Chapter 10 Sera
SERA
“Have you lost your mind?” Brady’s voice is sharp enough that I flinch. I cross my arms, digging my nails lightly into my sleeves.
“Didn’t you just say this new job needs a big body as a deterrent for overeager fans, and we’re stretched thin on operatives? I think he could handle that.” I know I shouldn’t be so sarcastic when I want my brother to agree with me, but his knee-jerk reaction pisses me off.
When I got to work this morning, I overheard Elizabeth asking him for a favor. One of her supermodel clients needs a bodyguard to accompany her on a marketing tour. Apparently, the client made some posts on social media, and her team is concerned protestors might show up at her events.
“First, you shouldn’t eavesdrop, second—” His gaze drops to my mouth. His dark brows bunch over his eyes as he squints, taking his first good look at me, and freezes.
“What the fuck happened to your face?” His roar brings Finn from the cyber room, and Elizabeth stands straighter, her lips parting with a little gasp.
Shit. I thought I’d done a pretty good job of hiding my injuries with the makeup I use to cover my scars. By the look on everyone’s faces, it obviously hasn’t worked. Two days isn’t enough time to erase a split lip or the swelling on the side of my face.
Brady steps closer, blocking my view of the others. His jaw tics, and his nostrils are flaring in a way that makes my stomach clench. “Sera.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Don’t lie. Not again.”
“Easy, Brady.” Elizabeth places her arm on my brother’s bicep and squeezes.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I blurt. I don’t want to lie to them, but I can’t tell them the truth.
My brother wouldn’t hesitate to go to war with the Russian mob if I told them what Liev’s father had done. “I got mugged on my way back to my car.” I force a smile, but I can tell no one is buying it. “They weren’t expecting me to kick their asses.”
Brady’s hands flex at his sides. “Did you call the police?”
“No.” My lips press together at the argument I feel coming. “It wasn’t necessary.”
Finn mutters something behind me but wisely stays silent. Brady sucks his lips between his teeth, but I know he’s about two seconds from exploding—and I do not have the emotional bandwidth for that right now.
Between what happened in the alley, the run-in with Joelle, group therapy, last night with Liev, and Hannah’s relentless texts this morning checking on me regarding my surprise visitor, my nerves are shot.
I take a deep breath. “Which brings us back to Liev.”
“How does that bring us back to the Russian?” Finn asks, and I shoot him a death glare.
“Why don’t we give Sera a chance to explain?” Elizabeth shoots me a wink behind Brady’s back, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.
Brady exhales hard, scrubbing a hand over his face before crossing his arms. “Fine. Where did this brilliant idea for me to hire bratva muscle come from, and what does it—” His eyes narrow. “Actually—how do you know him?”
Okay, this will be the tricky part.
“I was following Elizabeth’s advice and went to a clu—”
“Stop.” Brady’s face goes pale, then red. “I don’t want to hear this.”
“For the love of God,” Elizabeth cuts in. “Do you honestly think your sister is trying to get a man a job because she slept with him?”
Heat crawls up my neck. “I didn’t meet him like that,” I hurry to say. “It’s where I got jumped. He happened to come by, and he… helped me.”
Brady’s gaze falls to where I’m picking at my cuticles, and his expression creases with concern. “Ser—”
“Look, I owe him. Huge. He risked his life to save me, and there were… repercussions. He has to lie low for a bit…” I hold his gaze. “This would settle my debt to him. It’s just temporary.”
The door on the second-floor landing above us bangs open, and Vincent emerges, his phone pressed to his ear. Vincent takes one look at us gathered below and ends the call, descending the steps. “What’s going on?”
“Your story explains something I was going to bring up this morning.” Finn leans against one of the open desks in the center of the room.
Pulling off the glasses he wears when he is working long hours in front of the monitors, he rubs at his eyes.
“I have monitoring alerts set on all of us—every employee at Elite. Not surveillance—just flags for unusual digital activity. There was a spike in searches about Sera this weekend. One was an IP address I recognized as connected to Koval Industries. When we were sharing information last summer, that was the IP the emails originated from. The other IPs were mostly local residential, but one wasn’t. ”
Brady glances at me before turning his narrowed eyes on Finn. “Explain without using any of your cyber-nerd shit.”
