by KJ Dahlen
“No, he will not. Very well, protect the woman and call Yuri if you see him. They can track him and find out where he’s been living. This woman whoever she is has no idea how far he will take this feud.” There was a pause before Sergi said, “Yuri, have your IT man run his name and see if they can find a trail to follow. I need to see where this man has been and find a trail we can follow to see exactly what he’s been doing.”
“Perhaps I should ask Pappy Masterson’s IT to dig into his background,” Yuri suggested. “She seems to get deeper than we can, in matter such as this.”
“Da, you could ask her, perhaps she can find a pattern that would make it easier to follow. I want to destroy this man. I want to leave him with nothing and nowhere to flee too.” Sergi was quiet for a moment before he said, “I hope she can help us. It isn’t that I don’t believe in your men Yuri, but I want this done quickly and quietly.”
“I have three men with me and she has some men at her house,” Timor told Sergi. “I’m hoping it will be enough to hold him off if he should show up before we can find him.”
“What is this woman’s name?” Yuri wanted to know.
“She said it was Daisy Ashburn.” Timor shrugged. “She has a small farm this side of Lake Pontchartrain. She told me he wants access to the water for some reason.”
“We’ll find out why when we find the man in question.” Yuri nodded.
“Da,” Sergi agreed. “I’ll notify the Council and we’ll be there sometime in the next three days.”
After the call was over, Iosif walked over to his father. “Dad, what the hell kind of trouble did you get yourself into now?”
Timor glared at him. “I didn’t go looking for this. I merely stumbled on his crest. It was carved into a fence post along the highway. When I stopped to verify it was his, I didn’t even get to the post before I was threatened to receive an ass full of birdshot this morning.”
“What?” Iosif exclaimed out loud, louder than he thought he spoke.
Suddenly, the entire room went quiet.
Timor looked around the room to find everyone listening to his conversation. He shook his head. “Yes, it’s true. I had Pavel stop the car and I approached the fence post when I heard a gun prime behind me. This woman was holding a shotgun on me. She told me I was trespassing and that I needed to leave. Or I would get an ass full of birdshot.” He chuckled. “That was the exact wordage she used. She did give me options though. I guess I should be grateful for that.”
Pavel snickered.
Yuri, Iosif and Roman swung their gazes over at him as they were puzzled at his smiling.
Pavel cleared his throat and squared his shoulders as he dropped the smile.
Timor went on as he’d missed the snickering altogether, “When I asked her about the carving, she told me about who put it there and why. The event with her was nothing compared to the shock I felt to find an actual sign of this man after all these years. I have looked for him every year since he escaped, to never find a trail. I couldn’t believe even after all this time he’s here and using his own name again. Shortly after he escaped, we checked all the flights in and out of Russia for anyone leaving under his name but we found nothing. Even ten years ago I ran a search under the name Anton Azarov and nothing showed up.”
“Maybe he thinks because it’s been so long, no one is looking for him anymore,” Yuri suggested.
“That is just plain stupid on his part then isn’t it?” Roman stated. “The Bratva never forgets or forgives a crime like this one.” He turned to his father. “Do you need more than three men?”
“Nyet, I’m not even sure Daisy will allow us to stay.” Timor shook his head. “But I’ll be damned if I’ll leave her to his mercy.”
The men in the room all raised their brows at this last statement.
Chapter Three
Daisy lifted the lid on the pot warming on the stove and inhaled deeply. The shrimp Alfredo Ethel had been preparing was making her belly growl and she hoped it wouldn’t be long until dinner. Her cousin Ethel kept the home fires burning while she, Joel and her cousin Edward worked the land and took care of the animals.
Daisy loved animals, she always had, all her life. Living here, she had her choice of dogs and cats over the years. Being on the wrong side of fifty and not married, she was what most considered a spinster. And she had no problem with that. All the men she’d been interested in over the years hadn’t been interested in her that special way.
She had her own opinion about things and wasn’t afraid of telling anyone what she thought. Her parents taught her to speak up and after her mom died, her father told her to never hold back and to grab out for everything she wanted. He always told her life was too short to hide any part of herself and she had taken that very much to heart.
“What’s this I hear you made sexual advances on a strange man this morning?” Ethel shook her head at her cousin.
Daisy closed her eyes and brought to mind what Timor looked like. “Oh girl, you have no idea how yummy he was. He was tall and strong and built like a brick shithouse. He was just old enough without being too old and boy, can that man kiss. Wowsers.”
“The way Joel told it, you kissed him.” Ethel snorted.
“Yes, I did and I’m not ashamed to admit it.” Daisy nodded proudly at her younger cousin. “Like I said before, that man sure can kiss. I figure at my age, how many opportunities will I get to kiss a man that looked like he did? He also had the deepest voice with that Russian drawl, low baritone and my skin just near burst with goose bumps. Not that he would know that.” Then she sobered up and looked at her cousin with concern. “He also knew Anton. He said he’d been looking for him for thirty years for corruption, bribery and murder.”
“Oh, my god...” Ethel covered her mouth with her hand. “We’re all going to die aren’t we? That Anton is not someone you can cross and live.”
