Page 20 of Falling for the Enemy

And it’s all because of Casper.

Along with the way he looks at Mina.

“Enough,” I snap, the command cutting through the tension filling the room like a hot scalpel. Their constant pissing contests are dancing all over my last nerve. Both may want Mina, but neither will ever have her. I’ll kill them first. “Casper, come with me, and Nikolai, you sit.”

Each obey, not daring to argue.

Needing a reprieve from the testosterone polluting the air, I walk out of the room, Casper following. In the kitchen, I stop at the island, surveying the mess that Nikolai has made. The flour dusting our marble countertops makes my right eye twitch.

Disorder is not something I tolerate well.

“I spoke to Viktor after dropping Anna off at school,” Casper says, temporarily distracting me from the urge to clean that’s eating at me. “He apologizes for his lack of intel regarding the Colombians moving into La Famiglia territory.”

Understanding the hidden meaning of his flat, emotionless words, I chuckle, the sound devoid of humor. “That’s good, but I have a question. After he apologized, did you kill him?”

“Nyet.”

I tilt my head, watching his expression. “Did you punish him?”

He dips his chin. “Da.”

“Good.” I grab a clean rag from the drawer to my right and wet it beneath the island’s faucet. “In Bratva life, mistakes and failures have consequences. Sometimes lethal ones. Clearly, Viktor needed to be reminded of such.” Cupping my hand and pressing it to the countertop’s edge, I wipe the flour into my palm. “What do you think we should do about the Colombians if they don’t leave?”

Casper exhales, his fingers rubbing circles on his temples. “Kill them.” His cold-blooded reply doesn’t surprise me. “Fighting two wars, the first with La Famiglia, the second with the cartel, won’t be easy. But if we wish to maintain our territory, as well as respect, doing so is a must.”

“We’ll need more men.”

He nods, knowing that I’m right and that several of us will die fighting if the Colombians don’t leave and we’re forced to walk this path. “I’ll call Brighton Beach, have Sergei send some down as repayment for the situation we helped him with last fall.”

I toss the soiled rag into the empty sink basin and rinse my hands, my thoughts racing. “Any word on Stefano?”

He shakes his head.

Wet palms landing on the countertop in a resounding slap, I force a breath, my chest tight with rage. “Where is that durak?” I shriek in question though I know I won’t be receiving the answer I seek. At least, not yet. “First he slips away, then Angelo disappears. People don’t just vanish into thin air!”

Briefly, I wonder if the cartel had a hand in his disappearance. Considering they now possess The Blue Ocean, the concern is valid, and one I needed an answer to.

Immediately.

“We’ll find them.” Casper’s confidence works to balance out my agitation as he hands me a clean kitchen towel, gesturing for me to dry my hands. “One way or another.”

I take the towel and dry up, allowing my eyes to momentarily slide closed as I fight to take a deep breath. I need to relax, to calm down. If I remain upset, I’ll frighten Mina, something that happens far too easily.

It’s the last thing I want.

Silence surrounds us, cloaking me in its chilly embrace and helping to slow the gallop of my racing, infuriated heart. Too bad Casper shatters it a second later, the words he speaks helping to knock me right back off my axis.

“You were being watched last night.”

My head snaps up as he pulls the towel from my hands and throws it into the small linen basket that sits on the far counter.

“By whom?”

“The Colombian,” he answers. “For close to an hour, he sat parked on the highway bridge, watching you through binoculars.”

The revelation is only a partial surprise.

After I’d gotten home from The Blue Ocean and showered, I’d sat in my reading chair, a dog-eared romance novel that I borrowed from Mina in one hand, a glass of chilled cabernet in the other.

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