Savage Tracker by Maggie Cole

13

Obrecht

Selena disappears into the elevator,and Carla crosses her arms. She glares at me and shakes her head. "You didn't ask her if it was okay before I came over, did you?"

I push the button for the elevator. "There wasn't a lot of time. I thought it was better if she got more rest. I'm not even sure why she's so upset. She's always open to me helping her."

Carla steps between me and the elevator. Anger fills her face. There aren't many times I've seen her upset, but she's definitely not happy with me right now. "Get dressed then sit down."

I glance at my towel then back at her. "I'm going to make sure Selena is okay," I claim as the elevator opens.

Carla points past me. "No, you aren't. Take a break, and let's talk."

"I need to make sure she's okay," I insist.

"You need to give her a break and realize what you've just done." Carla raises her eyebrows.

"I'm trying to help her."

Carla's eyes turn into darts. "Yes, but you didn't listen to me, did you? Now get dressed. If you don't, you're going to make this worse."

My heart stammers. I keep debating, and the elevator doors shut. There are so many things about Selena I don't understand. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her.

Carla's voice turns gentler. "If you want to help her, you'll put on some clothes and then we'll discuss this."

I finally cave, put on clothes, and go into the family room. I plop on the black leather couch. Carla sits in the chair across from me. Silence fills the air. There are few women in the world who I think have the ability to intimidate a strong man. Carla is one of them. She can be sweet as sugar or hard as nails. I finally get tired of her piercing gaze. "You can tell me at any time where I screwed up so I can go fix it."

My comment doesn't help matters. She sarcastically laughs. "Your arrogance isn't going to help this situation."

"What are you talking about?"

She studies me a few more moments, tapping her fingers on the armrest.

"I'm not one of your subs you can intimidate," I bark.

She tilts her head, scowling. "You asked me to come here, remember?"

She's right.I take a few deep breaths to calm my raging nerves. "I'm sorry. Groveling isn't my forte. Can you tell me how to fix this, please?"

"Therapy is a personal decision. You can't push someone into it and not give them a choice. I told you to discuss it with her. To ask her. How would you like it if I showed up on your doorstep for therapy and you had no clue who I was or even if you wanted it?"

"Selena is very open with me. She's asked me to help her—"

"You, Obrecht. She asked you."

"This is part of me helping her. I don't know what I'm doing. Most of the time, I'm worried I'm doing something to hurt her," I admit.

Carla leans forward. "Do you remember when you had a hard time having sex?"

My stomach twists. I turn and stare out the glass and at one of the buildings several blocks over. Shortly after Annika betrayed me, Natalia showed up on our doorstep dead. Everything felt wrong. I met Carla, and somehow, she got me to open up and deal with things. She introduced me into the BDSM world. Then she showed me I could still engage in sex while being dominant without any fear I was hurting a woman or having to be in a relationship. "Of course I do. It's why I wanted Selena to work with you."

"Do you remember how long it took you to trust me? To even talk to me about anything?"

The clawing in my gut grows. "Yeah."

"What if I told someone anything you disclosed to me without your permission? Even if I thought it was in your best interest?"

I groan. "I seriously messed up, didn't I?"

"Yep."

I turn back to Carla. "Do you always have to be right?"

She smirks. "You want me to answer that?"

"Funny." I scrub my hands over my face, then rise. "I need to go talk to Selena."

"She might need some time. If you push her, you could harm her."

"How would talking to her harm her?"

"I know you, Obrecht. You're going to go in there and push her to try and be okay with what you just did. You could do some serious damage if you do that." Carla rises and motions for me to follow her. She opens my balcony door, and we both step out. The sun is shining, but it's a windy Chicago day. She points to Lake Michigan. "See those white caps?"

"What about them?"

"They aren't always there, are they?"

This conversation only makes me more agitated. My dorogaya is downstairs, upset, and Carla wants to give me a science lesson. I snap, "Can we discuss Selena and not the weather?"

"We are discussing Selena."

"How?"

