by Leslie North
Perfect.
After fixing himself a cup of caffeine, Ben slumped down on one of the stools at the bar and picked up Mishin’s phone Lucy had stolen the other night at the gallery party. Maybe he could salvage something from this train wreck of a mission yet, if he found something on the phone to use to find his target again. Plus, it had the added benefit of keeping his mind off Lucy, which was becoming increasingly harder and harder to do, especially after last night. At least if he found Mishin, he could ensure Lucy would be safe.
Typing in a code the Bratva had developed to bypass the device’s security passwords, he pulled up Mishin’s recent call list and found a number that had been used numerous times over the past three days. He checked the clock—after eight now—then hit the redial button.
An answering machine picked up. “You’ve reached the Chicago Diamond Exchange. If you’ve reached this recording during our normal business hours…”
Fuck.
Mishin wasn’t hiding his stolen mafia cash in art. He was buying gems.
And given the size of the order, he’d never trust a courier to deliver the goods.
Ben quickly hung up then typed the name into the phone’s GPS. It was close by, off South Wabash Avenue and didn’t open for another hour. If he hurried he could get there first thing and hopefully catch Mishin in the act. The guy had to be desperate now that he knew the Volkov’s were on to him. He’d want to get the money converted and get out of the country as soon as possible.
With the Lucy situation hopelessly screwed, there was no sense waiting around for another argument. She still had the key to his apartment, if she needed to get back in and with her stuff being delivered later, that should keep her busy and out of trouble. Still, he chugged down the rest of his coffee then scribbled a fast note letting her know he was out in case she came looking for him again for some reason. After making sure he had his Sig Sauer and a clip stowed in his pocket, Ben was off. Five minutes later, he was downstairs and hailing a cab at the curb.
Turned out the business was located on the first floor of a high-rise office building. Nice facility with marble floors and a young sales clerk setting out lots of twinkling stones in the glass cases to entice the tourists. He knocked on the glass door, hoping she’d be willing to open the door for him even though it wasn’t quite nine.
“May I help you?” a sales clerk asked from the other side of the door. She was pretty, but her blond hair and dark eyes left him cold. Seemed he’d developed a preference for black haired, green eyed temptresses lately. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to see if he could use this girl to get into the store.
“I’m looking for an engagement ring. Would you have any yellow diamonds available?” Ben smiled at her, laying on the charm.
“Oh.” The clerk’s appreciative gaze turned greedy, as she unlocked the door and let Ben inside. “I’d be happy to show you our selection of engagement rings.”
“Uh, actually, I was hoping to speak with your manager,” Ben said, and the girl’s expression went somehow flat.
“I’m sorry,” she said sweetly, “he’s in the back helping another client.”
His instincts told him it might be Mishin.
“It’s just—I was hoping to look at loose stones,” Ben said. “One carat or greater.”
“Well, I can help you with that,” the girl said, her smile returning. “Would you care to come back to my office where I can show you what we have in stock?”
“That sounds marvelous.” He followed her behind the counter, through the door to the back area and stopped short. There stood Mishin, with his back to Ben as another clerk counted out a stack of cash beside a small pile of diamonds. Acting on pure adrenaline, Ben pulled the gun from the holster at his side and aimed. “You son of a bitch!”
Mishin turned fast, his own weapon drawn and his scowl dark. “I wondered how long it would take you to find me again, Ben. You always were too smart for your own good.”
Both clerks moved off to the side, eyes wide and hands up.
“How about you both put the damned guns down and we discuss this like civilized people?” Lucy asked as she burst through the door behind Ben.
He glanced over at her, never taking his aim off Mishin. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“You’re not the only one who can tail people.” She crossed her arms and glared at both men. “Now put those stupid ass weapons down before these clerks call the cops on your asses and you’re both hauled off to prison.”
10
Lucy
Lucy, what the hell are you doing here?” Ben hissed. “Stay back.”
Much as she wanted to punch him, she refrained, considering he currently had his gun pointed at her father. Not that he was her favorite man on earth either. Honestly, at the moment she felt like giving the entire male population a big middle finger. Taking a deep breath, she forced her clenched jaw to relax. “Your right to tell me what I can and can’t do ended the minute you kicked me out of your apartment, bud. Got it?”
She stepped around Ben to place herself between her father and a bullet to the brain. Her father’s stern expression wavered slightly and the barrel of his weapon lowered a tad. “Lucy? My Lucy? You shouldn’t be here. It’s too dangerous for you.”
“First off, I can take care of myself, thanks.” She didn’t budge an inch. “Secondly, I’m not your Lucy, okay? You walked out on Mom and me and never looked back. You lost your parent privileges the day you left. I think it’s best if you put that gun away and turn yourself in.”
Peter Mishin gave a sad snort. “Nyet. I can’t do that. I’ve gone too far now. They’ll kill me on sight, as your boyfriend proves.” He exhaled slow and lowered his arm, his gun at his side. His expression morphed from anger to entreaty. “I plan to leave the country. Go far away where no one from the Bratva will ever find me again. Perhaps you could come with me. We could get to know each other. I’m not so young anymore. This may be our last chance.”
