Yakov
The drive to the safehouse takes twenty minutes. Laney is quiet beside me, her hand resting on my thigh, grounding me. She's back in her own clothes since I had her bag sent up to my penthouse suite. Even exhausted and bruised, she's beautiful.
I pull up to the house, a nondescript two-story in a gated community that's owned by one of my shell companies.
Maksim Vasiliev's SUV is in the driveway. Adrik must have called him.
"Ready?" I ask.
She nods, squeezing my thigh once before letting go.
Inside, the house smells like coffee and something baking. One of the women from yesterday appears, dressed in a baggy sweatshirt and pants, holding a tray of warm pastries. Stopping still when her eyes land on me and Laney, taking a moment to reassure herself we are safe people.
Then she smiles warmly at Laney. "Laurie has been asking for you."
"Where is she?" Laney asks.
"In the media room." She nods her head towards a door at the far side of the hallway. "She's okay. Just getting to grips with everything that’s happened…"
Laney's already moving toward the back of the house before I can say anything. I let her go, she needs this moment with her sister without me hovering. The woman with the pastries nods once at me, and walks to the living area where I hear a few women murmur their thanks as she hands them out.
I head into the kitchen where Maksim is leaning against the counter, coffee in hand. I nod a short greeting at him, showing respect for him as my superior despite not knowing why he is here.
Kaiden is sitting at the table, ice pack pressed to his face.
The bruising has bloomed spectacularly overnight, both eyes are blackened, his nose is swollen, and there's a purple mark along his jaw. Scratches around his eyes have scabbed over in angry welts and there’s a deep bite mark on his forearm that’sw purple around the scabs.
Pride pulses through me.
He looks like he went ten rounds with a heavyweight boxer.
"Jesus," I mutter.
Kaiden grins, then winces. "You should see the other guy."
"I did. She's in the media room with her sister." I grab a coffee mug from the cabinet. "How's the nose?"
"Broken in two places." He prods at it gingerly. "Worth it though. That woman has a hell of a right hook."
Maksim snorts into his coffee. "You got your ass handed to you by a woman?"
"Fuck off." But Kaiden's still grinning. "She thought I was the enemy. Shows good survival instincts. She fights scrappy, but my god when she starts she means to fucking finish. If it wasn’t for Yakov showing up when he did, I’d be coyote food now."
I pour coffee, thinking about Laney straddling him, fists flying, that feral look in her eyes.
The calm look on her face when she had Kaiden’s gun pressed right between his eyes.
Yeah. Good survival instincts. And a protective streak that apparently extends to beating the shit out of anyone who threatens her sister.
"As wonderful as it is to see you, Vasiliev," I say drily, "why are you here?"
"I have information for you on Zajmi." He sets his mug down and slides a folder of papers across the countertop.
"You know my family doesn’t agree with his…business model. Mikhail offers his services, but I know between you and your brothers, you’ll have this handled. His wife is due any day now, so I’d prefer to keep him on home turf. No man should miss the birth of his child.
A twinge of something runs through me, spreading from my gut outward in every direction until my throat clamps shut on it.
I take a few steadying breaths, pressing it down while promising myself I explore it later.
The sound of footsteps on the tile makes us all look up. Laney appears first, followed by Laurie. She looks better than she did last night, her bruises treated with ointment, her split lip clean and healing quickly. But there's a hardness in her eyes that I doubt was there before.
Some things change you. Being kidnapped and held captive is one of them.
"Laurie," I say. "How are you feeling?"
"Achey." She manages a weak smile. "But I'm alive. Thanks to you."
"Thank your sister. She's the one who wouldn't stop until we found you."
Laurie looks at Laney with so much love and gratitude it makes something twist in my chest. "Yeah. She's annoying like that."
"Hey." Laney bumps her shoulder gently.
They share a look that speaks of years of sisterhood, inside jokes, shared trauma, and that's when Laney spots Kaiden.
"Oh my god." She crosses to him, eyes wide. "Your face."
Kaiden stands, towering over her. "It's not as bad as it looks."
"I did that?" Laney asks quietly, reaching to touch his cheek and forcing me to bite down a demand to not touch him. I know she is just being caring, it has nothing to do with anything else. But the jealousy that courses through me… I want her hands to touch no man but me.
"You did." Kaiden's expression is carefully neutral, but there's something in his eyes that looks very close to respect, maybe even admiration.
Laney's face flushes with embarrassment and guilt. "I'm so sorry. I thought—"
"That I was the enemy." Kaiden cuts her off gently.
"You were protecting your sister and those women with everything you had.
There's no need to apologize for that." He pauses, then adds with that crooked grin, "Though I gotta say, for someone who's never thrown a punch before, you've got natural talent. Ever think about taking up boxing?"
"I..." Laney looks stunned. "You're not angry?"
"Angry?" Kaiden laughs, then winces again. "I'm impressed. Most people freeze in a crisis. You leapt out swinging." He extends his good hand. "I'm Kaiden Barnes. And I'm proud to have had my nose broken by you."
Laney shakes his hand, still looking embarrassed but slightly mollified. "I really am sorry though."
"Don't be." Kaiden releases her hand and settles back onto his stool at the kitchen island. "You did what you thought you had to do. That takes courage and grit." He glances at me. "Your woman's fierce, Korolyov. Better keep her."
"I intend to." I move to Laney's side, my hand finding the small of her back. She leans into me slightly, and the weirdness that flooded me moments ago, settles.
Laurie is watching us with interest, her gaze flicking between me and her sister. "So this is happening? You two?"
"Yes," I say before Laney can overthink it.
"Good." Laurie nods once. "Laney needs someone who can handle her stubbornness. And apparently someone with access to small armies."
"Laurie," Laney protests weakly.
"What? It's true." Laurie grins, and for a moment she looks like the carefree girl she probably was before all of this. "You've been taking care of us forever. It's about time someone took care of you."
Yakov clears his throat. "I’d like to introduce you both to Maksim Vasiliev, the head of another Bratva family, he has come to help."
Maksim clears his throat. "Speaking of taking care of things, Laurie, we need to ask you some questions about what you heard while you were being held captive. Names, locations, anything that might help us track down Zajmi and shut down his operation for good."
The lightness drains from Laurie's expression. "Yeah. Okay." She sits down at the table, Laney immediately taking the seat beside her. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Start from the beginning," I say, leaning against the counter. "Tell us everything."