by Lia Lee
In the meantime, Maksim was done waiting for Ivan to “take care of things.” If the Petrov kingpin wanted to nitpick later, that was his problem. For now Maksim was done playing second fiddle to a brother that was too busy being in love to run the family business.
Cold logic replaced anger and Maksim knew exactly what he needed to do. Every mafiya member in the business knew that the family accountant was the most valuable person on the payroll, mostly because the accountant was in charge of payroll. Fortunately for the Petrovs, Ivan had been an accounting major in college. He had been the family accountant under their father’s leadership. The Tretiaks weren’t that lucky.
Maksim strode quickly down the street and hung a left. He walked another block and found himself staring at a tall, narrow building with an overgrown courtyard. Two beefy men lounged in the shade. They wouldn’t be expecting a direct approach. Hitting a mafiya family’s accountant was widely considered to be stupidity of the highest order. Maksim figured it was just the prerogative of a desperate man.
Two men, probably armed, and Maksim had the element of surprise. He could already feel the adrenaline saturating his blood by the time he strode into the courtyard.
“Your ass had better turn around and go the other way.” The bigger man stood up, his expression looking as if Maksim had just woken him from a nap.
Without missing a beat, Maksim chopped the man in the throat. He sank to his knees. Gagging and gasping for air, he didn’t put up a fuss when Maksim grabbed his head and slammed the guy’s face against his knee. Guard number one went down and guard number two was already reaching for his weapon.
Maksim snatched at the pistol. His hand connected with the slide and pulled it forward until it came right off the weapon. The second guard’s look of surprise lasted only until Maksim’s fist connected with his nose. With no time to waste, Maksim let the guy drop to the ground.
The building was quiet when Maksim entered. He knew he’d had surprise on his side with the goons outside. He wasn’t likely to get that lucky again. The accountant might very well be waiting with a gun cocked and ready to shoot.
Maksim passed through a kitchen. There was a half-eaten bowl of Rocky Road ice cream on the table. Damn. That meant the accountant had probably seen what happened outside.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Maksim said in a clear tone. “I just want to ask a few questions.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” A reedy voice answered from a room at the back of the house. “I just watched you take out my guards!”
“I don’t want to hurt you. I just want some files on the Tretiaks.” Maksim advanced quietly down the hallway, bracing himself for gunfire. If he had to bleed in order to free Nika, he’d gladly do it.
“I don’t know anyone by that name!”
The lie was so obvious in the quavering voice that Maksim nearly snorted out loud. “Look, why would you protect the idiots? They can’t even protect you.”
There was a long pause. “They pay well?”
“Do they?” Maksim pinpointed the voice. Pressing his back against the wall right outside the doorway, he began to lean around the corner. “I’m not armed, you know. I just want the payroll files for the Tretiaks.”
“Do you have any idea what those crazy fucks will do to me if I let you have that stuff?” The voice jumped about two octaves with the mere thought of the retribution.
Makism considered this. “How about you run?”
“I’m not”—there was a pause—“wait, what? If I run you won’t even know what information you need.”
Maksim leaned a little farther into the room, his scalp itching in anticipation of the shot that could be fired. In fact his whole body vibrated with tension. His eagerness to save Nika was making him incredibly careless. In the old days he would have just killed the guards, the accountant, and anyone else who dared to get in his way. He didn’t want to be that man anymore. He never wanted to see that fear in Nika’s eyes again.
“Just go.” Maksim stepped inside the room. It was obviously an office, a very messy office. “Not even a Tretiak would blame you for running when your guards just got their heads bashed in.”
The accountant looked exactly how Maksim had imagined. Tall and lanky, with thick glasses and dull brown hair. He was every stereotype of a nerd all rolled into one package. Maksim almost laughed at the sight.
The man was edging his way toward an open window. Maksim gave him a droll stare. “I’ll let you use the door if you’d like.”
“No. I’m good.” The accountant bounded toward the window and bailed right through the screen.
