In the blink of an eye, Aleksei’s rather large suite had turned into a meeting room filled with rather imposing men.
Lance was the first to arrive, bigger and more dangerous looking than ever. Although, when he greeted her, his beautiful face was much friendlier. In fact, he pulled her aside to ask if she was alright after everything that happened at the gym. And she suspected that part of him regretted not sticking with her, but he didn’t say much more. He was here not as a favor to Gabrielle, but because Deva had requested him personally. It was hard enough going through this without being certain whom to trust. And Lance Sorenson was one of the very few she instinctively trusted.
Lazarus came in with two more men, and as soon as they entered the room, tension built to the breaking point. It took Deva a moment to realize that there was much more going on than met the eye. One of the newcomers was as tall as Aleksei but was of Polynesian or Hawaiian descent. His golden skin and athletic body were matched only by the wicked glint in his silver eyes. His expression made him look as if he found anything and everything highly amusing, or maybe it gave that impression because of his cargo Bermuda’s and blindingly colorful red Hawaiian shirt.
His dark hair waved to his shoulders, and she could see a tattoo peeking out of his sleeve and wrapping over his forearm. It was almost surprising the man wasn’t wearing flip flops to go with his ensemble.
The other newcomer was slightly shorter, closer to Lazarus’s height. But apart from sharing the same dazzling pale eyes and a beard, the resemblance stopped there. Where Lazarus had that dark energy surrounding his cool British demeanor, this man had dark copper hair and beard with a friendly face, but it was his gaze that gave him away. Those same gray eyes... they analyzed everything, assessed non-stop in a disturbing manner that disclosed his identity. A cop. And if his actions weren’t telling enough, the jeans, boots, gray Henley, and dark brown leather coat in this weather were a dead giveaway.
Even before Deva could make a move and greet the men, Aleksei stepped in front of her, blocking her view. Lance stayed close by, but by the look on the giant blond’s face, he was as puzzled as she was on what was going on.
“Lazarus, what are they doing here?” Aleksei sound pissed, and when Deva saw Lazarus fold his arms, she knew that they were going nowhere fast. Instead of staying back, she slid under the Russian’s arm and placed herself before Lazarus.
“Hey Oz, glad to see you! And now you’ve brought me two more bodyguards. That’s great!”
Lazarus relaxed and smiled at her. “Only one more bodyguard. Deva. May I present Kai Jones. He doesn’t look like it, but he’s former Delta Force.”
Deva offered her hand to the grinning man. “I don’t know. He doesn’t look the part, but you just have to look beyond the clothes, right?”
The man winked at her and took her hand in both of his huge ones, bringing them to his lips for a courtly kiss. “Miss Deva, I look the part with or without any clothes.”
The sound coming from Aleksei made her wonder if it was a growl or some sort of Russian curse. Ignoring it, she got her hand back and turned to Lazarus.
“I dare say, you have very interesting brothers, Oz.”
The man blinked. “How did...”
Deva waved his question. “If you don’t know how I was able to guess, I’m not telling you. And who is your other brother that’s not playing my bodyguard today?”
The cop shook his head and smiled. “I’m Liam Harker, Chicago PD. And I’m not going with you because you need more brawn than brain, and I would also put you in more danger.”
Deva crossed her arms and frowned. “Because you are a cop?”
“That, and being a Major Crime detective tends to make the big bosses uncomfortable.”
And on that, she could only agree. “So, you’re here to wish us luck?”
“Not quite. When Oz reached out, I put my ear to the ground, and our father’s name is on everyone’s lips. But the trouble is, all my sources aren’t sure what’s going on. Finch has been lurking around for over two years in Chicago, but there’s nothing tangible indicating that anything has changed in the balance of power or what his plans are, exactly. And as you know, he’s been really visible with the different MCs in the area lately. Finch’s biggest display was the underground fight last week. He rubbed shoulders with every bigwig around. And again, there’s no way to tell what he’s up to. I would need to get a mole in, or cuff a very chatty one.”
Aleksei snickered and leaned against the wall. “If you think for a minute that you’ll get your sticky fingers through that door, think again. You’ll be dog chow before you can start filing the appropriate forms to arrest us.”
Liam lifted his chin, obviously used to being ribbed about his job. “I get it, Aleksei, you despise me and my work. Big news. And by the way, congrats for your fight.”
Uncrossing his arms, Aleksei took a step toward his brother, clearly baffled. “You were there?”
Liam shrugged and looked away. “What can I say, I’m an MMA fan. And if someone I know has the potential to get his ass kicked in an underground fight…”
Oz racked his hair and sighed. “Guys, focus. Deva and Aleksei need to go down for coffee in fifteen minutes. Kai, couldn’t you find something more appropriate to wear than a Hawaiian shirt?”
Undeterred by the barely concealed insult, the man beamed instead. “Dude, I’m the threat nobody will see coming. And I’m packing underneath this shirt.”
Lance scoffed. “The only advantage of that shirt is that it will either blind the enemy or hide the blood from your multiple bullet wounds.”
Kai nodded and scratched his chin. “You’re former Navy SEAL, right? That must be very helpful to act pretty while the others do all the work.”
Lance crossed his arms and looked as if he’d grown even larger. “I’ve had to repair Delta Force messes more times than I could count. Maybe you should have stuck with your fashion choices and avoided real men’s work after all.”
“Guys!” Deva was torn between giggling and tearing her hair out. “We’re going now. Just look tough. Stay silent and sharp. Shouldn’t be that difficult.”
Liam went to the door. “I have a meeting with a source, I’ll keep you posted, Oz. And you too Aleksei. Deva. Be careful.”
Lazarus nodded as his brother left. And in a second, Aleksei had him plastered against the wall, hands fisted on his shirt. “Why did you bring that asshole into this?”
Lazarus didn’t even flinch. “You know why.”
Aleksei put a hand on Lazarus’s neck and tightened so much that Deva leaped into action. “Aleksei, let him go.”
But despite her best efforts, the man didn’t even budge. Kai and Lance were about to intervene, but she saw that it was the beginning of a brawl that they couldn’t afford.
Deva put her hand around Aleksei’s wrist and leaned to his ear. “Alyosha, sweetheart, let him go now. We have work to do. We need to go.”
Aleksei blinked and seemed to come back into himself. Immediately, he loosened his grip. Lazarus coughed, trying to catch his breath.
Deva frowned at the Russian who seemed a little lost for a second before shaking himself back.
“Sorry, Lazarus.”
He shook his head, wheezing his answer. “I know, I know. Go now. We’ll talk about this later.”
Aleksei took Deva’s hand, and ignoring Kai and Lance, pulled her out of the room. With one last glance at his brothers, the look he gave them was revealing. There was more tension between the Finch brothers than meet the eye. Not that she was ever calling them that to their faces.