Let Me In-Dragan's Tale: The Mikhailov Brothers (15 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

SNAP-ON HAIR

Four weeks later

Toni

“So, will Irina go to prison?” I asked Evie, who was helping me wrap the dough in plastic for my latest creation for tomorrow’s Sunday Sweets at The Booth, chocolate croissant. I had to admit I was intimidated at first, but they’d sold really well the previous week. Dragan even suggested I pair it with a Russian imperial stout that he’d added to our bottled list. I had to admit, the Dragan knew his way around a bar. And he was more than willing to listen to my suggestions on improvements. In fact we were reopening tomorrow after he’d shut the bar down for a week to do something I’d dreamt of for ages. Expanding the stage, to accommodate the well-known acts I continued to bring in.

He’d overcome our rather brief sexual relationship very quickly. Treating me like every other employee. And I had to admit, I fucking hated it.

I hadn’t realized what a figure he’d been in my life for the past months until he was gone. If we saw one another away from the bar, he was polite but disinterested. Last week, I’d joined Evie and Sergey for dinner only to discover when I arrived at the restaurant that Dragan had been invited and he brought a woman.

I had no right to be hurt or pissed. He gave me exactly w
hat I asked for. And like the erratic and asinine female I’d become, I’d spent most of the night resisting the urge to stab his date in the throat with a salad fork.

Evie answered me and I was forced to table thoughts of murder. “
Sergey thinks she will. She’s confessed to all kinds of crimes. Sergey says it’s all to get Sofia and Alina’s husband lighter sentences. But there are no guarantees.”

All the details of Sergey’s family had been coming out in the newspaper for weeks. It was hard to imagine that such a sweet, good guy had relatives who’d spent the better part of the
century murdering and stealing on two continents.

I’d only met Irina Mikhailov once but she certainly left an impression. And after all the stories
, the I’m at peace with not meeting her again.

“Well, all wrapped up!” Evie announced. We had all the dough made and now it had to sit in the refrigerator for eight hours. It was Saturday afternoon and I had plans.

“Awesome, babe. Thanks for your help. But now you need to get home to your man and I need to get ready for a date.”

“You have a date? Are you and
Dragan gonna—”

“Evie, don’t. That ship has sailed. It’s done. We had our fun. It. Is. Over.”

My words made my best friend sad, so I rolled my eyes and gave her a hug. I knew she was building some girly romance novel ending for Dragan and I but that wasn’t happening. I just wasn’t the woman who needed that kind of finale to the story.

CHAPTER THIRTY

DON’T FORGET NICE

The Dragan

“What’s over?” I asked, walking into the kitchen of The Booth. I
actually heard the conversation because I was listening from the other side of the door. But I lied and asked.

“The pantry dough,” Antonina lied back with a smile. The girl was full of shit. We weren’t over by a long shot. But I let her think she was controlling the situation. And I had to admit, she seemed to be holding up a lot better than I was.

The woman had me in knots. Our four weeks as employer and employee had gone well. The morning after she thought she’d cut me loose, I gave her a raise and made her the manager of The Booth. In true Antonina form, she’d brought out a binder and shared all her ideas with me. And they were good, though even if they were bad, I would’ve agreed. She was talking to me and that was something.

This date was pissing me off though.

“You ladies have plans tonight?” I asked, helping Evie with her coat. My sweet Evelyn carrying my niece or nephew. Sergey hadn’t stopped smiling for weeks.

“Well,” Evie began. “Sergey and I are going to
Brenna’s for dinner. And Toni here has a date. Though she hasn’t told me with whom.”
I offered a small smile and faked casual interest. “Oh, yeah!” that’s great Toni!” I gave her a friendly smack her on the back like the pals should do. I’d started calling her Toni too. I could tell it was pissing her off and that helped get me through the day. “And who’s the lucky man?” I asked with only mild interest. Of course I knew who it was. Her mom had told me when I went to visit today.

“
Mom’s orthopedic surgeon, his name is Brian. And he’s smart and funny and very nice,” she replied.

Evie laughed. “Are you serious? You don’t
date men like that.”

Toni looked offended.
“Yes, I do! Anyway, it’s time I got out from behind the bar and started living life.”             

“Okay,” Evie was unconvinced. “Well, I’m off. Call me in the morning and tell
me all about the date with the “nice” doctor,” Evie said with a chuckle.

“I’ll walk you to your car sweet Evelyn.” I announced. She gave me a pat and took my hand. I left Toni alone in the kitchen of The Booth to contemplate ‘nice’.

Toni

As I put the finishing touches to my make-up I repeated my new mantra. Nice is good. Normal is good. I was dreading the date with Brian. Evie was right, I don’t date suits. I get that lots a women would salivate at the thought of being pursued by this kind of man, but it was doing nothing for me. We’d had dinner a couple times in that month. He’d pick me up at my house, a bouquet in hand. He even brought me a box of chocolates. He was perfect, too perfect. Every hair in place, impeccably dressed, tanned and wealthy. And I wasn’t remotely attracted to him. But I was committed to giving it time to bloom into more. I had to try. The past five years had proven to me that what I was doing wasn’t working. I’d watched Evie with her man and it made my heart ache. I wanted that too. At least, I wanted to want it.

