Chapter One
As the streetcar chugged to the end of the line, Pepper Windjue let out her tight braid. Her hair puffed out in a mass of curls that flowed down over her shoulders all the way down her back. It was Friday night and she didn’t have to look professional until Monday morning. The tension headache she’d been nursing all afternoon eased and the slight wind fluffed her long, silver white curls.
Finally, she stepped off the streetcar at the end of Canal Street and Wells street. Across the road was the Harrah’s Casino but that wasn’t her final destination. She was heading to The Muse, a small art gallery on The River Walk. Her roommate Sami, an art major in college, told her about this incredible painting on show there. It was of a little girl with silver hair and amber eyes. She’d gone on and on about how much the child looked like her, so Pepper had to come down here and see it for herself.
The artist’s name was Jessie Carter and she’d died tragically in a fire almost twenty years ago. Sami had been ranting and raving about the painting all week. She kept on and on about how it could have been Pepper when she was little. So here she was, on her way to see what she would have looked like as a child of four.
Pepper crossed the road and made her way down the River Walk. A fresh breeze blew off the Mississippi River and she could hear the blare of the ferry as it pulled out of the harbor. Suddenly, Pepper stopped and stared ahead of her—instantly frozen in fear. She didn’t understand why but she could barely breathe. Ahead of her standing on the corner in front of the art gallery stood a group of people. One older man and a woman with three young girls of varying ages and one young boy. The other three that made up the group were tall muscular men that looked almost too bulky to be real.
But it wasn’t them she stared at. It was the older man standing there. For some reason she didn’t understand, she thought she should know him. Frowning, she continued to stare at the man. For some reason, he was pale and sweating.
Mikial noticed Leon’s distraction first. He followed the other man’s eyes and saw a woman standing there. Frowning, he looked back at Leon then at the girl again. Mikial turned to give his brother Barshan a look.
Barshan returned the look and moved away from the group.
“Leon, are you all right?” the older woman asked suddenly looking worried at her husband.
“I’m fine McKenna,” Leon replied as he swiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Are you sure? You look a little pale at the moment,” McKenna said.
“I told you I’m fine,” Leon growled. He broke the locked gaze he shared with the girl and glanced at his wife and children. “I’m fine. Can we go now?”
“Daddy,” his oldest daughter, Victoria whined. “There’s no need to be rude. Mom was just worried about you.”
“I’m sorry, maybe it’s this heat,” Leon apologized. “It seems unusually warm today.”
Mikial kept watching the girl. She seemed to break out of whatever held her and turned around then began to walk away from her destination. Mikial glanced over at Barshan again who’d already stood close to her and nodded slightly. He saw Barshan follow the girl while he observed Leon. He’d seen the flash of absolute fear in the other man’s eyes when the woman walked up the street. It was like he’d seen a ghost.
Mikial was curious. For months now, Leon Knight had been after him for the right to be the attorney of record for his Import/Export business as well as his other shared interests in the city of New Orleans. Mikial wasn’t willing to give him what he wanted until he knew more about the man. Something just didn’t feel right about the deal he wanted to make with Mikial and until recently, he hadn’t wanted what Leon was pushing. Now, he wanted to see just what it was about this woman that had Leon sweating.
He knew Leon had a hidden agenda but he hadn’t really dug too deeply to find out what that agenda was…now he knew he would. But it wasn’t Leon who interested him right now. The girl intrigued him. The moment he saw her. a jolt had gone through him. He’d never felt anything like it before. He wanted to know more about her and he wanted to feel that jolt again. “Shall we all go inside and have a look at Ms. Carter’s paintings? The gallery was very happy to have them on display.” Mikial motioned toward the front door of the gallery.
“Perhaps we should just go home,” McKenna Knight suggested still looking at her husband in concern. “The paintings will be here for a while.”
“Yes, maybe that would be for the best,” Leon agreed. “I am sorry Mikial, I’m really not feeling well.”
Mikial nodded. “Of course, Leon. I understand.” He hesitated then added, “I hope you feel better. I’ll give you a call next week.”
Leon nodded and led his family away.
Mikial turned to see where Barshan had gone. He noticed him waiting outside a coffee house just down the block. Mikial joined him and searched the inside of the shop for the mysterious woman. He found her sitting by herself sipping a cup of coffee.
“Do you know her?” Barshan asked.
“No, but I think our friend Leon knows who she is.”
Barshan agreed with a nod. “But I don’t think he was happy to see her, do you?”
“No I think he didn’t expect to see her here.” Mikial turned to stare at the girl in question. “I think we need to find out who she is. We also need to know more about Leon Knight. He’s been coming on strong and I want to know why. I have a feeling he’s hiding something.”
Barshan nodded. “I’ll look into Leon.” He grinned and motioned his head at the girl. “You can watch over her.”
Mikial chuckled. “I’ll do that.”
Barshan slapped him on the shoulder. “Good luck with that brother.” He walked away.
Mikial turned his attention to the young woman who’d caught his eye.