“So rude,” Finn tsked. “When I was tracing the unknown IP, it bounced all over the place. Routed through multiple countries, and rotating VPNs. That level of coverage is unusual for the average internet user, but not if he’s a member of the Russian bratva.”
“I told my story in group therapy for the first time,” I say, not making eye contact with anyone. “People in the group probably Googled me afterward.”
Finn nods. “And your Russian boyfriend would explain the other one, if he looked you up at work and then later at home.” I can tell he’s trying not to smirk, and I vow that the next time we’re in the ring, I’m not pulling any punches.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I grind out, even as heat floods my face. “He helped me. That’s it.”
I can feel everyone’s eyes on me and do my best not to fidget. They know I’m in therapy, but I’ve never shared with any of them the details of what I went through. I know they can’t help but be curious. So, to ward off questions I say, “Now, about hiring Liev for Elizabeth’s client’s job…”
Vincent shrugs, his expression impassive. “We’ve worked with him before. He could do it.”
“He’s a bloodthirsty thug.”
“No, he’s not,” I snap at my brother. “He’s actually really nice and…” I stop, realizing I’ve given myself away.
Brady glares at me. “How old is he again?”
I bristle. “I don’t know. Probably younger than you. What does that have to do with anything?”
“He’s too old for you,” Brady shoots back.
My face flames, but I keep my voice cool. “I never said I was interested. This is about a job. I owe him. Period.”
Vincent lets out a rough chuckle. “That explains the phone calls I just got. Alex Kovalyov called to clarify that there wouldn’t be bad blood if we hired a member of the bratva, and Declan Bloom called to tell me that if Liev Kovalyov needed a character reference, he’d vouch for him.”
“Are character references a thing we do?” Finn laughs.
Brady whirls on me, face thunderous. “What the fuck, Sera? Did you promise him a job?”
I wince. “Not exactly.”
Brady shoves his hands back through his hair with a groan and then clasps them on top of his head as he yells to the ceiling. “Fucking Fuck!”
His fists drop to his sides. “I don’t really have a choice, do I? Either I take on this untrained asshole or risk pissing off not only the most powerful bratva in the country but also one of our largest clients.”
Vincent shrugs again. “It’s not like that. You don’t want him, don’t take him. But…” He meets Brady’s gaze. “Liev Kovalyov is anything but untrained. You don’t stay alive in his position without being very good at watching for threats and being able to defend yourself.”
Brady scans the four of us, his eyes stopping on Vincent and me before turning to Elizabeth, who has a peculiar look on her face. “What do you think? It’s your client.”
“Obviously, I don’t know your business as well as you do,” she says carefully. “But I trust your sister and Vincent, and if they think he would be a good fit, I’m okay with it. Like Sera said, it’s temporary. He’s not leaving the bratva forever.”
My brother blows out a long, harsh breath. “Fine. Tell him to be here tomorrow. I want to meet him before I commit.” He jabs a finger at me. “But if I hire him, there’s no fraternization between employees.”
I roll my eyes as Elizabeth bursts out laughing, and even Vincent’s shoulders are shaking with suppressed humor.
“Why are you laughing?” Brady asks her through his teeth.
“Pot meet kettle,” I smirk when Elizabeth can’t answer because she’s laughing too hard. “Pretty sure you fraternized with Elizabeth when she was a client.”
Brady’s lips twitch. “If I’m the pot, does that make you the kettle?” He turns narrowed eyes back on me. “Are you admitting that you want to fraternize with him?’
“What? No.” Damn, I walked right into that one. “Whatever.” I shrug. “I’m not interested in Liev.”
Lies. Lies. Lies.
The man makes my panties practically incinerate every time he touches me. And now we are going to be working together. I crush the little thrill in my stomach.
No, we’re not. He’ll be on assignment, and I’ll be here.
He'll be on a close-proximity assignment with a supermodel. The flutters in my belly disappear.
Fuck.