30. CHAPTER 30
30
IVAN
A chime alerts me to a text message, and my dick starts to come to life. Tyler is on his way. It's been torture not having him close to me.
All of us are at Starlight, which I don’t think has ever happened before. I know why, though. Because they’re all nosy fuckers who wanna watch me meet Tyler’s brother. Fucking Aaron has been gossiping about it with everyone since Lev told him. The bar is relatively busy, but not filled like it will be by the end of the night when the shows start. Seb is working behind the bar where Kai and Aaron sit with him. I’m sitting at Dima and Lev’s reserved booth with Jules, D and Lev. But for now, it's time for business, as Simon has managed to work his charm on Callie, Tim’s daughter.
“Simon has sent a video,” Dima says, and puts his phone on the table to show us. It's a short clip of Callie standing in front of Si, smiling and giggling at the camera as Simon stands behind her, placing his hand around her throat with a menacing look on his face. Callie is definitely on the verge of being drunk, as she is taking this behavior as playful. Simon's face is anything but playful, but he doesn't need to do anything more to insinuate the threat.
“Timmy will lose his shit,” I say as I rub my hands together, eager for the fireworks show.
“Did you get his number from Kai?” Dima asks Jules, who nods. Jules forwards the number to Dima, who spends a few seconds typing out a message for our dear Tim before sending the footage.
“Done. I’ve messaged Si to come back too. Lets see what happens,” Dima says, and Seb walks over with a tray of drinks. Bourbons all around.
“Thanks beautiful,” Dima says to Seb as he grabs him for a quick kiss before he walks back over to the bar. Aaron is staring over at Lev and you can tell he’s dying to come over here to see what's going on. I look at Lev, who is not giving Aaron any attention.
“You’ve got a death wish,” I say to Lev, taking a sip of my delicious drink. Lev glances over at Aaron before returning his attention to me.
“He’ll live.”
“I think you should let him join us for playtime in the pen,” I say and Lev stills, daggers aimed at me from his eyes.
“What are you talking about?” Dima asks.
“I think Aaron should be allowed to join in with the interrogations from time to time. I think it would reduce his episodes. I’ve told Lev he needs an outlet. You can tell the guy is desperate to be part of it.”
“Since when are you so qualified on what Aaron needs?” Lev growls at me, but he doesn't scare me. Nobody does.
“Since he recognized who I am without trying. He has hidden monsters that need to play with the big monsters. It won’t be long until he hurts someone innocent, either here at the bar or somewhere else.”
“It makes sense. As long as he follows orders, I don’t have an issue,” Dima says.
“Its not your fucking decision,” Lev scolds.
“No, it's Aaron’s,” I say, smirking at the controlling prick. I get it, though, as I’d be the same with Tyler.
“If he gets hurt…” Lev starts to speak, but I hold my hand up to stop him.
“You know that won’t happen. Besides, you’ll be there too. It can be like a date night.”
Lev thinks that over and he just nods and continues to drink his drink as we fall into silence. The calm before the storm. Movement from the bar grabs my attention when I see Aaron jump from his seat and move over toward the entrance. I follow him until I see him greet Tyler, who is with a guy that looks so similar, apart from the hair, who I assume is Chase, his brother.
“He’s here,” I say to the boys as I stand and walk over to Tyler, who is introducing his brother to Aaron, Kai and now Seb, who has left the bar. They’re like excitable puppies with a new toy.
“Ty,” I say, and he turns to look at me and smiles. I sense nerves, and his fidgeting alerts me to his uncertainty of what to do. We’ve not really been in a public setting before, especially with a family member, but I don’t mind taking the lead. I pull him by the waist and take his mouth in a quick deep kiss, full of promises for later. When I end the kiss, he seems more relaxed.
“That's so hot,” Aaron says, but we all ignore him. Everyone is staring, including Jules, D and Lev who have now joined us.
I’m not very experienced when it comes to formalities with families. In my life and work, greeting a new person is either punching them in the face or threatening them. I don’t know what the right thing to do with Chase is.
“You must be Chase. I’m Ivan,” I say, my arm still around Tyler’s waist. Chase’s smile is so large and bright it scares me a little. Are people really that happy in life? He steps forward, holding his hand out to me.
“It's great to meet you, Ivan.” I copy his move and he shakes my hand with a steady and firm grip. That's not too bad. I like him. I don't mind Ty being around him.
