Keira didn’t answer Dmitri’s call. He tried once more before he stepped out of the town car currently idling at the curb. Her throwing out Aiden’s man was intriguing, and he’d have to answer for it, but an explanation would have to wait until he was through with this particular meeting. Dmitri flipped his phone onto silent and strode into the hotel.
It was an old building that had missed the renovations of the surrounding area. The tired-looking man behind the counter barely glanced at him as he walked through the dim lobby and over a tile floor yellowed with age.
He took the stairs up to the second floor and let himself into the room, carefully shutting the door behind him and locking the dead bolt. The curtains were closed and the lights were off, leaving the room shrouded in darkness. He sighed. “This is rather theatrical, don’t you think?”
“What I think is that I’d rather be anywhere but here, dealing with a dirty Russian mobster.” John Finch flicked on the lamp next to the desk. It was a play Dmitri had made many times in the past—sometimes theatrical was exactly what a situation called for—but he resented the fed trying to use it on him.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You called me. I hope it wasn’t to throw around insults you could have managed over the phone.” He hadn’t expected a call this morning, let alone a demand that he switch his schedule to accommodate the agent. “You have information for me?”
John Finch leaned back, his face in shadow. “You know we have your place under surveillance.”
It wasn’t a question, so Dmitri didn’t bother answering. “What’s your point?”
“My point is that the surveillance has been experiencing issues for several nights now. It never lasts longer than five or ten minutes, but it’s consistent.”
A window of opportunity. It didn’t take a genius to realize who the opportunity was for. There were plenty of gadgets that could jam signals. Apparently the Eldridges were planning something. He’d suspected it, but the confirmation made it easier to see which direction they’d be attacking from. My home. They’re going to come to my fucking home.
Or the mole will do something that requires leaving in a hurry. But no, that didn’t make sense. He still hadn’t pinned down the identity of the traitor. The cameras had been wiped for ten minutes before and after the package was delivered to his office—probably done while the fucker was in his office. If the man wanted to walk out, it wouldn’t raise red flags because no one knew he wasn’t going on some errand for Dmitri.
Unless he’s going to try to take a hostage when he goes.
“Ah.” Dmitri leaned a shoulder against the wall, letting none of his thoughts reflect in his expression. “That’s unfortunate that your equipment is so faulty.”
“Unfortunate for them. Fortunate for someone who needed that chunk of time.”
John Finch had been on the scene for decades, and he was one of the best cops Dmitri had ever come across. He was also a pain in the ass, but an inconvenience Dmitri had learned to work around.
For him to offer up this information spoke volumes.
It had to be a trap. “Your warning is duly noted.” He flicked a nonexistent piece of lint off his suit. “I saw your daughter earlier this week. She appears to be well on her way to making a full recovery.” There would likely be scars from the time she spent as Mae’s captive, but that didn’t seem to bother Charlie much.
Finch’s hands tensed on the arms of his chair. “That’s not what this is about.”
Liar. John Finch had made a shitty call when he put Mae Eldridge’s arrest above his own daughter’s health. Charlie had survived and would flourish in her life as Aiden O’Malley’s wife, but neither of them would forget Finch’s actions that night—or, rather, his lack of action. “Getting into bed with the mob is a strange way to get back into your daughter’s good graces. But it’s your best chance at a future relationship with her. Good luck.” And on that note, he turned and walked out of the room.
It wasn’t until he was secure in the back of the town car that he contemplated this strange turn of events. Though he’d poked at Finch, he knew damn well the information was being provided solely because Charlie would be in the Romanov household in one short day. Even as shitty a parent as Finch was, he wouldn’t stand by while his daughter was put in danger—again. He probably would have preferred to call her directly, but Dmitri knew for a fact that neither Aiden nor Charlie was taking Finch’s calls at the moment. Which was why Finch had settled on Dmitri.
His phone buzzed, and he frowned when he recognized Pavel’s number. “Da?”
“There was an…incident.”
He checked his watch. Thirty minutes since Keira’s text and Pavel’s calling to report. Interesting. “I’m listening.”
“The O’Malley man who arrived this morning had a run-in with Mrs. Romanov. I couldn’t hear everything they said, but it was threatening on both parts. She ordered us to remove him from the house.” No overexplanation. Just a report. He’d obeyed Keira despite her order counteracting Dmitri’s.
