Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kirill
“Tolya, Eva, hello,” I greet, walking through the quiet, five-star restaurant.
The Pakhan of Chicago and his wife rise from their chairs as Edik and I approach them. As usual I shake Tolya’s hand and place a quick kiss on Eva’s cheek. Edik follows my movements and the four of us sit down.
I take a quick look around the restaurant. It’s ran by one of the members of my organization, and I know the people surrounding us are no mere hungry customers. They’re my guards. Tolya’s guards. All of them ready to leap up and attack if something goes wrong.
“We were already in the air when I got Edik’s call,” Tolya tells me, taking his wife’s hand. “Eva misses the shopping in New York, so you know I had to make her happy.”
My lips curve into a quick smile as I watch Tolya bring his wife's hand to his lips and kiss it. They make a good couple. A powerful one too. Eva may look like a normal wife, but her brother is the head of one of Chicago’s most powerful branches.
Her mind is razor sharp, and her fighting and shooting skills are sharper.
She reminds me of Annika, and after the long day I’ve had, I just want to go home and be with her.
I’m trying to keep my guard around her as we sort through this investigation, but the truth is, I can’t help myself.
Any time I’m around her I can’t see her as my enemy.
I want to protect her. Care for her. And God knows, fuck the ever-living daylights out of her.
“I’m glad you made time for me on this trip then,” I say, and they pick up on my teasing and laugh.
We all know they didn’t have a choice. Just as I wouldn’t have had the choice if it was them who had called on me. We all have a duty to one another.
Our plates of dry-aged steak and roasted vegetables arrive, and I wait until the waiter’s gone before I pick up my knife and fork and continue.
“We need your help,” I say, getting right down to it. “A few months ago I was supposed to be signing an alliance with the Rivgony family and I was attacked.”
“Specs?” Tolya asks, cutting into his steak.
I nod to Edik.
“The hit-men were beginners,” he explains. “No work previously done for the Russian families in New York. We found one and interrogated him, and it seems as if they were hired through a friend of a friend of a friend. We have no real leads.”
I don’t add anything. I don’t want anyone knowing that Annika’s father was thus far our leading suspect.
“And it wasn’t Rivgony himself who set it up?” Eva asks, then takes a delicate bite of carrot.
I shake my head.
“He’s dead,” Edik answers. “At first we were sure it was him, seeing how he’d disappeared right after the attack. We found him and his family deceased on his yacht off the coast of Florida.”
“Poor Rivgony,” Eva mutters, then takes a bite of mashed potatoes.
We’re all used to death. It doesn’t shock us anymore, so I’m not disturbed by Eva’s dismissive nature of it.
“We need fresh eyes and ears on the matter,” I say, keeping to the subject at hand. “That’s why you’re here.”
“You’ll have them,” Tolya answers. “Eva and I will stay, and I can have a dozen other men here by tonight.”
He puts down his knife and fork, then folds his hands before him as he sets his eyes on me.
“I want you to know something, though, Kirill. This happened to me before. Several years ago. The chase led me away from my family but when we got to the truth, we discovered that it was one of my own that was behind it,” he tells me.
“You keep going on your leads, but we’ll take the closer look at those surrounding you. ”
I nod. I’ve already accepted this possibility. Even if it’s not Yulian after all, I haven’t ruled out that it isn’t someone else I’m trusting.
“Edik will give you a full list of our people and tomorrow you can-” I pause as my phone starts to chirp. The sound immediately makes me stiffen. There are only a few numbers that will ring through my phone while it's on do not disturb and they all have their own ringtone. This one was Annika’s.
“Excuse me,” I say, getting up from the table. “I have to take this.”
“Annika?” I answer after the third ring. Even just saying her name has my heart racing.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” I demand. She’s never called me before.
“Oh,” her soft voice breathes into the receiver. She sounds distant. Weak. My heart pounds faster.
“Annika, answer me,” I demand, gripping the phone tighter. “Are you safe? Where’s Yana?”
“Kirill, I’m fine,” Annika answers in a rush. “Everything’s fine, I promise. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have called.”
I close my eyes and blow out a breath of relief. This woman was going to give me blood pressure problems before I hit forty.
“No,” I reply. “You’re supposed to call when you need something. So tell me what you need.”
I can feel her hesitancy through the phone, but what she eventually says has me letting out a ridiculous laugh.
“What?”
“Ice cream,” she repeats, and I can’t help but smile. “I know we have people to get stuff for us but I figured since you were still in the city you could get it here faster. But if you’re too busy I understand, I’ll send someone-”
“No, it’s fine,” I promise. And surprisingly, it actually is. I’d rather her call for a craving than an emergency. Though from what I know about pregnant women, cravings actually can be emergencies.
“You called at the perfect time,” I tell her. “I’m just finishing up a meeting and then heading home. What kind do you want?”
“Butter pecan caramel crunch, please,” Annika replies. “They make it at this little ice cream shop on the Upper East Side. It’s called Sprinkles & Swirls.”
It’s a ridiculously cutesy name for an ice cream shop.
“I’ll get it,” I promise her.
