“Stay safe,” I murmur as he leaves.
Looking around, I groan; I’m going to be so bored again, I could cry. Maybe Jade or one of the others will have a book to lend me. Besides, nothing will happen if I just run down the corridor to Jade’s apartment. Making up my mind, I hurry to the bedroom to put on a pair of shoes. Seeing as I only have the high heels and my work shoes, I guess the work shoes will have to do. Looking in the mirror on my way out to make sure I have nothing stuck to my face, I smile. Opening the door, I look down the corridor. Taking a deep breath, I step outside and close the door behind me.
I make it to Jade in one piece. I smile at my silliness as I lift my hand to knock on the door. I wait, but there is no reply. Knocking again, I wait. After a minute, I sigh. Looks like she isn’t home, and I don’t know where Ruby or Raven live, or I would go knock on their door. Turning, I make my way back to the apartment. Only when I get to the door do I realize that I don’t have an apartment key.
“Oh no.” Vlad is not going to be happy; I don’t even have my phone to ring anyone, as Vlad hasn’t given it back to me. “Damn.” What am I going to do? I sigh. Maybe if I make my way downstairs, someone will guide me to someone who might be able to open our door. I make my way to the lift. Getting in, I press the first floor, as I remember that the ground floor is the garage. I know that this building has a reception area. All I must do is ask the receptionist to get someone to open the door.
Getting out of the lift, I see two men standing to one side, talking. When they see me, they frown. “Why are you alone?” one man asks, approaching. I tense. Vlad is not going to be happy.
“I got locked out of the apartment. Can you show me who I can talk to who will be able to open it for me?”
Both men look at each other, a suspicious look on their faces.
“Which apartment are you in?” the other man asks as he steps forward to join his friend.
“I’m in Vlad’s apartment.”
“Which Vlad?” the older one asks with a frown.
“Vlad Vasilev.”
They both glance at each other again. “You the woman who was at the fight?” the younger one says, and then he says something to his friend in Russian.
“Only the owners know the password to the top-floor apartments. You will need to wait for Vlad.”
“What? No, no, that can’t be.” Oh, please tell me that I won’t have to be waiting outside the apartment until Vlad comes home. “Surely there must be someone who has access to all the apartments in the building.”
“Maybe you can talk to Dimitri’s team. If anyone, they might be able to help.” I know that Dimitri deals with security. They should be the right people. I should have thought about that.
“Where can I find them?” I feel like an idiot. This doesn’t usually happen to me, as I am so careful with everything.
“I will take you,” the older man says. “You should not be walking around alone.” Well, it’s not as if I did this on purpose. He says something in Russian to his friend, and then he inclines his head towards the lift.
“Where are we going?” I ask before getting into a lift with someone I don’t know.
“Dimitri’s team is on the fourth floor. I will take you there.”
I doubt he is the killer. After all, his friend knows that I am leaving with him.
We make our way to the fourth floor. Walking down a corridor, we turn left and then right, seeing others in the corridors. It gives me comfort that I’m not alone with him, but I think that I will skip telling Vlad about this, as I don’t think he would be very impressed with me venturing out and then walking around the whole building.
Arriving at a door at the end of the corridor, I notice that this door looks like it is stronger than the others, maybe a fireproof door. I’m guessing as the security hub of the mafia, they require more security than normal. The man presses a button next to the door, and then we wait. I’m guessing it’s a bell of some sort. Someone says something through the microphone by the button, and the man answers. I hear him mention Vlad’s name, which means that he must be telling the person why we are here.
“Stay here. Jared is coming. He is sorting something out but will be with you soon.”
“You are leaving?”
“It is a shift change. I need to update my colleague.” I can’t expect him to stay here while I wait, and besides, I saw others in the corridors on the way here.
“Thank you.”
“You be careful,” the man says before leaving. Turning, I see him making his way halfway down the corridor before he opens a door, which I only now realize must be stairs. As he leaves, another man enters. They share some words before he goes. The other man steps into the corridor. He is wearing a hoodie and tracksuit bottoms which tells me that he must have been at the gym.
His head is bent as he approaches. Is this Jared? When he is standing but a few feet away, he raises his head, but the hoodie still covers most of his face, but I am sure I have seen him before. Maybe one of the guards when we came from the fight.
“You locked out?”
Oh good, he must be Jared. “Yes, oh yes. I hope you can help me.”
“Come,” he calls as he starts to turn.
“I don’t mind waiting if you want to change first,” I say, not wanting to take him out of his way. He was clearly coming back from a training session, and the last thing he must feel like is dealing with a woman.
“No, it’s okay.” He starts walking down the corridor the same way we came from, but instead of heading to the bottom, he opens the door that leads to the steps. Following him, we make it up a flight of steps before he opens a door at the top and to the side of the steps. He holds the door open for me to enter. Before I can turn, I feel a push, and then I stumble forward. It is dark in here. Snapping around, I see the door closing behind the man.