"My guess is she's just like the lake. She has times she's calm and feels in control of where her life is going. Then there are times a storm comes, but no one can see it. In my experience, men or women who have lived as a slave in an abusive relationship are confused, scared, and trying to figure out what's normal. There's a storm going on under that water, and all you see are the white caps. You don't see the sand churning or feel the pull of the current. My guess is, she does. You just created a new storm within her."

My stomach pitches. I hate that I've caused Selena any pain.

Carla adds, "You've broken her trust. She's hurt. You can't go in there and force her to trust you again. If she needs time alone, give it to her. If you force yourself into her life, she'll start to put you in the same box she puts her ex."

Anger replaces my regret. "So I'm not supposed to talk to her about this?"

Carla shakes her head. "No. But I advise you to let her come to you when she's ready. Let her know you're here and sorry, but it has to be on her terms. She needs to regain a sense of control right now."

I stare at the water, and my own storm brews inside me. Disgust, self-loathing, and fear about what I did to Selena eats at me.

Carla pats me on the shoulder. "I'm going to go now. If you need anything, call."

"Thanks. Sorry I screwed up so bad."

"If you want a beating, let me know. I'll be at the club tonight and won't have any issues taking my new flogger to you," she chirps.

"Never happening."

"You might like it," she claims.

"Spoken from someone who would never be on the other end of the flogger."

She snorts. "That's the truth."

Carla leaves, and I pace my penthouse for a few minutes before hopping on the elevator and going to Selena's. She doesn't answer, and I pound harder. "Selena!" More time passes, but she never comes to the door. I resist the urge to break into her condo, trying to heed the warning Carla gave me. I finally give up and go back to my penthouse. I decide to focus on what I can control. There's unfinished business between Liam and me. I text him.

Me: We need to meet. Today.

Liam: I don't think you're in the position to give me orders.

Me: Stop being a prick. Where are you?

Liam: None of your business. I'll meet you at the pub in an hour.

I try Selena one more time, but she still won't open the door. She doesn't respond to my phone calls. I text her.

Me: I'm sorry, baby girl. Can we talk? Please?

After a few minutes pass, I knock again. She doesn't answer or reply to my text. I send another.

Me: I'm going out to deal with a few work issues. I'll let you know when I'm back, but call or text me if you want.

I finally go to the lobby. Matvey is there, and I say, "If Selena goes anywhere, make sure you text me." I address the security guard who monitors the building. "If she goes on the roof or my place, let me know that as well." I don't know if my dorogaya will attempt to talk to me at my place or not, but wherever she goes, I want a full report.

I step out of the building, and my driver is waiting. The entire way to Nora's pub, I attempt to switch over to the issues at hand. It doesn't work very well. I keep staring at my phone, waiting for Selena to return my text. A block from Nora's, I can't handle it anymore.

Me: Can we have dinner tonight, baby girl?

The message doesn't say delivered like the others, so I call her. It goes into her voicemail before it rings.

Great. She turned her phone off.

I bang my head against the back of the headrest as the car pulls in front of the pub.

Now I get to deal with Liam.

He better tell me what I want to know and not play games.

It's only ten in the morning. The pub opens at eleven, so I knock. Nora's brother, Killian, opens the door. He slaps my hand. "Obrecht."

"Hey, man. Liam here already?"

"Yeah. I just got here, but he's in the office talking to Nora. You here to talk about that cock sucker Gavriil?" He locks the door.

"Were you there?"

"Yeah."

"You should have let us handle him."

Killian sniffs hard. "Yeah, well, you don't always get a chance to stop and figure out who to send a memo to, do you?"

I cross my arms over my chest. "Don't act like you didn't know it was an Ivanov matter to deal with."

Killian shakes his head. "You seem to forget he was with Mack Bailey. You know damn well a Bailey is an O'Malley issue."

"He was my tracker. My guy. It was an Ivanov issue," I insist.

Killian's jaw clenches. "The Baileys killed our brother, which makes them ours to deal with. So we'll have to disagree. And since we have an alliance, you should be okay with it."

I step closer to him. The Baileys killed Sean. The Petrovs killed Natalia. He's partly right. "See, this is the problem with this alliance we've got. There doesn't seem to be any clear boundaries. Why don't we set them right now? I'm getting sick of—"

"You're getting sick of what, Obrecht? Us taking care of your traitors? Or protecting our families? What exactly are you sick of?" Liam's voice booms. I turn, and he has a scowl on his face.

