but I don’t know. He’s a good guy, even if he doesn’t show you that.”
“How good is someone in your line of work supposed to be?”
“We’re not like your father or his friends. Sure, we don’t follow the law all the time, and we’ve been involved in some bad things with bad people, but we don’t hurt anyone like you. We would never hurt our family. We would never sell off our family.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll talk to them.”
I wanted to keep him all to myself, but I knew that would never work. “I’ll be right back.”
“I can come out there if you—”
“No. You’re tired. You stay where you are. They can come to you.”
He sighed. “I’m not an invalid. I just—”
“I said stay in bed.”
“You’re fucking bossy. Does that come from being the oldest?”
“Yes and no, but I’m only bossy with those I care about.”
He sucked in his breath, and I rushed out the door. What the fuck made me say that?