The elevator chimed and the doors opened. Both of them saw the group of people at the same time. Near the casino lobby stood Khalid, owner of the casino, flanked by two of Ash’s hand-picked bodyguards. In front of them were three huge Russian enforcers. One of them was Boris Grekov, right hand to Vladimir Sitnikov. The man was so good at his job that even heavyweights in the industry like Khalid and Ash kept their distance. The big, scarred man turned and watched Ash and Anya leave the elevator with such chilling intensity that Ash felt as though someone was crossing his grave. Literally.
“Are you bulletproof Ash?” Anya asked from next to him.
“No man is,” he snorted, starting to suspect where exactly she may be connected.
She nodded. “That’s why we say good-bye now.”
They approached the group. Khalid’s gaze landed on Anya, eyeing her coldly. “Anastasia.”
Ash felt instant anger, annoyed that his boss knew who his mystery woman was before him.
She jerked her chin toward Khalid in acknowledgment. “Khalid. Congratulations on your recent marriage and impending fatherhood. We have a baby gift for you when you and your wife are ready to receive.”
Khalid looked furious at the mention of Shania, as though Anya had just directly threatened her welfare. What the fuck was going on? Ash was about to turn his attention to Anya and demand some answers when she stepped away from him and approached Sitnikov’s man. She spoke in soft fluent Russian, her voice wrapping around each word like liquid sex.
Boris’ shoulders relaxed slightly and he nodded at her then stepped back. “Da.”
Anya turned around and, pointedly ignoring Ash, spoke directly to his boss, her words conciliatory. “I mean no disrespect Khalid. We’re all friends here. I was meeting with your man to negotiate the terms of a fight contract. If I was incorrect in my information, that he is available for sale, please do let me know and I will back off immediately.”
Khalid looked at her calculatingly and then over at Ash, who’s suspicions were being confirmed with every word that was spoken. Now he really wanted to hit something. Specifically, he wanted to bend her over and spank her ass until she was glowing red for daring to play such a dangerous game with him. He felt like a chump. He’d heard of her, but he’d never set eyes on her. From what he’d been told over the years, she was illusive and very much under the protection of Vladimir Sitnikov.
“You’re information is not wrong, Miss Sitnikov,” Khalid replied.
Ash’s face was stony, his brawny arms crossed in front of him. He stood at his boss’ side glaring down at her. She stared back, her eyes shuttered once more. He despised the way she spoke around him to Khalid, as though Ash had become a ‘thing’ to negotiate over and not the man that had be fucking that tight pussy of hers only moments before.
Finally, after digesting their conversation, he said in a deadly quiet voice, “Sister?”
She nodded, almost distractedly.
Ash could have strangled her for not telling him he had fucked one of the most dangerous women in the city. The little bitch waited until she was flanked by fucking mob enforcers before coming clean. He visualized his fingers around her neck. She must have sensed the sudden danger in him because she stumbled back a step, the three Russians closing in around her. Boris stared at him murderously and placed a hand on Anya’s shoulder.
It probably saved Boris’ life that she shrugged his hand off and stood staring back at Ash. “I couldn’t tell you,” she said quietly.
“I disagree. You should have started with that information the very first time we met.”
Her temper flared, turning her eyes into blue fire. “I have reasons, Ash. I don’t tell anyone. It’s safer.”
“For who?!” he sneered. “You or them? Fuck, your games are going to get someone killed one day.”
She stared at him, daring to look betrayed after the bombshell she’d just dropped on him. Angrily she snapped, “This is where you walk away.”
Ash probably would have lunged for her if Khalid hadn’t put a restraining hand on his shoulder. He flexed his muscles and continued to stare at her, the silence building around them.
Finally he nodded, “You’re right,” and walked away.
The next time he set hands on her, he would make damn sure she didn’t have her brother’s enforcers at her back. He would force her to tell him everything and then he would make her understand exactly who she was playing games with.
