Russian Mobster's Forbidden Mistress (11 page)

Josef gave her a squeeze. “Wait until I get out of here.”

“No.” She pulled away, standing straight and seeming to gather herself. “There’s not enough time for that. I have to do this now.” Turning around, she marched out of his hospital room.

“Dani!” he called after her, but there was no answer.

* * *

Dani could hear Mikhail downstairs in the media room with perhaps a dozen of the men from their family. The shouts and jeers suggested they were enjoying fight night in grand style.

Staying low, she crept along the hallway heading for the stairs. All it would take was for someone to come upstairs for a beer and she would be caught. The old wood floor squeaked beneath her weight. She carefully avoided the especially loud spots, awkwardly maneuvering through the hall and keeping close to the wall.

She passed the double sliding doors separating the media room from the rest of the house. A particularly loud burst of yells in both Russian and English made her jump with surprise. A shot of adrenaline left her trembling with nerves. She really couldn’t afford to fall apart now.

“What are you doing?”

She whirled around, her hand to her chest. But it was Vasily, not Mikhail. She gave him a forced smile. “I’m just headed up to see how Papa is doing and I didn’t want to disturb you guys.”

He cocked his head, looking suspicious. “Mikhail is looking for you.”

“When have I ever tried to accommodate my brother?”

Vasily laughed. “Never.”

Dani waggled her eyebrows at him and then turned on her heel and sprinted for the steps leading to the upstairs hall and her father’s suite. Behind her, she could hear Vasily getting something out of the fridge. He would tell Mikhail she was there. Vasily had no reason not to. She had to hurry or things were going to go south quickly.

The nurse was standing in front of Papa’s door. “I’m sorry, you can’t go in. He’s finally resting.”

“It’s urgent.” Dani moved to go around the nurse, but she was shoved back. Shocked, Dani took another look at the woman.

“I’m not allowing it,” the nurse said firmly.

“My brother put you up to this,” Dani guessed. “He’s trying to keep me away from my father.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Dani snorted. “Actually, it does.”

Going low, Dani plowed into the woman using her shoulder. It was like making contact with a brick wall. The jolt nearly took Dani down too.

The nurse began cartwheeling backwards, her arms flying out to windmill around and around as if she thought it could keep her upright, but soon she crashed to the floor. And with the blockage gone, Dani slammed into her father’s closed door.

“Who is it?” her father’s weak voice called out.

“Papa!” Dani answered back as she scrambled to get the door open in time. Downstairs she could hear the sound of men exiting the media room, probably to find out what the racket was.

Dani entered her father’s suite and slammed the door closed behind her. Locking it, she dashed to his bed. There was little time to state her case. She would have only this one chance.

Chapter Fourteen

“Daniella, child, what on earth is going on?” Papa seemed more confused than anything else. “It sounds like an earthquake out in the hallway.”

“Papa, please,” Dani pleaded. “I need you to listen to me. Quickly.” She sat down beside him on the bed and took his frail hand in hers.

“What is it?” He looked tired and weak, but concerned. It gave her courage.

“Mikhail lied to you about Igor Rusnak. I know you know this, because you spoke to Josef about it.” Dani gave a tiny shake of her head to stop his protests. “Josef told me so, Papa. I asked him to speak to you. He knows the truth. Mikhail is doing something that isn’t in the best interest of the family. I don’t know what, but I suspect it has to do with this deal with the Rusnaks. Now he’s angry with Josef because you and Josef suspected something.”

“Mikhail would not stay angry with Josef for long,” Papa said dismissively. “He knows Josef is loyal to him.”

“Mikhail tried to have Josef burned to death in one of our warehouses downtown. He wants Josef dead. I heard him say this.” Dani hated telling Papa these awful things when he was already so weak, but there was nothing else to be done. “I love Josef, Papa.”

Her father didn’t seem convinced. “You love him?”

“I’m carrying his child. We’ve been seeing each other for over a month now. I love him. He loves me. He treats me like a queen, Papa. I don’t want to marry Igor Rusnak. I want to marry Josef.”

