Page 36 of The Bratva's Innocent Sold Bride
Shortly after the new band started playing, Anatoli came out, waiting patiently for his car. As soon as he pulled out of the drive, I followed him. Now that I knew he was hiding under a false persona, I might have been able to find out where Terrance Hendricks lived, but he was such a recluse, I didn’t want to risk it.
He didn’t pull up at a house, but a nondescript, three-story office building at the end of a nearly uninhabited road in San Jose. There was nowhere for me to hide if I wanted to keep following him, but I wasn’t about to start hiding now, or let him slip into that building without having a word with him.
I pulled up behind him, blocking him in unless he wanted to blow through the gates leading to his building. I had to assume it was his, because he waved away the armed guard who came up to let him through, and leaned against his car as if he were waiting.
“Anatoli,” I said, getting out and stalking over to him.
“I don’t know that person,” he said, calmly holding out his hand for me to shake. I declined, glaring at him. “I’m Terrance—”
“I know who you say you are,” I spat. “And I also know what you’ve been doing.”
He shook his head, feigning confusion. “In my research lab here? I doubt that unless you’ve got some very good industrial spies.”
“Cut the shit, Ovinko. I know who you are. I know your people have some things that belong to me, and that you’ve tried to destroy at least one of my properties.” I decided to show my hand. “And your brother has been causing trouble for me in Moscow recently, too. Do you think you’re going to win if your people start a war with mine?”
His gray eyes darkened, and he snapped his fingers, just as CJ snapped for her dog. As obedient as Artem, three men poured from the gatehouse, guns drawn. He glanced up, and I followed his gaze to see two snipers on the roof of his building, aiming their rifles at me.
Anatoli took a smooth step forward. “I was here first. Nothing here is yours, or will ever be yours. I suggest you go back to Moscow, and maybe things will settle down for you there.”
My fist clenched, my arm reared back. His three guards rushed forward, throwing open the gate as if to surround me, or shoot me through the head and end it, but Anatoli held up his hand. The men fell back a step, but their guns remained trained on me.
“Tell your wife I hope she takes to the long winters in Russia. She may think it gets cold up here, but a California girl like that has no idea what she's talking about. I myself greatly prefer it here.”
“Don’t ever speak about my wife again,” I growled, glaring past him at the armed men. I had my gun under my evening jacket, and I was fast, but not that fast. The snipers would put me down before I had the first guard laid flat.
“Goodbye, Matvey,” he said, then spoke in Russian. “Take my advice before it becomes an order.”
Boiling with fury, I watched him walk through the gates and into his building, which took him about a solid minute to enter all his codes. It had so much high-tech security, even with the massive overload of guards. What was he doing there?
I continued to glare at the guards, who closed the gate and calmly went back to their posts, unseen. But the snipers were still very much in view, so I backed away until I reached my car. I had a location and a face, but I was still at square one, and I didn’t like it.
The man was giving me orders to return to Moscow? Telling me he got here first like a child guarding his favorite chair in the lunchroom. Perhaps I acted in haste by confronting him so soon, but I was inordinately patient. I wouldn’t rush in again.
I started the car and turned on loud music to match my raging mood, but once I was getting closer to home, my ragebegan to dissipate, and I switched it off. The one thing Anatoli had going in his favor was his anonymity, and that was gone. Now that I could find him, I could take him out.
He would be the one on his way home to Moscow if I didn’t send him to the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a body bag first. No one who ever messed with a Fokin came out the victor, and Anatoli Ovinko wouldn’t be the first one.
Putting him out of my mind, I headed home, eager to see CJ and assure myself that she was safe. It sickened me that my enemy had spoken of her at all, but he’d never get close enough to touch her. He wouldn’t be anyone’s problem soon enough, and right now I had a promise to keep.
Chapter 23 - CJ
Realizing I wasn’t dreaming and that Mat wasn’t joking around, he really was leaving me on the doorstep like a discarded package, I went inside. Not even mad, really, more surprised. Maybe even a little worried.
Why would he rush out of the party like that when we were having such a good time? It was like the devil was after him. Or… he was chasing the devil. It was no use speculating. I wasn’t supposed to know, so I’d remain in the dark. The food had been amazing at the gala, but it had been a couple of hours since I had eaten anything from the fancy and overly decorative buffet.
I decided to drown my sorrows in some ice cream and headed for the kitchen, still half thinking that Mat was just running out for something he forgot, and he’d be back in a few minutes. No such luck, I was on my own. Not really, though, because when I wandered into the kitchen, Masha was there.
She hadn’t been home for days, and I almost forgot she existed, so I jumped a little to see anyone at that late hour. We greeted each other as I passed her to get to the freezer. She sat at the table, a box of cereal open in front of her, but no bowl, spoon, or milk. With a look on her face that oddly mirrored my own mood, she reached into the box and crammed a handful of dry flakes into her mouth.
“Oh, Masha,” I said, wincing at the loud crunch. “What kind of snack is that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t like milk.”
“But cornflakes? Not even something sweet like Froot Loops?”
My horror made her laugh, and I joined in, pulling out the tub of ice cream and then a bottle of wine from the fridge. I held up the wine to Masha, taking a chance since she looked as miserable as I was.
“Want to drink this and watch a stupid movie with me?”
