Chapter 7 Roman #2
“On his way. He’s trying to, uh, welcome the guests before escorting them up here.”
I gritted my teeth, reading between the lines.
Welcoming guests? No, Lorne was probably telling them to take a hike.
This hotel wasn’t Mafia business, but it seemed that someone was taking advantage of reaching me while I was here.
He wasn’t escorting them but probably trying to facilitate telling them to get lost while not causing a scene.
“Amber.”
She turned to face me.
“Take the twins to another room. Dino, can you—”
One of the guards from the hallway stepped into the office. He gestured for Amber to follow him. Dino hurried to get her out of here too, pushing the stroller that Emily was now in.
“I’ll be just a minute,” I told her before shutting the door to another office adjacent to this one.
Confusion covered her face, but she complied.
As soon as she was hidden with the twins, I returned to my chair behind my desk.
“And next time, if you want a meeting with him, you contact me,” Lorne was saying as he opened the door a moment later.
He was telling Ivan Popov, a leader of a rival family, not to show up like this.
Ivan scowled, entering with two of his men behind him.
Lorne didn’t step aside, shooting me a knowing look. More Orlov soldiers followed in.
“What the fuck do you want?” I asked, not getting up.
I was skilled in my ability to negotiate.
But these were the Popovs, a fellow Bratva family we never got along with.
Mikhail had approved of a lethal attack on them when they tried to use Maisie and Natalie as leverage, kidnapping the little girl.
We’d killed many of their men and taught them a severe lesson that if they fucked with anyone from our family again, we’d end their organization.
But Ivan had survived, and he seemed ready to resume where his father, Niko, had left off in being pains in our asses.
“You’ve been a hard man to get ahold of,” Ivan said haughtily.
“I’m not obligated to make myself available to you.”
He furrowed his brow, pausing with a look to the side. I followed his line of sight.
Fuck.
A baby bottle sat on the side table. Amber’s phone with its purple and pink rhinestone case had been left next to it.
Fuck!
I didn’t care for his seeing those clues.
Signs that I could have a child. A woman.
They’d all three be collateral, risks that enemies like the Popovs could try to use against me.
Emily and Henry’s security was a big part of why I’d wanted to be holed up at home as I learned how to be a father.
I felt sick to my stomach that this Popov asshole could know that I had others in my life to protect.
They were my weakness. All members of my family were. I’d been there with Sergei to save Maisie. I helped Andre retrieve Sofia. And I was next to my uncle when he fought to protect Claire.
Emily and Henry had become my biggest priorities, my flesh and blood.
Amber had already burrowed under my skin and mattered so much too.
Ivan Popov huffed, almost like he was curious and amused. “It looks like you’ve been busy,” he said coolly.
“I’ll always be too busy to waste my time on you.”
“Maybe you should reconsider that,” Ivan said.
“Is that a threat?” Lorne demanded. He could switch from his grandfatherly persona to a loyal Orlov fighter in a flash.
Ivan held up both hands. “No need for threats at the moment.”
“At the moment?” I scoffed. “You want another reminder of what happened to Niko when he thought he could fuck with my family?” I pointed to the door. “Get the hell out of here. Next time you try to solicit and get my attention by showing up unannounced, you won’t like the consequences.”
“Is that a threat?” he asked hotly.
“Yes. You show up here, unsolicited, implying that I need to cater to what the fuck you want, and I’m not happy about it.”
He sneered right back at me. “And I’m not happy that you’re not making time to discuss boundaries with me.
” He stood straighter, puffing out his chest. “It’s bullshit that you’re the only one I can reach out of all you Orlovs.
But a discussion about territorial rights is overdue and you know it.
Your hesitation to negotiate ain’t looking good. ”
“The odds of your leaving this place without getting your ass kicked aren’t looking so good, either. I don’t give a shit what you’re happy about. Get out of here.”
If he hadn’t come to this legitimate business, if he hadn’t done the stupid thing of stopping in at the hotel, I might have been more open to hear him out.
But he hadn’t. Showing up unexpectedly was just plain stupid.
We’d made it clear to the world that this hotel was not part of the Orlov turf like everything else in our territory.
A distinction was made, and this hotel was not funded with dirty money.
He was crossing a hard line acting like this was a place he could harass me.
Having any danger this close to Amber and the twins bothered me, and I’d be damned if any Popov, or any other enemy, dared to use them as my weakness to exploit.