Mikhail burst through the bedroom door. “Whore!” he shouted, pointing at her.

“I’m not a whore!” Dani shot back. “If I were, I’d have sold my honor to the Rusnaks the way you did!”

“Mikhail,” her father said in a low, deadly tone of voice. “What is going on with you and the Rusnaks? What did you promise them?”

“We need them,” Mikhail said simply, as if even a child should know this. “We need their manpower and their connections in the harbor.”

“And how do you propose to make this happen?” Dani demanded. “You’re not keeping the interests of the family first. You’re too worried about yourself!”

“You had better watch yourself,” Mikhail’s anger seemed to be reaching a fever point. “Your behavior borders on sedition.”

“Sedition? Are you hearing yourself? What happened to family?” Dani gestured to the men who had started drifting through the doorway. “What happened to taking care of our people and putting their needs first?” Dani caught a glimpse of Vasily and Boris peering in from the hallway. She turned her attention to them. “Mikhail attempted to have Josef killed! He set him up. And when that failed he exiled him from our family! Who does that?”

Vasily frowned. “I thought you said he was a traitor.”

“He slept with my sister.” Mikhail looked a little uncertain. “That is unacceptable!”

“Was she unwilling?” Vasily asked. He was a very simple man.

“No! I love Josef. I want to marry him and build a family with him,” Dani said earnestly. “Why shouldn’t I be allowed to do that?”

“Good question,” Boris said with a hard nod. “Mikhail. Why is your sister forbidden to choose a man for herself? Are you going to choose your own wife dependent only upon who she deems appropriate for
you
?”

Dani stared openmouthed at the other man. “Thank you, Boris.”

Then Josef’s beloved voice chimed in from the hallway. “It’s a little disconcerting when Boris, here, starts to make such good sense, isn’t it?”

“Josef!” Dani ran forward and threw herself into his arms. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“It’s important that I am,” he whispered.

“Why?”

“For this.” He looked around at the men who had begun to gather. “I move to vote that the leader of our family”—he turned to her Papa—“change his decision regarding which of his offspring is allowed to be the heir to his business holdings and to the leadership of the family.”

“What?” Mikhail gaped, obviously shocked that anyone would gainsay him.

“I think I was fairly clear,” Josef said mildly. “What say you, Mikhail Mikalevich, the elder?”

“You cannot do that!” her brother screamed. “I am leader! I am the boss!”

Her father struggled into an upright position. He pointed one finger at Mikhail. “No. You are not. Not until the last breath is gone from my body.”

“Don’t push me, old man,” Mikhail snarled.

“Vasily,” her father gestured to his man. “Where is your loyalty?”

“With you, boss,” Vasily said immediately. “Always.”

“And if I asked you to stop taking orders from Mikhail, and to take orders from Daniella instead, what would you say?” Papa tilted his head with curiosity.

Vasily seemed to think it over for no longer than a few seconds. “Daniella is smart, and she’s got Josef at her back. He supports her, so I would too.”

“You simpleton!” Mikhail hissed. “Who has taken care of you for all these years?”

“Actually, your father and Josef have,” Vasily told Mikhail. “When we go on runs with you, or follow your lead on a job, we usually get shot at. Or something will happen and you will have to leave for a while and we”—he gestured to his comrades—“have to pick up the pieces.”

* * *

Josef had known Mikhail for too long to even pretend to believe that his friend was going to let this go lightly. In fact, Mikhail was already well on his way to blowing up. His ruddy face was red, his cheeks puffed out, and his eyes bulging as he attempted to hang on to his composure. Then Mikhail pulled his gun and all hell broke loose.

“You bastard!” Mikhail shouted at Josef. “All your life you’ve followed me like some vulture, eating the leftovers of my success! Now you’ve found a way to take over on your own and I won’t allow it!”

“Mikhail, calm down.” Josef held out his hand to show he was unarmed, but he began to shift his body in front of Dani’s.

