Page 16 of Bound by Blood

They lifted their shots.

“Bezopasnoye puteshestviye, moy brat.”

Safe journey, my brother.

They drank and set their glasses back on the desk. Vlad sat back in his chair again and ran a hand over his short-cropped hair. The scar that ran down from his scalp to his chin marred an otherwise good-looking face, giving him a chilling visage. He eyed Boris with concern. “You will take good care while you are overseas, my friend? There is still an absurdly large bounty on your head.”

Boris flashed him a grin. “Fuck bounty, I long to see my homeland. To taste my old nanny’spirozhkionce more.”

Vlad laughed. Not something he did before Jane’s appearance in his life. It was good to see the tiny firecracker lightening up her too-serious husband. “You think with your stomach, old friend.”

“It takes a lot of calories to maintain this much bulk,” Boris defended, flexing his biceps. It was true. Vlad had picked up the bill more than once when they’d eaten out together.

The smile slid from Vlad’s face. “I don’t like it.”

Neither man spoke. They didn’t need to. They knew this call would come. They both understood that eventually Boris would have to go back and fight for his birthright. It didn’t make it right though. Boris would be walking into a bloody war with no idea who his friends and who his enemies were. If he could, Vlad would keep Boris in America, safe at his side. But he knew it wasn't a fair thing to demand of a man who was his equal by birth and by honour. Russia was a trap. They both knew it. Yet Boris would go anyway.

“I’m on the no-fly list,” Boris pointed out. They were both high up in the Russian mafia and as such, subject to federal regulations putting them on the watch list. Boris had been in prison twice making, his ability to fly even more difficult.

Vlad snorted. “Fuck the list. I will take care of your transportation. I have a cargo ship leaving harbour in two days. I’ll ensure your place on it.”

Boris nodded his gratitude. The reality of leaving in two days began to set in. He dropped his head between his hands and rubbed his face wearily, hunching his massive shoulders. Tattoos rippled down his arms and across his flexed knuckles.

Vlad studied him contemplatively. “What will you do about the girl?”

Boris lifted his head and looked at his boss with heavy eyes. If Jane were not in the picture, this conversation could not happen. But Vladimir would understand. “She is my future,” he said simply.

Vlad nodded, satisfied with his answer. They were men cut from the same cloth. They did not live easily and they did not love easily. The women they chose might fight, but in the end, they would surrender. “You will take her with you?”

Boris smiled grimly. “I have tried wooing her and she has resisted me at every turn. I have enjoyed the chase, but one way or another, she will leave on that ship with me.”

Vlad flashed him a grin and shook his head. “I do not know if I envy you, my friend. She is at least as deadly as my lovely wife. You will spend almost two weeks in a small cabin with her. Take my advice and make sure she has no way to create weapons out of anything. Or nothing.”

Both men laughed heartily. Jane Sitnikov, after all, had managed to turn something as innocuous as a toilet against her husband.

***

“No, absolutely not,” Laney said vehemently.

“Please,” Claudia begged, batting long mascaraed eyelashes at her young, deadly bodyguard. “Just one? I’m about to go to New Zealand on my honeymoon. You’re about to go to Japan to visit your family. We won’t see each other for a whole month! Who will it possibly hurt?”

Laney kept the desk between them and glared murderously at the tall, beautiful blond woman. “The last time I let you hug me you cried and nearly ruined your wedding makeup. You almost made me cry. This hugging thing is unacceptable.Everyonearound here wants hugs. Hugging isnotpart of my contract.”

Claudia looked stricken and then nodded slowly, hanging her head. Her bottom lip quivered slightly and she said quietly, “I understand. You don’t want to cross that line with me. You… you’d rather just be employee and employer.”

Laney tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling causing her braids to slither over her back. She sighed heavily. She was being played. Again.

“Fine,” she snapped in annoyance. “You may hug me.”

“Thank you!” Claudia squealed, flying around the desk toward her.

“Just one!” Laney yelled as Claudia enveloped her in a flowery scented hug. She was much taller than Laney in her high heels, so Laney’s head was cushioned on Claudia’s generous breasts.

“Now this would make nice video,” a deep, accented voice said from the doorway.

“Don’t you dare, Russian,” Laney snarled, extricating herself from Claudia who was sniffling and patting Laney’s back like they were never going to see each other again.

Laney snapped a tissue from the desk and handed it to Claudia who dabbed at her eyes and turned to Boris with a bright smile. “It’s so good to see you again. Thank you so much for the wedding gift. $500 to Victoria’s Secret was both over the top and uniquely designed to piss off my husband.”

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