The Volkov Brothers Series: The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  She let herself back into her room, closed the door behind her, then locked it. The dog was already stretched out across the foot of the bed, snoring away on his back with all his legs apart in the air. Lucy hadn’t felt tired before, but now as she sat on the bed and stared at the white walls across from her, fatigue set in big time. In fact, she barely remembered to shut off the light before she flopped down on the mattress and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  The next time Lucy opened her eyes, bright sunshine was streaming in through the curtain-less window in the opposite wall and she buried her face in her pillow. She wasn’t ready to get up yet. She’d slept better last night than she had in forever and all she wanted to do was curl up under the covers and snooze the day away and…

  “Oh, shit!” She bolted straight up in bed, startling poor Pavlov who was now snuggled next to her. What time was it? She was supposed to take the early shift today at the tour company. If she lost that job, she could forget about making up her rent in time for her landlord not to sell what meager belongings she had left in her now-banned apartment.

  Lucy stumbled out of bed and headed for the door to her room. Out in the hall, the delicious smells of bacon and eggs mingled with the pleasant, off-key male humming coming from the kitchen. In a panic, she rushed to Ben’s bathroom, grateful to find his bed made and the room empty. After taking care of her necessary duties, and using the new toothbrush he’d thoughtfully laid out for her on the vanity, she rushed back to her room and put on her clothes from yesterday. All she needed now were her shoes and purse, which if she remembered correctly were still out in the living room. If she hurried, she might have a chance to save her job.

  As she darted past the open kitchen and breakfast bar, Ben turned from where he was standing at the stove and glanced at her over his shoulder, his smile even more dazzling than she remembered.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” he said, all easy, relaxed male and pure seduction. “Sleep well?”

  “Yeah,” she said, scrambling around for her things, then hoping on one foot to get her shoe on. “Too well. I’m late for work.”

  “Oh.” Ben adjusted the burners on the stove then wiped his hands on a towel as he approached her. “Don’t worry about it. I called in sick for you this morning. You officially have the day off.”

  Lucy stopped mid-hop, one foot in the air. “What?”

  “I checked on you once, early this morning and you were so deeply asleep I couldn’t wake you. You seemed so tired and stressed, that I thought it best to let your employer know you wouldn’t be in today.” He tilted his head slightly, his too-perceptive gaze sharp. “Besides, we’ll need the time to look for your father today.”

  Lucy lowered her shoeless foot to the ground and frowned. “How did you know my work’s number?”

  “Google is a beautiful thing.” Ben gave a slow smile then headed back into the kitchen as he continued. “Have a seat at the bar. Breakfast should be ready in a moment and we can then discuss our plans for today.”

  Pavlov came out to sniff his food and water bowls then dug into the mound of kibble Ben had set out for him. Once he was done, Lucy hooked up his leash and led him to the door. “I need to take him out to do his business. I’ll be right back.”

  Ben glanced over at her and hiked his chin. “Fine. Maybe you can start the coffee when you get back?”

  Downstairs, she walked the dog in a small grassy area adjacent to the converted warehouse building where Ben’s loft was located. This neighborhood seemed just as nice as the one where her old apartment was located, if a bit trendier. Hipster couples power walked down the sidewalks and businessmen rushed toward the nearest metro station to catch the El to work. It all seemed so nice and normal and domestic. Even Ben cooking in the kitchen upstairs had struck a chord with her. No one had made her breakfast since she’d lived at home with her mother.

  After waiting for Pavlov, then cleaning up his mess using bags from the convenient potty bag dispenser nearby, she headed back upstairs. The fact he’d taken the liberty of calling in for her didn’t bother her half as much as how sweet she found his actions. It was as if he actually cared about her. Which was silly, since they’d just met the day before. No one cared about another person that much that fast, right?

  His loft door was unlocked once she arrived on the third floor with Pavlov. She managed the heavy freight elevator door with help from one of Ben’s neighbors, then shuffled back inside with Pavlov. Even the dog seemed to have taken an instant liking to the guy.