“In the biggest size they have, please,” she adds, her tone suddenly sheepish. Again, I can’t help but smile.
“Of course,” I reply. “I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”
I hang up with her and take in the worried looks around the table as I return.
“It was my wife,” I explain, not bothering to sit back down. “She’s pregnant and has a craving for ice cream.”
Words I truly never thought I’d say in a business meeting.
“Oh, Kirill, that is fantastic news!” Eva gushes, rising to her feet. “Congratulations.”
“I was just going to ask how your new bride was doing,” Tolya says, rising with a grin, “Obviously you two are getting along well.”
“It was a beautiful wedding,” Eva adds. “Please tell her that I will reach out soon so we can get better acquainted.”
I don’t miss the distrustful look that passes through Edik’s eyes as Tolya and Eve give Annika their well wishes. He’s wary of her. Worried for me. Even though I tell him I’m keeping her at arm's length, I know he doesn’t believe me.
“I certainly will,” I reply to Eva. Then to the both of them I say “And thank you both for your help. Call me tomorrow after Edik gets you the list. I want to know how you’re going to start.”
“Don’t say a word,” I say to Edik as we get back in the town car. I give the driver the name of the ice cream shop and he takes off.
“You’re getting your enemy ice cream?” he asks, ignoring my command.
“We don’t know that she’s the enemy,” I reply, more defensive than I mean to.
“I just want you to be careful,” Edik replies. “I can’t watch over you in your bedroom.”
“Maybe you should,” I say with a devious chuckle, “Maybe it would teach you a thing or two.”
When Edik doesn’t laugh with me, I drop my smile and shake my head.
“It’s just ice cream, Edik. And it’s not like the pregnancy is a ruse. You were at the hospital with me. You know it’s real. The paternity test confirmed it.”
Edik says nothing. Our silence continues even in the ice cream shop, and the entire way home.
I’m starting to get annoyed with him when we walk into the house, but my annoyance turns to worry as I enter Annika’s studio and find it empty. She’s always here in the afternoons.
I pull the radio off of one of the nearby guards belts and bark “Where is she?” into the mic.
Yana’s voice comes through a second later, informing me that Annika is not feeling well and in the bedroom.
Not feeling well?
She said on the phone she was fine. Did she lie to me?
I toss the radio back to the guard and head for the elevator. The moment its doors open to the top floor I’m all but running down the hall to our bedroom, thrusting the door open as I feel panic spike through my veins.
Annika jolts up from her curled up position in bed as the door flies open. She’s wearing one of my button up shirts. Her hair is mussed and there’s a look of exhaustion in her blue eyes.
“You lied to me,” I growl, clenching the paper bag of ice cream tight.
Annika’s brows tenses as she shakes her head, her eyes still on me.
“It’s been coming and going and waves,” she explains, “I wasn’t lying when I called. I was fine then. Just had a craving. But now…”
Her eyes drop as her face grows a starker shade of pale. Her voice sounds so small, so weak, that the snarling beast inside me shuts up in a second. She doesn’t need discipline right now, that much is clear. She needs care.
“Mne zhal, devochka,” I sigh.
I don’t apologize often, but she deserves it.
I close the distance between us, sit the ice cream on the nightstand and reach for her.
She stretches her arms toward me with a look of longing in her eyes, and I gently pull her to me.
She curls into my chest like a little kitten, and I wrap an arm around her waist and rub her back with the other.
Her sigh of relief is the sweetest sound, and I can’t help myself.
I pepper kisses over her hair, her forehead, as I let her cling to me.
I’m not used to being so soft. But Annika? She melts me.
“Here,” I gently command, reaching for the pillows. I stack them against the headboard and ease her back.
I pull the covers up over her legs, note how natural it feels to care for her as I do, and then retrieve the ice cream from the paper bag.
A smile of relief touches my lips as I watch Annika light up a little at the sight of the pint of butter pecan caramel crunch.
After peeling the lid off, I unwrap the plastic spoon and hand them both to her.
“Thank you,” she says, her voice full of appreciation as she accepts the ice cream and immediately digs in.
For a moment I just watch her. Take in how she closes her eyes and hums after she has her first bite.
How she does a little happy dance into the pillows.
When she opens her eyes again and looks at me, it’s as if I’ve given her the world, and not a six dollar pint of ice cream.
Something strange happens to me when she looks at me like this. My heart- it stings. Swells.
“Better?” I ask, and she nods.
I could stay and watch her eat her ice cream and do that adorable, sexy little happy dance all night- and that’s exactly what I intend to do.
We’ve gotten into the habit of only spending time together in this room when we’re having our rough, incredible sex, but tonight I decide that just because I’m not fucking her brains out, doesn’t mean I can’t stay.
“Eat your ice cream,” I softly command, reaching out stroke a bit of melted cream from her bottom lip, “I’m going to shower and change, then I’ll be back.”
Her eyes light up as I say so.
“You’re staying?” she asks, and I like how excited she sounds.
I smirk.
“Yes, devochka. Are you alright with that?” I ask.
She nods rapidly and my smirk grows into a grin.
“Good girl,” I tease, and love how her pale cheeks flush soft pink. “I’ll be right back.”