Page 55 of Surrogate for the Bratva
“You know why I like you, Igor?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “You look like a fucking corporate drone in your fancy suits and perfectly styled hair. You speak like a fucking royal half the time too, but at the end of the day you’re just as ruthless asthe next guy. No wait, fuck that you’re the most ruthless white boy I know.”
A slow smile spread across my face. “Thank you but flattery will not help you get a better deal. I’m charging half price per kilo of moon rocks and China white.”
“Fifty percent off? Per kilo?” His eyes got so wide that I had to stifle a smile. “Is this shit for real?”
I nodded. “I’m not an idiot hence the slashed price tag but I don’t care about the money. All I care about is that someone else is taking dollars from Voronov. It hurts him and that pleases me, if it helps you then that works for me too.”
Darius snapped his fingers twice and two of his men moved toward their van. “I’ll take everything you have at that price.”
I turned over my shoulder and nodded for Ivan and Mikhail to bring the product into the room. “If you can carry it all, it’s yours.” All that mattered to me was that Dmitry felt the sting of my vengeance each and every fucking day that I allowed him to see another sunrise because the clock was ticking on his last.
Darius had one of his men count the cash and within thirty minutes the deal was done, and the warehouse was silent. “If you need backup, don’t be too fucking stubborn to reach out.” Darius extended his hand out to me, and I accepted it.
“I am stubborn, but I also possess a strong survival instinct.”
“My man,” he replied with a laugh, giving me one more squeeze before he released me and left me alone.
Mikhail leaned against the black Audi with a cigarette in one hand and his phone in the other, talking in hushed tones that gave me pause. It took more than a minute before he realized I was there and when he did, he quickly ended the call and gave me his attention. “Need me to take care of the cash?”
He was a little too eager and I needed to be careful. “No. Ivan will take the cash toLe Caviar House,” I ordered. “Send me the counts as soon as you have them.”
“Yeah, boss.” Ivan nodded and locked the bags into the hidden compartment in the trunk. “Anything else?”
“When you’re done, get some rest.” As soon as the painkillers kicked in Ivan was back to work and while I appreciated the work ethic, I needed my men healthy and able while we dealt with the Voronov problem.
“On it.” Ivan jogged around the other car and slipped behind the steering wheel, tapping the horn twice before he took off, taking care to use his turn signal to avoid drawing the attention of the law.
I stood at the back door for a full minute while Mikhail stared at me like a fucking deer caught in headlights. “Oh shit, sorry, boss.” He flashed an apologetic smile and rushed around to open the door. “Still getting used to being Maxim.”
I wanted to tell him that he would never be Maxim but even I recognized that would be too harsh. Mikhail was just a tad too eager, which was always a problem with young soldiers. They wanted more action, more responsibility before they’d done fuck all to earn it. “You’ll learn.”
And if he didn’t, he would likely end up dead sooner or later, but I kept that thought to myself as I slid into the back seat.As it usually did lately, my thoughts turned to April. Earlier this evening she’d been cold and distant, which was exactly what I wanted, until I was face to face with a cold and distant April.
I hated it, oh how I fucking hated it.
It didn’tfeelright, seeing her so withdrawn and obviously angry and hurt. It didn’t fit her. It was unnatural. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want or need my help, or me.
The way she shrugged off my touch?That shit stung the most.
She acted as if the only thing I cared about was my baby and that just wasn’t true, dammit. It’s what I thought I wanted but I know it absolutely is the last fucking thing I wanted.
In fact, as soon as the Dmitry problem was dealt with, I would make April mine.
Permanently.
Chapter Thirty-One
April
It was late. So late that all the other employees had long since left the house or maybe fled to their respective wings, I didn’t really know if they went home or lived on the compound, all I knew was that the house was quiet. Completely and totally quiet.
Except for my brain which, of course, refused to stop swirling. Refused to stop going over worst case scenarios even though the emergency with Jacob had passed. Each time I thought I was close to sleep my brain would fire up with another reminder that Jacob had passed out because he couldn’t breathe and I wasn’t there. Or another way in which things could have been so much worse today. It was maddening.
It was terrifying.
Most of all, it was making it damned hard to sleep.
Scratch that, it was impossible to sleep.