  Which was bad. Because this couldn’t last. Could it?

  She unleashed the dog and he took off running in circles on the slippery hardwood floor then raced back and forth down the hall to burn off some of his excess energy. Lucy couldn’t help laughing. He’d never done that at her old apartment. It was like he was a puppy again.

  “Ah, perfect timing.” Ben turned from the stove and grinned as Pavlov came running from his bedroom with a wadded-up sock in his mouth. “Stuff to make coffee is in the cabinet there.” He cocked his head. “And then if you can set out plates and silverware we can eat soon.”

  “Sure.” She prepared the coffee as he’d asked then started the machine before gathering plates and utensils and napkins from the kitchen. Seemed each time she’d go to grab something, however, she and Ben were in each other’s way. More than once, she’d had to excuse herself when she’d bumped him or nearly walked into him. Never mind the fact each brush of his skin against hers or whiff of his shampoo and cologne mixed with his natural scent of warm, clean male, set her heart pounding and her blood zinging. Finally, once she had their places set and the coffee ready, Lucy took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar while Pavlov smacked his now-slobbery sock against her foot. She watched Ben getting their food ready, his movements practiced and efficient. The guy obviously knew his way around a kitchen.

  “I wanted to be a chef once,” she said.

  “Really?” Ben raised a brow as he pushed the scrambled eggs into a serving dish from the frying pan using a spatula. “What made you change your mind?”

  “The Food Network and Gordon Ramsey, mostly.” She chuckled and shrugged at his confused stare. “Those people on the cooking shows are always so organized and that’s not my strong suit. Then watching Gordon on his reality shows, the way he screams at the contestants…” She shuddered. “I know part of it’s an act for the audience, but man. If anyone ever screamed at me like that, I’d probably just die on the spot.”

  Ben set the bowl of eggs and a plate of crisp bacon on the bar then grabbed the coffee, along with a carafe of orange juice and took his seat beside her at the bar. “Eh, he’s not so bad. Ramsey’s a perfectionist. I can relate to that. Though I will say his people skills could use a bit of polish.”

  “You can say that again.” Lucy dished up a portion of eggs for herself, then passed the bowl to Ben. Their fingers brushed and lingered, his gaze meeting hers and holding a second longer than normal. In their amber depths, she saw caution and strength and a hint of surprised attraction. Same as her. She pulled her hand away and stared down at the toes of her cute pink flats. “So, do you cook anything else besides breakfast? You looked like a pro in the kitchen.”

  “I learned from my mother,” he said, avoiding her gaze as he filled his plate. “She taught me a lot of old family recipes from Russia.”

  “Oh, I love Russian food. I can even cook some of it too.” She took a bite of eggs, savoring their creamy saltiness and the tartness of the cheddar cheese he’d added. “What’s your favorite?”

  “Well,” he said, around a bite of bacon. “I wouldn’t call it my favorite, but it was the one that always gave my mother the most trouble. Borscht.”

  “Borscht?” Lucy frowned. “Why did she have trouble with that one?”

  “She burned it,” he said, swallowing a large gulp of black coffee.

  “Seriously? I thought that was served cold.”

  “Exactly.” He gave her a sideways gla
nce then laughed. “I loved my mother with all my heart and soul, but she was a bit…scattered when it came to cooking. Mostly she burnt everything.”

  Lucy giggled then took another bite of her delicious eggs. “Well, this food is most definitely not burnt. It’s awesome. So somehow you must’ve found a way to manage on your own.”

  “Da.” He smiled. “My mother would lay out the recipes and ingredients and I would do the actual cooking. That became our routine and I enjoyed it. Cooking relaxes me. As does building and decorating, though my older brother likes to give me a hard time about it.”

  “Hmm.” They ate for a while in companionable silence. Then Lucy’s curiosity got the better of her again. “Siblings are great, aren’t they?” Her tone held more than a little sarcasm. “I have a younger brother. Well, half-brother. He’s my mom and stepdad’s son.”

  “That must’ve been hard,” Ben said, watching her over the rim of his coffee cup.

