Page 49 of Fiercely Protective

“Are you alright? Don’t you dare faint!”

I closed my eyes briefly. “I’m not going to faint. Why does everyone think I’m going to faint? After everything I have been through, you should know by now that I am not that fragile. I just needed a moment. So, will you tell me? Is that the reason he is here tonight, to find out who was following us? Was it…Tony?”

Blaze frowned and grumbled something under his breath. “He is here for another reason, little one. Not for the man that was after you, not tonight anyway.”

I tried to turn my attention back to the gala and the people in attendance. I had always been a people watcher, but tonight my eyes kept drifting to only one man. Even with my giant lurking bodyguard blocking my view, I still managed to catch a glimpse of him again. The conversation he was having was turning serious, the man he was speaking with began sweating profusely and took out a handkerchief to wipe his brow, but Rogue maintained his casual, yet superior demeanor.

As if he could sense me watching, his head turned in my direction. I stepped back and turned away, hoping he didn’t think I had been staring at him the entire time, which for the most part I had.

Blaze’s deep voice startled me. “Would you like a drink?”

I couldn’t stop the snarky reply that slipped out. “Am I allowed?”

“I just thought you might be thirsty. Staring at Rogue the way you have been doing the past few minutes has to have made your mouth dry. Not to mention your extracurricular activities in the car.”

I took a step away. “I wasn’t staring. And I wasn’t looking at him anyway. I was watching someone else.”

“I would watch my words if I were you, little one. Rogue has proven to be quite jealous. I have never seen that part of him before, but if his jealousy is like everything else about him, it will be intense and consuming. Games can prove to be dangerous.”

I glanced back toward the bar, but Rogue was no longer there. He was walking back in our direction, and from the look on his face, the news or information he had received was not good.

Rogue

“You are being paid well for what you are about to tell me, Sevan. It had better be worth it. Why is the Armenian mob making a move on my city?”

Sevan took a drink and looked toward the door as if he were afraid someone would walk in at any moment and discover him talking to me. “It is not a unified effort and not supported by most of us in the family. It’s these young men coming into power. They don’t want to work for anything anymore. Their fathers built up their empires and they are burning them to the ground as soon as they come into power.”

He took another drink. “Petros Sargsyan took over the family business after his father Hayk’s death last year. His father was a friend of mine. He worked hard to build up his family business; he was ruthless but fair. Petros is nothing like him. He doesn’t want to put in the work and is too busy running around trying to pretend he isScarface. He is arrogant, foolish, and merciless. He was always cruel as a child but is worse now that he is the leader of the family. He was Hayk’s only son, so he has no one to challenge his authority.”

“None of which is my business. But coming into my city and trying to make trouble with the intention of taking from me and my organization is beyond foolish.”

He shook his head in agreement. “Many of us close to the family believe so as well. But Petros wants to take it all: Chicago, Vegas, even the Italians in New York. To say he is ambitious is an understatement.”

“Ambitious is the wrong word. Foolish and reckless is more apt. But you should not be concerned with the Bratva or the Italians. Petros will not survive me.”

“There are a few of us that will be pleased to see him meet his end. That was why I came to you.”

I looked across the room and saw that Blaze was keeping watch over Bri. “Do you know his next move?”

I listened as he detailed what Petros Sargsyan had planned. If the information Sevan had given me was correct, the young Armenian was not only preparing to attack my organization but Nickolai’s as well. At least I now knew who specifically was behind the threat and a timeline for the next attack. The ambitious young fool was planning to burn my warehouses and my nightclubs to the ground, disrupt shipments, and of course, kill me as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Sevan also confirmed that I had been the original target at the club the night Nikolai was attacked.

I had been forced to eliminate threats before, that was nothing new. But this time it was different…because I had her. The thought of Bri being hurt or taken from me because of some ambitious young punk wanting to make a name for himself made me furious. So, I needed to end this before the danger got closer to her than it already was.

I would have to increase security more than I had already. Blaze would organize the men that worked for me and sinceAlessio was partners with me in our newest nightclub, I would need to inform him. Not that I needed his help, but it was his business interests that were threatened too. If the Armenian nuisance wasn’t enough, I also had to find Tony Galante, the man who was searching for Bri and sent the car to follow us this morning. I can’t deny that I would take great pleasure in bringing him death.

But all of that could wait. Tonight, I had more pressing matters. Blaze could start preparing for what needed to be done to thwart Petros and the threat he posed. I had restrained myself for as long as possible. My beautiful but reluctant wife stood off to the side of the ballroom, looking more tempting than any woman I had ever seen before, and she was all mine.

The crowd parted as I pushed through it. Her expressive eyes locked with mine, and I wasn’t certain if I would permit her to walk out on her own accord or swoop her up into my arms. The latter would more than likely cause more of a stir than I was comfortable with, but at this point, I wasn’t sure how much I cared.

Blaze had a drink in his hand, but when he saw me headed in his direction, he threw it back and swallowed the contents in one gulp.

“What did Sevan have to say?”

I grabbed Bri’s hand. “Go speak with him, he is waiting for you. You will want to call Nik and make arrangements with him. We can talk tomorrow in the office at the penthouse. I am not certain the club is secure enough. I’ll send the driver back for you.”

“No need. I can find my way home.”

I followed his line of vision and saw a woman in a short red cocktail dress seductively eating the olive off the toothpick in her martini. He had found his prey for the evening.

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