“What were you thinking back there?” she asked.
His dark brow arched. “I could ask you the same thing. From what I could tell, you have had zero combat training.” His voice had no discernable accent as he chided her.
Definitely not from around here or Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, where the Russian mob made their US home base. Could be that he’d come in from California, but his skin didn’t have the color of someone who’d spent a lot of time in the sun.
Tabby’s face flushed. “I know plenty about fighting.” She’d been fighting to get her twin sister back from Sergei for over six months now. But of course, that wasn’t what he’d meant.
He stepped closer. “Then why didn’t you fight, when he picked you up? There were plenty of moves that could’ve incapacitated him.”
Her hands settled on her hips. “Not sure if you noticed, but Boris is huge. Hulk huge.” Besides whatever maneuver he was referring to hadn’t been covered in the hand-to-hand combat books that she’d read. Of course, Tabby couldn’t exactly tell him that. He could be working for Sergei or one of the other bosses in the area. So she said the first thing that popped into her head. “He caught me off guard.”
The man snorted in disbelief.
“It’s true. I’ll prove it,” she said. “Try to choke me.” Tabby braced herself, then motioned to her throat.
He blinked slowly. “What?”
“I said try to choke me.” She made the universal sign for choking.
His brow furrowed. “I will do no such thing. You are a woman.”
Tabby rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised you noticed given the acute case of silicon boob blindness you seemed to be suffering from when I came into the club.”
* * * * *
Linx didn’t know exactly what she meant, but he could tell from her tone that she’d just insulted him. So this was the thanks he got for saving her. It wasn’t his fault that he hadn’t known she was a woman until her hat fell off. He glared at her. She dressed like a man and screeched like a Harpy.
Until now, he hadn’t encountered any women on Earth like her. And for that he was eternally grateful. Since one of her on the planet was enough.
He allowed his gaze to wander. From what he could tell, she didn’t have large, perfect breasts like the others. Hers were smaller. More compact. A mouthful at most. Her thick waist led to hips that were definitely fuller than the dancers.
Yet, standing here before him with her burgundy hair glistening in the sunset and fire burning in her dark brown eyes, he’d never seen a woman look quite so feminine. How had he missed the fact that she was a woman? Maybe he was right about his temporary blindness.
“Why were you fighting a man three times your size?” he asked.
“I wasn’t fighting. I was trying to sneak into the club.” She looked at him, her gaze far too assessing for his comfort.
“Why?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Linx tilted his head. “You made it my business, when you cried out and I had to step in to save you.”
Her jaw clenched. “I could’ve handled Boris. I just needed more time,” she said. “I never asked for your help. You took it upon yourself to intervene.”
He shook his head in amazement. “I suppose that’s true. But the fact that you didn’t ask for my help either makes you insane or stupid.”
Her nostrils flared. “I am not stupid.”
“So you’re insane.” That made the most sense given what he’d witnessed of her behavior thus far.
“Guess that makes two of us, since you just pissed off an under boss in the Russian mob,” she said, as if that should mean something to him.
Linx couldn’t quite figure her out. Tabitha was full of bluff and bluster, yet he could smell the fear clinging to her pale skin. Like a good soldier, she didn’t allow it to stop her from her mission. He just couldn’t figure out what kind of mission a woman like her could be on.
“What were you doing in there?” he asked, this time using a gentler tone.
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. For several seconds, she didn’t speak.
“The sooner you tell me, the sooner I’ll leave you alone,” Linx said.
That seemed to brighten her mood, which in turn soured his. “I was looking for my sister.”
He stiffened. “Was she one of the women I was with?” The idea left him feeling oddly uncomfortable.
“No.” Tabitha shook her head, sending her hair into her face. She quickly scooped it out of the way. “Taylor is Sergei’s girlfriend. At least that’s what he calls her. She’s more like his sex slave.”
“And you know this how?” His discomfort grew.
“Because she won’t return my phone calls. Won’t answer her email,” she said in frustration.
Linx frowned at her. “That doesn’t mean that he’s holding her against her will. It just means that she doesn’t want to speak to you.”
“Do you have any siblings?”
“No.”
Tabitha sighed. “Then you wouldn’t understand. Taylor and I are close. We’re twins. We aren’t identical, but I can sense when something is wrong. And something is definitely wrong.”
Her distress bothered Linx. “What is your name?” he asked, though he’d already knew the answer.
“Sorry.” She blushed. “My name is Tabitha. Tabitha Shelley. My friends call me Tabby.”
“Tabitha.” He let her name slide across his tongue. “Tabby…like the cat?”
She rolled her eyes again. “Yes.”
He grinned to himself. “I am called Linx.”
“Like the cat?” she asked teasingly.
His smile widened. “Very much so.”
She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Linx took it, but instead of shaking her outstretched hand, he brought it to his lips and placed a chaste kiss on the back of her knuckles.
“What are you doing?” Tabby snatched her hand back.
His brows rose in surprise. Linx had never had that kind of reaction from a woman before.
Tabby rubbed the back of her hand on her pants’ leg, then scowled at him. “Don’t do that again,” she hissed like an angry kitten. “I’m not one of those bimbos you hooked up with in the club.”