Maksim watched in amusement as the guy ran off down the street looking like a scarecrow trying to make a getaway. Then the amusement faded when Maksim glanced around at the mess of files and the open laptop on the desk.
“Fuck,” Maksim snarled. “Hang on, Nika. I’m coming.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Come on, you’re being stupid.” Reynolds’s smirk was enough to make Nika want to bite his nose off. “Do you really think some mafia enforcer gives two shits about a florist with a mildly attractive face? The guy was using you, Nika.”
Time had ceased to have meaning for Nika. Maybe she had been in this interrogation room for minutes, maybe hours. It was hot in the close little room. Her wrists were chafed from the too-tight cuffs. And by now her ears were ringing with the insults thrown at her by these useless bastards who were taking turns trying to break her.
I will not give in.
“Maksim Petrov doesn’t give two shits about you.” The man called Krupin threw a sheaf of photographs down on the table. “The man gets more pussy than he could ever use.”
The pictures showed Maksim coming out of a hotel with a tall, leggy brunette on his arm. The woman looked like a supermodel. Nika refused to be drawn in. Maksim had never claimed to be celibate. In fact he’d told her from the beginning that he’d only ever had time for one night stands.
Maksim is not a liar.
The words became her mantra. He would come for her. Nika knew this. She just had to stay strong until then.
“Where were you?” Krupin demanded. “Where is Ivan Petrov?”
“I already told you.” Nika kept her voice dead even. “I was on vacation in a friend’s house on the Intracoastal. I needed a break from the shop. I was alone. I don’t know where my sister is.”
“That’s bullshit!” Reynolds stabbed his hand through her hair and yanked her head back so harshly that her spine felt as though it might snap. “You were fucking him! We know you were.”
“Get me a lawyer,” Nika responded. “Lawyer, phone call, and a doctor for my father. Then maybe I’ll talk.”
“Mafiya whores like you get no lawyers!” Krupin spat in Russian.
Nika sneered at the cop whose loyalty was so obviously to the Tretiaks. “When did the Hollywood police department start interrogating their suspects in Russian?”
“Bitch!” Krupin grabbed her head and slammed her face into the table.
Stars exploded before her eyes. The blow left her reeling. With her hands secured to the chair she could do nothing to protect herself. Her thoughts fragmented. Lights danced across her vision as a kaleidoscope of color washed over her.
“Stop!” Reynolds warned. “We need her conscious.”
“She won’t answer!” Krupin complained. “We need to know which safe house Ivan Petrov is using. We’ve checked them all and it’s like he’s vanished. He needs to die. With him dead and Maksim on the hook for the murder, we will have full control!”
Reynolds smacked Krupin on the back of the head. “Way to do a classic villain info dump.”
“Fuck you!” Krupin attempted to hit Reynolds, but the cop was too quick for him. Krupin narrowed his gaze. “I just knocked her senseless. She doesn’t know what we’re saying.” Krupin put his mouth right next to her ear. “I could tell her that I’m going to strip her naked and fuck her in the ass right here on this table and she
wouldn’t even care.”
Bile rose in Nika’s throat. The very idea of Krupin touching her was disgusting. Her reaction was almost reflexive. She whipped her head to the side and caught the Russian in the face. He shouted and grabbed his face as blood poured from his nose.
Reynolds actually laughed. He pointed at Krupin and said something in Russian. Nika was too muzzy-headed to register the words. Her Russian wasn’t spectacular and her head hurt so badly she was in danger of throwing up. In fact she was sitting at the table weaving side to side, feeling as though the only thing holding her up was her bound hands.
“Don’t play stupid with me,” Reynolds told her. He perched on the tabletop. “You don’t want us to hurt your father and your sister, do you?”
Nika didn’t dignify that with an answer. They had already hurt her papa. She had nothing to gain by believing they wouldn’t do it again just because she told them what they wanted to know. She would not give up her sister and Ivan’s location. These men would kill her and her family just for spite.
