Dark Mafia Kings by Penelope Wylde
Chapter Twenty-One
Sevastyan punched the sub-basement level in the private elevator later that evening.
The meeting with a local informant hadn’t turned out as expected. He twisted his neck until he heard a crack. And repeated the process in the other direction.
The elevator rose a couple of floors and dinged when the doors slid open. Some rich politician’s son thought he could sell his information for a few favors from the kings. He’d have paid too but then the little shit had tried to get slick and record the exchange.
After breaking his arm and phone, Sevastyan found he didn’t have shit to begin with. Lucky Sevastyan didn’t force-feed him a bullet.
He found the hallway silent and his mind went back to Rhia and what went down at her apartment. Tonight had been one shit show after another.
For now, they would have to hold tight at her place because he and Matteo had a meet-up with another lead with his brother’s case. Bringing her here wasn’t an option even if he’d said as much.
Rhia had sounded pissed off, but he could hear the fear just beneath the surface. She was in over her head and burdened with a stubbornness that rivaled his own, he predicted she wouldn’t seek help until it was too late. For now, Roman was with her, and he’d have to console himself with the knowledge his brother would keep her safe.
Even if that meant tying her to a bed.
He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. The fact remained, she was in danger and they had no idea who was targeting her. But that would change.
He should ship her off to his house on the west coast. Get her out of here and away from them so they all could get back to hunting a killer.
He blew out a weary breath. Another thought nagged him. Sending her away would put an open season sign around her neck. The first takers being whoever tore up her place.
Something told him uncovering who broke into Rhia’s place would give them a strong lead to who killed her father, and the trail would then tie back to the containers and come full circle to his brother.
No, they needed her here.
A more selfish reason gripped his brain and wouldn’t let go. Without her here they couldn’t protect her. His brother’s dead body already haunted his nightmares—he didn’t need to add a set of emerald eyes to his torture.
If that made him a greedy, selfish bastard, so be it. He could still taste her on his lips, and the smell of her delicate skin invaded his mind.
He stepped from the elevator and into the game room, scanning impatiently for Lucian or Matteo. Lucian had put a tail on the Crowne brothers the second they discovered their existence. So far radio silence.
But that left them holding their dicks and no answers, and that pissed him off.
Trafficking victims didn’t have a long life expectancy and the more time they twiddled their fingers, the harder it would be to find the containers. Roman was probably right. They were sitting at the bottom of the ocean somewhere
Finding the game room empty, he headed back upstairs the same way he entered.
Caught up in his thoughts, he almost missed that his office wasn’t as empty as he had left it.
He slammed the door shut on Rhia’s mental intrusion and came to an abrupt stop opposite his desk.
“Indigo. What are you doing in here?” he said sharply, not caring how it made her jump. It wasn’t unlike her to be in his office when he needed to sign something or she needed to go over paperwork for the club, but they had nothing scheduled. But she’d always knocked and never let herself in unannounced.
“Mr. Volkov.” His secretary stood facing his bookshelves, tracing over the spines of his books, an innocent enough gesture of boredom, but he narrowed his eyes at her all the same.
She turned, obviously caught off guard. “I was waiting for you. We need to talk.” In front of her, she laced and unlaced her fingers, and he didn’t miss the regal snap in her voice.
With a glance, he scanned his shelf but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
Giving a nod, he edged around the chairs to stand behind his desk. “Go ahead.” He’d allow the intrusion into his personal space once. Only because his mind was too preoccupied with more important matters.
“With Ms. Carmichael coming on as part of your team I could take over and train her for the job. Show her the ropes and have her with me at all times. We are friends, you know. I can only imagine we would work well together.” As she spoke his secretary cautiously stepped a pace closer, a sensual dip to her voice that had Sevastyan’s sixth sense on high alert.
He held his ground, his iron composure rattled with irritation.
“That won’t be necessary, Indigo. Thank you. Is that all?”