  “What?”

  “Finding out one day that your family is not your family.”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, it was a bit disorienting, I suppose. Like you wake up to find that your grandparents aren’t really your grandparents. Even my brother, well, half-brother, wasn’t who I thought he was. Makes you question everything, you know? Of course, it doesn’t help that he’s practically perfect too. David’s two years younger than me and already he’s got the perfect life—at least according to my parents. Stable job, wife, two kids.” She snorted. “As you can see, my life is chaotic at best.”

  “I’ve noticed.” Ben’s gaze flickered from her eyes to her lips before he looked away fast. “Perhaps you just haven’t found the right person yet.”

  “I suppose.” She swallowed her last bites of bacon and eggs. “At this point in my life, I always pictured myself as a stay-at-home mom, with a couple kids and going to PTA meetings and doing crafts and stuff.”

  Now, it was Ben’s turn to snort. “I’m having a hard time picturing that for you. Not the kids, but the Betty Crocker lifestyle.”

  She sipped her coffee and did her best not to picture what her kids with Ben might look like—would they have her dark hair and his amber eyes, or her green eyes and his lighter brown hair?

  As if sensing the wayward track of her thoughts, Ben made quick work of clearing their dishes, then re-took his seat at the bar. “So, our plans for today.”

  “Right.” Lucy swiveled slightly to face him. “Lay them on me, Mr. Control.”

  Ben raised a brow, his grin devilishly wicked. “I like this name.”

  “I bet you do.” She winked. “Go ahead.”

  “In order to find your missing father, we need to concentrate our search efforts. Visit all the businesses around his apartment and ask if anyone has seen him lately. We need to discover where he eats, what shops he frequents. Then after we’ve done that, we need to get inside his apartment.”

  “You mean break in?” Lucy frowned. Not that she didn’t wonder if he could do the same at her old place, but didn’t want to risk jail time. “Is that legal?”

  Ben’s smile fell, his eyes narrowing. “You are his daughter. You want to find your father, correct?”

  “Well, yes, but—”

  “Then let me handle this aspect. I’m very good at what I do and I know how to handle the police and any nosy bystanders. Do you trust me, Lucy?”

  His words made her heart rate kick higher again. She’d known this guy less than twenty-four hours and already he’d saved her not once, but twice. First from that gang of thugs and then again when he’d given her a safe place to sleep and a roof over her head. She wasn’t quite ready to say she trusted him, but she was certainly on her way.

  She nodded. “All right. I’m ready.”

  “Good.” Ben downed the rest of his coffee in one swallow then got up and walked back to the sink. “Help me wash these dishes then we’ll be on our way.”

  5

  Ben

  Hi there, have you seen this man around the neighborhood?” Lucy asked yet another person walking by Mishin’s apartment building. In her hand was a blurry Internet photo she’d printed off before leaving Ben’s loft.

  The guy she’d stopped scowled and waved her off, just like every other person for the last hour and a half they’d been out here. Ben checked his watch again then exhaled slow. This search was getting them nowhere.

  Enough.

  Frustrated, he scrubbed his hand through his hair then pushed away from the brick wall where he’d been leaning and took Lucy by the hand, tugging her away from the building’s entrance and over to a bench inside a nearby bus hut. “Sit.”

  “I’m not Pavlov. You can’t just order me around.” She placed her hands on her hips and gave him an irritated glare. “Besides, we need to keep looking for my father. Someone’s bound to have seen him sooner or later.”

  “No one’s going to talk to you. Not about Mishin. Not here. I shouldn’t have indulged your crazy schemes.” He took a seat beside her on the bench, rolling his stiff shoulders, his tone gruff. “We should have continued to canvas those businesses. Now, we’ve got nothing to show for it but sore feet and wasted time. I never should have allowed you to take charge of the investigation.”

