33. Harper #2
The leader looked around as if checking to make sure no one was going to bother them and got back into the SUV.
His goons quickly followed as best they could with black eyes and bloody noses, and one walked with a limp.
She certainly didn’t go down without a fight, that’s for damn sure.
Now the problem was, not only did we have to get her the fuck out of Russia, we had to steal her from the Russian mafia first.
“Fuck,” Jaxson swore, slamming his fist against the brick wall. “How did we not get any inkling they would be coming after her in all our research?”
“I hate to say it, but we weren’t really looking for it,” Ghost pointed out. “We thought we had time, but what if the grandfather failed to tell us the whole story? Did the Mafia have a shorter deadline knowing the KGB wanted her?”
“Let me make a few calls. I’ll find out where their headquarters are, and we’ll go get her,” Magnus stated, pulling a phone out of his pocket.
“Ghost, you still have the other phone?” I asked. “I want to check in with Dax.”
Slipping it out of his back pocket, he handed it over, allowing me to walk a few steps away to talk.
“Hello?” Weston answered.
“Hey, Wessy, long time no talk,” I greeted.
There was a bunch of noise in the background with people shouting and the random sound of gunfire. “Everything okay there?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Wes answered cryptically. “Hold on, let me pass you off to who you really want to talk to. “Yo, Dax, it’s for you. It’s Harper.”
There was the sound of rushing air, then muffled movements making me even more curious to know what was going on with her. Then I remembered why I was calling, and my irritation flooded me as her chipper voice answered.
“Harper? You okay?”
How dare she ask me that! She knew where she’d sent us and how I would feel about it. My irritation at the whole situation flamed into full-on pissed.
“Russia, Dax! You gave them a job that sent us to motherfucking Russia?” I screamed at her.
“When we get back, you and I are going to have a discussion on your choices and how it landed me with three assassins in Russia, needing to smuggle out an angry teenager. Our introduction was less than welcoming. Now we have to find her again because the Mafia took her.” I paused for a second to catch my breath before continuing, “Are you sure you didn’t have a little sister or a kid you didn’t know about? ”
“Uh...”
“Don’t even bother answering that,” I snapped, seeing Magnus wave me over.
“The second we’re back, she is all yours, a match made in fucking heaven.
You owe us big time for what we’re dealing with here.
Big, I tell you!” Not bothering to wait for her answer, I ended the call and hurried over to Magnus.
None of them looked happy about what he had learned. “Do I even want to ask?”
“Patrushev Yaroslav Victorovich, commonly known as Slava, is the man who took her. He is the leader of the biggest Russian bratva in Moscow. He owns almost all the nightclubs and strip clubs alike in the city and surrounding area,” Magnus explained.
“We think he took her to his main haunt, The Prestige gentlemen’s club. ”
“Is that around here, or do we need to get a cab?” I asked, confused as to why they looked so upset.
Ghost turned to face me, crossing his arms. “Remember when I was batting my lashes at that woman earlier, and you about lost your shit? What do you think is going to happen if we bring you in there? Men are going to be all over you.” He let out a growl and ran both hands over his head in frustration.
“Strip clubs here aren’t like back home.
They can touch and buy more because most are working girls and willing to give extras. ”
I just stared at him for a moment, shocked that he was so upset about a situation that hadn’t even happened yet. “Does it matter at all that I wouldn’t ever let them think I was willing to allow that shit to happen?”
“If you’re in a mafia-filled strip club, you don’t say no to them, they will take it as a challenge, and you won’t have a say in the matter,” Magnus stated, his eyes cold as if this were already happening.
“Fine, then we go, and I just won’t enter.
I’ll wait outside, holding the cab while you slip in and slip out.
You all look dressed and ready for a night out so you won’t stick out, and they have no idea we’re after her.
Aren’t you always complaining that jobs are getting too easy for you guys?
Well, here you go, steal from the Russian mafia and get the hell out of there before they even notice,” I challenged, knowing they would see reason in my logic.
“No,” Magnus barked. “I’m not going to let another person I love to walk into a dangerous situation when I can bring you back to the hotel out of harm’s way.”
That comment made me bristle with anger.
“I’m not Sage,” I lashed out. “I’m not some clueless teen who doesn’t know what she’s getting into.
I might be new to this world of yours, but I still know how to deal with egotistical people.
I’m not going to live this life with you as your wife and be kept in a protective bubble while you put your lives on the line.
We do this together, or we all walk away and come up with a different plan. ”
They each looked at me with fear and a bit of pride in their eyes.
I knew what I was asking of them. They didn’t want to risk losing me, but that was exactly how I felt about them.
How was it any easier for me to watch them walk away, leaving me safe while they entered the lion’s den? No, this was all of us or none of us.
“Harper…” Magnus started, then stopped. He stepped forward and grasped my face tilting it up so I met his hazel eyes. “Can we meet in the middle? We will all go together, but you’ll stay hidden where I put you, and you won’t move from that spot until I come back for you.”
Pushing up on my tiptoes, I pressed a kiss to his lips. “I can work with that.”
“If this doesn’t go well, then I’m never going to allow you to come with us ever again. Losing you is not an option,” he warned, kissing my forehead. “Trust me when I say the punishment you will get isn’t going to be to your liking.”
I saluted him as Ghost shook his head and wandered off to hail a cab from the main street. Soon we were all packed in and off to The Prestige.