Chapter 21
DIMITRI
My office is on the twelfth floor and the walk down from the penthouse gives me time to clear my head. The sex in the shower was incredible, but I can't afford to be distracted right now. I have a business to run and enemies to eliminate and keeping Tatiana safe requires constant vigilance.
I unlock my office door and settle behind my desk with my phone already in my hand.
My first call is to check on the guard I sent to watch Arseniy at the hospital last night.
I put Saveliy on night duty and Oleg on days.
They're supposed to switch off at eight in the morning and it's already nine thirty, so I want to check that the handoff went smoothly before I get too far into my day.
The phone rings three times before the day guard answers. "Boss," he says, but I know it's not Saveliy as soon as I hear his voice. He should be home getting ready to catch a catnap before performing his other duties this afternoon, and someone has his phone?
"Why are you answering Saveliy's phone?" I lean back in my chair. "Where is he?"
"I don't know." The more he speaks, the more I recognize his voice. It's Oleg, sent to take over for him. "I showed up for my shift at eight and he wasn't here. The cousin's room is empty and there's blood on the floor."
Every muscle in my body tenses. "What do you mean, empty?"
"The patient is gone." He's talking fast now. "The nurses said he flatlined around six this morning. They tried to revive him but couldn't. By the time I got here, the body had already been moved to the morgue and Saveliy was nowhere."
"And you're just telling me this now?" I'm on my feet feeling my chest hammering. "Almost two fucking hours later?"
"I've been trying to piece together what happened," Oleg says, though he's right to have that anxious edge to his tone. This is no small thing. The man I promised to protect is dead now, and what will I tell Tatiana? "I was with the hospital security—"
"Get back to the casino immediately," I snap, cutting him off. "I want you here in twenty minutes."
"Yes sir." He ends the call as I throw my phone onto the desk hard enough that the screen cracks.
Arseniy is dead and my guard is missing, which means either Saveliy was one of my moles or he's dead too.
Either way, the Kozlovs just escalated this situation and I can't afford to ignore it. We have to go on the offensive.
Tatiana's cousin is dead only hours after she begged me to protect him, and how the fuck am I going to tell her that?
She only just started to trust me and I've already failed her. The amount of anger I feel when I think of that makes me pick up my chair and throw it across the room. It smashes into the bookcase and sends books toppling all over the floor, and the only reason the shelf doesn’t fall is because it's anchored to the wall.
My phone rings and I snatch it up without looking at the caller.
"What?" I snap, unable to control my temper at this point. This is about to explode everywhere and I can feel how out of control I’m getting. My brother wasn’t wrong when he told me all of this was getting to me.
It just took me too long to see it for myself.
"We need to talk." Yuri's tone is crisp and he's not mincing words. I expect him to bite my head off for the extra guards or maybe tell me to stop taking advantage of his men because I sent Oleg out on an errand, but he says, "Are you sitting down?"
"No, I'm not sitting down. Does it sound like I'm sitting down?" I'm so angry, I'm not thinking straight. "What is it?" He'll be pissed when I tell him what happened, but I have to hear his news first.
"We got a credible threat to the man you're harboring in the hospital. Vadim thought I should call you right away."
My heart sinks and some of the rage fizzles out as I right my chair and drop into it hard.
"Tatiana's cousin is dead… Cardiac this morning.
" Pressing my eyes closed, I brace myself for the outburst when he hears me say, "And Saveliy is missing—vanished and left his phone behind before guard change. "
"He what?" I hear typing in the background, probably looking up the man's GPS he uses to track all of our soldiers.
"I said he's either the fucking mole and killed Tatiana's cousin, or they got him too." I press a hand to my face then pinch the bridge of my nose as Yuri spews out a string of profanities.
"We have to handle this immediately. It's gone too far now and—"
"I'm handling it." I run my hand through my hair. "I'll find out what happened to Saveliy and—"
"You're not handling it." Yuri cuts me off. "You're out of this now, and I'm taking over. We have to secure the casino and get that woman out of town. She's placed a target on all of us."
"I've got security locked down," I protest. No way I'm letting big brother come in like he's gonna rescue anyone. This is my show. It's my casino and it's my call.
"You think she's the one they're coming after now, Dimitri?
" he shouts, and I know exactly what he's aiming at now.
I shrink inwardly as I hear our father's tone ride my brother's words.
"They're coming for you next. Do you not understand that?
You're harboring her from them, and they know the two of you have a bond.
When they kill the mother—and they will—they'll come for you.
Do you think I want to attend my own fucking brother's funeral? "
I stand up and walk to the window overlooking the casino floor to watch people moving around and let his words sink in.
They're like a needle bursting the prideful balloon of my ego.
Am I really willing to die for this woman?
Is that the line I'm drawing in the sand?
Or am I just stupid enough to put a target on myself and let them kill me?
Because they'll surely go after her next.
"What do you want me to do?" I ask defeatedly, though I know what he'll say. He's already said it a few times.
