8. Andrei
Andrei
T he endless refrain of the Jurassic Park theme is an inappropriate soundtrack to the fear in Blair’s eyes, but that’s what it’s been for the past month.
Every time I knock on her door, she answers it the same way.
Opening the door just a crack and peering at me with those big green eyes like she’s scared I’m going to hurt her.
Eventually, she always lets me in, then sends Niko off to watch his favorite movie while I check in with her.
I’ve never seen her look as bad as she does today.
Her normally shiny blonde hair is limp and frizzy, and she sways as she sits at the island, like she can’t even keep herself up.
She blinks slowly at me, and I have to move to the other side to keep myself from scooping her into my arms and carrying her straight to bed.
“Are you getting any sleep?”
“Of course.” She smiles a beat too quickly, just as she always does. I tilt my head, trying to force her to make eye contact, but it’s useless. She could teach a master class on avoiding someone while still making polite conversation .
For some people, I’d consider it a talent, but coming from her? It makes me feel like the lowest scum.
I didn’t kill Daniil, but I can’t help but feel like this is my fault anyway. If I hadn’t had the bright idea of using her as an informant, she wouldn’t have been exposed to any of this. She could have lived her whole life pretending people like Daniil and I didn’t exist.
She wouldn’t have all this pain and grief.
“I’ll stop by later and bring you guys some dinner, alright?” She’s lost too much weight. Niko looks like he’s eating just fine, but it’s like she can’t be bothered to get a proper meal for herself.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. We’re fine.”
“I know you are.” I can’t keep the softness out of my tone. I doubt she even notices it. “But you deserve a night off, you know?” She shakes her head, fiddling with the chain around her neck.
Shortly after the funeral she took off her rings and slipped them on a necklace that she mostly leaves tucked under the collars of her shirts. I want to ask about it, but my phone pings inside my pocket. I don’t have to look to know it’s another summons from Maksim.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I tell her, heading toward the front door before she can protest. I wait on the patio until I hear the click of the deadbolt behind me.
I’ve seen more of Maksim’s office since the funeral than I have in the past five years. He used to trust me enough to let me do my job with little supervision. But lately he’s been keeping his eye on me to the point that it feels like I’m being slowly smothered .
It’s his version of a tantrum. I didn’t let him make a show at the wake, so I have to suffer the consequences. If this is the cost to keep him from hurting Blair, then I’ll pay it every time.
When I walk through the doors, Maksim’s adviser, Nikita Dyomin, follows me to the office.
He’s a slimy prick, but as long as he’s here, he can act as a buffer against Maksim’s rage.
It’s been spreading like a fire, and the more it grows, the more I find that I don’t care about putting it out.
If he wants to ruin everything he’s worked for because something didn’t go his way, then so be it.
“You called, Pakhan?”
“Sit.”
I’m not a fucking dog , I don’t say as I take a seat.
I’ve never been one to rock the boat or speak out of turn. Like my dad used to say, you learn more with your ears than you do with your mouth. It also has the bonus of being the best way to avoid Maksim’s attention.
If I refuse to speak out of turn, it’s that much harder for him to turn his wrath onto me.
He wastes no time diving into the details of tonight’s arms deal with The Outfit—from the location to the price, to the number of guns he’s expecting to be delivered at the end of the night.
On the surface, it seems like any other gun run, and I squint, trying to figure out why I’m being roped into it.
I haven’t been asked to do this sort of work since my early twenties.
At thirty-six, I’ve paid my dues, and while I’m normally not opposed to helping out when asked, something about the timing is putting me on edge .
“Meet with Dmitri at six. And don’t fuck it up, boy.”
I nod, but my mind is stuck on one detail.
“Why is this going down so far south of the city?” I ask, sounding bored. I don’t like it. Not just because this fucks up my plan to check on Blair tonight, but because he’s telling me to go so far out of the way for something that normally takes place closer to home.
“Does it matter?” Maksim’s eyes water in a way that betrays how much he relies on alcohol to get through the day as Nikita leans further back into his seat, knowing eyes watching me with an uncomfortable intensity.
“Guess not.” I shrug.
“Then shut up and do what’s asked of you, yeah? I swear, you’ve become nothing but a thorn in my side.” He wipes a hand over his face, looking far more agitated than he does weary. Nikita’s silent, dropping his eyes to his lap.
This sort of thing should be Pavel’s job.
Maksim’s made it clear for a couple years that he wants to retire, and he’s been doing more and more to groom Pavel to take over for him. A deal with an outside organization is the perfect opportunity to thrust him further into that role, so why isn’t he taking advantage?
Unless Pavel’s working another job. But Maksim’s always wanted to focus on one big job at a time. I doubt this is an exception.
Which means he wants to make sure I’m not around for a couple hours.
“Prosti, Pakhan. I’ll get it done. Is there anything else you need? ”
There better not be. If I want to be on time to meet with Dmitri, I need to get out of here and get my shit together. He shakes his head, and I take great effort to seem relaxed as I rise from my seat and head toward the door.
I’ve just stepped into the hall when he calls out, “Make sure you do your damn job, Andrei.”
I always do, but for once, the job he’s laid out for me isn’t my priority. By the time I pull away from his front gate, I have some semblance of a plan. I check the rearview mirror to make sure there’s no one following and pull out my phone.
“Yeah?” Alexei’s distracted voice answers.
“Are you working tonight?”
“No. I’m spending time with my sister.” He pauses for a moment while I nod to myself. “And if you make me cancel on her, she’ll kill us both.”
Doubtful. Alexei’s older sister, Nadya, is a firecracker with a protective streak a mile wide. Wherever he is, she isn’t far behind. But that could work in my favor. If there’s anyone I know that can keep Blair from blowing up before the night’s through, it’s her.