“I--” was all he managed to get out before she backed away.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from the Molotov Club. Sergei won’t forget what you’ve done,” she said. “He’s a vindictive bastard that gets off on hurting people. Kind of comes with the job description.” Tabitha turned to leave, but stopped short. “Why did Boris call you, Tchort?”
Linx frowned in confusion. “I know not what that means.”
Her eyes narrowed. “It means ‘Dark God’ or devil. Though I think in this context, Boris was calling you a demon.”
“Perhaps he was referring to my devilish appearance.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Tabby scowled. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”
Linx shrugged. “I do not know him, but Boris struck me as a superstitious man, who’d be afraid of his own shadow if it tapped him on the shoulder.”
She rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s probably it,” she said, but it didn’t sound like she believed him. “See ya.” Tabby walked away.
“Where are you going?” Linx called after her.
“Home,” she said. “You should do the same.”
Tabby left him standing on the sidewalk. Not only had she brushed away his kiss, she’d also dismissed him. Linx had never been dismissed by a woman in his life. Not even when he was young and inexperienced. He watched her fade into the distance. And decided he didn’t like it or her one bit.
* * * * *
Chapter Three
Sergei Belovich watched Tabitha Shelley pull the man out the door. He’d had a bad feeling about the guy ever since he’d laid eyes on him. His suspicions rose, when the man intervened on Tabitha’s behalf. Were they working toge
ther?
He wouldn’t put anything past her. She was determined to get her beloved sister away from him. She still didn’t understand that once someone was his, they stayed his until he let them go. The woman was becoming a pain in his ass. Sergei should’ve killed her long ago. It would’ve made controlling Taylor much easier.
The spot between his shoulder blades itched. A sure sign that trouble was on the way. Was it the stranger who’d only moments ago tried to walk out the back door with two of his strippers? Or was something else coming?
Sergei’s mother had always told him that Romanian gypsy blood ran through his veins. He hadn’t believed her until that same itch saved him from a bullet. Now he paid attention.
He didn’t like the man. Sergei could’ve easily chalked the whole thing up to jealousy, given the man’s striking good looks, but that wasn’t it. Something about him seemed off.
A cold breeze brushed past him and Sergei turned expecting to see someone standing behind him, but no one was there. His eyes narrowed as he carefully scanned the smoky bar to locate the cause of his sudden unease. Other than the regulars, who’d been coming in for years, nobody stood out.
Sergei tried to shake off the feeling of being watched, but it clung to him like a maggot on rotting flesh. He surveyed the room once more, then turned back to the woman he’d been bedding for the last few months. He still enjoyed Taylor’s body, but he didn’t appreciate the baggage she brought with her or her clinginess.
She was getting too attached and that wouldn’t do. He demanded compliance and monogamy from his women, but emotions complicated things. Sergei didn’t do emotions. He’d learned that lesson from his mother early on. And monogamy, well, that was one-sided, too.
Sergei rolled his shoulders as the hair on his neck prickled. His flame-haired pet looked at him expectantly as he returned to his seat. “Your sister is bad for business,” he said softly, but he saw her flinch all the same. “I can’t have her coming in here causing a scene.”
“I’ll talk to her. That’s all she wants.” Taylor petted his arm in a soothing fashion, though the touch did little to douse his temper. “I’m sure once I do, she’ll leave you—leave us—alone.” She scooted closer, allowing her ample bosom to brush against his chest.
Sergei rubbed a knuckle along her soft cheek and felt his cock tighten. She really was beautiful. Fortunately, there were many more like her in the world. “I’ve already given you enough time. You said you’d handle her and you haven’t. Now it’s my turn.”
Tears filled her hazel green eyes. “Please Sergei, give me another chance. I know I can get through to her.” She choked back a sob.
He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled it tight. Taylor whimpered, but did not cry out. He’d taught her not to, no matter how bad the pain got. “For you, pet, I’ll do this one thing, but it will cost you because nothink in this world is for free.”
“Whatever you want, baby.” She gulped and nodded quickly. “I understand.”
“Do you?” He yanked harder on her hair.
“Yes,” she hissed.
“Good.” Sergei said, but he had no intention of keeping his word. He looked over Taylor’s head at Boris and nodded. Boris’s jaw tightened, but he nodded back, then walked over to the two men seated at the bar.
* * * * *
Linx remained invisible as he listened to the man’s conversation with Tabby’s sister. He had snuck back into the club to see if the furor had died down. He thought it had…until he approached Sergei’s table.
It was uncanny how much Taylor looked like her sister, Tabitha. They weren’t identical, but their mannerisms were similar. But that’s where the resemblance ended. Tabitha was a fighter. Linx couldn’t imagine her putting up with being manhandled like Taylor was doing. She barely whimpered, which meant Sergei had been abusing her for a while. Or maybe, she was the type of woman who liked it rough. He certainly did on occasion.
Linx watched her plead with Sergei to leave Tabitha alone. He’d agreed, but something in that look raised his hackles. Sergei didn’t seem like a man used to keeping his word. Linx left the spot he’d been standing in and walked over to Boris. He didn’t understand the language Boris was speaking, but he caught the words ten minutes. His whole body tensed. Something was very wrong. He could feel it on the air, even without the use of his whiskers.