Her smile faltered, and she blinked in surprise at his blatant refusal. Sevastyan’s jaw ticked with more than just irritation. Fury slowly built and if Indigo wasn’t careful, she’d find herself looking for another job.
“What I mean to say is someone should be with her at all times, being new and all.” This time all the sweetness from her voice had faded. That gave him pause.
Sevastyan considered his secretary for a moment. “Odd choice of words, Indigo. Don’t you think? Ms. Carmichael has worked here for the past several weeks. Knows some of the ropes. I don’t like word games, so what are you not saying?” He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked pointedly at her.
She crossed her arms over her chest and donned a pensive look. “I’ve heard rumblings through the members. Bjorn. The man I’m dating, which I don’t think is any secret.
He nodded and motioned for her to continue.
“He’s heard some of them talking about her, too. The biggest question? How much it would take to convince you to let them have a taste. Especially the Colombian mafia. You know how big an appetite they have for the exotic.”
At the mention of one of Haven’s most frequent members he stiffened. The only reason he allowed the cold-blooded murderers in their territory was for information. That would change after tonight.
Sevastyan cursed viciously, his fingers curling into a fist at his side.
“We’re not a whore house where anyone can walk in and buy a few hours with whoever they like. Employees of this establishment are off-limits to the members. Period. You would do good to remember that rule, Indigo. Don’t think I’ll tolerate the shit you have with Bjorn for too long. I’ve let it slip out of respect for my brother and the year or so you had to work with him. Besides the Colombians, tell me the names of the other members who you’ve heard whisperings from.”
His secretary’s expression couldn’t settle on whether it wanted to show her obvious irritation with him or pretend interest. She batted her lashes with an air of innocence but her mouth twisted with a grimace. “I don’t know.”
He knew her answer before she opened her mouth. A low vibration of energy crawled up his arms, making the hairs rise.
Sevastyan swore again, his fury mounting. He stepped back. And worked at regaining his composure, but it took every last ounce of his self-control not to grab her by the arms and shake the names from her lips. He’d personally see to it that their status be revoked and they lost all access to Haven and any other establishment he owned in this town.
Indigo shrugged and made her way to the office door before she turned back. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but you should have thought twice about taking her out onto the main floor. I think my time with your brother affords me the luxury of saying as much. Now whisperings are making their rounds among the members. That’s dangerous, Mr. Volkov. You’ve broken your own rule tonight and now how long before someone else does?”
Damn her.
He didn’t want to admit it but there was truth to what she said. Her gaze moved from his desk to the rows of books behind him to land directly on him as she spoke.
From the beginning, he always considered her confident and trustworthy to complete the mundane tasks required of her work. The little Irish beauty caught the eye of many in the club, and with her flaming red hair pinned back to reveal a lovely heart-shaped face and big eyes, she was hard to miss. Unlike Rhia, she fit in here. Flirty, loved the attention of anyone willing to give it, and comfortable around half-naked people hitting on her. But she did nothing for him and their relationship had stayed purely professional since the day he walked through Haven’s doors and took over.
“What I do is none of your concern. If you’ve forgotten I own this establishment and will do what I please.” He didn’t appreciate the reminder he’d stepped over an invisible line he’d drawn between them and everyone else. Stepping away was the best bet, but he didn’t have that luxury. He wasn’t in the habit of lying to himself and had no intentions of starting now.
Lucian and Matteo rapped on the opened door and eased by Indigo, who excused herself quietly.
“We have a problem.” Lucian strode in first, laptop in hand, and cocked his head toward the door mouthing, “Incoming.”
“Problem is a matter of perspective,” Matteo countered and opened his office door wider to reveal a woman, gun on her hip, and the only other person in the world he’d ever seen rival his pissed-off look down to the grim flat line of her mouth.
Lucian guided her deeper into Sevastyan’s office with a gesture of his hand. “Sevastyan, Detective Vicente would like to see us.”