"Send her away." Yuri doesn't even hesitate. "Get her out of the city until we've cleaned up this mess and get her out of your fucking head. The way you're acting right now, you're gonna get yourself killed, and if that happens, I'll have to light up the whole Russian countryside to end it."
"I can protect her here—" I start, but he cuts me off.
"No, you can't," Yuri snips, then I hear him sigh.
"You’ve proven it, dammit." There is a silence, then he says, "Little brother, our father would give you the same advice.
It's clear you love this woman, but they will kill her and they will kill you because you are close to her.
She has to go now. Just until it's safe. "
I press my forehead against the cold glass and close my eyes. "Where would she even go?"
"Moscow…" Yuri's already thought this through. "I'll call Rurik. He owes us a favor, and he's got properties all over the city where she can hide. We'll send her with an escort and keep her there for a few weeks while we handle the Kozlovs."
Everything in me rebels against the idea of sending Tatiana away. I just got her in my bed. I just got her to stop fighting me and started seeing glimpses of what we could be if she were really mine, and now to send her away means to risk losing her.
But if keeping her close means she could die, then I have no choice.
"Call Rurik." The words feel like glass as they slide across my tongue, lacerating my hopes and dreams. "Set it up for today. I'll have her ready to leave within the hour."
"You're making the right call." Yuri sounds relieved. "I know you don't want to hear it, but—"
"Just make the arrangements." I hang up on him because as much as I know this is the right choice, I'm livid.
I hate it and everything it means, and I don't want to think about it at all.
I just want to turn my anger into fuel for this fight that helps me destroy Malcom Kozlov and anyone who works with him or for him.
I stand at the window for another minute watching people gamble away their money while my world falls apart.
Then I force myself to move toward the elevator.
I have to tell Tatiana she's leaving and convince her it's for the best. And I have to do it without telling her about Arseniy because if she finds out he's dead, she'll refuse to go anywhere.
When I unlock the door upstairs, I find Tatiana on the couch eating toast and watching the morning news. She's wearing one of my shirts and her hair is still damp from the shower.
She looks up when I walk in and smiles. "That was fast. I thought you'd be gone longer."
"Plans changed." I walk over and grab the remote to turn off the TV, but not before I see the breaking news banner scrolling across the bottom. "Local murder investigation. Police confirm one witness being questioned. Casino connection suspected."
"Wait, I was watching that." Tatiana reaches for the remote, but I hold it away from her.
"You don't need to watch the news." I toss the remote onto the coffee table. "You need to pack your things."
Her smile disappears. "What? Why?"
"You're leaving," I tell her simply. If I get into too many details, the anger inside me will come out at her, and I don’t want that for her. "Today. Within the hour."
"Leaving where?" She stands up and crosses her arms, narrowing her eyes at me. "I don't want to go away."
"I need you to go, Tatiana. To Moscow." I walk into the bedroom and pull a bag from the closet and hear her feet pattering after me.
"You'll stay with an associate of mine until this situation's resolved.
" It's killing me that I can't tell her about her cousin, but when the time is right and I know she's safe, I’ll do it.
"No," she protests in a whine. "I want to be here with you where I'm safe."
"You're not safe here anymore." I throw the bag onto the bed and feel the anger rising again, but now it's not aimed at my brother or the bad situation.
It's got a clearly defined target. Malcom Kozlov is going to die and I'm going to be the one to do it.
"The Kozlovs are escalating. They're coming after people connected to you and sooner or later, they're gonna find a way to get to you directly. "
Tatiana grabs my arm. "You said you'd protect me. You promised…" The way her eyes plead with me is killing me. I hate this. I don't want it to be this way.
"This is how I'm protecting you." I cup her face with both hands but resist kissing her. "By getting you out of this city before they kill you."
"What aren't you telling me?" Her eyes search mine. "Something happened. I can see it on your face." What I have to do next is crossing a line that crushes me, but it has to be done in order to make sure she listens to me.
"Nothing happened." Lying to her is worse than a million murders. She trusts me, and I am actively deceiving her. "I'm just being cautious. You'll go to Moscow with Rurik. He's an old friend, and he'll keep you safe while we clean up the Kozlov situation here."
"I don't want to go to Moscow," she whimpers.
"It's temporary." I lean down and kiss her hard. "A few weeks at most. Then I'll come personally to bring you back."
"You promise?" Tears fill her eyes and her bottom lip quivers.
"I promise." I kiss her again, softer this time. "But you have to trust me. Go with Rurik and do exactly what he says."
"I don't know him." She wipes her eyes. "How can I trust someone I've never met?"
"Because I trust him." I release her face and start pulling clothes from the closet. "He's been in this life longer than I have and he knows how to keep people hidden. You'll be safer with him in Moscow than you are here with me."
I continue shoving her things into the bag as she slowly changes out of my clothing into her own, and the entire time, I feel like the piece of trash I really am.
Sending her away is my brother's choice, not mine, but if I didn’t believe it was the right move, I wouldn't be doing it.
But lying to her about my knowledge of Arseniy's death will come back to bite me.
And when it does, I pray she forgives me.