Just Business (Aegis Group Dangerous Ladies Book 1)

by Sidney Bristol

  “Mr. Titov?” a man holding a leather menu asked.

  “Yes.”

  “This way, sir?”

  The dining area only had a few tables occupied. Those ensconced in the red leather booths likely didn’t want to be overheard.

  Konstantin slowed his pace.

  At the back of the restaurant in a corner booth with the added lighting from the windows sat a lone woman. Her hair was pulled back much as it had been in the picture Haley had snapped. Gone was the trench coat. She still wore a long-sleeved, floral garment and fiddled with the napkin in front of her as she stared out the window.

  It was her.

  Elegant. Haley had used that word and it did describe his mother. She’d always been so poised, as if ready for a picture.

  She turned her head at that moment and their gazes met.

  He could almost hear the intake of breath from the way she sat straight.

  It was an act. All of it. She was so practiced, so perfect. He could see that now.

  Konstantin proceeded toward the booth, only now he examined himself.

  Shouldn’t he feel something more? Something besides dread?

  This woman was his mother, and yet he couldn’t muster the energy to care about her. Why?

  The man leading Konstantin stepped aside. Natasha rose from her seat. Konstantin stopped where he was, several feet from her. Farther than was perhaps polite, but he did not want to be mistaken. This was not a happy reunion.

  “We’ll be a minute,” Konstantin said to the man without looking away from Natasha.

  It felt better to think of her that way rather than his mother. Calling her mother seemed too familiar.

  “Of course, sir.” The man made a sketchy bow then fled, no doubt sensing this was not a moment he wanted any part of.

  “My son.” Natasha beamed at him. She was perhaps more beautiful than he remembered. Age did that to some women.

  “I must confess, I didn’t think you were still alive.” He took in her appearance. The floral blouse. Wide legged trousers. More heels. She was stylish, which also took money. Where was it all coming from?

  “You must have questions. I’m sure your father told you all sorts of lies about me.” She gestured at the booth. “Please sit? It’s so good to see you.”

  They moved to opposite sides of the booth and sat.

  “How is your daughter?” Natasha asked.

  Konstantin narrowed his gaze. “We will not be discussing my daughter.”

  “Oh, all right.” She hid a flash of hurt quickly enough. Or she feigned it and couldn’t keep it up. Regardless, she moved on to a coy smile. “I hope Ivana didn’t get in trouble because of me.”

  He held his tongue.

  They looked at each other, the silence stretching on.

  “It’s remarkable how much you look like your father. You don’t have his nasty scowl though.” Natasha slid a finger along her chin. “This is mine though.”

  Konstantin’s lips twitched. He couldn’t help the instinctual urge to grimace.

  “I suppose I should explain myself.” Her hands slid out of sight. “I want you to know I’ve thought about you often, and how much I wish I could have taken you with me. Your father, though. That awful man.”

  That was an outright lie. Nothing about her tone or face said it was, but in his gut he knew that to be a lie.

  “How did you do it?” he asked.

  She paused, but only for a moment. “In those days most of the staff were your father’s people. Always spying on me. But my driver and Ivana were mine. We coordinated for Ivana to pack my things and one night when I left a party before your father, they took me to an old family friend. I was smuggled out of the country to here, where I’ve been making do.”

  Konstantin doubted the story was that simple.

  “And now? What do you do?” he asked.

  “Oh, a little of this, a little of that.” She smiled a bit. “It appears as though you’ve done well for yourself.”

  He didn’t know what she wanted or why she was there, but Konstantin knew Natasha was not there to make amends and heal the past. Whatever she wanted, he was merely a stepping stone to that end goal. As was Zasha. To Natasha, they were pawns, not people.

  Konstantin had known it yesterday when Ivana had told him the woman was his mother. It had just taken him seeing her to really get it.

  If Zasha had been taken from him, he’d have moved heaven and earth to get back to her. But not Natasha.