Maksim. I need you!
Somehow even though she had no idea where he was, she felt his strength seep into her body. Maksim was never weak. He loved her. He would come for her. And when he did, there would be hell to pay for these Tretiak assholes.
There was a knock at the door. Nika managed to hide her smile, even though the movements made her swollen lips burn. Reynolds looked almost panicked. Who had finally come to call? Someone not on the Tretiak payroll? Nika had to believe that those people still existed somewhere inside the Hollywood police department.
The door opened and a tall man with iron gray hair gestured to Reynolds and Krupin. “May I speak with you two for a moment?”
Nika saw them share a glance and wondered if this man had the power to let her go. At this point she just wanted to check on her papa and find a place to rest. And Maksim. She wanted Maksim.
The door had clicked shut, but Nika could still hear voices outside in the hallway. Her heart began to race as she heard the same word over and over again. Maksim. He was here. Only a few more minutes and Nika would be free.
***
Being inside the police department not only made Maksim twitchy. It made him downright grouchy. Like most enforcers, he wasn’t exactly unknown to the local law enforcement. He took great pains to keep himself just barely on the up and up to avoid prosecution, but he didn’t make a habit of strutting around the station house either.
Still, Maksim was willing to put himself through any amount of discomfort if it meant finding Nika and getting her the hell out of here. He was done putting her at risk for his brother, for her sister, or pretty much for anyone. Nika meant everything. It was about fucking time he started treating her that way.
“You’re sure this is accurate.” Buchanan was staring at Maksim as though he were the worst sort of thug.
“Yes. It’s absolutely accurate.” Maksim spoke so quietly that Buchanan had to lean forward to catch Maksim’s words. “I took the files from the Tretiak accountant himself.”
“Evidence obtained illegally is not admissible in court.” Buchanan looked pensive.
“You didn’t obtain it. It was an anonymous tip.” Maksim shook his head. “No. Fuck that. I’d be happy to tell everyone exactly where it came from.”
Buchanan chuckled. “You’d be painting a target on your back.”
“Like being here isn’t making myself target enough,” Maksim retorted. “Just arrest the fucks so we can get Nika out of here.”
It pissed Maksim off to no end that Buchanan looked at him as though he were gum on the man’s six hundred dollar shoes. Buchanan and Ivan had attended the same university together. Maksim and Ivan’s father had known the value of having a future Petrov leader who had rubbed shoulders with the men who ruled the upper echelons of law enforcement, politics, and industry. But Maksim? He was just the spare. Not even worth noticing unless someone needed a beating.
Now Ivan was still vacationing on his private island and Maksim was left to clean up the mess. Maksim forced himself to look as pleasant as possible. “You wanted Ivan to provide you with the traitors. You have what you need and more. Now get me Nika Sokolov and do it now. Or I will take that file and burn it and this whole damn place to the ground.”
Buchanan had now given Maksim his full attention. “Is that a threat?”
“No. It’s a fucking promise. I’m not my brother.” Maksim snarled a few choice words in Russian because for some reason it made American law enforcement nervous.
“Fine.” Buchanan stood and motioned to Maksim. “Let’s go find your Nika Sokolov.”
Along a hallway and down two flights of stairs they went. Maksim felt a fool a dozen times over for allowing himself to be lured so deeply into the bowels of the police station. What kind of man put himself in such obvious danger?
One who loves a woman.
The answer was so simple it somehow made him feel calm. He would get out of this even if he had to pull the place apart brick by brick. Their winding path finally ended in front of an interrogation room. Three men were arguing in low tones in the hallway. Maksim recognized two of them immediately.
“Hey!” Reynolds’s voice echoed off the walls. “What the hell is he doing down here? That fucker belongs in cuffs.” He gestured to a man whose uniform identified him as a captain of some kind. “Arrest that man. He’s the one we’ve been trying to get to.”