It should piss him off, but a slow tether of pride uncurled inside him. She’s stepping into her role. “Where is he now?”
The smallest hesitation and what might have been a sigh of relief. “We drove him up to Westchester and shadowed him to make sure he didn’t try to come straight back. He’s got a hotel room, and he hasn’t left since arriving ten minutes ago. I have a man keeping an eye on him.”
“You’re not there yourself.” If Pavel had left Keira unattended…Dmitri curled his hand into a fist, fighting for control. She was safe. Just because Finch had reported surveillance malfunctions and someone had left a fucking head on his desk and wiped the tapes didn’t mean she was in danger right this second.
But it didn’t mean she wasn’t.
“No, boss. I sent Alexei and Petri.”
Thank fuck. “I’ll be home shortly. Don’t let Keira out of your sight.”
“Yes, boss.”
He hung up and considered calling Keira, but he would be able to get the full details from her shortly, and she would be going over the reception plans with Claudia at the moment. If he called to check in again, she’d know something was up and it might distress her. He closed his eyes and strove for control.
The trip back to the house was uneventful, and he wasted no time tracking down Keira. Resisting calling her had taken everything he was capable of. He needed to see for himself that she was safe and unharmed.
He found her in the ballroom with Claudia as they supervised the pair of men arranging tables. He stopped short just inside the doorway, taking in the change in her. A different wardrobe shouldn’t make a fundamental difference—she was beautiful no matter what she wore—but the outfit gave her a sense of command that she hadn’t had in her jeans.
Then she turned to face him and he realized the clothing had nothing to do with the change. Her posture was different, from the way she held her shoulders to the casual way she extracted herself from the conversation with Claudia and crossed to him. Her smile was small but genuine. “You’re back early.”
“I had a change of plans.”
She drew her brows together. “Pavel tattled.”
“Pavel called to fill me in, yes, but my plans had changed even before that.” He glanced over her shoulder at Claudia. The petite black woman nodded and turned back to bark instructions at the men, directing them to move the table two feet to the left. Dmitri took Keira’s hand. “Carve out a few minutes for me.”
“Sure. I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” She waved at Claudia and led him out of the room. She kept going until they reached his office, and he had to wonder what she needed to say that she didn’t want anyone overhearing. Keira didn’t make him wait long. “Mark might be here to help, but he’s here with the intention of killing Mae. He’s not going to deliver her to Aiden, and he’s not going to follow your men’s lead. He’s a liability.”
Dmitri studied her expression. “If he disobeys Aiden, that’s your brother’s problem.”
“No, shit, really?” She rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I’m worried about. I don’t want him pulling some stunt and screwing up our chance to get the Eldridges and bring Mikhail home.”
If there’s anything left of him to bring home. Alethea hadn’t contacted him again, and she’d never sent proof of life, so Mikhail very well could have been dead this entire time. Can’t think like that. It changes nothing.
Dmitri didn’t think. He just pulled Keira into his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. She hesitated, but it only lasted a second before she wrapped her arms around his waist. “Don’t punish Pavel.”
“I wasn’t going to.” He let himself feel her breathing and matched his own to the slow inhales and long exhales. “He made the right call.” Easier to leave it at that, but in an effort to be honest, he said, “If it hadn’t happened in the house, or if I was there, Pavel might have reacted differently.”
“I know.” She laid her head against his chest. “But if you were there, you would have given the order and I wouldn’t have had to.”
She had so much faith in him. More than he deserved. He hadn’t done a single fucking thing to earn it other than open her eyes to something she already possessed. It was all Keira. It always had been. He sighed. “Someone—I suspect the Eldridges—has been blocking John Finch’s surveillance of this house.”
“What?” Keira straightened so fast, she clipped his jaw and he almost bit his tongue. “Did you just say John Finch?”
He released her with one arm so he could rub his jaw. “I did.”
“But he hates you. Is he pissed about Charlie or about Alethea pulling strings and getting Mae released?”
“Does it matter?” The end result was the same. Mae on the streets. John Finch their unlikely ally.
Keira nodded. “It matters. No matter how pissed Charlie is at him right now, she still loves him. If he’s sharing information for her, she should know.” Her hazel eyes blazed. “But if he’s doing this because he’s pissed Mae slipped through his fingers, then he can fuck right off. We’ll take his information and he’s on his own otherwise.”
