Protected by a Mobster: A Russian Mafia Romance (Volsky Mafia Book 1) (3 page)

He cleared his throat and let out a throaty laugh that immediately had my eyes jerking up to meet his again. The wicked grin that awaited me had my stomach clenching and heat rising from my chest to my cheeks in a split second. I knew he had caught me eyeing his package. Shit. “Uh…Yeah. Looks like I might need a little help. I’ve never had to change a tire before.”

“Do you have a spare?” He gestured towards the trunk of my car.

“I don’t know. I hope so.” I replied, fumbling with my keys and dropping them at his feet. Could I be any lamer? He must think I’m an idiot.

The stranger bent down and retrieved my keys, looking me straight in the eye and offering a wicked smile that was half smirk when he stood back up. The predatory look in his eyes made my legs weak and shaky.

He extended his hand. “I’m Ruslan. And you are?”

“Liliya. It’s nice to meet you.” He hadn’t offered his surname and I was hesitant to offer up my own.

My hand slipped into his and electricity sparked like the fireworks on the fourth of July. I snapped my eyes up to his and knew he had felt it too. Our gazes held for another heartbeat or two before I couldn’t stand the contact anymore. It felt too good. Being in this man’s presence for much longer would be a mistake. I didn’t have time to make connections. Kicking myself mentally, I forced myself to remember my plan. Three steps on my list that didn’t and couldn’t include this man or any other.

“Liliya,” he said, his thick accent making the name sound foreign and exotic. “Beautiful name.”

“Thank you,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm and even. Hearing my name fall from his lips made me want to do terribly naughty things to him… with him… for him. I’ve always had a thing for men with accents. I might have been squirreled away in a big house, protected from God only knows what but I wasn’t dead. Dating wasn’t allowed. But I had options. I had tons of men rambling around the house to prey on. It didn’t take long to find one with too little control and too much testosterone. So a virgin I am not.

“Let’s check out the spare. Shall we?”

I followed him to my trunk and watched as he dug around, shifting the few random items around to remove the tire. As he moved around, I couldn’t help but notice how his muscles bunched and rippled beneath the tight black t-shirt he wore or the way the material slipped up, revealing the taut tanned flesh of his lower back.

I licked my suddenly dry lips, unable to force my eyes away from the temptation of his flesh. He was beyond gorgeous. I wondered what he’d taste like, what his hard muscled body would feel like as he pressed his naked flesh against mine. Good grief, this man was driving me crazy. I needed to get control of my body and my naughty thoughts before I did something I would regret. He might be the definition of male perfection, but I didn’t have the luxury of getting involved with anyone. Such a shame, too, because I was pretty sure this man would be more than worth my time.

Ruslan huffed out a breath that immediately grabbed my attention, as if anything the man did wouldn’t grab a woman’s attention. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”

That didn’t sound very good at all. “Bad news, I guess. It’s been a shitty few months so why change things?”

“Your spare is toast.” He looked at me with his piercing eyes. “The good news is I can give you a ride… or call a friend of mine to help you get a new tire and a tow if you prefer. What’s it going to be?”

Shit. Shit. Shit. Could I afford a tow and new tire? “Crap! This is really embarrassing. I’m low on cash so how much would a tow and new tire cost?”

Ruslan looked me over again, like he was trying to figure me out, and then glanced at my beat-up old car. I so wanted to know what he was thinking, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask. His presence was overwhelming me in ways I couldn’t explain. He didn’t say a word as he pulled out his phone and dialed up someone. He turned his back to me and took a few steps away before he began to speak to the person on the other end of the line.

He spoke in another language – Russian if I had to guess – and, of course, that sent a bolt of lightning straight to my core. I’d always had a thing for guys that spoke other languages. I knew very little Russian, even though my father was Russian himself. But I had picked up what I could over the years. Damn. This man was freaking dangerous as all hell to my plan. I needed to get some space between us and fast. Several minutes passed before Ruslan turned to face me again. “A friend of mine is on his way to take care of your tire problem. What brings you to Las Vegas?”