  “Why now?” he asked.

  “Excuse me? Why now?” She chuckled as if it were an absurd question. “I finally found you.”

  “I’ve been here for ten years, but I’m guessing you already knew that.” He leaned on the table. “So, I’ll ask again, why now?”

  Natasha clicked her tongue and leaned toward him. “Your father’s poisoned you so much. I’m just a mother wanting to see her family again. That’s all this is, my darling boy.”

  Konstantin nodded, as if he accepted her answer, but he didn’t. This was a trap. He couldn’t see how it was put together or what her goal was, but he knew the truth.

  Natasha Titov might be his mother, but she was not his ally.

  FRIDAY. HOME. ARLINGTON, VA.

  Haley had given up the pretense of being calm.

  She was alone in the condo.

  She could freak out all she wanted.

  “I just want to know what’s going on,” she whined at her phone.

  Lumen and Jennifer looked back at her from their squares on her screen.

  “Have you considered talking to Merida about this?” Lumen asked.

  “I talked to her last night, unofficially.” Haley ran her fingers through her hair. She’d given up on keeping it pulled back an hour into this hell.

  Jennifer laughed. “About that kiss, I bet.”

  Haley closed her eyes. “Do me a favor and pretend that didn’t happen?”

  “You know that’s amping up your anxiety and stress right now, don’t you?” Jennifer countered.

  Haley drew in a deep breath. “Yes, thank you, Jenn. Right now, Zasha is what is most important. Nothing else matters.”

  Lumen leaned into the frame closer so that it was impossible to not look into her cool, blue eyes. “Have you really considered yourself in all of this? I mean, really?”

  Haley swallowed and found that she couldn’t answer that question. Not truthfully. Not now, and maybe not ever.

  The familiar beep from one condo over made her sit up straighter.

  “Have to go,” she blurted and ended the video call.

  She was standing in the adjoining doorway when Konstantin strode in. He didn’t even glance at her.

  He tossed his suit jacket and waistcoat over the first bar stool, then ran both hands through his already messy hair. One shirt tail was almost untucked, giving him an uncharacteristically disheveled look. He wove his fingers together behind his head and bent backwards.

  “I don’t know what she wants,” he announced to the room.

  Either he was speaking to himself or her.

  Haley edged into the room. “It didn’t go well?”

  He turned and blinked at her. “It went fine.”

  Baffled, she leaned against the wall just inside the doorway and waited.

  He stood there facing the patio doors for a few moments more, then shook out his hands.

  “She never missed a chance to say something about my father. Vile. Poisonous. Horrible. It’s like she wants me to remember he’s not a good person. I just wish I knew what she wanted.”

  “Where has she been all this time?” Haley asked.

  “She wouldn’t come out and say it, but based on somethings she said? My guess is New Jersey or New York. I wanted to distance myself from the Russian-American community. I bet she used that as a cover to hide herself from my father.”

  “And now?”

  Konstantin shrugged. “She’s after something. She wants something from me, I just don’t know what
it is. Getting Ivana to let her see Zasha, I think that was her way of getting my attention. She doesn’t care about Zasha.”

  “Maybe she’s just trying to connect and doesn’t know how?” Haley was scraping the barrel for good explanations.

  “No.” He shook his head. “It’s funny what you can make yourself forget.”

  Haley went still. There was something about the way he stood, or maybe the way he spoke, but she had a bad feeling.

  “As a kid, I was terrified of the dark. She used to lock me in the hall closet during parties when I’d annoyed her. She’d tell me if I wasn’t quiet she’d let the witch come take me.”

  Haley gaped at his back.

  Was he...?

  He was serious.

  “I hadn’t thought about that for years. Not until I was sitting there listening to her tell me about how miserable she used to be with us.” He laughed, but it was a bitter sound. “I think life was better without her.”

  She wanted to reach for him, to sooth that child he used to be, but she didn’t. First, it wasn’t appropriate and second, it wasn’t her place.