Disbelief crashed into her hard. “Seriously? After the way you treated my mother, after the way you never once even called to see if I was okay, you expect me to help you leave the country?”
Mishin’s gaze flicked over her shoulder to Ben. “This is your doing. You’ve turned her against me. Are you proud of yourself, godson? This is what you wanted, yes? Me, alone?”
“What I want,” Ben said, lowering his weapon as well, “is for you to return the money you stole. But I am not the one who makes those decisions. We both know the Bratva needs to make an example of you, to discourage other thieves who might follow in your footsteps.”
Lucy whipped around to face Ben, her anger rising fast. “Did he just call you his godson? What the hell, Ben? You didn’t think to mention that little tidbit sooner?” She pointed at her father, her gaze never leaving Ben. “You know what? I’m done. I’m sick to death of men who think of no one but themselves. You both make me ill. You want to shoot each other? Go ahead.”
Livid, she stepped out from between them and started for the door, then stopped and turned back to the two clerks who were still gaping at the scene before them. “Sorry for barging into your business and disrupting things. Feel free to call the police any time on these losers.”
“Wait!” Mishin stepped forward, halting her exit. “What if I told you the only reason I left you and your mother was to keep you safe? What if I told you I never stole that money, that it was a loan? Would you come with me then?”
“Don’t believe him, Lucy.” Ben shook his head and laughed, a mirthless sound. “He’s nothing but a fucking liar and coward. And as for your ‘loan,’ the Bratva, expects their two million back, with interest. You ran with the cash and tried to leave my family with the blame. For that I will never forgive you.”
Her father blanched and for a moment Lucy almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Then his mask of derision slid back into place and he shrugged, sneering. “Two million? It’s more like four now.”
“Four?” Ben and Lucy said in
unison.
“Da.” Mishin smiled. “I made some bets on the stock market; they didn’t pan out.”
“You stupid fuck!” Ben snarled, the glare in his eyes a mix of horror and fury. “You’re lucky you didn’t lose everything.”
“Nyet.” Mishin fumbled in his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a gnarled, brownish colored twig. He held it up and flashed a proud grin. “I don’t need luck.”
“What the hell is that?” Lucy asked, nose wrinkled. “A stick?”
Mishin chuckled. “This is the pinky finger of the first person I ever killed. I was ten years old and he’d bullied me because my family was poor. I beat him senseless then threw his body in the river. He drowned before my eyes.” His voice turned soft and sinister and his expression reverent as he stared at the heinous relic. “That’s when I understood the power of taking another life, to kill before I was killed. There is no such thing as luck. I make my own luck. By doing whatever’s necessary to get what I want in life. Your family was an unfortunate casualty of my plans, and for that I’m actually sorry. I respect your father. He’s a good man.”
“Unlike you,” Ben growled.
Mortified, Lucy edged backward toward Ben, realizing at last just how little she knew her father and how insanely dangerous he was. She wanted to run from the room screaming. She wanted to take Ben’s gun and kill the bastard herself.
Instead, she stayed rooted in place, her body tense with fear.
If her father had killed a boy so ruthlessly, what would he do to her and Ben?
As if reading her thoughts, Ben tugged her behind him once more, shielding her with his body as he tried to bargain with her father once more. “Let’s compromise. You pay back three million and I’ll do my best to convince the Bratva that this was intended to be a loan, paid back with interest. You’ll still have to leave the country, but you can do so without constantly looking over your shoulder.”
Mishin tore his gaze from the petrified finger in his hand to stare at Ben. “I will give up nothing. Those bastards owe me for my years of dedicated service. They never respected me, never gave me the credit I deserved. Now, they must pay.”
“You’ll be dead before you leave this building,” Ben said. “My brother Nik is an enforcer. He knows I’m here. In fact, he’s got men surrounding this place as we speak. Snipers with their sights trained on you. All it takes is one word from me and you’re a dead man, Mishin.”
Lucy watched her father from over Ben’s shoulder, her hands gripping his sides tightly. She hated him, she saw now that everything her mother had ever warned her about him, even the things she’d written off as her mother’s bitterness over him abandoning them—the selfishness, the delusions of grandeur, ruthlessness. But that didn’t mean she fancied wearing his brains all over the front of her clothes either. If what Ben said was true, then the possibility of his death was imminent.
The air around her curdled with tension as the two men stared each other down.
After a small eternity of seconds, Peter Mishin cursed and grabbed a handful of diamonds from off the desk, holding them out to Ben. “Here. Take them. For your father, to settle the debt between us. They’re worth at least six million. This pays my debt to the Bratva and you let me walk free.”
Ben continued to stare at the man as he took the diamonds and handed them to a trembling clerk nearby to appraise. At the clerk’s confirmation of their value, he released his breath and snatched the gems back, holding one up to the light as he squinted. “If you’ve tricked me, I will kill you myself. I used to respect you, wanted to be just like you. Now, you make me sick.”
“No tricks,” Mishin said, sliding the rest of the stones into his suit pocket. “Call your men off. We have a deal.”
Reluctantly, Ben pulled out his phone and typed in a quick text. “Done.”