“What are you doing?” I gasp, but everything darkens. I feel a hand on my arm. I try to pull away, but his grip is strong. Oh no, what did I get myself into? “Let go of me.” I fight his hold. I feel his fingers tightening around my upper arm. This can’t be happening; I will not let my life end like this.
“Stay still or you will suffer.” His voice is low as he thrusts me forward. I feel my knee hitting something as I stagger forward, but I straighten and turn to try to fight my way out. There must be something I can use to hit him with. I spread my hands out, but before I can touch anything, his body is flush against mine. I can smell a hint of mint on his breath as he pulls his fingers through my hair and pulls my head back angrily.
The pain from the action has me crying out. “You will be crying much more than that soon,” he says against my ear before he places his lips over mine, trying to force a kiss, but I bring up my leg and kick him as hard as I can. My knee doesn’t get him fully, but it is enough to have him stepping back and letting go of me. I try to push past him, but just before I fumble for the door handle, he has his arm around my neck and is pulling me back.
“Bitch, I will make you pay, but not before he does.” After those words, my head explodes with pain. Darkness descends, and I feel myself falling. I fight the complete darkness, but it is stronger than me.
VLAD 15
“Who’s coming?” Alexei asks as we make our way to the club. When I got Brandr’s call last night, I made sure to clear our evenings. It’s not every day that the Elementals want a meeting with us. We usually just send them the pickup locations and times, and they do what they are paid to do. For them to want a meeting, there must be something going on.
“Not sure. Brandr just asked if we could meet today, and that’s it.” Alexei grunts in reply as we pull up at the club. I notice there are already bikes parked outside, and by the look of them, they must be the Elementals, as Bjarni does custom artwork on their machines, and they are always amazing works of art. Counting, I see there are eight, which means that most of them are here.
“When I last spoke to Brandr, when they sent me the info, he said that they h
ad some stuff going on. I did tell them that if they needed any help with anything, they should let us know.”
“You think it could be related to that?” I shrug, as I have no idea. All I can do is assume. Parking the Mustang, I climb out, looking over my shoulder at Andrei as he pulls up in my car. Alexei and I decided to drive here together, as we wanted to discuss this meeting. We don’t have worries about meeting with the Elementals; it’s just that we like to be prepared for any meeting we have with our associates.
Nik, Andrei, and Dimitri join us as we make our way inside. Entering through the side door, we make our way down the corridor. “Do you want to meet in your office, or do we go to the club?” I ask.
“We go and join our friends. If need be, we can always come back,” Alexei says as we continue down the corridor. Opening the door into the club, I look towards the VIP lounge and see that the Elementals are already sitting there. Making our way there, I smile when I see the men. I don’t know what it is about these men, but I feel no need to be on my guard when I’m with them, and it’s not because we have worked for so long together, because since the very first minute that I met them, I have felt like this.
I know that they are bikers, but all they have shown me in these years that I have known them is the respect they have for each other and the way they stand together no matter what. Alexei and I are like that with each other, but these men are a group who have that unconditional respect and trust in each other.
“Vlad, there you are,” Brandr says as he stands and comes around the table to greet me. “Long time no see, brother.”
“You get uglier every time I see you,” I murmur jokingly, which has the others laughing.
“You see? I told you,” Ceric says. “They don’t believe me when I tell them that I’m the only handsome one in the group. The women gravitate towards me.”
“Actions talk louder than words, and from what I can see, the women are all looking at me,” Bjarni says from where he’s sitting.
“I’ll make sure to tell Gabriella and Nova about your conquests,” Cassius mutters as he winks at Bjarni.
“On second thought, you might be right, Ceric. It does look like they are all looking at you,” Bjarni mutters with a glare in Cassius’s direction, which has the others grinning.
“Alexei, Vlad,” Draco greets as he approaches from where he was standing against one of the cement pillars.
“Draco, nice to see you again.” Alexei stretches out his hand in greeting, which is engulfed by Draco’s hand.
“It has been too long; I see that you are keeping well. You must be wondering why we wanted to meet.” I smile to myself. Just like Draco to get straight to the point.
“You could say that,” Alexei says.
“Is there anywhere we can talk?” Draco asks with a raised brow, which has Alexei inclining his head towards the door that leads to his office. Draco nods. Alexei leads the way towards his office. Brandr and I follow them. There is no way I am going to stay away from this meeting. I see that Bjarni and Nik are behind us, but the others have stayed in the club. Entering the office, I move to the side and wait. Draco takes a seat on one of the couches, Alexei sits opposite him, and Brandr comes to stand next to me.
“We need weapons,” Draco states.
“I didn’t expect that,” Alexei says. I look over at Brandr with a raised brow. In all the years we have known the Elementals, they have never requested any weapons. As a matter of fact, thinking back, they usually carry very little weapons that I can see.
“You in trouble?” I ask.
“No, but we have a situation in Cape Town, and our chapter there has agreed to exchange weapons for necessary information that we need,” Brandr says.