  “Allowed me? Crazy schemes?” Lucy did that head jerk thing that signaled an impending female apocalypse. She pushed to her feet and jammed her finger into his face, her nose scrunched in anger. “Listen, buddy. I get that you think you’re some kind of Russian mob badass, and maybe you are, but let’s get one thing straight, okay? No body allows me to do anything. I’m a grown woman. I make my own choices and decisions. Period. Amen. End of story. And as far as ‘your’ investigation goes?” Her head was bobbing and her finger was wagging and she used air quotes for emphasis, definitely on a roll now. “Maybe you should take your ‘plans’ and shove them sideways up your pompous Russian ass!”

  Several passing men cast Ben sympathetic looks before scurrying on their way. He should’ve known better than to say what he had to Lucy, but dammit, he needed to find Peter Mishin fast. So far he had squat to go on. Time was running out and the mafia would come to collect what was owed them and the last thing Ben wanted was for his family to be left footing the bill.

  A small crowd had now gathered near the bus hut. Anxious and tense and needing some space and air, Ben grabbed Lucy’s arm and pulled her inside the lobby of Mishin’s apartment building while the doorman was otherwise distracted.

  “Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” Lucy shook off his hand.

  He ignored her question and walked her over to the elevators on the far side of the large open space. Thankfully, enough people milled about so they weren’t that conspicuous. He jammed the button then bent to whisper in her ear, “Time to visit Daddy’s place.”

  The elevator dinged open and he rushed her inside, holding the button to close the doors so they’d be alone in the compartment. Nik had told him that Mishin lived on the top floor. In the penthouse, of course. Slimy bastard hid the Bratva’s millions while flaunting his wealth in plain sight. It was that kind of middle-finger behavior that would get Mishin caught and killed in the end.

  As they rode upward for seventeen floors, Lucy huffed and crossed her arms, huddling into the corner of the gilded and mirrored elevator, staring daggers at him. “How do you plan to get into my father’s place, huh? Bust the door down?”

  “Maybe.” Ben cracked his knuckles and stepped closer to her, purposely doing his best to intimidate her. He’d faced down the worst criminals the underworld had to offer, done whatever was necessary to fulfill his missions, yet seeing the spark of fear in Lucy’s pretty green eyes as he loomed over her nearly dropped him to his knees. Still, he needed to stay strong. Letting her run roughshod over him and his carefully made plans wasn’t acceptable, not with so much on the line. He put on his best scowl and inched closer, until they were nose-to-nose, doing his best to feign anger when all he’d felt since breakfast earlier was the deepening connec
tion between them. He had a job to do, responsibilities, and allowing his growing feelings for Lucy to override his common sense wasn’t helping. “You need to learn your place. I am the professional. You are only here because I let you tag along. I decide what we do and when we do it. No more crazy schemes, no more input from you unless I ask for it. Understand?”

  She swallowed hard, the tiny movement drawing his attention to the softness of her skin and the pale column of her throat. He could see the tiny, rapid pulse beating at the base of her neck and battled the insane urge to dip his head down and run his tongue over the sensitive spot.

  Lucy gave a slight nod, her eyes wide and her breath held.

  Lips compressed, he cursed under his breath and backed away to the opposite side of the elevator. Fuck. This whole attraction he had for her was getting way too far out of hand. It was starting to mess with his concentration and his work. That was completely unacceptable. It was completely wrong on so many levels.

  Yet, the tightness in his body and the blood now rushing to his cock said otherwise.

  Ding!

  The elevator jerked to a halt and the doors slid open and Ben hurried out into the hallway like he had a lit Molotov cocktail shoved up his ass. He didn’t even check to see if Lucy followed. Right now he needed to get his head on straight and his libido under control. Right now, his family was depending on him as never before to get this mission done and recover that money. And family came first. Always.

  He was at Mishin’s door and crouched to pick the lock when Lucy finally joined him. She didn’t say a word, just stood by his side, nervously shuffling her feet and looking around like she expected the police to swoop in at any time and arrest them both. If Ben didn’t get the damned lock open soon, they just might. He glanced up at the corner of the hallway and spotted a security camera, currently shooting the other side of the hall, but slowly swiveling toward them.