  Konstantin turned to look at her finally. “I don’t want Zasha to ever be around her again, is that understood?”

  Haley nodded, still too stunned to say anything.

  “Good.” He ran his hands through his hair yet again. “Are we ready to go?”

  “Yes,” she said without hesitation.

  “Okay, I want to get on the road. Just let me change.”

  Haley retreated to her side of the adjoining door and gathered the last-minute things she needed like a phone charger. Other than that, she was as ready as could be.

  She filled the time by doing another walk through of the condo, poking into Zasha’s room, straightening a few things, adding a tiny bit more water to her plants.

  Ten minutes later, the head of Konstantin’s security detail knocked on her door.

  It was time.

  Haley let the man in, then gathered the bundle of pillows bound together to her chest. To complete the look, she swaddled it in a blanket. To someone watching from a distance, this would hopefully look like wrestling a too tired kid into a car. Obviously they would have to be unfamiliar with the size of ten-year-old girls for this to work. The hope was that whatever glimpse they afforded those watching them would be so short and brief it couldn’t be analyzed.

  Their procession of security, Haley and Konstantin used the service elevator to descend to the parking garage. Konstantin stayed close to her side, one hand on the pillow bundle. Despite the tense situation, his concern for even the pillows pretending to be his daughter was sweet.

  In short order they reached the garage and Haley was hustled directly into the waiting SUV. Konstantin slid in next to her while the others dispersed to the lead vehicle.

  “Do we think anyone is watching?” Haley peered around the pillows.

  “I’d guarantee someone’s watching,” Konstantin said. “Let’s go.”

  As if on command, the lead vehicle accelerated and they were off.

  Haley said a silent prayer and hoped that Zasha was busy having fun playing with other children. If they were lucky, she’d barely realize anything was wrong.

  Meanwhile, Haley was going to have to survive being alone with Konstantin.

  “Sir, we have a tail,” the driver said.

  “Go slow,” Konstantin ordered. “Let them follow us.”

  Haley wrapped her arms around the pillows and hugged them.

  Maybe she should have gone. Maybe staying was the wrong thing, but she’d made her decision.

  FRIDAY. ROSE HOUSE. Arlington, VA.

  Tasha shut the front door to the Rose House a bit too hard. The resounding boom was satisfying, though.

  What a dreadful morning.

  Her son was so very like his father. Infuriating men. Why couldn’t they be more agreeable? Why did they have to put her out so?

  No matter. She would deal with both of them.

  Konstantin could still be managed. He wasn’t a lost cause. Once he’d served his purpose, they could go back to the way things had been for all she cared. He wasn’t her objective. He had no real power that interested her and far too many enemies. Enemies that were actually people she worked with closely.

  It could be inconvenient if she were linked to him. She’d deal with it later.

  Tasha frowned around the entry.

  Where was her assistant?

  “Nikolai?” she called out.

  Something banged deeper in the house.

  “Coming, ma’am,” he called out.

  She rolled her eyes and shrugged out of her coat.

  On the drive back, she’d devised a plan after assessing the man her son had become. She’d hoped the next steps would be easy ones. Too bad her son was just as infuriating as her husband.

  Nikolai dashed around the corner.

  “What were you doing?” She held up her hand. “Never mind, I don’t want to know. Do we know who Konstantin’s contacts are with the FBI?”

  “Y-yes, ma’am.” Nikolai smoothed his shirt and tie before fastening the top button of his jacket.

  “Good. One less thing to do.” She strode past the young man toward her office. “I need them dead. Konstantin is going to reach out to someone and I want it to be his father, not the feds.”

  “We are going to kill two FBI agents?” Nikolai’s voice wavered as he spoke.

  She sighed. The young were so malleable and dumb. “It’s not the first time. Get the big man in here. What was his name? The one that was here the other night? I want him. Bring him to me.”