“Is this the family?” Chase asks confidently, like he’s not in the bar of a bunch of psycho criminals.
I take over the introductions as Tyler is retreating into himself, pushing his body closer to mine to appear smaller. I think he’s overwhelmed.
“Chase, this is Dima and Lev. They’re brothers and my cousins. The big guy next to you is Jules, one of the guards. These three annoying shits who you met when you came in are Aaron, who is Lev’s partner. He’s crazy so be careful. Seb is Dima’s husband and works the bar here, and finally the quiet one is Kai, Jules’s husband.”
“That's a lot to remember. Nice to meet you all,” Chase says, and it shocks me with how relaxed he is. Did Tyler tell him who we are?
“Where’s your husband?” I ask, noting an absence.
“He doesn’t like people so he stayed behind at the hotel.”
“Sounds like my kind of person,” Lev mutters.
Everyone starts to chat and relax with one another, but Tyler starts pulling on my arm to get my attention. I look at him in question.
“What’s he doing here?” Tyler whisper yells and nods his head to something behind me. When I turn, a grin escapes my lips. I certainly didn’t expect this. Tim is here and he looks pissed. I must admit, I’m impressed. It takes some serious balls to walk in here on your own like this.
“Dima, Lev. Look who’s here,” I say, and they both turn in unison. The tension in the room has altered from a relaxed and easy going vibe, to an alpha pack ready to attack the dumbass lone pig.
“Who is he?” Seb asks.
“That's Tim. My mom’s friend,” Kai says, his face sad, knowing what will happen now and the effect it will have on his mom.
“This fucker has been stalking Tyler, trying to pressure him into taking us down, haven't you Timmy?” I say.
“What the fuck have you done to my daughter?” Tim shouts, his face red, trembling in frustration. The guy is losing the plot.
“Jules, close the bar down. Get everyone out,” Dima orders, and Jules goes about business, clearing the premises. People here know who we are so there isn't an overreaction or hysteria. Just everyone collecting their shit and rushing out to avoid being involved. This rarely happens, but when it does, Dima and Lev always make it up to the customers.
It doesn’t take long for the place to clear, just leaving us and the prick.
“Are you alright, Tim?” Lev asks in a condescending voice.
“Fuck you! What have you done to my daughter?!” he shouts.
“I haven’t done anything. Yet,” Dima says.
I gently guide Tyler over to his brother so he is out of the firing line.
“This was very simple, Timmy. All you had to do was keep away from us and live your vanilla life back home, playing happy families with Kai’s mom. But you kept pushing. We did warn you that we’d go after Callie, but you didn’t listen. Well, either that or you don't care as much about your girl as you claim."
In a quick move, Tim pulls a gun from his back pocket. He holds it with a steady grip, confident and assured. The barrel glints in the soft lighting as his finger hovers near the trigger.
“I swear, if you’ve hurt her...”
“What? You’ll kill us all? You’re a rogue cop in this town, Tim. There would be questions of why you are on your own, investigating your own case. A make believe case,” Dima says.
Tim loses all rational thoughts and grabs the nearest person to him, who happens to be Chase. Tim holds him in an upright headlock, the gun aimed at Dima.
“Let him go!” Tyler shouts, but I move over to him to stop him from approaching Tim.
“You need to be calm, Ty. I’m here,” I whisper in his ear as he weeps quietly. Looking at Chase, he remains visibly cool, not at all worried that he is being held by this guy. Chase has clearly experienced more than I thought, he is a complete contrast to Tyler.
“You kill me, and my brother will kill you. There’s no way out for you here, Tim. Accept your fate like a man, and let the guy go,” Lev says. If you didn't know him any better, you'd think he was bored.
“Oh my god, Noah!” Tyler hisses, and I look over to see a tall figure with a baseball bat striding into the bar from the entrance, behind Tim. Who the fuck is this guy? Nobody has time to react when Noah raises his bat and hits Tim’s back with a loud crack, forcing Tim to collapse and drop his gun, as Noah pulls Chase up off the ground and pushes him away.
“Who the fuck are you?” Lev shouts.
“That's Noah, my husband,” Chase says, looking at Noah with sparkly eyes. Oh Christ no, another dopey fucker.
Noah doesn’t acknowledge us as he turns Tim onto his back and puts his black booted foot on his neck, pointing the end of the bat to his face.
“You’re dead.”
