Chapter Thirty
JAX
WHEN I open the door to Dimitri and Vasilei standing on the front porch of the ranch with two men behind them, relief washes over me. I’ve been fucking pacing the floor for almost eighteen hours, waiting for them to get here.
Vasilei steps in first, a smile on his face, and grabs my shoulders to hug me. Speaking our language, he says, “Rumor is that our Brana is in love.” He pulls away and holds me at arm’s length. “I think love looks good on you, cousin. I’m happy to see you.”
Vasilei’s good humor was always something I envied. He always knows when to turn it up or down, and right now, he is trying to tell me everything is going to be okay without actually saying it. I hug him back, but he holds on just a fraction longer than he normally would.
Dimitri, not being the affectionate type, claps his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “Is the transmitter still in the same location?”
That is how he operates, go directly to the issue, small talk was never his thing. His hand on my shoulder is equivalent to him telling me it will be okay.
I nod and try to hide my anxiety. Dimitri sees it and squeezes my shoulder again. “We will get her back, cousin. I already called our Pakhan, who is reaching out to Baschini to get this fucking situation under control.”
Even though he always swore against it, Dimitri got married last year, to the Pakhan’s niece, so, he has that little extra pull that might be needed.
He turns and waves his hand at the two men behind him. “I brought two of my most trusted with me. This is Andrej and Melos.”
They both give me a chin lift.
Boots scraping on the hardwood behind me have us all turning to the Harlow men. Vasilei and Dimitri step deeper into the entryway, it’s not lost on me that a clash in culture is happening right in front of me in the foyer.
“Dimitri, Vasilei, this is Marley’s brothers, Gray and Mason and her father, Mr. Harlow.” I turn to Dimitri. “Mason is my teammate I’ve told you about.”
Mason steps up and shakes their hands. His familiarity with different people and cultures throughout the world, which we experience with work, already has him at ease. Mr. Harlow follows Mason’s lead, knowing that his son would never steer him wrong.
When Dimitri shakes Mr. Halow’s hand, he switches to English. “It is good to meet you, Mr. Harlow. Brana has told us much about you and your family. Especially your Marley.”
Mr. Harlow immediately relaxes and chuckles with a shake of his head. “Unfortunately, Jax just told us about you yesterday. But it’s good to meet you, anyway.”
Dimitri’s face turns serious. “It is an unfortunate effect of being born into a cruel world, we have a habit of not showing our cards.”
Gray’s fear of the whole situation and the word ‘Bratva’ shows in the lines of concern on his face and he hangs back, watching the whole scene. I explained some of the inner workings of how my cousins operate earlier, which set him at ease some, but Gray will always be overly cautious.
Just to be a dick, Vasilei steps toward Gray while looking at me. “Is this the grumpy Gray we have heard about?”
I want to fucking punch him in the throat.
Gray scowls.
Vasilei is trying to break the tension, but he doesn’t realize that Gray is a tough nut. Dimitri scowls at Vasilei and pushes him out of the way to extend his hand to Gray. “Please excuse my cousin, he has always been a jokester.”
Taking his hand, Gray huffs. “He and Mason will get along great then.
Mason feigns offence. “Hey, now just wait a minute.”
Dimitri smiles. Holy fuck, he actually smiles. “Then you know all about what a pain in the ass they can be.”
Some of the tension around Gray’s eyes eases. “Every fucking day.”
Mr. Harlow clears his throat and leads us all into the kitchen and is the first to speak. He turns on Dimitri and asks, “So, how are we going to get my daughter back?”
Vasilei stands in his usual spot to Dimitri’s right and just behind, with his hands in his pockets. I’m willing to bet that his fingers are touching knives seated in scabbards sewn into his pants.
Our fathers taught all three of us how to hide our weapons on us when we were still in Serbia. Before they died, we all could hit a target with our knives dead-on from ten yards.
Always the largest of the three of us, Dimitri crosses his hands in front of him, making his pecs strain against his shirt. His specialty is MMA fighting, and he has his own gym in Brooklyn. It started as a way to launder money, but it turned into a great resource to train his men.
“Baschini has told his men to return the girls by sundown today, if they have not, we have permission to take matters into our own hands.” He rolls his neck from one shoulder to the other. “They are aware that we have the local Bratva ready to back us up.”
Mason is leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed. “We have an aerial view of the warehouse, and our tech guy will be watching with an infrared drone.”
Not liking what I am hearing, I step up to Dimitri. “Anything could happen in that time. It’s already been too long.”
He turns to me and speaks in our tongue.
“Cousin, there must be order or lives are lost. Not only here, but in my ranks as well, should Baschini decide to retaliate.” He is aware of what Marley has already been through and it pisses me off that he’s not as ready to go as I am.
“I know you are angry, but I am doing everything I can to make this as friendly as possible.”
Anger bubbles in my chest and I fist my hands at my sides as I look at the wedding ring tattoo on his finger.