“Done.” Mishin nodded, stowing his gun back in his holster as he sidled past Lucy toward the door. He turned back to her with a fond smile. “You remind me so much of your lovely mother, Lucy.” Then he looked at Ben one last time. “Don’t be a fool like I was. Hang on to her. Protect her for me.”
With that he fled, disappearing out into the crowded Chicago streets.
Knees wobbling, Lucy braced herself against the wall to catch her breath. “Well, that was terrifying.”
“Are you all right, milen'kiy?” Ben asked, putting away his weapon then rushing to her side.
She wanted to tell him to go to hell and how to get there, but to her astonishment, Lucy found herself collapsing into Ben’s arms and sobbing on his shoulder—for all those years she’d spent searching for some idealized version of her father, for expecting him to be something he wasn’t, for expecting more than the complete train wreck things had turned out to be between her and Mishin, between her and Ben. He held her and rubbed her back, cooing softly into her hair while the stunned employees, tiptoed around them, unsure how to handle what had just happened.
At last, her tears slowed and she forced herself to step away from Ben. Things were over between them. He’d made that more than clear earlier. Clinging to him now would only make things worse. She brushed the backs of her hands under her eyes and sniffled. “Will the police come?”
“I don’t think so.” Ben glanced at the clerk beside him again, who shook his head. “Technically, no robbery was committed. Mishin exchanged money for the diamonds, so he’s set.” He opened his hand to show her the glittering diamonds in his palm. “The Bratva should be pleased with these as well. They’ve made a good profit.”
“Right.” She took another step back, increasing the distance between them. “Well, I guess that’s it then, huh? You got what you wanted from my father and I got a new place to live.” She forced a small smile. “Speaking of that, the movers should be there soon. I should, um. I should be going.”
Ben frowned, following her. “Lucy, about what your father said—”
“What?” She stumbled over her own feet, angry at herself over her father and embarrassed by falling into Ben’s arms again. She reverted to her usual sunny disposition as a cover for her bleeding heart. “Oh, no. Don’t worry about that. He’s such a liar, I’m sure he didn’t mean it. I mean c’mon.” Her derisive snort rang loud in the short hallway leading back out into the showroom. “You and me staying together? Getting married? Like that’s ever going to happen, right? We barely know each other and, honestly, I can tell you right now my mom will hate you, you know, Bratva and all and…” Her babbling continued as she backed through the showroom toward the front door. “…besides, I’m too independent. And you said yourself, we don’t really mix. You with your control issues and me all wild and crazy.” The bells on the door jangled as she opened it with her butt and cooler air blasted in around her from outside. Ben looked so confused and earnest and adorable that if she didn’t get out of there right that minute she’d never leave his side. “See you around.”
Lucy bolted into the bright, shiny day, all but sprinting toward the nearest taxi.
It was a cowardly move, she knew, but it was the best she could do—for her sanity, for her future, for Ben. She couldn’t let him see her passion for him, couldn’t keep opening her heart to him only to have him push her away.
11
Ben
Ben stood at the window in his loft, looking out over the early morning streets below. It had been a month since he’d seen Lucy. After the standoff with her father, and the way she’d run afterward, he didn’t know what to say or do, so he’d avoided another confrontation with her altogether. The cowardice didn’t sit well with him at all, but he’d needed time to think, time to consider his options, time to plan for his future as a free man.
He’d managed to get the local Bratva to accept the deal and take the diamonds in exchange for the money Mishin had owed them. The man would do well not to show his face in Chicago again.
Sighing, Ben sipped his coffee then leaned against the windowsill. It had taken a lot of hard work and effort, but he’d fini
shed the remodeling of his place. Even managed to decorate a bit, with fresh paint on the walls and more furniture to fill up the space. He wondered how Lucy was doing downstairs. She’s stayed on, despite her harsh words at the jewelry store that day. Maybe out of necessity, maybe out of something more. If the former were true, he was glad to have helped her in some small way, a chance to repay her for showing him what life could be without the Bratva. If it was the latter… Well, he didn’t want to get his hopes up in that arena. His feelings for her were just as strong as ever, but after all she’d been through, he wouldn’t blame her for never wanting to see him again.
The loud bark of a dog snapped his attention back to the window and he glanced over his shoulder to see Lucy and Pavlov on the sidewalk, heading for the little park about a block up from their building. He’d seen them make that trek before and had considered following, but in the end had resisted. If she was interested in seeing him, she knew where to find him.
Or you could find her…
He shook off the errant thoughts. Yes, he liked her. Yes, he liked her dog too. Yes, life had seemed a bit less bright since their departure, even if his ordered world ran better without her chaos.
Finishing his coffee, he walked back to the kitchen and put his mug in the sink. He turned to go to his bedroom to finish getting ready for his day—he had a meeting with Nik at ten—then stopped short, staring at Pavlov’s leash, still hanging there from when Lucy had stayed with him.
She must’ve purchased a new one rather than come up here to ask for this one back.
His chest squeezed tight with regret.
Shoulders slumped, he shuffled to his bedroom in his stocking feet. The Bratva had caused Lucy and her family nothing but pain and trouble and much as he had distanced himself from that life by getting out, he was still a part of it. Always would be through his father and brother.