“They have a terrible problem there of skin trade that we are trying to stop, but as everything, the information will cost us, which is why we are requesting the weapons.”
“How many do you want, and for when?” Alexei asks. Instead of answering, Draco pulls out his phone and passes it on to Alexei, who looks down at the information on it. “This won’t be a problem.”
“We need it as soon as possible,” Draco states as he pockets his phone again.
“I can get that order to you this week. How do you want to collect it?”
“If you give me the day and time, our men from the Cape Town chapter will be there to collect it.” I don’t like the idea of interacting with men I don’t know, but if Draco says they are fine, then I take his word for it. “Tor is the president of the Cape Town chapter; you will recognize him, as he looks like a modern-day Viking.”
Alexei nods towards me. “Vlad will be there. He will make sure that they get everything they need.”
“How much do you want for them?” Draco asks as he leans back on the couch. I don’t know what it is about him, but his very presence has an aura of danger. He is one man I have never had the inkling to fight, as I have a feeling I would lose.
“Why don’t we make the payment one of your transports for us?” Alexei states.
“You will be losing out.”
“How many years have we known each other, Draco? And in all those years, you have helped us and given us the best service anyone could. You have even sorted out a few little problems for us,” Alexei says. “I am not losing out. It is my pleasure to be helping you for a change.”
“Thank you.”
“How about a drink?” Alexei asks. “Vlad, will you serve our guests some of our poison.” I laugh at Brandr’s groan.
“That stuff grows hair on your chest,” he mutters good-naturedly.
“It is only for the strong-hearted,” I state as I walk towards the cabinet with the drinks and pick up our best bottle of vodka with four glasses. Handing one to Alexei, I serve him. Then I pass one to Draco, then Brandr, and finally myself.
“May we have a long business relationship,” Alexei says as he raises his glass in a toast.
I see Brandr frown as he pulls his phone out of his kutte pocket, and then he stands. “If you will excuse me for a minute.” Draco glances over at him, but he doesn’t say anything as Brandr steps outside.
“We have a few connections in Cape Town. If you need help, just let me know,” Alexei proposes. Draco leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees.
“Thanks. This issue has grown instead of diminishing. Most of the gangs there have joined together with a rival MC, the Keres. You might have heard us talk about them from time to time. The problem is that there are too many gangs, so as soon as we close one down, the other one is right there, and we can’t seem to find the Keres’ stronghold or who is leading them.”
“I hate the fucking assholes who think they can make money out of women and children,” I mutter. If they need help, I will be right there next to them, trying to stop them. I hear the door. Looking back over my shoulder, I see Brandr stepping back inside, but by his face, I know that there must be trouble brewing.
“Is there a problem?” Draco asks, standing from the couch. I see Brandr looking from Draco to me, then back towards Draco.
“Yeah, that was Aria,” he states, and then he turns and looks at Alexei. “Aria phoned to warn us about something.” I see Draco tense.
“Isn’t Aria your woman?” I’m sure that was her name.
“Yes.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Alexei asks.
“Actually, the warning was for you and not us.”
What the hell? What does he mean the warning was for us? And how would his woman have a warning for us? “You might find this strange, but one of our women can see things. She says that you are having problems. She sees women being killed.”
At his words, I tense. How the hell would he know about the killings?
“What do you mean?” I can hear the same disbelief in Alexei’s voice.
“I don’t know. All I know is that she said women are dying and that another one will die if you don’t hurry up.”
“What do you know about the killings?” Alexei
asks as he steps closer to Brandr. By his tense jaw, I know that his anger has been poked. These killings have been a bone of contention ever since they started, and we still haven’t been able to find the killer.
“Look, what he says is true,” Draco intervenes. “One of our women does see things, and I know it’s hard to believe, but everything she has ever said till now has come true in various things. I’m telling you now, if she says that another woman is about to die, I would listen to her.”
“Fine, I will contact my men and find out if a woman is missing,” Alexei states, but I can see the suspicion on his face. He walks towards his desk. Lifting his phone, he dials. “Are there any problems?” he asks in Russian. I’m sure he is calling one of Dimitri’s soldiers, as they would be the first to know of the disappearance of a woman. He tenses as he listens. “Who?” At that word, I feel my stomach knotting as I think about the last two women we found. My heart starts to race as I think of all the possibilities and where the motherfucker might be hiding her this time.
Alexei swears profusely. “How?” he asks. After what feels like hours but has only been minutes of him listening to the other person, he finally disconnects the call.
“There is another one?” I ask.
“Da.” His voice is gruff as if he’s holding in his rage. “How did she know?” he asks, looking at Brandr.
“We don’t know how she knows; she gets visions and she sees things. It just comes to her, but it is always right.”
“She said that we need to hurry, that she is still alive?” I ask, thinking back to what Brandr first said.
“Yes, she said she is still alive,” he confirms.
Fury: (Bratva Fury) Page 12