With my teeth clenched, I respond in our language.
“I don’t give a fuck about being friendly, Dimitri.
And, I don’t care about retaliation, they could be hurting her as we speak.
They have already been told to return her, you know as well as I do that if he hasn’t already, he doesn’t plan to. ”
We are in a standoff, his gaze moves over my face.
I know he is in agreement with me, but he’s a Bratva Captain, he always has been, ensuring the best possible course of action and outcome is as much a part of him as his ruthlessness.
“Surely you know the fear that comes with being responsible for another, someone you love more than anything.”
He only nods, his eyes locked on mine. After what happened to our families, Dimitri vowed against any emotional ties besides us and his sister. So, when he got married, I was surprised to hear it.
The thought of being able to call Marley my wife sends a thrill through me, but my mind takes it one step further and imagines her with child. My child. Beautiful blond children with blue eyes. My heart starts beating harder with fear so strong that it makes it hard to breathe.
What if I never get that chance?
The familiar feeling of my skin itching and stretching with fury about to boil over moves over my body and I step up to Dimitri. “I have waited long enough. Either we leave together now, or I will go by myself.”
His eyes move between mine for several seconds. He knows I will go without him, and he also knows that my patience is all but gone. He switches back to English. “It could not hurt to go to this place and take a look around. Get our bearings as we decide our next steps.”
Dimitri’s phone buzzes, and he turns away from us to answer it. “Da.”
I listen to the one-sided conversation in our tongue. It sounds like ‘D’ may be in some shit with the Italians. He’s pissed off his boss. From the sounds of it, he was told to forget the girl, but he decided to act on his own.
He turns after he ends the call, looking down at his phone to send a text, and then his eyes find me.
“It seems that ‘D’ has been quite the pain in the ass since his release from jail, he has angered some of the wrong people. They have given permission to deal with it, but it is not clear how many men he has with him. I have requested some of our local men to help.”
Mason steps forward. “I can help. I’m familiar with this type of operation.”
Dimitri shakes his head and holds his hand up when Gray steps forward to argue. “Only my men will go. We will keep this between outfits and take care of the threat to your family.”
“The fuck they will. She is my sister, and I won’t leave her safety in the hands of someone I don’t know.” Mason barks and steps toward Dimitri. With both of their skills in MMA, a part of my brain wonders who would win.
The anger on Dimitri’s face quickly turns to understanding. He is fiercely protective of his own sister, Sasha, who he raised after the death of his mother and brother in Serbia and then his father after we came to America. He won’t let anyone in the outfit near her.
“I understand the need to protect a sister. I also have a sister who is very dear to me, but these men, they will seek retribution if any mistakes are made that leave even one alive.”
Mason’s eyes narrow. “I don’t make mistakes. I’m a sniper, I can keep you all safe from above.”
Dimitri turns to me and lifts his eyebrows. I nod. “He’s saved my ass many times.”
Turning back to Mason, he nods. “Okay, but you have to stay out of sight.” Turning back to me, he gives me a chin lift. “Do I need to worry about you?”
The anger that’s been coursing through me since that fucker grabbed Marley is keeping the fear of what could be happening to her at bay. I know what he is talking about, he doesn’t want me to lose control. “I’ll be fine, but D is mine.”
He only nods and turns to his men to tell them to get ready.
When we get to the warehouse, the sun is high in the sky and hot. I don’t know where Mason is, but I can feel him watching me. We stick to the shadows. The heat has sweat sliding down my back and chest.
The warehouse is close to the shipping ports and is sitting on a large, graveled piece of land. Forklifts are scattered around the building next to pallets of steel sheets, large wooden boxes, and pipes.
Around the edge of the graveled area are trees.
Trees up to the river and between the next warehouse about a quarter mile away.
The tracking device on Marley’s necklace says she’s in this warehouse and Spits was able to get an aerial view from a satellite.
The building is pretty straightforward, just a warehouse.
There are several cars pulled up to one of the bay doors, which is closed, one of which is the black charger. Stupid fuck. Everybody knows you don’t use your personal car for business, but it sounds like he has gone rogue, so he must not have a choice.
Vasilei and I break away from Dimitri. The men he brought with him and two more men who were sent by the local outfit are surrounding the building.
I give Vasilei a chin lift before we creep up to the cars sitting in the shade of the trees by the building.
I go to D’s Charger and he sneaks up behind the car on the other end of the line of cars.
Dropping to my knee and pulling my backpack off, I pull out cloth and lighter fluid. It feels like old times back in Brooklyn when Vasilei and I worked together. I won’t lie, there is a part of me that misses working with my cousins and the type of danger that world offers.
A thrill runs through me when I pull the cloth out of the bag and start to twist it. Knowing what’s coming next is like a balm to the biggest fucking itch imaginable inside my head. I don’t even realize I’m smiling.