“I need to bring someone to your place tonight, and if anything happens to them, you won’t have to worry about your sister.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because I’ll kill you myself.”
***
“Would you please put down my son?” Blair yells as she hurries after me, her face flushed with anger as I press the call button to Alexei’s condo.
“If I did, you’d grab him, steal my car, and run.” She’s stubborn, and stealing her kid was the only thing I knew that would get her to follow me.
For once, she doesn’t argue. “Well, could you at least stop holding him like a football?” I step onto the elevator, shaking my head. Niko giggles as he looks around from where he’s tucked under my arm.
Could I carry him differently? Sure. Is this the one way that’s least likely to make Blair kick me in a bid to get me to let go? Yep.
The doors slide shut, and she glares at me in the reflection.
“You know, if you told me why you were dragging us half-way across the city, maybe I’d have been more agreeable.”
“You wouldn’t have been. You argue with everything I say.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Thank you for proving my point.”
Niko twists to get a better look when the doors open, and I adjust my grip before I step off. “Now, are you coming, or do I have to carry you, too?” For a moment she looks like she’s planning on putting up a fight, but she crosses her arms and follows after me.
She still looks tired, but there’s more life to her now than there was this afternoon.
If kidnapping her son is all it takes to give her back some sort of spark, then Nikolai and I are about to become best friends .
During the trek down the hall, she’s quiet. By the time I knock on the door, she’s lost the fight with herself. Pulling self-consciously on her sweater, her silence is deafening.
“Andrei,” Alexei drawls as he opens the door, his voice a controlled monotone while his eyes blaze with poorly concealed anger.
He looks between Blair and me, jaw tight.
Still, he looks more relaxed than he usually is when I see him.
His dark blond hair looks like he’s been pulling at it, and he’s wearing jeans with his button-down shirt.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him in jeans before.
He’s an inch or two shorter than me, and not quite as broad. Then again, he doesn’t have to be when he spends most of his time tucked away in an office at his clubs. Though the way Blair moves a half step behind me makes me think his piss poor attitude more than makes up for it.
“I see you’ve brought guests with you. How wonderful.” His face doesn’t budge an inch, his glare boring a hole into Blair’s skull. I roll my eyes as I put Niko down. He skitters behind me, suddenly shy as he clings to Blair’s leggings.
“You’ve met Blair, right?”
“Briefly,” he bites out.
“I’m glad to hear it. Now invite them in.”
Alexei’s a dick, I’ll never deny that, but he’s also one of the few men I can trust to watch them while I can’t, if only to help clear the debt he owes me.
“Nadya,” he calls over his shoulder, making no move to let them in. “We have guests.”
A beat passes before Nadya wanders over to him, a hand towel thrown over her shoulder and a streak of flour in her dark hair. Alexei moves just enough to gesture toward us. “Andrei’s friends are going to join us. Have you met Blair before?”
When she shakes her head, he makes brief introductions before finally stepping aside. Only then does Nadya notice Niko from where he peeks around my legs, Blair’s hand resting on the top of his head.
She shoves Alexei out of the way and kneels, smiling warmly at him. “Hi there. I’m Nadya, what’s your name?”
He looks up, and Blair gives him an encouraging smile. “Nikolai, but Mama calls me Niko.”
“Well, Niko, it’s nice to meet you. Would you like to help me with dinner? I’m making pirozhki.” He nods, and when she stands, he moves to follow her, still not letting go of Blair’s pants. After a moment of hesitation, Blair moves with them.
“I’ll pick you guys up in a few hours.”
She looks over her shoulder and nods, not meeting my eyes. When the trio turns the corner, Alexei shoves me out into the hall, closing the door behind him with an angry scoff.
“I know you’re doing your best to get on Maksim’s shit list, but you’re not going to drag me into this. Why the fuck did you bring her here?”
I debate how much to tell him. I trust him to protect them, but what if I’m wrong? He could just as easily call Pavel as soon as I’m gone and toss her straight to the wolves.
Then again, he knows I’d go after him twice as hard. And for all his faults, Alexei won’t do anything to risk something happening to him or his sister.
“Maksim’s sending me out of town on some bullshit errand.”
“And what? You think he’s going to go after her ? ”
“Not him, no. But Pavel? Maybe.”
He thinks for a moment, tilting his head from side to side.
“So why not send her to her mother-in-law’s? Or have her hide at yours? Don’t drag Nadya and I into it.”
“Mila would have sold her out even when Daniil was alive. What do you think will happen if Blair isn’t at home?”
Publicly standing up to Maksim at the wake was the right thing for me to do for Blair, but it also made it clear that I care about her. If she isn’t where someone expects her to be, the next logical thing for her to do is lie low at my place.
“After the mess you made at Virgo, why should I do anything for you, huh?”
I don’t bother to hide my eye roll. “It was closed for five days, Alexei. Get over it.”
“Five very expensive days,” he hisses between clenched teeth.
“I lost income, I have to pay for repairs, and now I have to woo back the girls and customers that got scared off. That’s not even accounting for the bribes I had to pay to make the officials forget that the place even exists.
Five days is fucking expensive, mudak .”
I want to throttle him.
“I need you to do this for me. I have no other way to guarantee her safety.”
A beat passes.
“Fine. But find a long-term solution, because if the higher-ups want her dead, they’ll keep finding ways to send you away until they get what they want, and I’m not going to harbor her here. ”
I hate to admit it, but he’s right. This is just a stop-gap. But it buys me time that I desperately need.
“I’ll watch them tonight.” He sighs, rubbing a hand against his jaw. “But this isn’t going to happen again, Andrei.”