CHAPTER FIVE
Anya didn’t realize she’d fallen in love with the asshole until he’d taken her suggestion and walked away. Like the few others she had bothered to care about, he walked away from the little sister of the mob boss because she was a complication that nobody needed. This time it hurt more than all the rest combined.
“Let’s go,” she said to Boris, turning around and heading for the door.
When she headed toward her dark purple Camaro, Boris stopped her. “You ride with me,” he said in heavily accented English, his voice deep and clipped. “Boss would have my ass if you wrecked because of bad temper.”
Anya laughed a little and handed her keys to one of the other guys. She took Boris’ arm and walked with him to the black SUV parked at the curb of the casino. “You always know how to tell it like it is Boris.”
“And you know how to push the boss’ buttons, little girl.” His strong accent emphasized leetle gurl.
It wasn’t a compliment. Nobody wanted to be around Vlad Sitnikov when he was pissed. Which is something his little sister did to him with alarming frequency.
“Alright, lets go see if I can smooth it over then boss man. Make it safe for the soldiers again,” she said, her lips curling in a half smile.
Boris grunted.
Indeed, Vlad was angrier than usual when she got back to the house.
“You said I could live my own life Vlad, not have it run by you and your men!” Anya yelled after enduring Vlad’s legendary temper for the past ten minutes. “You wanted me to stay in your house where its safe, and my only stipulation was freedom when I needed it.”
“The freedom to make good choices Anastasia!” he snarled back in Russian. “Not to drop your bodyguards at an illegal fight and take off for two days, turning up in a rival’s casino. That was incredibly stupid. You could have been kidnapped – or worse – and I wouldn’t have known what happened until it was too late.”
Anya switched to Russian as well and said in a quiet voice, “There is only one reason why I am unsafe in this city, brother.”
Vlad flinched and looked sad, but resigned.
“It is what it is, solntse. We would not be here in America, living the good life, so to speak, if I hadn’t taken the path I chose. I love you too much to let you go unprotected. You are as much a daughter as you are a sister.”
Anya was still upset, but his words coupled with her favourite endearment made her smile a little. “You are not old enough to be my father.”
“Sixteen years Anastasia. And you have no mother or father. Protecting you is my honour. I would kill any person that brought harm upon you.”
She sighed. “Unfortunately its that last part that I know to be true. You can’t stop being both my brother and the badass that runs this city. I feel like I’m going to die alone, still living in your house.”
“That works for me,” he replied, his smirk unrepentant.
Anya snorted, “I’m sure it does.”
Anya turned to the door of Vlad’s dark office, ready to go take a shower and grab a few hours of sleep when Vlad asked, “You met with a policewoman?”
Anya looked up at him, not liking the gleam in his eyes. “Jesus, you have spies everywhere!” she snapped. “I didn’t meet with anyone. She found me.”
“What did you tell her?”
Anya shrugged and began examining her short, black painted nails. “Just that she better watch out because my brother runs the biggest crime syndicate in this city and he’s disposed of more bodies than she can possibly know.
I also told her about the drugs and guns.” Anya paused as if concentrating. “Oh, right! I told her you weren’t into prostitution though, that you were deep down a pretty good guy and you couldn’t stomach that shit.”
Vlad glared daggers at his little sister. “Tell me what was really said or we will take a trip down memory lane where you were young enough to take a spanking.”
“Ew, brother. That’s all kinds of wrong!”
Vlad looked to be working back up to true anger, so Anya sighed and said, “I pretty much told her to leave the country. She didn’t ask any specific questions and I didn’t answer anything. I didn’t even confirm that I was your sister.”
Vlad looked satisfied. “And the card?”
Anya raised her eyebrow, but dug through her purse and pulled it out. He took it from her and held it in his big hand, staring at it thoughtfully. He placed it carefully on his desk and then looked up at his sister, his eyes shuttered. Anya had a strange feeling about Vlad and the cop. Normally she stayed out of his business, but she felt that whatever was happening was more personal than usual.