Tonight I was in a lavender swing dress with a pair of Ka
te Spade sparkly open-toe heels that Evie found at a thrift store for me.

I was going to be charming and
engaging. I was going to laugh at his golf jokes and at the end of the night was going to let him kiss me. I was! He hadn’t even tried on our first date and when he went in for kiss at the end of date two, I panicked and pretended to sneeze. I’d put my hair up in an elegant chignon, channeling my inner Evie and went to say good night to everyone.

Since I’d brought Mom home from the hospital there was a steady flow of visitors to help e
ase the load. David’s mom came two times a week to visit or take Mom out. They went to the lake to people watch. Or went to the fruit market and shopped.

But tonight was
pinochle with Mr. and Mrs. Ross and usually our neighbor Janice. David’s dad made Mom a little rack made of wood, so if her hands didn’t cooperate, they could deal her hand, setting the cards face up on the rack. That way she didn’t have to rely on fine motor skills to play.

“Well, I’m off,” I announced to the card players. All eyes turned to me and my gaze widened to see Dragan seated at the table set up in the living room.

“Don’t you look pretty,” Mrs. Ross said.

“What are you doing here, Dragan?” I ignored the compliment, my focus on the tall, dark man next to my mom.

He looked at the table and then back at me. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m here to play cards.” He looked around the room.

“Yes, I can see that.” My reply more hiss than words. “Why are you playing cards here?” I pointed at the floor.

He didn’t answer.

But my mom spoke up, “I asked Dragan to visit, Antonina. And that’s not how you talk to a guest in your home.” I nodded in pretend shame and Mom continued, “I asked Dragan here because last time Evie took me to The Booth for your Sweet Sunday, Dragan said he wanted to learn to play pinochle.”

Dragan stood, excusing himself from the table. “Your date picking you up, Antonina?” he asked ignoring the conversation between Mom and me.

I huffed out an unamused breath. “
No, we’re meeting at the Booth because he had a patient at the hospital he needed to visit. And I needed to pick up my phone. I left it at the bar.”

Mr. Ross whistled. “Toni,
you finally throwing that doctor from Austin General a bone? Why’d you make him wait? he joked. He got a smack in the arm from his wife for that.

“No, Mr. Ross,
we’ve been seeing one another for about three weeks. Brian Felton is wonderful. And he’s smart and funny and—”

“Don’t forget ‘very nice,’” Dragan finished for me.

“Right,” I said through my teeth. “He is very nice.”

Mr. Ro
ss made a face and Mom chuckled as Dragan made his way back to the table, effectively dismissing me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-
ONE

HEARTS WILL BREAK

Dinner was delicious. Brian and I met at the Booth where I left my car and together we went to Baba’s in Old West Austin for dinner. A restaurant which is normally closed on Sunday, Brian had arranged to have it open just for us. It was mostly Eastern European and Mediterranean dishes. I already decided in my mind that I’d have to jog off the carb-heavy meal when I got home.

Admittedly
, Brian really was a nice guy. He was nothing like men I’d usually dated. He was clean-cut and polite. He was respectful and sweet. Watching him dissect his filet like the surgeon he was, I was struck with how perfect his hair was. Dark blonde and shiny. And it didn’t move. It stayed on his head like it had been snapped into place. Everything about him was like a calm, still lake. No ripples.

And he had a great body. We went running together a couple times and I got the chance
to see him out of a suit. He’s tall and lean, toned and defined. Smooth tanned skin free of tattoos or scars.

With sigh I struggled to bring myself back
to the conversation. He was talking about his recent move from Michigan to Austin. I tried to stay focused but he’d already told me the story once and I found myself struggling to stay awake. Staring at his mouth move, watching his perfectly straight teeth it occurred to me that he would be a great match for Benny.

I decided then, we’d go back to the bar and I would
explain that this wasn’t working for me and ask if I could give his number to Bennett. He was the kind of egghead she’d been going for lately.

Brian and I pulled up to the front of the
bar and I started to give my “thanks but no thanks” speech when he interrupted.

“Toni, I’m sorry would you mind if I used the restroom in there?” He’d turned the car off and looked over at me expecta
ntly. I really wanted the date and this experience to end but I didn’t want to be the kind of cuntwaffle who let a man spend cash on dinner and then cut him loose without care.

“Of
course,” I answered instead. “In fact, since the bar is closed we could have a quiet night cap. But,” I said with emphasis. “It’s my treat. You refused to let me at least leave the tip for the servers at dinner. Let me by you a drink, okay.”

He smiled and nodded sweetly
and a little too hopefully and I thought and together we went into The Booth.

