Page 71 of Disgraced (Russian Sinners 3)

Sergei

Iwatched Scarlett storm off and it took all I had not to go after her. She was visibly upset and it gutted me to be the reason for it. She didn’t want me anymore. There was no wooing her; she couldn’t stand to be in the same room with me.

“Patrick,” I greeted Scarlett’s father on the line.

“Why is my daughter upset?” O’Brady was upset. And he had every right to be. That was his daughter and I made her unhappy. “Sergei, if I find out that you’ve hurt my baby girl-” I heard him take a deep breath as if trying to calm his rage, “there is nowhere you could hide. I will kill you and this agreement can go to hell.”

The list of people I am pissing off is growing,I thought wryly. I must be aiming for an award.

“I didn’t tell Scarlett who I was when we ran into each other,” I told him, on a deep sigh. I had nothing to lose. If he demanded his daughter back, I wouldn’t fight him. “Things were going well but I kept waiting for the right time to tell her. Unfortunately, Boris’ men showed up and everything went to hell.”

Silence followed and I pretty much resigned myself to Patrick demanding I bring Scarlett home to him. Just the thought about losing Scarlett and never seeing her again made my vision swim with red fog and rage boil through my veins. I could relate to my father in this. After all, it was what drove him mad. Losing the woman he loved tipped him over the edge and spiraled him into lunacy.

“She went out with you without knowing who you were?” I wasn’t sure why he was asking the question I already explained.

“Yes.”

“Sergei, did my daughter,” he cleared his throat and I wondered where he was going with his line of questioning. “Did she spend the night with you?”

I frowned at the weird question. Then it dawned on me. Was he asking me if I slept with his daughter? Yeah, that was just weird.

“That is none of your business, Patrick.” If he wanted answers to those questions, he could ask his daughter. I was pretty sure she’d tell him to fuck off. Dad or no dad.

“I see,” he replied and then chuckled. Fuck, this was weird. But then, how the hell would I know what fathers did? I never had one. Neither did Dimitry and Nikolai. I could only go by what those two did.

Her father continued talking when I remained silent. “Let me know when the wedding is. Scarlett has a forgiving heart, Sergei. Don’t you fucking take advantage of that. Be good to my daughter. Otherwise, I’ll show you how much she means to me. My family is everything to me. Don’t you fucking make me regret this arrangement.”

Patrick O’Brady was the type of father I wanted to be one day. “I’ll make her happy,” I vowed to him. I just had to figure out how to make her forgive me first.

“Good,” he seemed to accept my promise. “Now tell me about the threats.”

I scratched my face, the scruff of my beard rough under my fingers. “It’s not good. Boris is on the loose, spotted in Moscow.”

“Would it be safer to bring Scarlett back to the States?”

I didn’t want to have Scarlett away from me. Over the last two weeks, it was hard not seeing her. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing she was in my home. I worried what would do for my sanity if she was out of my reach.

“Maybe, although I’m not sure who all is in on this,” I told him honestly. My sanity didn’t matter here. It was keeping Scarlett safe. “Someone powerful helped Boris escape, and it had to be someone based in the States. Nobody from here would have had resources nor money to pull a stunt like that.”

Patrick pondered my words. I knew I was right but if he demanded I bring her back home, I would. “Hmmm, you are right,” he finally spoke and I almost exhaled with relief. “Keep her there. If anything happens or you need more resources, let me know. I want Scarlett safe. You’ll understand that one day when you and Scarlett have your own children, Sergei.”

Hearing him talk about Scarlett and I having our own children shifted something inside me. There was nothing I wanted more - Scarlett and our children in our home.

“I got a call from the Polish,” Patrick interrupted my thoughts.

“Those motherfuckers,” I muttered.

“Bartek said you intercepted two of his shipments of dry goods.” Patrick wasn’t accusing but I knew he wasn’t happy. He believed in fair business transactions. We all had illegal business transactions but some of us kept to a code. Unlike the damn Polish mafia.

Patrick O’Brady kept a civil business relationship with the Polish, although I knew he wasn’t keen on them. He firmly believed in the phraseKeep your enemies closer.

“Those were not dry goods,” I barely gritted through my teeth, the rage simmering inside me. “They were smuggling women and children. Yes, we intercepted two shipments and there was a dead boy in the second one. They won’t get those people back. You can tell them to fuck off and I intend to intercept every single shipment of humans.”

“Those dirty bastards,” he spat. “We do not deal in human smuggling. You were right to do that.” I was glad at least my future father-in-law and I were on the same page in that regard. “If you need any help fighting against that Bartek scum, let me know.”

“Thank you.” Unless I absolutely had to, the intent was to eliminate Bartek and his wife on my own. They would pay for the death of that little boy and for putting all those women and children through hell.

We discussed a few more items before hanging up. I leaned back into the chair and closed my eyes.

My phone buzzed and I glanced at the screen. It was a message from Nikolai. He waskidnappingOlivia. The irony of it all didn’t escape me. At this point, every single one of the three friends was kidnapped.

And I started it all.

But if something bigger was at play here, the danger was lurking all along. If Dimitry, Nikolai, and I worked together, we could eliminate it.

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