“She’s not corrupt brother, I’d stake money that she’s a good cop right down to her bones.”
Vlad nodded absently. “So it would seem.”
Anya chose her words carefully. Her brother would never hurt her physically, but his words could cut almost as bad when he was in a foul mood. “She could take you down if you gave her the ammunition.”
Again he nodded, seeming to consider her words.
“But you also deserve to try for happiness, if that’s what you want.”
He looked up sharply. “I deserve nothing. But I do take what I want,” he said, his accent thick. “What do you suggest my crafty sister?”
Anya looked a little sad, “If you were to take what you wanted from this woman, you would first have to take from her what she values most: her badge.”
He looked surprised, then after a moment, proud. “You would do well in this business.”
She snorted but nodded in agreement. “Speaking of business, you have yourself a fighter.”
Vlad grinned, almost boyishly. “Excellent!”
Anya opened the door and said over her shoulder, “I’ll send the details to your accountant so he can draw up the contract. Ash wants a meet with you in public for the signing. He also wants me there, but I’m going to have to disappoint him.”
Anya was almost out the door when her brother spoke.
“Anastasia.”
She looked back.
“Either quit playing with him or get serious,” he said, his eyes the unholy black hue they took on when he was contemplating bad things. “I would hate to purchase an expensive fight contract and then have to part the man’s head from his body before he fulfills his obligations.”
Anya left without comment.
CHAPTER SIX
“I’m not sure we should be here Anya,” Claudia whispered to her friend as they entered a dark building in the heart of the city’s most seedy district. “I’m all for taking our friendship to the next level, but I thought you meant a bottle of wine, listening to classic rock on the radio and pouring out our recent tragic heartbreaks to each other.”
Anya laughed and, taking Claudia’s hand, squeezed it. The two women stood like night and day next to each other on the threshold of one of the city’s more notorious underground gambling clubs. Anya had asked Claudia to come as her wing-woman because she had no other friend she could ask. She needed to find Ash and sources told her he would be here tonight. She hadn’t wanted to be alone when she confronted him.
“We’re perfectly safe here, Claudia. I promise. These men couldn’t touch me even if they wanted to.”
The tall, beautiful blond was starting to draw stares from some of the city’s most dangerous men. Claudia was always stunning, but tonight she looked like sexy elfin princess meets city chic in a thigh length blue bandage dress with her waist length blond hair flowing loose around her bare shoulders. Anya had told her friend to dress for a club night, but she hadn’t told her exactly which club they would be coming to. Anya would have felt a tiny bit guilty over bringing Claudia here, except she suspected this is exactly what her reserved friend needed to push her out of her orderly eclectic lifestyle and into some fun.
“Okay, you may be safe because of your mystery brother whom you won’t tell me about, but what about me?” She eyed a group of men at a nearby table apprehensively. One of them was staring at her so hard she felt stripped naked in the middle of a room full of men.
Anya searched the room intently, looking for Ash. She tried to reassure her friend. “As a guest of mine, the Sitnikov protection covers you as well. No man here can touch you without very bad consequences. It won’t happen.”
Claudia nodded, but was still bothered by the openly aggressive look of the man who continued to watch her. The suit, covering a massive body, looked as though it cost more than a year’s rent in her small apartment. Finally she asked, “Who is that man?”
Anya glanced over to where Claudia indicated and frowned when she spotted the man staring so intently at Claudia. Maybe bringing Claudia here wasn’t such a good idea. “Damn it. That’s the one man in this city that might be more powerful than my brother.”
“Okay,” said Claudia, her normally take-no-shit attitude evaporating under the man’s intensity. “Why is he watching me Anya?”
The look he was levelling at her friend said more than words. He wanted to devour her. “You need to stay away from him. Tyson King doesn’t play nice, and he always gets what he wants.”
Claudia stared back at the big black man and lifted her chin very slightly, not willing to back down from his challenging stare. “No problem,” she said. “He doesn’t interest me.”