Dragan’d had all the doors and windows replaced at the bar. He’d also had a security system installed. Lenny and Rosa had a camera installed at the front door but it wasn’t attached to anything, just glued to the ceiling.

The Dragan was not pleased when I explained that Lenny’s attitude about the presence of the camera was a sufficient deterrence. Now there were cameras at the doors, in the hall to the bathrooms and overlooking the bar.

I disengaged security and went behind the bar
to get a bottle of Mad Meg for me and a bottle of Old Rasputin for Brian. I was soundly impressed he knew his beer well enough to request the stout.

I fished a twenty out of my handbag and slipped
the cash and a note that I’d taken the beers for the records.

As Brian walked toward the bar he laughed, shaking his head.

“What’s so funny, doc?” I asked with a grin and took a pull from Meg.

“You
are, Toni. You’re not on duty, but you still stand behind that bar.” When he gave me a smile like I hadn’t seen from him before and beckoned me to come around the bar and join him.

With a shrug, I slid my bottle across the
high-varnished wood and walked around to join him on the other side.

We sat in silence for a moment with our drinks until fi
nally he sat his bottle down, took my beer and did the same.

“Did you enjoy our last dinner together, Toni?” I looked
at him, puzzled. Then it dawned on me that he knew my plans. I was going to end it tonight and he knew. I felt like an ass. Why couldn’t it be the sweet guy I loved? Maybe I should keep trying. Maybe I just wasn’t used to normal.

“Oh, Brian. Look, you are a—”

“Toni,” his voice warned. “Don’t do that.” He got up and stood in front of me, swiveling me on the bar stool to face him. My back to the bar. “Toni,” he whispered. “Do I get a kiss before hearts are broken?”

With a small smile I nodded and waited for the kiss.

The Dragan

The police called as I was washing out my paint brushes. The alarm at the bar had gone off and they were going to check it out. I’d bought a house in Old Enfield, no more than ten minutes from the bar. So when I got home from playing cards with Toni’s mom, I’d put on old clothes and started stripping and staining the red oak of the staircase rail.

The cops couldn’t tell me what was going on so when I logged into the system
and saw Antonina behind the bar talking to her date, I decided to head over and ruin their fuckin’ night. So I jumped in the shower to get the turpentine fumes on my skin off, dressed and headed over.

When I
arrived, police and ambulances were already there. It was good to know the EMTs got there so fast in the event there was an emergency.

I parked beh
ind a big black truck, realizing too late that my brother Sergey was standing by The Booth’s front doors. The ice didn’t hit my blood until I saw his face.

Toni

I actually saw stars when the back of my head hit the bar. The hands were around my neck before I could gasp from the pain.

My eyes were closed when his lips touched mine. And though I opened them the moment his hands went around my neck, the hit to the temple made it hard to focus.

He was straddled above me, sitting on my stomach. His fingers, tight around my throat. I could feel
the manicured nails of his thumbs biting into the soft flesh around my windpipe. My nails scraped and scratched at his hands but I seemed to hurt myself more than him.

His weight on my middle was taking a toll and I felt my lungs and brain protesting the lack of oxygen.

Without lessening his grip he lifted me to his face and spoke.

“You wanna know why you’re goin’ die bitch?” he gritted between his teeth.

I tried to open my mouth to speak but my lips didn’t move. At least, I don’t think they moved. A numb confusion was weaving into my mind, defusing the sparks I needed to think.

He didn’t seem to care that
I didn’t respond and continued, “Know why I was late for our first meeting at the hospital? I’d just been told my dad and brothers were dead. Dead!” He yelled, bouncing my head hard on the floor then bringing me back to his face.

He didn’t
look like the same man. The easy, handsome face was replaced with skin botched red, his lips peeled back to reveal his gums.

“He killed them. So I am goin’
to kill you. I’m going to squeeze the fuckin’ life out of your body and lay you out on his fuckin’ bar.”

Finally my lips worked. “Dragan,” I whispered.

He screamed into my face. “Yes, you cunt! Dragan Mikhailov! That family has messed with what I loved for too long. So I am going to kill what Dragan loves. And then I’m going to go to your fucking friend who leaves with that pig cop and slit her fucking throat.”

The Dragan

“What’s goin’ on, brother?” I started to walk past him and his hand stopped me. I looked down at it in warning. He wasn’t intimidated.

“Drago, listen to me. You walk in that fuckin’ bar I need you to promise me you won’t lose your shit.”

“Sergey,” I warned.

“Drobski
had a nephew. He was lookin’ to even out the blood debt. He’s of the mind that you hit his father and brothers. Now I know this to be untrue ‘cause you’ve been right here in Austin, weren’t you.” He paused then, to see if I was followin’. I was about to lose my mind.

“Sergey, I get it. I’ve been in Austin. Don’t know nothing about
Drobski’s family. Now tell me what the fuck is goin’ on.”

Sergey nodded and took a breath. “The
nephew is Brian Felton. He hurt Toni, my brother.”