The two men rose from their bar stools ten minutes later. Tall, heavy and oddly lacking any discernable necks, the men ambled out the door. Linx may not have understood what they were saying, but some things—like danger, were universal. He was determined to follow them.
Linx slipped into the car with the men. The man in the passenger seat kept looking over his shoulder as if he sensed his presence in the back seat.
“What’s wrong, Alexei?” the driver asked.
Alexei rolled his shoulders. “Nothink.” His accent thick with nerves.
“Then why do you keep looking behind us? Are we being tailed?” The man shot a glance into the review mirror. “I don’t see anyone.”
Alexei shook his head. “I told you it was nothink, Viktor. I just want to get this over with.”
“Do you have the address?” Viktor asked.
“Da.” Alexei punched it into the car’s navigation system.
Linx sat quietly, staring out the window as the city rushed by him. The men hadn’t spoken since they put in the address and he preferred it that way. He’d only studied English and had no idea what language they were speaking. He could bring out his translation device, but they didn’t seem the type to spill anything important.
The men drove for thirty minutes. The skyscrapers faded into a quiet neighborhood dotted with small colorful homes. They turned right on Tulip Street, then slowed to a stop.
Linx wasn’t sure what they were waiting for, but like all hunters, he was patient. The men stared at a peach colored house on the left-hand side of the street. When the light in the front of the house switched off, they made their move.
* * * * *
Tabby had been studying her lock picking ‘how to’ books for the past hour and half. The instructions were clear. She was pretty sure she could now pick a basic lock. If today had proven one thing to her, it was that she wasn’t going to get to her sister through a frontal assault. There was no doubt Taylor had seen her. Tabby had noted her twin’s wide panicked eyes a second before Boris blocked her view and lifted her off the ground.
In her heart, she’d begged Taylor to come to her rescue. Instead, her twin had grabbed Sergei’s arm and all but climbed onto his lap, ignoring the chaos happening at the front door of the club.
It had been a slap in the face to Tabby. Made worse when Sergei had shoved her sister aside and started across the room. She shuddered to think what would’ve happened if Linx hadn’t intervened.
Suddenly an image of her dark-haired, blue-eyed savior flashed in her mind. Boris was right to call him Tchort. He was a dark god. A demon in black jeans. Once she’d gotten a good look at Linx, Tabby had been determined to ignore her attraction to him. And it had worked for all of a minute.
She knew she’d done the right thing by sending him away, but for some reason it still bothered her. Not that she would’ve ultimately said or done anything to act upon her attraction. She wasn’t like her sister.
Instead, Tabby used Taylor’s rotten taste in men as a ‘What Not To Do’ guide for her own life. If she found herself really attracted to a man, Tabby considered it an ominous sign and ran the other way.
She didn’t date bad boys. She wasn’t drawn to dangerous men. The fact that Linx tempted her to break her steadfast rules was an anomaly. One she’d just as soon forget. Give her a boring, unattractive man any day of the week and she’d jump at the chance to date him. Unlike Taylor, Tabby prided herself for being in control of her hormones and her personal life.
“What personal life?” Tabby snorted. Ever since her twin had hooked up with the Russian mobster, her life had been in a tailspin. She’d sp
ent the last six months trying to sort through the mess that was Taylor. Six months? More like twenty-six years.
Had it really been that long? Tabby’s shoulders sagged. She was tired. Tired of this dance that she and Taylor had been doing. Tired of always being the responsible twin. Tired of always coming to the rescue, when her sister messed up. When would it be enough? When would she get a chance to have a life?
Like so many relationships before, Taylor had convinced herself that she loved Sergei and that he loved her back. She was the only one who couldn’t see that she was being used. Bad enough that her sister had began stripping for the mobster.
The Taylor that Tabby knew would never do that, not without being heavily influenced.
Tabby hated that she was beginning to question whether she really knew her twin at all.
Stripping was bad enough, but it was only a matter of time before Sergei talked Taylor into running drugs for him. That’s what he’d done with his last girlfriend and look what had happened to her. Tabby’s mind flashed to the photo of the young woman, who’d been found bludgeoned and tossed into a dumpster. He’d discarded her like garbage because to him, she was trash.
She couldn’t let Sergei do that to her twin. If she couldn’t reach Taylor directly, then Tabby would just have to find proof of Sergei’s illegal activities. Maybe if she had enough proof to take to the police, they’d finally be able to arrest Sergei. She looked at the lock-picking kit next to her instruction book. What was that old adage? It takes a thief to catch a mobster or something like that. There was more than one way to save her sister.
Tabby turned the light off. She had made it halfway down the hall, when something crashed through her front door into her living room. She turned her head to see the unmistakable silhouette of Viktor and Alexei, standing in the darkness.
Tabby’s heart hit her knees, then ricocheted into her throat. She raced back down the hall toward the kitchen, her sock-covered feet silent on the carpet. Her only hope was to reach the backdoor before the men spotted her.
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