Claudia turned her back on him. Anya caught the fierce frown aimed at her friend. She suspected Tyson King was about to stake a claim with a woman that wouldn’t give him the time of day. Under normal circumstances, Anya would sit back and enjoy the fireworks, but she liked Claudia and knew a man like that would crush her friend.
“Come on, let’s play,” Anya said, deliberately leading Claudia away from Tyson King and his entourage.
The two women had joined a lower stakes poker game and had been playing for several minutes when Claudia looked up frowning. “Umm, Anya, there’s a man coming this way and he doesn’t look very happy. Do you know him?”
Anya didn’t even have to turn to know who Claudia was referring to. She could feel the heat of Ash’s fury as it licked over her like a physical presence. She ignored the big man bearing down on their table and calmly placed her cards in front of her. “Full house,” she announced, lips curving in a wicked smile.
Claudia continued to stare at the blond giant who stopped a few feet behind Anya’s chair, watching her like a predator stalking prey. Anya waved a hand in front of Claudia’s face. Claudia frowned and looked down.
“I have nothing. A pair of tens,” she said, dropping her cards on the table. Claudia watched out of the corner of her eye as the man approached Anya and brought heavy hands down on the back of her chair.
Anya held a finger up at him. “One minute Ash, I’m about to take the table. Then we can talk.”
Claudia gasped at his growl of anger. He looked like he might tear everyone at the table apart just to get at Anya. “Leave,” he snarled at the table. People stood dropping their cards and picking up their belongings. No one argued. Clearly the guy was a big deal around here.
Claudia sat frozen and looked around uncertainly, not sure what to do. She couldn’t just wander around the room by herself, and she didn’t want to leave Anya alone with this seething man who looked like he was about beat her.
“Anya?” Claudia whispered.
Anya took her hand and they stood up to face the man. Claudia stood at her back trying to look tough.
“I have nothing to say to you,” Anya snapped.
Claudia cringed at Anya’s challenging tone, gaze linger
ing on the shoulder holsters with two blatantly visible guns strapped to the man’s wide chest. The tattoos on his forearms popped out when he crossed his muscular arms over his chest. His fists were clenched, in a poorly veiled attempt to keep himself from grabbing hold of Anya and shaking her.
“If you have nothing to say then why did you come here looking for me?” he growled down at Anya. He looked toward Claudia. “Who’s the blond?”
“She’s none of your business,” Anya said back. “And I didn’t come looking for you. I have business here.”
He looked skeptical. “You seem to have business everywhere I am these days, Anya. Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying!” Anya snapped furiously. “I’m meeting someone. He asked me to come here.”
Suddenly Ash went from annoyed to furious. “Who is he? Why are you meeting a man in my place of business? I want a name.”
She swallowed and said quietly, “I thought you didn’t care. After… after the casino, you walked away from me. You didn’t even try to talk to me. I’ve given you three days to come around, and you haven’t even bothered to call me.”
“I was surprised, Anastasia, and I couldn’t exactly ask for a phone number with Boris the enforcer standing at your back.”
She flinched.
“Why didn’t you tell me who you were?”
Claudia watched their conversation with breathless anxiety. She had no idea what to do, but it was suddenly clear why Anya needed her here tonight. She needed a buffer between herself and this huge furious man. Claudia had no idea what she was supposed to do, but her protective instincts flared and she continued to back her friend.
“I never tell anyone who I am. Not even Claudia, my closest friend, knows who I really am,” Anya snapped back. “Your response the other day said it all. You’re just like everyone else. You disappointed me Ash.”
“I don’t recall your response as disappointment while you were laying underneath me with my cock all up in you,” he said crudely. “Don’t you think its time to quit playing games with me baby? We both know why you came here. You want another ride with the ex-junkie fighter, because the rich bitch likes to get dirty.”
Fight or Flight (Fire & Vice Book 2) Page 4