“We can’t think like that cousin.” Daisy hushed her. “You, me and Edward are Ashburns. The last of our family. I had to replace my dreams of ever having a family but you and Edward could still have children. But I’m happy. I have my family around me, my animals and my dreams. And I have this land. This ground carries the dreams and hopes of the family that settled it, our family.” Daisy hung her head then slowly looked over at her cousin. “I think I’d rather burn this farm down to the ground than let it be used for criminal acts. We both know what kind of man this Anton is and heaven only knows what his intentions are but you can bet they aren’t good.”
Ethel looked out the window and saw several vehicles turning off the road. “We got company.”
Daisy walked over to the window and looked down the driveway to the front gate. The gate was still closed but when she looked, she frowned. “That’s the car from this morning.” She did feel a little surge of excitement but tamped that down as she looked over at Ethel. “Stay here, but call Eddie and Joel. Have them standing by but tell them not to step outside. I’ll see what these varmints want.”
“Be careful Daisy,” Ethel called out as she reached for the phone.
Daisy walked to the end of the driveway cradling her shotgun in her arms. The sun was beginning to set in the western sky and it blinded her for a moment. It also made her a target. She wouldn’t be able to see if any dangerous moves were made in her direction.
When she got to the gate, she raised her shotgun to firing position.
“We aren’t here to hurt you or anyone else on this farm,” the tall hunk of Russian man told her as he walked into view. “I had to come back.”
“Why?” Daisy asked.
Timor reached over the gate and grabbed her by the sides of her head. Bringing her closer, his lips crushed hers and the kiss they shared was hard and raw. His thrust his tongue into her mouth and she felt her knees buckle.
Daisy reached up, grabbed his wrists, and just hung on. She groaned as he thrust his tongue in and out of her mouth. Finally, she gathered enough of her wits about her to pull away and just star
e at him.
“I came back to see if what I felt this morning was real or just a fluke.” He was breathing deeply. “I guess it wasn’t a fluke.”
Daisy opened the lock on the gate and stepped back.
He joined her on the other side of the gate and this allowed the vehicles to enter the driveway. Only when the last car came through and drove up to the house, did he push the gate closed again and locked the lock Then he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him.
They walked up to the house together. When they reached the house, Joel and Edward came out of the barn and joined everyone on the porch.
“We might want to get out of sight just in case Anton is watching us,” Daisy said. “Let’s go inside and talk about this.” She led the way inside.
When everyone was in the kitchen, Ethel began pouring coffee for everyone.
Daisy turned to him and shook her head. “Look, before we can talk about this, I think we should at least know your names, don’t you think? I mean for all we know you could be a friend of Anton’s.”
Timor threw his head back and laughed out loud. “I assure you I hate this man and I’ve hated him for most of my adult life. I am Timor Maxim. I was born and raised in a small town in Kazakhstan. I became Bratva at an early age and rose to become a director of the order. I have two sons and two grandsons with another two on the way. I have been hunting this Anton bastard for thirty years for treason against the Bratva and the High Council. He killed a man I respected more than any other man I’ve met. He also killed him in cold blood with a knife to his back. The most cowardly way to kill a man, in fact.” He paused and motioned to his men. “These three are my security detail. Pavel, you met this morning, the other two are Petr and Sasha.”
Daisy mentally said his name. Timor Maxim. Damn, even his name is downright sexy. She bit at her lip as she nodded at the men. “I’m Daisy Ashburn and these are my cousins Ethel, and Edward and our farm manager, Joel.”
Timor held out his hand to the men and they shook his hand. Then he turned to Daisy. “Things are going to get very hot in the next few days, so we have to be prepared for anything and everything. There is a sect of the Bratva working in New Orleans, they are with us, and they are very active. We got orders from Russia to find and contain Anton. Members of the High Council will be here in three days to collect him to take his dumb ass back to Russia where he’ll finally hang for his crimes of thirty years ago. We also want to take everything he’s earned here in America away from him.”
“That’s all fine and good,” Joel grumbled. “But where does that leave us? If he comes back here, someone is going to die.”
“Da, when he comes back here, someone will die but hopefully the right people will meet their maker. I hear there is a special place in hell for the devil’s advocates.” Timor nodded. “We will also have more security coming around. They will be Yuri’s men from New Orleans. Just don’t get trigger happy, Yuri would not like to lose his men.”
“Well, I think we should eat supper and bed the animals down for the night,” Daisy informed everyone. “Then we can take shifts keeping watch during the night.” She looked over at Timor and told him, “The last time he showed up it was like three a.m. He had three men with him and they blocked both the front and the back doors before they set fire to the chicken coop. We couldn’t get outside to put the flames out until it was too late.” She shook her head. “That was a week ago. We haven’t seen or heard from him since then. We haven’t even seen his car drive by.”
“Well, let’s hope we can fucking track him down before he comes here again then.” Pavel sneered.
Ethel began taking down plates and gathering silverware for everyone to eat. She had made enough to serve everyone. She and Daisy set the table and got the food set out. The men sat down and fixed their plates. Supper was quiet as they devoured the meal Ethel cooked.
