Page 43 of The Brigadier

I headed back. Too much time had been wasted. “I’m only going to make this suggestion to you once, kid. You’re not from here. Are you?”

He shook his head.

“That’s what I thought. Go back home wherever home is. I might be allowing you to live, which isn’t like me in the least given you threatened someone I care about. But the man who hired you is just as dangerous as my organization is. Plus, they won’t like the fact you failed.”

“I didn’t fail!”

“In their eyes you did. And they won’t allow that to go unpunished. You mentioned you have a sick mother. I doubt she’ll want to lose her only son. My men are going to escort you back to wherever you live before taking you to the train station and ensuring you get on safely. That’s my offer. If you leave of your own accord, you might live. But, if I happen to run into you again or if you were stupid enough to find yourself in a predicament like this and I found out, I wouldn’t go easy on you. In fact, I’d become your worst nightmare. Understood?”

He was shaking all over. “Yes, sir. Thank you. I just…”

“I know. You need the money. One piece of advice. If it seems too good to be true, it is.”

With that, I walked out after giving my men a look. Maxim knew better than to handle some form of punishment on his own. I’dbeen generous, maybe too much so, but my days of bloodlust were long past.

Maybe the truth was that I was jealous of what Aleksander and Vadim had. How had that become possible?

As I headed out, I noticed a call had come through. Given the warehouse was soundproof, it also didn’t allow for phone reception either.

I quickly dialed Vadim’s number.

“Hey, my Brigadier,” Vadim said as if feeling the need to remind me. “How’s the houseguest?” I’d at least let him know what the fuck was going on, including the stalker.

The entire situation was getting out of hand. “She’s settled, good with Damien.”

“Wow. Didn’t I mention you should look outside the box?’

“Yeah, well, this could be a dangerous situation.”

“Dangerous?” he asked, half laughing. “Why?”

“You know why.”

“Buddy, you need to rid yourself of that lust. It’s going to kill you.”

“We’ll see. Why did you call?”

He exhaled. “Drop by my house for a quick meeting. I briefed Aleksander and he’s had a brief chat with Raphaella.” If his wife knew anything about what was going on, it might stop a war before it began.

Maybe we were getting somewhere. “You’re at the house?”

“Yes. With everything going on right now, it’s better to be away from Manhattan. Plus, Caroline was missing the estate. You know how women are.”

“Yes, I do. I’ll be there in twenty.”

I was there in fifteen, punching the accelerator. I’d checked my phone again and called one of the soldiers at the house to make certain there wasn’t something going on. All was quiet. But I had a feeling that was subject to change.

As soon as I was on the front porch, the door opened and Caroline was there, greeting me as she always did.

“It feels like it’s been forever,” she said.

There hadn’t been a party in a long time, something both Vadim and Caroline had wanted to do. We’d simply been too busy. She opened the door wider, allowing me inside.

“I know. Time gets by. Have you had a chance to talk to Sofiya recently?”

“Last week. She’s doing so well in Italy, happy as can be. I’m hopeful she’ll come and stay for the holidays.”

Sofiya was her best friend, Vadim’s birth daughter. He also had an adopted one that was living in Miami the last I’d heard.

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