“Is that right?” Buchanan’s cold smile seemed to take some of the starch from Reynolds’s accusation. “Or do you want me to arrest Maksim Petrov because he has evidence that you and your partners are actually on the take from the Tretiak crime family?”
The captain swung around to peg Krupin and Reynolds with a hard glare. “I suppose this answers the question as to why this suspect is in custody.”
“No!” Krupin lunged at Maksim. “He’s a criminal!”
Maksim didn’t even bother to move out of the way. He caught Krupin and locked his arm around the smaller man’s neck. Grabbing the key ring off the man’s belt, Maksim dropped him like a discarded toy.
“Maksim, don’t,” Buchanan warned.
“Don’t what?” Maksim didn’t even bother to hide the derision in his voice. “I’m getting Nika and I’m leaving this place.” He glared at the captain. “Any objections?”
It didn’t take a lawyer to see that both Buchanan and the captain were thinking about the possible ramifications of false arrest and imprisonment charges by a young woman who had been obviously mistreated by their department.
“Go,” Buchanan told him quietly. “And don’t come back.”
Maksim’s instincts were screaming a warning not to go into the room. Even with keys in hand it felt as though he were entering the lions’ den. But if that was where he had to go in order to find Nika, he would.
She was slumped at the table. He had to clench his jaw to keep the agonized roar trapped inside. They had obviously beaten her, but he knew without asking that they hadn’t broken her. Nobody could break his wild girl.
“Nika,” he murmured. “I’m here.”
She stirred. Her blond hair was tangled and matted with blood. “Maksim?” Her voice was raspy and he hated to imagine all the reasons why.
He found the key and unfastened her cuffs. The skin around her wrists was purple and green with bruising. He lifted her tiny hands and kissed them. Then he swept her carefully into his arms and walked out of the interrogation room.
“I’ll be in touch,” Buchanan said with disinterest.
Maksim snorted. “Call Ivan. He’s the one who cares. I’m done.”
“You can never be done, Maksim.” Buchanan’s words burned like acid. “This is who you are.”
“Not anymore.”
Maksim made the trek out of the station with Nika cradled in his arms. The stares they received were plentiful, but nobody tried to stop him. Perhaps it was because they knew this woman had been grievously wronged. Or maybe he just looked like one mean s
on of a bitch.
Chapter Fourteen
Nika exited the helicopter and immediately kicked off her shoes. She buried her toes in the warm, white sand and closed her eyes in bliss. The warm morning sun caressed her face. Behind her the whup whup of the chopper blades faded out as the vehicle lifted back into the air and disappeared into the blue sky. She knew the pilot had been instructed to come back in two hours, but for now she considered herself on vacation.
Maksim touched her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” She smiled up at him. “I’m fine.”
He took her hand and gently tugged her closer. In his plain T-shirt and cargo shorts he looked nothing like the vengeful mobster that had extracted her from the police station less than twenty-four hours ago.
Nika touched his face with her fingertips. It still surprised her sometimes that she could no longer see the bully when she looked at him. The lines of his face were clear to her now. Even when his brows drew together and he appeared to be mean as hell she could see beneath the mask he had been forced to wear for so long.
Maksim nodded to the sandy beach and the blue water. “Are you sure this isn’t what you want?”
She knew what he meant. This private island was a symbol of wealth and affluence that Nika had craved her whole life. She had watched the Petrovs siphon money off the people in their territory and use it to enjoy a lifestyle that Nika would have killed for. Katrina had been admitted to that world. She was set to marry Ivan Petrov and become queen of all this.
“I don’t want it,” Nika told him. She gazed out at the water churning just off the beach. “The cost is more than I want to pay.”
“I could keep working for my brother,” he offered. “I could demand a larger portion. He would give it to me.” Maksim’s dark chuckle made her smile. “In fact he would have no choice but to give me whatever I wanted.”
She wound her arms about his waist and rested her cheek on his chest. “I would never ask that of you.”
“I know. That’s why I would do it.”