Page 12 of Knocked up by the Mafia

She shakes her head. “Please don’t hurt him.”

I glance at her. “From what I said, how did you hear I would hurt him?”

“I know what men like you do to people who inconvenience you.” She’s authoritative; it’s sexy.

“I’ll do whatever you want, just don’t hurt my family. That’s my only request.” I can hear the plea in her voice. She clearly thinks I’m more dangerous than Ivan. I don’t blame her. My reputation precedes me in every corner of the world.

I sigh as I take a turn off. “I don’t have any interest in hurting your family. There’s nothing I would gain by attacking Ivan Volkov. However, we will have to stay indoors for a few days to keep safe. You will have to accept that. It’s too risky to go out at the moment.”

“You lost the tail, and we have a wall a couple of feet taller than me around the house. What do you think is going to happen?” she asks quietly.

I stop at a traffic light and look at her. “Natalia, I’ve already buried three guys in the backyard. Hitmen that were looking for you because there’s still a very active hit out for you. And looking for me because I betrayed my clients. Until I can arrange a meeting with the families to settle this peacefully or with their deaths, I don’t want to take risks.”

Natalia looks at me, meeting my eyes. I nod. “I’m glad we agree.”

I pull off, and it doesn’t take long before I pull straight into our garage and shut it behind us. “Wait here.” I get out of the car. “I need to check the perimeter and house to make sure it’s safe.”

She does as she’s told, at least, and once I’m confident the house hasn’t been tampered with and no one is on the property, I go collect her.

She puts a hand to her stomach as she walks into the kitchen. “My stomach is sore. I’m going to lie down.”

“Your stomach gets sore a lot.” I glance at her.

“Yeah, well, your cooking isn’t that great,” she says, turning to leave.

“I don’t see you offering to cook,” I call. I wouldn’t let her cook anyway. It gives her a way to kill me that I might not necessarily be able to detect.

I need to find men. Men I can trust to protect us. I start making a list of men who are in my debt and fear me more than their maker. I start calling and engaging with them, offering them high pay if they’re willing to come on board as security detail.

Some of them have died since I last spoke to them, which is a pity, but it is the nature of our business. I secure five well-trained, dangerous men I know wouldn’t betray me.

I then check my emails for any job contacts. There’s one email that instantly catches my attention.

Evgenii Volkov.

I open the email and read it with mild amusement.

Daniel,

It didn’t take me long to locate you. You don’t hide your contact details very well. Mr. Volkov, head of the Volkov family, informs me that you have forced my sister Natalia Volkov to marry you. I don’t know what you’re holding against her, but I can assure you I have more than enough assets to pay off whatever debt she owes you.

Return her to our family. Mr. Volkov is willing to go to great lengths to protect her. She is of no use to you, anyway, as her loyalty lies firmly with her family. No one can ever doubt that.

Evgenii

I chuckle softly. These guys who ascend the ranks of the families get softer the less they are physically involved with sorting out their family issues. I know Evgenii. I’ve heard about him and his wife and kid. Rumor has it that he is now training Ivan’s daughter to take over the family. It isn’t surprising that she would, though. From what I’ve heard, she’s pretty ruthless.

I hit the reply button.

Evgenii,

I don’t think you quite comprehend who I am because you seem only to know my name and my more public contact details. These are for the people who don’t need someone of my skillto solve their problems.

You should hire more professional people to tail me, those guys were amateurs, and it didn’t take much to spot or lose them. I don’t appreciate the tail, though, even if I understand why it was ordered.

Natalia willingly married me, and there’s nothing more to it than that. I request that you leave us alone for our honeymoon period, or I’m afraid I will have to take more drastic actions.

Feel free to call her, but if I find you know our location or you try to approach our apartment, I will shoot and ask questions later.

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