“Hold on, stop!” Dima shouts, and Noah finally looks up and acknowledges the rest of the room. I swear he didn’t see any of us here. But when he pulls the hood down on the hoodie that's fitted under his leather jacket? Fuck me, is he attractive. Jesus. But he’s also something else, another monster. Dead eyes, expressionless. An empty vessel. Perfection, really. This guy doesn't hide his darkness and its fucking refreshing. Now it makes sense why Chase is like he is.
“I thought you said he wasn’t coming?” I say to Chase, who casually shrugs.
“He’s always near me,” Chase says.
“He stalks you? Now that is fucking romantic, that beats the rest of us,” Aaron gushes, watching Noah like he’s a treat Lev has bought him to play with.
“I’ll rip your eyes out, doe, if you don’t stop looking at him like that,” Lev warns, and Aaron smirks.
“He touched my property. I have to end him,” Noah says, his voice sounding like a smoky whiskey, smooth, sensual and gravelly.
“This is our bar and you ain’t killing anyone. We will deal with him back at the house,” Lev says, walking up to Noah. Uh oh. Someone is feeling intimidated by the new guy.
“And you are?” Noah asks, and Lev’s nostrils flare, his hands clenched, ready for a fight.
“We’re the Kozlovs and we own this town, fuckface.”
“I’ve heard of you. Thought you would’ve branched out by now, this town is hardly a blip on the map,” Noah says, his bat still in Timmy’s face as he lays on the ground, groaning from the pain in his back.
“And who the fuck are you?” Lev asks.
“Someone you don’t wanna mess with. Unlike you, I prefer to stick to the shadows,” Noah says, and he grins. All he’s missing is the sharp teeth as he is reminiscent of a shark right now. This guy does not give a fuck.
“Enough!” Dima shouts, his patience finally snapping.
“I’m sorry Noah, but this is business and we need to take this guy back to the house. We’ve planned this and he’s a cop, so no mistakes can be made,” Dima says, de-escalating the situation. Noah tilts his head to the side as he looks at Dima. His eyes flick over his face like he’s scanning for information.
“I’m coming too. He touched my man,” Noah says, and I totally understand. Plus I wouldn’t mind watching what he has in store. The bat is an interesting choice and it looks well used from the scuffs and dents on it.
“Fuck no,” Lev scoffs.
“Sure,” Dima says at the same time.
“You’re not serious?” Lev says.
“This isn’t a time for egos, Lev. We need to get this shit settled before word gets out.”
Lev gets into Noah’s face.
“I’m watching you.”
“Thanks, but I’m married,” Noah says, and I can't help but laugh. Lev storms out of here followed by Aaron.
“Jules and Kai, restrain Tim and bring him back to the house. You can take the truck that's out back,” Dima says.
“The rest of you, back to the house. Ivan, take Chase, Tyler and Noah with you.”
“Come on boys, let's go.”
As we get outside and into my car, Chase starts questioning Noah.
“How did you get here and why have you got your bat?”
“I got a taxi and brought the bat just in case. I knew the brothers were in this town, so I was prepared. Lucky I was. You shouldn't have been here, baby,” Noah croons at Chase in the back seat while holding his chin. They kiss and I shake my head at the display. Tyler is quiet next to me and distant.
“Are you okay, Ty?”
“Am I okay…is that all you’ve got to fucking say? What the hell was that back there?”
“Business.”
“Business,” he says mockingly, as I start the car and ramp up the heating, because it's colder than the arctic tonight.
“Fuck your business, Ivan. Chase could've been killed, I could’ve been hurt, you could've been hurt!” he yells, and I snap. I turn and grab him around the throat and pull him into my space.
‘Ivan, let him go,” Chase says from the back.
“Baby, keep out of it,” Noah says and I'm appreciative.
“Are you questioning my ability to look after you, sweetheart? Hmm?” I tighten my hold on him. Annoyed he would doubt me.
“He had a gun,” Ty says quietly.
“So? What you saw tonight rarely happens, but when it does, we’ve got it handled. Don’t question my capabilities again, Ty. Otherwise I’ll have to beat your ass raw. I’ll always protect what's mine. Now calm the fuck down and deal with it, as this is forever. Me and you.”
“I’m not like you.”
“I don’t expect you to be anyone else.”
“I’m not sure I can do this, Ivan. It’s too much for me.”
I move closer to his face, my lips nearly touching his.
“You don’t have a choice, sweetheart,” I whisper and quickly kiss him.
I let go of his throat and start our journey back to the house.