Her hair was wildly curly hanging all the way down her back. Its silver blonde color made her seem like she had a cloud around her head and shoulders. She appeared tiny but he remembered she was perhaps a little on the shorter side of average height, He hadn’t been close enough to see the color of her eyes, but he did remember seeing confusion in her expression as she gazed at Leon.
Mikial watched her as she sat at her table sipping her coffee. So intently was he staring, he missed someone walking up behind him. “So who are you looking at?” came a soft question.
Mikial turned so quickly that the woman standing behind him took a step back in uncertainty.
Mikial closed his eyes when he realized who it was. It was his brother Yuri’s woman. “I’m sorry, Raven, I didn’t see you there.”
Raven grinned. “I could see that. I’m sorry I startled you.” She peeked around him to see the object of his stare. “She’s very pretty.”
Mikial sighed heavily. “Yes, she is but that’s not why I’m looking at her.”
Raven raised her eyebrow. “Oh, really?” Her voice was heavy with sarcasm. “I didn’t think you swung the other way, Mikial.”
Mikial frowned as he registered her words. When he realized what she’d said, his frown deepened. “I don’t,” he growled.
Raven chuckled. Laying her hand on his arm, she patted him. “I know, I’m teasing you.” She glanced at the girl again. “So why are you staring so intently at her then?”
Mikial glanced at the girl again before he turned his attention to his brother’s woman. He didn’t know her all that well yet, but he’d already learned she was a straight up kind of woman. She didn’t do subtle very well and she hated lies and liars. “I was standing with a colleague in front of the gallery when she came from down the street, heading to the front door. This colleague got so pale and then she looked almost frightened of him as well. I’m curious.” She and Yuri Anatoly were a new couple and were just discovering each other. But the bond Yuri shared with Mikial their other brothers from his home country was strong. The five men had become blood brothers a long time ago and nothing would or could ever come between them. This kind of bond Raven seemed to understand well. She had the same feeling toward the man she thought of as her brother all his life.
“Who were you with?” Raven asked.
“Leon Knight and his family. We were going to see the exhibition of Jessie Carter. Then Leon almost passed out, so he ended up leaving. The girl turned around and came here.”
Raven grinned slightly. “And you want to know the: who, what, when, where and why of things?”
Mikial nodded slowly.
“Can I help?” she asked carefully.
“Perhaps she could deal with meeting another woman easier than she would meeting me right now,” he admitted. “There was just something strange about her behavior when she saw Leon just now. I mean they didn’t even come close to one another but they had a very strange reaction to each other.”
“Then it’s a good thing I need something to settle my stomach right now.” She patted her belly and made a movement toward the door of the coffee shop.
“Why would you need something to settle your stomach?” Mikial shot a glare at her belly.
Raven placed her hands over her stomach in a protective manner but didn’t say anything.
When she moved to past him and go inside, Mikial grabbed her upper arm pulling her to a stop rather quickly. “Does Yuri know?” he asked in her ear.
Raven wouldn’t look at him but she shook her head. “There’s nothing to know yet,” she whispered.
Mikial leaned toward her and kissed the top of her head. “He’ll be thrilled,” he stated quietly.
Raven relaxed. “I hope so, because I won’t get rid of my child.”
Mikial tightened his fingers on her arm again. “You’d better not even think about shit like that. We wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
“We?” she asked. “This is between Yuri and I.”
“That’s what you think sweetheart,” Mikial informed her. “If you take on one of us you take us all on. When you became his woman you became one of us as well, and we protect our own.”
Raven turned to stare at him for a long moment. Then she gave him a half smile. “Thank you, I think.”
Mikial chuckled. “I think we’re going to be seeing a lot more of your father and grandfather now.”
Raven closed her eyes. “I go from having only a brother to having a whole huge new family. That can be overwhelming when it happens all at once like it has.”
Mikial studied her for a moment then asked, “Do we overwhelm you so much?”
Raven shrugged. “Only when you all come at me at once. I’m not used to answering to anyone for my actions. I’ve been on my own most of my life and now, I have to answer to people. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. It all feels so strange. I feel frightened by it at times.”
“Does Yuri know this?”
Raven shook her head. “No and I can’t tell him.” She grabbed at his arm. “You can’t tell him either.”
“Why not?” Mikial frowned.
“Because this is my problem, not his or yours.” She shook her head. “I’m still trying to accept it all.”
“You have to tell Yuri,” he insisted. “He would want to know.”
“I’ll try. Please let me go.”
Mikial released her and watched as she walked inside the coffee shop. She went up to the counter and ordered something to drink. Drink in hand, she went over to a table near his mystery girl. When she sat down, she struck up a conversation.
Mikial stepped into the shadows and continued to watch the two of them.
Raven and the unknown woman spoke for quite a while before they got to their feet and moved toward the door.
Mikial stepped back, so neither of them would know he was still there. He watched as they parted ways, the girl going back toward the gallery and Raven waited for him to come forward. When the woman was far enough away, Mikial came out of the shadows and joined Raven.
Raven turned and smiled at him. “She’s a lovely woman.”
“What did she have to say?” Mikial asked. “Did she tell you her name?”