I scoff. "An Ivanov traitor should be ours to take care of. If it were an O'Malley—"

"Sit down, both of you. The pissing matches between you two are getting old," Declan barks, walking into the main area of the pub with Nolan and Boris behind him.

We all take a seat. Liam and I continue scowling at each other.

"We're on the same team," Boris reminds me.

"Doesn't feel like it. Or did you know they were taking out Gavriil behind our backs?" I ask.

Boris clears his throat. "Of course I didn't. But the Baileys were involved. It's not clear-cut."

"We're wasting time squabbling over details. Do you want to know what we found out or not?" Liam asks.

I need to keep my mouth shut, find out whatever they got out of Gavriil, and get home to make things right with my dorogaya.

I don't respond. I stay quiet and wait, wanting to wipe Liam's cocky expression off his face.

"Cut the shit, Liam. Tell us," Boris demands.

"According to Gavriil, Ludis and Mack formed an alliance once Nora became an Ivanov and it was clear our families were aligned," Liam states.

Boris shifts in his seat next to mine. He snarls, "If they come anywhere near moya dusha, I'll cut their balls off and feed them to them."

"You'll have to do it before I do," Liam states. "But I think they are both getting nervous. Ludis told Gavriil he can't find Zamir or Wes. He has drug shipments, new women to place in their whorehouses, and other Petrov business he can't seem to get through the pipeline. It's all meant to be delivered west of the Michigan border. Without his father or brother, he doesn't have the contacts to deliver."

"He partnered with the Baileys to sell and move his goods past Michigan. And the Baileys are having issues with their suppliers since Crosby and Cullen are out of the picture," Declan adds.

"How do you know they're out of the picture?" I ask.

The O'Malleys all glance at each other. A tense silence fills the air.

"Whatever you know, you better tell us," Boris barks.

Killian taps his fingers on the table. "You remember when we were gone for a week, and we had Nora stay with you?"

"Yeah. Why?" Boris asks.

Killian's face turns hard. "We hunted Crosby and Cullen Bailey down and sliced them to pieces over several days."

Blood pounds between my ears. There's never been any love lost between the O'Malleys and Baileys, but Killian, Declan, and Nolan only recently got under Darragh's rule. They tried for years not to get involved in their family's criminal activities. I ask, "Why would you go after two head members of the Bailey clan?"

"Because they helped that piece of shit Cormac set up Sean with Lorenzo Rossi," Killian replies.

Every O'Malley's face hardens, but I don't miss the pain. I'm sure it's what Adrian and I look like whenever we discuss Natalia.

Silence fills the air for several moments. I finally ask, "So Gavriil was spying on us for Ludis and Mack?"

"Yeah. He was for the last three years," Killian confirms.

My gut flips. How could I have missed it?

"It doesn't make sense," I say.

"What doesn't?" Killian asks.

"The Baileys set up Sean so Lorenzo Rossi would kill him? Correct?"

"Yes," Killian confirms.

"And now Mack Bailey is hanging around and making deals with Ludis Petrov?"

"Yep. Scum seems to attract scum."

Don't dwell on it right now. Get the rest of what you came here for.

I focus on Liam. "Why do I have to wait until after Jack Christian's company goes public to kill him?"

Liam and the other O'Malleys exchange knowing looks.

"You better give me a good enough reason, Liam. If you don't, I'm picking Jack up tonight," I threaten.

"You can't do that," Boris says.

The frustration I feel about the Ivanov-O'Malley alliance only grows. I almost tell Boris he's an Ivanov, not an O'Malley, but decide against it. I sigh. "Why not?"

"You know how we get our money, right?" Liam asks.

My gut twists. How the O'Malleys make their money isn't something I agree with, either. I admit, "From what I know, drugs and gambling."

"Not for much longer," Liam claims.

I grunt. "Sure."

"It's true. My father's dying. We"—he motions around the table to his cousins—"want a different avenue for our family's future. One that doesn't involve addiction problems. He agrees it's the right move."