  That was a man who looked like he could get a job done. Nikolai was wonderfully helpful when it came to domestic issues and simple things like answering the phone or managing people, but there were some things that were still beyond him.

  8.

  Friday. Lake House. VA.

  Konstantin stared at the monitors.

  When was the last time they’d come out here and he’d used them?

  Usually he only brought one bodyguard with them. And Haley, but she didn’t count. She spent all her time running after Zasha, exploring the lake front.

  It was so peaceful out here, but he didn’t dare assume that just because it was quiet that they were also safe. His goal in coming out here was to be able to deal with this issue head on if his mother made a move.

  A flashlight showed up as a grainy bit of gray on one screen.

  That was the perimeter guard right on schedule.

  Part of him felt a pang of guilt for taking these men all the way out here. They’d been briefed on the situation and understood the potential danger. That didn’t make Konstantin feel better about it.

  There was nothing else to be done. He’d taken the necessary measures to harm as few people as possible. The rest was out of his hands.

  He left the closet doors open in the room that passed for his office and the general study where Zasha did her lessons. Normally he’d keep them closed and leave security up to whoever had come with them. Without Zasha there, Konstantin wasn’t as concerned with the monitors being visible.

  The house felt empty without her there. There was no girlish squeals as she ran from Haley or as they played.

  He turned his head and listened.

  Last he’d seen of Haley, she’d put her things in what would have been Zasha’s room. Right across from his room.

  He still didn’t know what to do or say to change Haley’s mind, if it was at all possible.

  Konstantin closed his eyes. He could feel the pull of her. It was always there. But in the silence it was harder to ignore.

  He took a step, then another. Before he knew it he stood at the bar overlooking the spacious kitchen. Haley had taken it upon herself to start dinner, something he should have done. The other men had their own supplies in the guest house. He and Haley had to fend for themselves.

  Normally cooking was Ivana’s domain.

  Haley glanced over he
r shoulder at him. “Hey, think you’ll be ready to eat soon?”

  “I was just thinking I should have started that.”

  She waved her hand. “It gives me something to do.”

  He inclined his head and shifted his weight as if to take a step back, then stopped himself.

  Konstantin had trained himself to avoid her. To give her space. But he didn’t have to do that anymore. He wasn’t all that interested in being on his own. Not right now, at least.

  Instead, he slid onto a barstool and leaned his forearms on the cool marble.

  Haley wore jeans and a T-shirt now, and her feet were bare. Her sidearm sat on a nearby counter while she moved around the kitchen. She didn’t hunt or search for things. She knew where everything was. Because like him, she belonged here.

  Haley glanced over her shoulder at him. “Mind if I ask a question?”

  “Go ahead.” His stomach tightened, bracing for a question he wouldn’t like.

  “Why the pictures? Did she ever say?”

  Konstantin frowned. “They never came up...”

  “Well, I brought them. All of them.”

  “What could be in those pictures?” He stared at the gleaming counter top in front of him.

  “Your father was KGB. Any chance it’s connected?”

  “Maybe? It’s hard to say. She obviously has no love for the old man.”

  Haley carried the pot to the stove to his right. Her lips were twisted up in a way he knew meant she wanted to say something.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  She turned the burner on. “I don’t want to pry...”

  “Out with it.” The way he saw it, she had a right to pry.

  “Zasha’s mother?”

  Konstantin nodded. He should have seen this coming, though he’d assumed Ivana would have told that particular story.

  “Could she be involved?” He shook his head. “Not likely.”

  “Who is she?”

  He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Zasha’s mother was a prostitute. I was...nineteen. A virgin. My father was trying to get me interested in his business. How any of that connected is beyond me, but Zasha was the result. My father paid for the woman’s apartment and bills during the pregnancy and for most of that first year until she brought Zasha to me and said she was done. My father paid her one last lump sum and she disappeared. If she was smart, she did something with the money. Set herself up. Otherwise, she’s probably dead. Women in that line of work don’t have long lifespans in Russia.”