Chapter 28 - Mikhail
Having to let go of Laurel when CJ and Jenna took my off-the-cuff text message literally as an invitation to join us was irritating until I realized it was the opportunity I needed to get to Canyon Vines without any pesky explanations.
Laurel would be safe with them since they knew what was going on and always had a guard on the most peaceful of days.
And being in Napa felt like a shield of invisibility, one that would last until I confronted Rand. For the moment, no one knew we were there, and if Rand was truly just a weaselly, controlling man who couldn’t take no for an answer, then things should still be safe for us.
If he was connected with this dangerous rogue faction that was getting more brazen by the day in its attacks, that was another story. I’d either have to find a way to take the asshole hostage and ship him to Lev or down to Aleks for interrogation, or kill him outright.
That second option was the one I preferred, and I was secretly hoping he’d try something stupid when I confronted him. My driver, who’d taken a commercial flight up with another guard I left at the resort, pulled through the Canyon Vines gates and parked.
“Need backup, just let me know.”
“Will do,” I said. “But I can’t see him getting cute on his own property.”
An older couple walked past, led by one of the vineyard’s guides, and a family with several kids was in the area where they had picnic tables and the wine stomping presentations.
This was the kind of setup I normally hated, full of innocent bystanders and potential witnesses, but today it had a calming effect on me.
I had to believe Rand wanted to keep this cushy life he’d made for himself, and wouldn’t be stupid.
“Oh, hello,” the receptionist said cheerfully when I pushed through the doors into the welcome center. “I remember you. Welcome back.”
It wasn’t all that long ago—a month and some change, and that visit had set up the catalyst of my sudden marriage to Laurel. I guess I owed Rand something for that, so maybe I wouldn’t break his face too much if he acted up.
No, I would, and I’d enjoy every last punch.
“Is Rand around?” I asked, hoping the first name would lead her to believe the man actually might want to see me. “I was hoping to talk about a bulk order with some special additions.”
“Of course,” she said, asking me to remind her of my name.
I handed over my card, and she took off with a spring in her step. A few moments later, she came back, a lot less bouncy, and her smile wasn’t quite so sincere.
“I’m really sorry,” she said. “I must have forgotten he was out for a meeting all day today.”
Convenient. I looked past her, down the long hallway leading to closed doors. “Won’t be back at all today?” I asked.
“No, sorry. It’s my mistake.”
It was clearly a lie and one she was flustered and embarrassed to have to make. Rand was probably sneaking out the back, running like the coward he was. Funny how he could be big and bad when it was Laurel, and couldn’t even face me.
I considered storming past her and dragging the guy out of there, kicking and screaming, but remembered all those witnesses outside.
Deciding to wait and watch the property, I headed back to the car and had Georgiy drive somewhere that we had a good view of the exit, but were out of sight to anyone coming or going.
Especially any snakes trying to slither away.
It didn’t feel right not taking immediate action when I was positive the man was there, and if I’d given a fake name he would have come out.
But then what? As much as I longed to smack him around a little, if I returned with the slightest scratch, it would upset Laurel.
Since she was already on edge from the shootout, that was the last thing I wanted to do.
“I didn’t see anyone fleeing before you came back out,” Georgiy said.
“The property is huge. He could be anywhere by now,” I answered bitterly. “Let’s hang out a while and see if he calls in backup.”
We waited until it was too close to dinner time to put off getting back. In case Laurel was already back, I decided to make it seem like I forgot a few things and went out to get them, so I ran into a pharmacy on the way back to the hotel to randomly grab some toothpaste and deodorant.
My deeply instilled Bratva instincts had been awakened after being pulled into this new fight to protect what belonged to my family, and what belonged to me, so I wished I could have staked out the place until Rand returned, so that I could grab him and get to the bottom of how involved he was.
But I had to act like a normal husband, and that meant no screaming man in the trunk.
A normal husband. Not something I ever aspired to, but it was something I’d like to be now that I had a taste of married life with Laurel. The excuse for being out without her wasn’t necessary as she rolled in a few minutes after me, and we met up in the lobby.
“I approve,” I said, taking her three big shopping bags from their driver to carry them up to her room for her. “I hope you spent a lot.”
“She tried to head straight to every sales rack,” Jenna said, shaking her head in mock dismay.
“Tattle tale,” Laurel answered, smiling and waving, with the promise to meet them at the appointed restaurant in an hour.
“We couldn’t get out of it?” I asked. “I told Lev and Mat they shouldn’t come.”
“Well, their wives said they should. Who do you think won?”
“What’s fifty miles to see their new family member for a couple of hours,” I said, resigning myself to sharing Laurel for at least part of the night.
The only plan I had so far was to send my two guards out looking for Rand later on, and possibly find a way to slip back out to help them once Laurel was asleep.
And hopefully not get distracted. Maybe one day I’d convince her to have a honeymoon that didn’t involve so much secrecy or so many family members tagging along.
That day seemed almost impossible, and my spirits were a bit lower when she came back into my room, looking radiant in a dress I’d never seen before.
It was electric blue and hugged every inch of her from her knees to her neckline, both modest and so damn sexy at the same time. To cheer myself up, I pulled her close, nuzzling her ear and almost cracking my tooth on a big sapphire earring.
“They made me,” she said sheepishly. “I really did try not to spend too much, but then I thought I better make it seem real, or else you’d look like a cheapskate.”
I had to press my lips together to keep from reminding her that this was real. “It’s all perfect on you,” I said. “You look amazing. And thanks for keeping my reputation intact.”
“I don’t need any of this, you know,” she said, blushing at the compliment.
“I know. That’s why I want to give you everything.”
“Stop, or we’ll make everyone sick,” she said, a bit of the same wistfulness in her tone that had welled up in me.
I kissed her hard and then again when she complained about her lipstick. “You’re just as pretty without it. Now let’s go have some fun and ditch those old folks as fast as we can so we can come back here and have more fun.”
“Jenna and CJ are our ages,” she said.
“My cousins are more like uncles, but if you keep suggesting wine, maybe we can get them to let loose. Or else they’ll pass out, and the girls will have to take them home where they belong.”
As much as I complained, dinner was great, and I was happy to see Lev and Mat again.
They weren’t the old fogies I made them out to be to Laurel, and they actually started pissing me off, taking turns dragging her up to the dance floor at the restaurant.
Once Jenna and CJ realized I was getting jealous, they only egged their husbands on.
“You two are as bad as my sister, trying to rile me up,” I said affectionately.
“When you grow up with an overbearing sister like Katie,” Jenna said, “you learn a thing or two about teasing.”
I had forgotten that she was Aleks’s wife’s younger sister, and how Katie and Nat were best friends before they got married, with Nat being so outraged that her dad would dare to marry someone her age that the whole family almost imploded.
Jenna tried to tell the story to Laurel, who got confused and couldn’t keep up, blaming it on too much wine.
“No, I can hardly keep up, and they’re my family,” I said. “When all this news was coming back to Moscow, none of us could keep track.”
Of course Katie and Nat were best friends again, and the stories kept flowing, my loyal cousins resolutely staying quiet about anything remotely related to the Bratva.
We were having such a good time I almost forgot I hadn’t settled anything with Laurel’s ex and all of my questions were still unanswered.
When I was sitting beside Laurel, my arm slung around the back of her chair and her soft hair brushing against my arm when she leaned back to laugh, none of it mattered. Just her.
What started as a curiosity-driven obsession was turning into so much more at a rate of speed I couldn’t slow down if I wanted to. Something that was becoming as necessary to me as oxygen.