Page 66 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

It’s a weird feeling and it’ll take a while for me to process everything. I’m angry, but concern for her life and keeping her safe trumps the anger. Who she really is inside is what defines her as a woman, not where she comes from and not her past. That much I’ve learned from my own experience.

“I guess I’ll be upstairs in my room for the rest of the night then,” Elise says with a heavy sigh.

“That would be best,” Roman replies.

“Maybe someday you’ll be able to forgive me,” she says then turns away and takes her bag upstairs.

Oh, he’s pissed off and then some. I’m sensing some Shauna flashbacks. I can’t blame him for feeling this way; we’re all feeling it. The cold, sudden blow of hidden truths coming to light caught us off guard, but we’ve dealt with crises before.

The three of us linger in silence until we hear the door to her room close. James is the first to speak.

“For fuck’s sake!”

“I know,” I tell him. “It’s a touchy situation to say the least.”

“We can’t just let her run off,” he says, “not with these people coming after her.”

“I just want to know who to take out first,” Roman cuts in. “Kara? Igor? Which one?”

I sit down in the armchair. The seat is still warm from Elise. “Is no one concerned that we could be getting played again? Have we forgotten about Shauna’s lies?”

“Hold on, this is different,” James says, immediately springing to her defense. Truth be told, I can’t really compare the two situations either, but some thoughts need to be said aloud between the three of us, even if they don’t sit right. “Shauna had an agenda with me personally. Elise was just trying to protect herself and us in the process. Frankly, I probably would’ve done the same.”

“I don’t want her to leave, and I don’t want to lose her,” Roman says. “Plain and simple.”

“Neither of those things is going to happen,” James replies. “But we can’t go all gung ho on the Russian mafia either. We need a plan. We need to understand exactly who we’re up against, how they operate, and what we need to do to in order to keep Elise safe.”

I offer a slight nod of agreement as Roman adds more logs to the fire. Within minutes, the bright orange flames grow and swallow the wood, crackling and casting fresh heat across the room.

“I’m not sure Kara is aware of Igor’s movements,” I say.

“What’s Igor’s plan?” James asks. “He’s been here for a while but all he’s done is send her flowers. What’s his angle? His lack of action is concerning.”

“He’s trying to spook her,” Roman concludes. “He’s a textbook psychopath. Let’s not forget he was only twenty years old when he had Elise’s father and mother killed. He’s got a lot to lose if all of this gets out.”

“Then why hasn’t he killed her? He’s had plenty of opportunities,” I say.

Roman gives me a troubled look. “I think he’s afraid that if he does, all the evidence that Elise has against him will be made public.”

“There’s got to be something else, something we’re not seeing,” James agrees. “One thing is for certain, though. We need to get more of our guys down here for protection and not just for Elise. For my girls, too.”

“Fuck,” I mutter, scratching my beard. A couple of hours ago we were making sweet love to this incredible woman. Now, we’re wracking our brains to keep her from getting killed by her Russian mob husband. “How did we get to this point?”

Roman grunts and collapses onto the sofa, looking utterly defeated. “We need tight security around the house and the girls’ school first and foremost. The diner, too, just in case he tries to get to Elise there. Elise needs to go about her days the same as she has been. She needs to act like everything’s normal, so as not to stir up any suspicion on Igor’s part. We also need to inform the fellas we have assigned to Kara’s detail that they have to play a double front there.”

“What do you mean?” James asks. I’m just as confused.

“Kara doesn’t know that we know. She’s paying us to protect her, remember? We should find out who it is, specifically, that we’re protecting her from. And we should also keep a detailed log of her movements. That’s what our guys are there for, threat assessment.”

“You are absolutely right,” I tell him. “We have to get a line on Igor Konstantinov ASAP. If we find him first, we might be able to—”

“What, negotiate with that murdering piece of shit?” Roman scoffs.

“The Konstantinovs still have Elise’s brother,” James grimly reminds us. “Like I said, we can’t just threaten or shoot them up like its midday in Kosovo. We have to put together contingency plans if everything else fails.”

I take my phone out, searching for Tori’s number. “We should bring Tori in on this. I’ve got an idea.”

“Have her put together an undercover crew of thirty men and women. Civilian clothes only. Kevlar and earpieces; keep it discreet,” James says. “If we’re gonna beef up security, I don’t want Igor or his people to spot them.”

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