I’m on the run from my evil father and murderous ex-fiancé who doesn’t know we’re now a done deal is what I wanted to say, but I didn’t. “I needed a change. The appeal was definitely that old saying ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’”

He grinned, his eyes roaming up and down my body.

Holy crap! Was I flirting with this guy? Not good, Liliya. Just thank the man and let him be on his way. “So,” I finished somewhat lamely, “I’m just hoping to find a little apartment and a job, you know.”

“Right. What kind of job are you looking for? I know a lot of people around here. Maybe I can help.” And then he gave me another one of those panty-melting smiles that made my thighs tremble.

Good Lord. I could listen to his voice all day. The accent only increased the sexiness. Damn. I had always loved a good Russian accent. That was one thing about my father’s background that I’d always appreciate, although I wasn’t lucky enough to have that beautiful accent myself. My mother was American, and all of my nannies, too. I guess the lack of exposure to the language robbed me. But at least I could understand a little bit of the language; not much but enough to ask for a bathroom and a few other things; very touristy stuff.

“I don’t know what kind of job I want. I’ve never worked before. Don’t ask,” I said, noticing the strange look he gave me. “I guess I’m open to almost anything… aside from getting naked or selling myself. A girl has to have limits.” I said the last with a giggle.

Ruslan arched a brow in response, that wicked smile returning and damn near disarming me of logical thought. Neon lights lit up the word DANGER in my head, but as much as I believed him to be dangerous, I felt an overwhelming sense of safety around him. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the controlled way he carried himself. But the fact of the matter was that I hadn’t felt safe in months, and suddenly this stranger willing to help me for no reason made me feel at peace. I really needed to be able to trust someone. Could Ruslan be someone I could trust?

“I tell you what…” He reached in his pocket, slid his wallet out, and retrieved a business card. “When you decide what kind of work you’re interested in, give me a call and I’ll see what I can do to help. I’m always available. Sound good?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. I really appreciate all of this.” I replied, taking the card from him. His fingers brushed over mine and that same spark of electricity was back in full force. It was intense. Hell, my attraction to this man was off-the-charts intense. My body hummed all over, my skin tingling where our hands had touched.

A low rumble interrupted our exchange as I tucked the card into my back pocket. A tow truck pulled to a stop just a few feet away and a young man hopped out and headed our way. The two men talked for a minute and I did my best to ignore them. I just wanted the dang tire fixed so I wasn’t a sitting duck if my father’s men came looking for me here.

Thirty minutes later, I had a brand new tire. Bobby, the man who changed my tire, gave me his card and offered his services free of charge if I found myself in a bind again while in Vegas. I thanked him profusely before doing the same with Ruslan. After the last few months, I couldn’t believe the luck of running into, not one, but three very kind people, and all in one day. If this streak of luck continued, then everything would work out.

I said goodbye to Ruslan and hopped into my car, giving him a quick smile and wave as I pulled away. As much as I didn’t want to look back to see him, I couldn’t help it. A small part of me wanted to look in the mirror and see that fine man watching me drive away. I wasn’t disappointed.

Chapter Five - Dane

“Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.

-Benjamin Franklin

Dane and his men spread out across New York City, looking for any sign of Liliya, finding nothing. Every snitch had been talked to. No stone had been left unturned. But she was gone. Mr. Markow, her father, was not a happy man, and when he was unhappy, his anger flared hot and bright, burning anyone who stood too close. I was the only one close enough to feel the burn this time.

It had been my job to keep a watchful eye on his princess for more than a year now. At first, it had been an easy task… but that changed soon enough. Liliya Markow was a woman that screamed trouble. She seemed pure and innocent, but word amongst the men was she gave as good as she got. They made her sound like a whore, but I knew for a fact that wasn’t true. She flirted, but in a year she hadn’t given me more than a kiss. I’d have her one way or another, though. She was mine. Only mine.

Grabbing my phone, I placed the call I’d been dreading for two days. “Boss, we’ve had no luck locating Liliya. It’s like she just vanished. Maybe she had help from someone in the family?”