So fierce and so fucking loyal.
He cupped her face and kissed her lightly. “I’ll find out.”
“Thank you,” she spoke against his lips. “Pavel and I would like to go over the placement of the men with you in the morning if you can fit it into your schedule.”
“I’ll make it work.” It was so very strange to have this conversation with her, something perfectly normal talking about schedules, when they were in the midst of such insanity. More so, when a couple days ago, they’d been at each other’s throats.
“Good.”
“There was something else?”
“Yeah.” She raised her eyebrows. “When were you going to tell me that you might have a traitor in the house?”
He rocked back on his heels. “Pavel told you.”
“Pavel told me that you trust him, which is why he’s been my designated babysitter. I connected the rest of the dots myself.”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you.” The thought of one of his men turning on him, doing something to harm Keira…He clenched his jaw. “When I find the traitor…”
“Oh yeah, I got it. Death and a painful one at that.” She didn’t sound too worried about it, which only made him respect her more. Keira went up on her tiptoes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “I just wanted you to know that I know, and I’m not going to take any stupid risks.”
“I appreciate that.” He hadn’t realized how worried he’d been about her doing exactly that until he heard her promise. Dmitri leaned back far enough to get another look at her, determined to lighten the mood a little. “I like this.” He ran his finger down the line where her blazer met the lace shirt underneath.
“Yeah, well, you bought it.” She gave him an impish grin, her seriousness gone in an instant. “Claudia and I have to deal with a couple more things, but I’ll be done inside of an hour. She’s more than capable of harassing the muscle into submission.” Keira stepped into him. “Tomorrow we have to play politics, wrangle my family, and avoid playing into the bad guys’ hands. Get done what you need to and come out with me.”
“Out.”
“Yes, out. Let’s just pretend for a few hours that we don’t have an evil empire to run and just be us. Pavel can play guard dog so no one gets any funny ideas, but I want it to just be me and you.”
The concept was more attractive than he could have dreamed. Just he and Keira, sharing a meal. In public. Dmitri couldn’t put his finger on why being in public made a difference, but it did. He wanted it more than he had a right to. “I’ll be ready by the time you are.”
“Perfect.” She leaned up on her toes and kissed him again, and then slipped out of his arms. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”
He waited for her to close the door behind her before he circled his desk and snatched up the phone. As expected, Aiden didn’t make him wait long. Dmitri barely paused for the man to answer to start in on him. “When I allowed your man into my home, I didn’t expect him to verbally assault my wife.”
A long pause. “You’re angry.”
The simmering rage that had struck the second he realized Keira could have been in danger in his own fucking home while he wasn’t there boiled over. “You talk so strongly about family first, but that idea doesn’t hold up the moment one of your siblings steps out of line. She chose, Aiden. But she is still your sister, even if she’s married to me. If you can’t remember and respect that—and order your people to do the same—you won’t be in contact with her.”
“She ordered him carried out into the street like a bag of garbage.” Still Aiden kept on with that infuriating calm tone. It made Dmitri want to shred something.
“He cornered Keira in a fucking dark hallway and acted like she was shit on the bottom of his shoe. I don’t know how you operate within your household, Aiden, but in mine, we take care of ours.” He hung up before he could say something truly unforgivable, and sat back.
What am I doing?
He never let emotions control him, even within the relative safety of this house, let alone calling out to essentially announce that something had gotten under his skin. Never. And yet here he was, fighting the desire to drive to that piece-of-shit motel and beat some respect into Mark.
It wouldn’t work. Dmitri knew the type. Ex-military. Loyal to a fault. He could beat the man within an inch of his life, and it wouldn’t get through the thick barrier of training and loyalty. To try was insanity.
It didn’t change his desire to do exactly that.
He ran a hand over his face. Keira is fine. She’s not hurt. She’s not damaged in any way from the encounter…but she could have been. If Pavel hadn’t been close. If Mark was just a little more volatile. If, if, if. He could have hurt her. He could have fucking killed her.
The traitor still could.
Dmitri inhaled, held it for several seconds, and exhaled. She is fine. He couldn’t let what-if scenarios cloud his judgment. Keira was well, and if he locked her up for her safety, she’d never forgive him. He had to remember that.
It might be worth earning her hate to know she was safe.