Page 9 of Venus

“Gettin’ stiff, old man?” Sting smirked at me, and I scowled.

“Ain’t too old to beat your ass for the young whippersnapper you are.”

Sting burst out laughing and I chuckled with him. “Stay here as long as you like, Piston. We’ll protect you and Venus if necessary. She might as well be one of mine. Lord knows if she asked to patch in, I’d never tell her no. Tzars don’t usually patch women, but for Venus, I’d make an exception and dare anyone to go against me.”

“I’ll remember that. Might take you up on it.”

“Do me a favor, will you?” Sting stood then, moving around his desk.

“Name it.”

“When you find him next time, kill the bastard. Fuckers like him don’t deserve to live.”

“We’ll get him, and we’ll make sure it’s permanent.”

With those words hanging between us, I left Sting’s office for my own room in the compound, located conveniently next to Venus’s. Something Sting said during our conversation was bugging me and I needed to put it to rest. Wylde told him Sting he thought there had been someone helping him get what he needed on Zaitsev. I had the feeling I knew who that help was.

Taking out a satellite phone, I sent a message to the only contact in the phone.

Me:Victor Zaitsev. You helping with the intel?

It was a couple minutes before there was a reply.

Giovanni Romano:Yes. Venus?

Me:With me at Tzars.

Giovanni Romano:She’s a big girl.

Me:You’re a big ass.

Giovanni, the bastard, got a kick out of knowing Venus was the woman I’d chosen for myself. He said my infatuation with her was the reason he decided he never wanted a woman of his own. He said he was content watching Alexi and Azriel dance around their women and to load up their kids with pixie sticks before sending them home. I didn’t point out Alexi and Azriel’s kids were adults now. Mainly because that would have reminded the other man how they’d nearly lost Alexi and Merrily’s daughter, Bellarose a year ago. Had lost the child she’d been carrying.

Bellarose, more than anyone, seemed to be a beacon for Venus, since the attack on the Tzars compound by a man named Milo Hutch. That man was long dead, but I think what happened to Rose and to Eagle’s woman, Nyla, was so similar to Venus’ situation she would keep being drawn to Iron Tzars. She had a connection with the women in this club she didn’t have anywhere else. Hutch had used Nyla much the same way Victor used girls. Hutch was just more of a pimp than Victor. Both evil, but Victor Zaitsev was on a whole other level.

Time to get a couple hours sleep. I needed to reset my brain and body. And God knew I’d need strength of mind and body to deal with Venus when she decided she was going back on the hunt. Whenever that happened to be, I intended to be with her every step of the way.

Chapter Five

Venus

It took five days for Wylde to be satisfied he had everything in place to keep Victor holed up in quaint little house in Belle Meade, just outside of Nashville, Tennessee. By “quaint”, I mean estate in elite neighborhood. But it was enclosed with locked gate that made it convenient for bastard to lie low for as long as he wanted. He had all creature comforts he needed to not have to leave and not have to think about fact he was being hunted. Call it luxurious prison.

I’d thought about blazing, leaving Piston at Iron Tzars, but he would have followed me. Better to know where he was than have him interrupt something important.

It took me and Piston roughly six hours to get from Evansville, Indiana and Iron Tzars to Nashville. We stopped on outskirts to find place to park vehicle where we could make quick getaway and still be hidden. When I was satisfied I was ready to go, we made our way to the estate to stake out place and get feel for general routine of occupants.

“I don’t like this.” As usual, Piston was being buzz kill.

“No one said you had to be here. Besides, your own tech guys said this was best place and best time.” We didn’t look at each other. He had field glasses to his face, likely going over our entry and exit routes. I was accessing new thermal imaging update Giovanni wanted me to try. My brain wasn’t used to processing it all yet, so I had dull ache behind my eyes and knew I was going to have to give my vision a break soon.

Everyday use as simple colored contacts was no problem, but activating enhancements could send me into migraine if I wasn’t careful. Testing update had seemed like good idea given we had short amount of time to find Victor and be off property, but I might have underestimated how badly new spectrum would affect my vision. Probably difficult for my brain to process the drastic change.

“Nope,” was his only reply.

I sighed, rubbing my temples to ease ache building in my head. “Listen, Piston, I’m not thrilled about setup either, but it’s our best shot. Victor’s not going to stay put forever.”

Piston grunted, lowering his binoculars momentarily to look at the property as whole before putting them back. “Yep.”

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