When they finally pushed away from the table, Timor groaned. “Thank you for a fine meal. Food in Russia is not always so tasty.”
Ethel blushed. “Thank you. I love to cook.”
Edward grinned. “Her baking ain’t bad either. She bakes a mean apple pie.”
“Stop it.” Ethel blushed a deep red.
Daisy got to her feet. “Come on boys, we still got chores to do. The animals need to be fed too. They want their dinner.”
“What exactly kind of animals do you have here?” Timor asked as he got to his feet.
Edward smiled. “Daisy has a collection of miniature animals here. She has goats, pot belly pigs, small ponies, a couple of Highland cows and a pair of miniature buffalos.”
Joel shook his head. “You forgot the donkeys and alpacas.”
Timor just raised his brow. “That’s quite a collection.”
Daisy shrugged. “I love animals, what can I say? This farm is more of a petting zoo than anything. The kids love coming here for school outings.”
“How unusual to say the least. We will help and see this collection. My men will get situated to be on lookout. Then let us hope Yuri and his men can find this bastard before he gets back here.” Timor suggested.
At nine that night, Timor and his men were tired. They had feed and bedded animals that they towered over. Each of the animals had a name they discovered and each held a place in Daisy’s heart. He enjoyed the small goats the best but admired the mini buffalos the most. He’d been all over the world but he’d never seen mini buffalos before. They held the same strength and looks as their full grown aunts and uncles, just in a smaller package. Their eyes held a myriad of secrets only they knew.
The tiny alpacas were so soft, one was black and the other was tan. They were also very curious and friendly. Daisy laughed when they decided to search his pockets and wouldn’t leave him alone. She took pity on him and decided to draw them away with the promise of carrots.
By the time chores were done and the men retired to the house, Timor assigned two of his men for roving patrol every four hours. When it came time to show the men to bedrooms, Daisy put him in a separate room. Timor was disappointed but felt he had time win her over. It maybe was too soon to expect such a thing.
After he stripped off his clothing and laid down in the bed, Timor stared at the ceiling for a long time. He heard the house settle for the night and was comfortable with the sounds around him. Then he thought about how unhappy he’d been alone at home. The house he grew up in had been filled with structure and rules while his father ruled the house. His father had been dead a long time now but Timor still owned that house. He didn’t visit it much anymore. But even in his own house he’d lived with the same structure he’d grown up under. He raised or he tried to raise his son, Iosif the same way he’d been raised. For the longest time, he hadn’t allowed his own son the freedom to make his own decisions. That almost cost him Iosif after they first discovered Roman’s whereabouts.
His need to force his will on his sons had cost him Roman. He’d been a bastard to both his sons and that wasn’t the way he wanted to be. He was learning to bend which once Ivan said the words he realized that’s what he wished his own father had allowed for him.
He wanted to be his own man not just an extension of his own father. Once he realized that he was coming around to seeing what Roman had been saying all along. He had grown up influenced by the morals of those around him and not by Timor. He was very happy that his oldest son had made such good friends at the time when he’d needed them the most.
So deep in thought was he that he must have missed a figure coming through a hidden door in the shadows of the room. As this shadow crept forward coming up beside him and part of it detached reaching out to touch him, Timor reacted harshly. He grabbed the shadow and pulled it toward him tossing it over his body and slamming it down on the bed beside him. He went to grab the throat of whoever it was stupid enough to try and sneak up on him.
He glared down at the face under his and was confused when the face came into focus. Pale strawberry blonde hair covered her
shoulders like a heavy curtain, dark startled eyes started back at him.
Long pale legs struggled to stay covered as she struggled to get free of his hold.
“Daisy?” he whispered. “What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me like that?” He growled softly.
He released her wrists.
Swiftly, she moved to cover herself.
Timor sat up and allowed the sheet covering him to slide down to his waist. Running his hands over the back of his head, he couldn’t help but swear at himself. Then he looked around the room frowning. “How did you get in here anyway?”
Daisy scooted toward the head of the bed, smoothing down the hem of the nighty she was wearing. “There is a door between this room and mine.” She nodded toward the back of the room.
Timor studied her. “Ok, why are you here?”
Chapter Four
Daisy turned her head and studied the man next to her. Dressed, he was an impressive sight but without his clothing, he was magnificent. His skin was tan and his muscled were rippled. He might be an older man but he took very good care of his body.
His chest was covered in a fine mat of silver hair but you could still see his chest hair had been dark when he was younger. In the pale moonlight coming from the windows, she could see the tattoos on his skin. His chest was covered in them, as were his arms and shoulders.
His facial hair glowed in the moonlight but she could still see his blue eyes looking back at her. She knew she had to say something so she took a deep breath and exhaled smoothly. “I think you know why I came here. You and me, we’re too old to play games. I want you but I’ll walk out of here if you don’t want me back. When I look at you I melt inside and I’d like to give us a chance,” she whispered into the darkness surrounding them. “I know things are going to change around here very quickly. I’m not a whore but I do know what I want and I want you. Even if it’s only one night. I can live with that but I’m not sure I can live life the same way again without at least trying.”