Page 33 of Capturing Victory

“Did our wee canary start singing yet?” Keane asked while continuing to scan the high-rise buildings across from them.

Ivan snorted. He didn’t enjoy the familiarity with which Keane spoke of Jaya, but he didn’t correct the Irishman. He knew Keane did it partially to irritate Ivan and any reaction Ivan gave was a point to his asshole second-in-command. Ivan also recognized an admiration from Keane toward Jaya, and Keane didn’t tend to admire anyone that couldn’t either arm wrestle him to the ground or drink him under a table, preferably both. Hell, Keane was still on the fence about Ivan because he refused to drink himself stupid with the men. His admiration toward Jaya might keep her a little safer while under their care, which is why Ivan allowed the offensive familiarity.

“A little,” Ivan said shortly.

Keane chortled. “Very helpful, boss. Considering I’m supposed to find the bastard that blew up your island. Feel like elaborating?”

Ivan felt like telling his man to go fuck himself. He didn’t enjoy any type of conversation unless he was talking to Jaya. He sure as hell didn’t explain himself to others. He gave instructions and issued orders, which were then immediately carried out. Now that Jaya was under their care the dynamics were beginning to change. They had to work together to ensure her safety and the security of Ivan’s holdings.

He nodded and leaned against the edge of the balcony. “She calls him ‘Father.’ He’s Caucasian, though that doesn’t tell us much except that he’s not native to India. She’s been with him since she was thirteen and believes that he rescued her from life on the streets. I don’t think the relationship was physically abusive, though it was damn sure emotionally abusive.”

“Brainwashed,” Keane muttered succinctly.

Ivan pushed himself back. “She hasn’t said much, but it would seem she’s torn between a lifetime of being told I’m an evil prick who needs to be destroyed and seeing for herself that I won’t hurt her.”

Keane snorted his laughter. “Except you are an evil prick and you’ve hurt the girl several times since you’ve had her. What? You plan on brainwashing her the other way now? Convince the girl that life as a caged bird is preferable to the hate her so-called father was spewing? Good luck with that.”

“Fuck you, man,” Ivan growled, but there was laughter in his voice. He couldn’t deny Keane’s observation. The Irishman had a knack for cutting straight through bullshit. Ivan was convinced if he hadn’t employed the man, he would’ve eventually ended up dead by saying the wrong thing to the wrong slaver.

“She say anything useful at all?” Keane pushed.

“She was grabbed while picking pockets on the streets of Mumbai. Her so-called father snatched her after she cloned his phone and emptied his accounts,” Ivan couldn’t keep the pride from his voice as he recounted the story. “She was still a child when she was fleecing grown men out of their gadgets and scamming all their money.”

Keane forgot to keep his laser focus on the opposite building. He threw his head back and laughed. “That’s our girl!” he chortled. “Can you imagine the things she could do for us if she were brought to heel? God damn!”

Ivan suppressed the grin threatening to break through his icy exterior and simply nodded. Yes, the thought of how much Jaya could help him grow his empire had certainly crossed his mind when he’d seen exactly how powerful her brain really was. But he’d also been given a taste of the devastation she could cause as well. Unfortunately, Jaya’s mind was twisted with the hatred of another person and until Ivan was able to trace the source of the man who called himself her father, he couldn’t risk allowing her free reign in his organization. Perhaps never. She was like dynamite; small, hot, unstable, unpredictable and ready to go off if placed in the wrong spot. No, Ivan was going to have to be very careful with this woman. She was too important to risk.

“For now, we protect her. Forget any thoughts of using her,” Ivan said, his voice hardening. “There’s no doubt that this Father person is willing to sacrifice her to get to me.”

The humour drained from Keane’s expression and he shifted back to guard mode, scanning the evening for threats. “Of course, boss. Nothing happens to the woman.”

Ivan turned away and strode back across the deck. He stopped next to the pool and looked down at the water, backlit by blue lights beneath the surface. It was an inviting prospect on a hot and humid Indonesian evening, though he rarely swam. It seemed he was often too busy working to make time for leisure pursuits unless they were directly related to physical training. While swimming was a physical activity, he preferred to work out with his men. Not for the social aspect, but to make sure the regime was tough enough. He wanted his men in top physical shape, able to take on any type of combat threat that came at them. He and Keane worked with them until they could handle themselves with ballistic weapons and in hand-to-hand situations.

Ivan stepped back from the pool and glanced up, as if drawn to look toward Jaya’s room, though he wasn’t expecting to see her. He stopped moving the moment his eyes landed on her. She was watching him, had probably been watching him for awhile, a slice of light from the bedroom behind her giving her a halo. She was sitting on the top of the balcony, her arms crossed over her chest, her bare thigh curled over the edge. She was wearing one of his T-shirt’s, probably the only thing she could dig up besides a sari.

Anger surged through Ivan as he watched Jaya carelessly place her life in danger yet again. From the way she lifted her brow and the stubborn set to her shoulders he could tell she was doing it on purpose, bucking her new cage. Ivan took the stairs two at a time as he headed toward the master bedroom, intent on dragging Jaya off the ledge and spanking her ass. Would he now have to lock her away from the balcony too? Fuck, she was a handful. And fuck if he wasn’t enjoying every move they made across the chess board. Even the small ones.

He unlocked the bedroom door and strode inside. Siti met him at the door. She was wringing her hands, apologies spilling from her lips. “I tried to get her to come down, Sir, but she is very stubborn. I couldn’t use the discipline as I feared I would shock her right off the ledge.”

Ivan’s fury nearly boiled over at the thought of this woman, whom he’d hired and instructed to watch over Jaya, using the bracelets to keep her in line. He’d hoped the woman would bond with Jaya, act as a mother figure to her. He’d given her control to the bracelets as a last resort, to stop Jaya from leaving. Not to shock her at will.

“Get the fuck out,” he snarled, positive that if he spent another moment in her presence he would murder her. The only thing stopping him was his need to get Jaya off the ledge quickly. That and he didn’t want Jaya to have to see another dead body just when she was getting used to a softer side of him.

Siti ran toward the door. Ivan grabbed her wrist, held it up and removed the device from her hand. “How many times have you shocked her?” he asked coolly. He was beginning to suspect Jaya was partially out on the balcony to escape the old woman’s presence.

Fear flashed across her wrinkled face. “I truly don’t know, sir. You told me to discipline the young Miss if she tried to escape and she had many thoughts of this kind. I tried to keep the setting low and only punish when she truly deserved.”

Ivan kept his thoughts well shuttered so as not to alarm the woman. He released her wrist so he wouldn’t be tempted to snap it. “I want you to go find Keane and describe each time you were forced to discipline your charge. Please be precise. He will want details.”

Keane had a good stomach and he wasn’t picky about his victims. He also had a strong sense of poetic justice. There was a good chance Siti was about to find out exactly how electroshock jolts felt while she was detailing her brief time with Jaya. He watched dispassionately as she scurried from the room, glad to escape the psychotic boss and his feral woman.

Ivan continued to the balcony, pushing the hangings back. He wasn’t worried about startling Jaya, she knew he was coming the moment she spotted him by the pool. She didn’t bother looking back at him, though she must have heard him approach. He stepped up to her, wrapped a hand firmly around her upper arm and held her. He wanted to haul her off the ledge, shake her and demand she stop putting herself in dangerous situations. But he also desperately wanted to understand what made Jaya tick.

“How many times did Siti shock you?” he asked quietly.

She turned to look at him, a frown creasing her lovely features. “Who?”

“The old woman.”

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