“That’s unacceptable, Dane,” Mr. Markow screamed. “A girl can’t just disappear without a trace. If someone in the family helped her, they’ll fucking regret it. I don’t think anyone is that stupid, but I’ll look into it, just to be sure. You find her, boy, or don’t bother coming back.” The line went dead.

Fuck!

Double fuck.

I crammed my phone back in my pocket and faced the small group of men helping to search the city. I had no choice but to find Liliya and bring her home to her father. The consequences of failure just weren’t an option. We’d come too far to risk her taking the whole organization down. One word of what she had seen or overheard spoken to the wrong person and we were all dead. The Commission wouldn’t allow our plan to come to pass.

She had to be controlled.

Mr. Markow had promised his little twenty-one-year-old princess to me. The joining of our families was paramount to keeping control of the city. With the meeting of the Bosses, better known as The Commission, coming up, and the threat of another Russian family vying for control, Liliya’s disappearance couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Our marriage would unify two strong families, the combining of the territories forming the largest amongst the five families, making the Markow-Duskin family the strongest mafia family in decades. Malcolm had been against this move, arguing that it would attract too much attention from the police and other agencies, as well as the three other families. He’d feared that a war would come.

I’d always thought Malcolm was a pussy. And I was right. He had cried like a little bitch as his father beat the shit out of him in the garden, crying and begging even though he knew his words wouldn’t save him. He was beyond saving. He could have had everything he wanted, if only he would have found his balls and acted like a real man for once in his life. Now, with Malcolm gone, I was Markow’s right hand. Together we would make history.

When his father had ordered me to kill his son, I hadn’t hesitated. No. I had done what was asked of me. I followed orders. I listened to him beg for his life and swallowed his fear as the light in his eyes disappeared into oblivion. What I hadn’t expected that night was his sister – my bride – to see me do it. She had seen everything, and it had turned what should have been cut and dried – a mere formality, really – into a fucking nightmare.

Shaking off the memory, I turned to my men, running my fingers through my obsidian hair. “The boss is pissed. Someone saw Liliya leave the city. She doesn’t have resources at her disposal. Expand the search. Her car is gone, so start there. Check rental car companies, bus stations, airports… hack the fucking department of motor vehicles if you have to. Call in every favor you have and find my girl. She is NOT to be harmed. Punishment is up to her father. We don’t return home until we find her. Get to work!” A chorus of yes sirs rained down on me and I felt ten feet tall. I loved commanding the men, the taste of authority on my tongue. I yearned for it like oxygen… or a warm wet pussy.

Johan approached the back door of the car, opening it for me. As I moved to slip inside, he spoke. “I’ve got a guy that can track Liliya’s car. He’s good and fast.”

“Call him now.”

“Yes, sir,” Johan responded as he shut the door.

Two hours later, Johan and I pulled into the parking lot of a ‘buy here, pay here’ car dealership called Big Mo’s. I scoured the lot, filled with dozens of rusty pieces of shit, for several minutes before finding the little red Mercedes. The front end of Liliya’s car was just visible from behind the office.

Wasting no time, we strode towards the entrance to the dingy portable building. The sound coming from the television masked our entrance. The heavy-set man behind the desk was busy watching television on an old black-and-white set the size of a microwave dinner. He had a beer in one hand and piece of greasy fried chicken in the other, the man’s stained wife-beater shirt barely covering his beer gut. I approached the desk giving it a solid tap with my fist, startling the old man. The old guy looked as if he might shit his pants. It’s funny how just the mere sight of men like Johan and me can incite fear in someone. Have to give the old guy credit, though. He recovered quickly, always on the lookout for a fast buck.

“What the… how can I help you gentlemen?” He wiped his mouth on the back of his grease-covered hand, crispy flakes of crust from his dinner flittering to the floor with each movement he made. The chair snapped forward as he shifted his weight to sit up, his hefty beer gut rubbing against the edge of the desk. A real fucking winner, right here before us. Just the thought of my sweet little Liliya dealing with this scum turned my stomach.

“We’re here about the Mercedes you have parked outside,” I growled. “It belongs to my woman. How long have you had it?”