CHAPTER 10
Zinovy
Watching Petal St Clare has become an obsession. She slips Gleb’s phone into the side pocket of the tattered backpack she carries with her everywhere and say goodbye to the woman she met at the bank.
Furious as I am at the tie connecting her to the dead traitor, I’m thankful as fuck for it because it means Rurik was easily able to clone it remotely.
Since he already had trackers and monitoring software installed on it, thanks to the Pakhan’s suspicions about Gleb’s activity, it was simple for Rurik to undo the factory reset Gleb had attempted.
Rurik’s hacking skills gave me access to everything she does on the cell and every word spoken near enough for the microphone to pick up.
I know she’s felt my eyes on her, but standing at the corner of the coffee shop, ready to step back the instant she turns this way keeps me out of sight.
It won’t be forever, I remind myself. Preparing a life fit for the queen she will be when she’s mine is the only reason I haven’t taken her.
The time will come when I’m ready, but there are things to deal with first. Anatoly is concerned the authorities have realized their little snitch has been dispatched.
He’s been on all our asses to stay off any and all radars that could bring heat to the brotherhood.
Kidnapping Petal would likely cause a lot of unwanted attention. She has no idea the impact she has on people and would likely be shocked to realize how many people will miss her when I take her. But I’ve been watching her, and by extension everyone around her, for days.
There’s something about her, no matter how much shit life’s thrown her way, that refuses to dim in the face of adversity.
I still don’t know why she’s sleeping in a shitty storage unit, but it’s just one of many things on the list I’m tallying to address in due time.
Whatever it is hasn’t knocked the fight out of her.
I’m doing everything I can to ease her way until I step in and do it for her.
To that end, I replaced the lazy asshole who’d been working at Dino-Mite Storage and installed the wife of one of my men.
She reports to him, and he to me. Alevtina is a good girl.
Obedient and trustworthy. I know she will follow my instructions to ensure Petal has a safe place to rest and around the clock access to food.
Acid roils furiously in my gut when I think of my little bird trapped in her dark cement hidey hole without even the simplest of luxuries.
The idea she might need something so basic as a toilet or comfortable bed to sleep on and not have it.
Sneaking into her garage bay while she worked yesterday to install tiny cameras proved I was right to worry.
The space is tidy and her belongings are stored in neat cartons, but it’s nowhere near the sort of place I’ll tolerate her staying for long.
“You know, you could just go talk to her.”
Only years of practice at schooling my reactions prevents me from jumping in surprise when Feliks appears from nowhere and grumbles right into my ear. My focus was so devoted to my little bird I’d missed his approach entirely. Risky and careless.
“Mind your business, brother. And your tone.” It doesn’t escape my notice that Feliks knows how much time I’ve spent watching Petal.
Thing about an organization like ours is, as vicious as we may be when it comes to taking care of business and handling the duties assigned by the Pakhan, we gossip.
A lot. Shit, the amount of time the lot of us have spent dissecting Rurik’s obsession with his jailbird would rival any watercooler gossip mill in existence.
“Your spending is my business. Now, you’re employing others in your foolish fixation on this girl.
You’ve pull the men’s wives into jobs, and now, there is talk they will expect to continue making money in this way.
You’re making waves, Sin. Changing the way things are done and making the men nervous. ”
Making Feliks nervous, more likely. His dislike of change has earned him a reputation for fussiness he can’t escape. Still, this is obnoxious even for him. What kind of man is upset because his woman gains a little independence?
“What problem is it of mine if the men cannot convince their wives to stay home when I no longer need them to work? Are they not my men? The Pakhan’s men?
Should I not give their wives opportunities when they would keep their women small?
Feliks, you degenerate.” I know this will get under his skin. This is why I say it.
“Fuck you, Zinovy. Stop picking a fight and wasting time. If you want the girl, take her. Or walk away from this nonsense and get back to work. There’s too much going on for your attention to be divided, right now.”
“It’s not so simple. If I take her, she will be missed. If she’s missed, it may draw attention. The timing is not good for such things.” Being the voice of reason between the two of us is not the way things typically go. The role reversal itches under my skin.
“By who? Who would miss the girl? She’s sleeping in a storage unit for fuck’s sake.” Scorn drips from the words, raising my hackles until my fists clench and unclench at my sides. Brotherhood or no, I won’t tolerate anyone talking badly about my little bird.
“Change your tone when you speak of her, Obshchak, or do not speak of her at all.” It’s an order. He may not be my subordinate, but he’d do well to heed it anyway.
“Relax, Sin. I just mean there’s likely no one who would go to much trouble to find her if she disappears.
Fuck, man, who says you have to actually take her, anyway?
Just ask her on a date like a normal human.
” Feliks shakes his head as if he can’t understand why I can’t approach Petal the way one might a regular woman.
I’m not even sure I fully understand why I can’t. At least, not beyond recognizing the risk of her denying my advances turns my blood to ice in my veins. No. It’s far more logical to ensure she comes to me than it is to gamble on asking her for something so mundane as a date.