CHAPTER 14
Zinovy
The footsteps approaching my position in the darkened entry of the business across from Pete’s Pastries make no attempt at stealth. Feliks strolls right up to the vestibule where I stand and steps into the darkness alongside me, forcing me to move closer to the glass or be pressed against him.
“The fuck are you doing here? This is nothing to do with work,” I growl. The zasranac asshole just grins at me mockingly and gestures over his shoulder toward the window where my Petal is taking her dinner break at the table of her new friend.
“You find it surprising I’d want to check out the piece of tail that’s got my brother chasing his own?” Feliks chokes out the last words through a throat clenched by my fist.
“Put respect in your mouth when you speak of her, or expect to lose the ability to speak at all. Brother or not, I promise her value is greater than yours.”
My point made, I allow my fingers to relax and trail downward along the buttons of his white dress shirt until my palm rests over his heart.
“You don’t understand it. Not yet. But you will. And then?” I pause. “You’ll regret the way you think about women now.”
Finished with the conversation with him, I return my attention to the window.
My Petal is gathering her dishes and silverware, preparing to get back to work.
Through the single earbud tuned in to her phone’s microphone, I listen as the trio wraps up their conversation, so Petal can return to her shift.
Hollis McCrea has impressed me with what a good friend she is to my Petal.
I’m happy knowing she’s got more than just the people I place around her to look out for her.
George Peterman, the man who owns the diner where Petal works, appears to be a good and decent man, too.
I can state with certainty I’d have zero hesitation removing either of them, or anyone else, who thought they could be in her orbit with even the tiniest of bad intentions.
“Who’s the smoke show with the ankle biter sitting with your girl, Sin?” Feliks asks.
It’s obvious he’s ignoring my advice about how to refer to women, but since he’s not speaking about Petal, I let it slide. He’ll learn when the time is right. And when he does, I’ll enjoy gloating in his smug face.
The pop of a single gunfire in stereo interrupts my answer as it blasts both through the earbud and, more muted, from across the street inside the diner.
Feliks and I are in motion, guns drawn, before the ringing of the shot finishes echoing in the street. For all that he’s a pain in my ass, Feliks is Vor. Family. He’s by my side when there’s trouble, no questions or explanations required.
We clear the doorway into the restaurant, and within two strides inside, the situation is obvious.
A couple of strung-out addicts, looking to make a quick buck, are robbing the place.
Or attempting to, and the vision of Petal curled around Hollis’ little girl to protect her from the crazed men has fury overtaking rational thought.
The restaurant is empty save for the women and the little girl, the owner George, and the gunmen.
One of which is on the ground still jolting from the taser Hollis holds to his neck while standing over him.
I have no idea how she managed to get the upper hand over the guy in the time it took us to cross the street and get in here, but I’m glad for it.
The recoil of my Ruger .357 snaps instantly through my wrist and forearm as it kicks a single bullet into the chest of the tasered man’s partner in this robbery attempt.
George, an ancient looking shotgun braced against his shoulder fires a second shot at nearly the same moment as mine, his tearing through the shoulder of the man before he falls, lifeless, in a heap on the vinyl floor.
The proprietor throws a glance at Feliks and me, clocking us as professionals.
He lowers the rifle, and I let my arm drop to my side, as well.
Feliks strides to where Hollis still stands over the tasered would-be robber like an avenging Valkyrie.
He wrests the battalion-style stun gun from her.
Without hesitation, she releases it and spins to where Petal is still curled protectively around the little girl.
Now that the danger is over, it’s clear Petal is making sure the child isn’t traumatized by the gory sight of the dead man mere feet away from her.
Petal’s gaze, however, flies around the room, taking in every detail of what will no doubt wind up being a nightmare that haunts her sweet dreams.
“I’ve got this. You take the girls and get out of here before the cops show up,” George says.
I’ve read enough in the background file I ordered on him to be sure I could trust him around my Petal to know the man’s heart is good, but his hands aren’t much cleaner than mine.
He’s not Vor, but he’s proven his value to the Pakhan over the years in quiet, mostly off the books, ways.
“We were never here,” Feliks demands, his booted foot stomping on the still twitching tweaker’s face. If the drugs don’t make the man’s story of what went down here tonight nonsensical, the concussion Feliks just gave him surely will.
“You get Hollis and her daughter home. I’m taking Petal with me.
Mind yourself, brother. She’s Petal’s best friend.
” I give him the warning I shouldn’t need to bother with for no other reason than to remind him of the world of pain I’ll put him in if anything he does to Hollis upsets my sweet-hearted girl.
“Zatknis, man. You know me better,” Feliks growls without taking his eyes from Hollis.
He’s got the look of a thunderstruck man despite the carnage around us and the need for urgency. Perhaps, my warning prophesy from earlier has already come to fruition. Regardless, I have more to focus on right now than the mess surrounding us and the comeuppance Feliks is setting himself up for.
Petal isn’t leaving my sight, maybe ever again, whether either of us is fully prepared for me to claim her or not.
I gently pull the child from Petal, careful to ensure the child’s face stays turned away from the scene, and hand her to Feliks.
Hollis immediately follows, wrapping herself around her daughter in Feliks’ arms. Neither of the women says a word, and whether it’s trauma from what just happened or because they understand we need to limit anything the remaining robber might overhear, despite his battered state, I don’t know.
Hollis and Feliks carry Hollis’ crying daughter from the restaurant. The fearful sobs of the little girl and the distant sound of sirens approaching linger in the silent dining room after they’re gone.
Petal looks at me for the first time, recognizing me as the coffee-ordering diner from the week before.
Wordlessly, she skirts the corpse on the tiles and its unconscious companion to where her backpack is tucked behind the counter.
She crosses back to stand in front of me, fear and trust battling in her spring green eyes.
The trepidation mixed with her desire to follow my wordless directions sends lust surging through me.
My cock, always thick with desire when she’s in my line of sight, throbs and lengthens down the leg of my slacks.
Something about the way she trembles, unsure of what will happen next, but submitting to my authority without hesitation pings every dominant bone in my body.
I’ve done nothing to earn her faith, much less her submission, but her instincts tell her to obey.
I lead her into the darkness, relying on George Peterman to handle the police when they arrive.
Silently, Petal allows me to guide her down the street and around the corner to my truck where I help her inside.
I buckle her securely, tucking her backpack between her feet on the floorboard.
Before I can close the passenger door, she stops me with her slender hand on my forearm.
“You’re the one who’s been watching me. Aren’t you?” Her voice, so familiar from my days of listening through her phone’s microphone, sounds as certain as I’ve ever heard it.
“This is so. From the moment I first saw you, until death takes away my sight, you are all I watch, my Petal. And all I see.”