I glance at Boris to see if he's buying this or not.

"It's true," Killian claims.

I sit farther back in my seat. "Fine, I'll bite. How are the O'Malleys going to get out of the business they've been in for decades?"

"We need Jack's company to go public. It's our way out. Once it does, as I promised, I'll deliver him to you on a silver platter," Liam states.

"What does Jack's company have to do with your future? Tell me the missing piece."

Liam shakes his head. "No. It's O'Malley business. You know enough."

I glance at Boris. "You know?"

His jaw clenches.

I scowl at him, no longer able to hold my tongue. "Are you an Ivanov or O'Malley now?"

"Shut the fuck up," he growls.

"No. Since when do you keep your family out of the loop?"

"I'm not. I'm doing what's right for both families, which my child's blood is from. Don't touch Jack until his company goes public," Boris warns.

I slide out of my seat. "Have you talked to Maksim about this?"

Boris's face tells me he hasn't.

I shake my head. "You're playing with fire, Boris. Whatever you're doing here, tell Maksim."

"I will. When the time is right, I'll tell all of you," he claims.

"Why can't you tell us now?"

"Because I said he couldn't," Liam states.

The tension becomes thick. I shift my gaze between Liam and Boris. "Are you taking orders from Liam now?"

Boris snorts. "Hell no. Don't overreact, Obrecht."

Liam slams his hand on the table. "Jesus. When are you going to realize we're all on the same side and stop acting like I'm going to destroy everyone around me?"

I sarcastically laugh. "You sit here and don't give me full disclosure. What am I supposed to think?"

"You're supposed to trust all of us, including me."

"Yeah, well, trust needs to be earned, doesn't it?" I spout.

Liam's lip curls. "What did I ever do to you, Obrecht? Do you want to fill me in? I'd love to know."

"I'm not getting into this."

"Why not? Now's as good of a time as ever."

"Fine. You want to get into this, I'll tell you. I don't like all the shit you pulled Killian, Boris, and Adrian into when we were kids."

His eyes turn to slits. "Kids. The keyword being kids. I'm a forty-year-old man now."

I've hit my limit with Liam. I shouldn't say it, but it rolls out of me before I can stop it. "Yeah, well, I also remember you trying to pull all of them into the murder that got you thrown in the slammer for fifteen years. You haven't been out in this world like we have. You're all ready to lead the O'Malleys into whatever this big scheme is you have up your sleeve. All I know is your track record isn't too good. So excuse me if I don't give you my full faith."

Boris starts, "Obrecht—"

"No. Do you think for one minute if an Ivanov were in trouble, Liam would be sticking his neck out to help us? Unless there's something in it for him, I'm not betting my money on him."

"You're wrong," Boris claims.

"Liam's always been loyal," Killian growls.

I face Liam. "Are you going to sit here and tell me you'll put your life at risk for an Ivanov if there isn't something in it for you?"

His eyes turn to angry flames. "Yeah. I would."

"Bullshit." I slide my chair under the table. "Watch yourself, Boris. This alliance we all have, it feels a lot more like a one-way lane to me than a two-way street."

"You're out of line, Obrecht," he says.

"When the day comes where Liam does something for one of us with nothing in it for him to gain, I'll recant my statement. Until then, I'm going to watch my back. Have a good day," I snarl and leave the pub.

I get in the car, seething, torn between ignoring their instructions not to touch Jack yet and tracking him down to rip his head off. I slide my phone out of my pocket in the hopes my dorogaya texted or called, but there's nothing and no updates from Matvey.

When I get back to our building, I go to her unit, determined to make things right, but she still won't answer the door. Suddenly, everything seems so messed up. Boris keeping information from us hits a nerve. I should trust him only to make that decision if it's necessary, but Liam's involvement makes it impossible. Gavriil's betrayal cuts me. The biggest thing making me feel entirely off-kilter is Selena.

I shouldn't be so affected by a woman. I don't get attached. For the first time in over fifteen years, I realize I'm developing feelings for a woman that go beyond friendship. When I try to go to sleep, I can't. I smell and see her everywhere, and it's like a knife slicing my heart.