Page 43 of Paved in Fire

“Keep an eye out for Vitaly,” Lev says, walking over to Danil’s car. “Something tells me we might see him on the side of the road.”

I can easily picture Vitaly eating his gummies while sitting on the side of the road with his thumb out. I laugh and shake my head as I get in my car. I follow the others to the Lebedev mansion, nodding at the men we have keeping guard at the gates before heading down the long driveway and parking near the front door. Before getting out, I send a quick text to Alina.

You still okay, baby? I just pulled up to the house.

The dots immediately appear as she types me a response.

I’m okay. We’re making Roman watch a romance. I think there might be singing in this movie. You should see the pained look on his face.

She secretly takes a photo of him and sends it to me. I’ve never seen Roman look so miserable before, so I immediately send it to everyone else.

Thanks, malishka. That photo is perfect, and I’ve already passed it along.

You’re terrible, Matvey. He’s going to be so pissed I took it.

I send her the short video Vitaly made of Roman losing his shit as he painted the nursery. The man had become obsessed with getting it perfect, and when she responds with several laughing emojis, I have no doubt she’s showing it to Roman, too. He’s already seen it, but you can never see something like that too many times. It’s funny every damn time.

Going in now, baby. Text me if you need anything at all. I love you, Alina.

I love you, too, Matvey, and I will.

I read her text a few more times, still hardly believing that all this is happening. It still feels too good to be true. My eyes drift to the garage doors lined up in front of me. Removing a few more pieces from Konstantin and Osip will probably work just as well as a pinch to convince myself this is all real and that my mind hasn’t finally snapped and it’s all an elaborate fantasy. Reaching over, I grab the new knife I’d bought the other day. Knowing the sight of it is going to be enough to scare the hell out of them.

The others are already walking inside when I catch up to them. Our men are stationed around the property, but there are several inside as well. Konstantin and Osip are under constant watch, not because I think they might try and escape, they’re way too weak for that, but because I need to make sure they don’t die. They get water and a few hundred calories a day. It’s not nearly enough for them, but starvation takes a long time, so I’m not worried about them dying too quickly. Plus, Pyotr checks them daily, and he’s under strict orders to start antibiotics if it looks like they’re getting a life-threatening infection. The medic isn’t here to make their stay comfortable, though. He’ll keep them alive if he has to, but until it’s absolutely necessary, they’re to be left alone to suffer slowly and painfully.

“How’s Casimir doing?” Danil asks Timofey as we walk into the large kitchen. The men have stocked the fridge, and I’m not at all surprised to see Vitaly walk over and grab himself a coke.

“He’s very quiet.” Timofey leans against the island, scratching at the stubble on his cheek. “He’s exactly how I always pictured a hacker.” He gives a soft laugh and raises a hand at Danil to soften the insult. “Sorry, man, but computer geeks usually aren’t thought of as being ripped alpha males. This guy stays huddled over his computer all damn day. I just want to throw a bottle of vitamins at him and push him into the sun every now and then.”

Danil shrugs a broad shoulder at him. “My ripped alpha bodymakes people assume things, but that’s always worked in my favor. It’s much better to be the threat they never see coming.”

“True enough,” Lev says.

“I don’t know why you’re agreeing to that,” Vitaly says with a laugh. “You’re not in any way hiding your psycho ass behind your piercings and tattoos. Everyone knows exactly what they’re going to get when they see you.”

“That’s not true at all.” Lev smirks at him. “Everyone assumes I’m dangerous, but only Jolene knows what a huge softie I can be, so what you see is not always what you get.”

“He is a big softie,” I tell them. “He cried during the movie we watched last night.”

Lev narrows his eyes at me. “I didn’t fucking cry.”

“You sure about that?” I ask.

Everyone laughs while Lev just shakes his head. “For the record, I didn’t cry, but there was a part where the dog gets hurt, and it was really fucking sad.”

Even though I’m laughing, he’s not wrong. It was really fucking sad, and I was getting a little emotional about it, too. Not that I’ll ever tell him that.

“My first impression of you guys was spot-fucking-on,” Dominic says, watching our interaction.

“And what impression was that?” Lev asks.

“That you’re all fucking crazy.”

It’s impossible to not laugh at Dominic’s baffled expression as he tries to puzzle us out. He shakes his head, giving up when we all just keep laughing.

“Come on,” Danil says, finally taking pity on him. “Let’s go talk to Casimir and see if he’s found anything new.”

“Meet us in the garage when you’re done,” I tell them, anxious to get started.

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