A murmur of unease swept through the ranks of Mikalevich’s men, but there wasn’t enough space in the room to allow them to enter. Vasily and Boris were both trying to squeeze through the doorway with little success.

“Mikhail!” their father cried out in alarm. “What are you doing?”

“Killing my sister and her lover, Papa.” Mikhail chanced a look at his father. “Since you are too weak to do what must be done.”

“You are insane, boy,” Papa said roughly. “Put the gun down.”

Josef caught Vasily’s eye. He knew his friend would back him, even against Mikhail. Josef waited until Mikhail’s gaze darted in the opposite direction and then struck hard and fast.

Josef put his head down and launched his body at Mikhail’s. Grabbing the gun, Josef tried to wrench it away from his friend. Mikhail grabbed on with two hands and tried to wrestle it back. They went down hard, crashing to the ground inside the bedroom and rolling as they grappled for control of the weapon.

Dani screamed as Josef felt his shoulder slam into a side table that was knocked over. Pill bottles scattered everywhere, the rattling noise adding to the cacophony already inside the room. Mikhail landed one good punch to Josef’s ribs. Josef grunted but refused to let go. He knew he would be shot if he dared give up.

“Let go!” Mikhail growled. “You were always the favorite. I hated you for that.”

The words were shocking, but Josef refused to give up. “You were never happy with what you had. And since you had everything, that made you pathetic.”

The words enraged Mikhail further. Using his legs, he attempted to reverse their positions and put Josef on the bottom. Josef easily blocked the move, using his longer legs to hold Mikhail’s and keep him from gaining purchase on the floor.

Mikhail faltered. Josef used the momentary advantage to put his friend facedown on the floor. Letting all of his body weight rest on Mikhail, Josef was trying to pry the gun from his fingers when it went off with a deafening noise that nearly shattered Josef’s eardrums.

“Vasily!” Dani shouted. Then she stared at Mikhail in horror. “You shot Vasily, you moron!”

“What?” All the fight abruptly drained from her brother.

“Oh God,” Dani moaned. She was on the floor beside Vasily as blood pumped out of his chest. “Where is that nurse? Boris, get the damn nurse.”

The woman was dragged into the room, muttering in Russian that she was quitting. Josef didn’t care what she did as long as she tried to save Vasily in the process. She and Dani huddled on the floor beside the big man, holding rags over his chest to stem the flow of blood while someone else dialed for the doctor who usually stitched them up without asking too many questions.

“What happened?” Mikhail demanded, looking shell shocked.

Josef was essentially sitting on his friend. “That bullet was headed for your father. Vasily put himself in the way.”

“Oh God.” Mikhail’s voice was faint. “What have I done?”

“I’m not sure. You never actually told me everything that’s been going on.” Josef felt the surrender in every muscle of Mikhail’s body as he lay on the floor. “If I get up, are you going to behave?”

“Yes.” Mikhail’s eyes closed briefly. “I am ashamed,” he said in Russian.

“You should be.” Josef wasn’t cutting him any slack. Not this time. But he did lift his body off of Mikhail’s.

The man crawled to his father’s bedside, bowing his head. “Papa, I am sorry. I thought—I don’t know what I thought, but I did think this was the only way.”

“You are my son,” the elder Mikhail said in a wheezy voice. “I am surprised you haven’t killed me before now, either intentionally or as a result of the ways you continue to shock me.”

“Papa,” Mikhail moaned.

“I am putting your sister in charge of the family.”

Josef felt a shot of pride. Dani was still working diligently with the nurse. They were directing Boris and another man named Sasha to pick up Vasily and carry him into one of the guest rooms. Vasily’s eyes were open and he seemed alert and cooperative, which was a good sign.

The elder Mikhail wasn’t done. He pointed to Josef. “You will marry my daughter. You will help her run this family.
Da
?”

“
Da
,” Josef agreed immediately. “I love her,” he continued in Russian. “She is my everything.”

“And me?” Mikhail asked quietly.

His father pursed his lips. “Either you support your sister and do what you are told, or Josef will put a bullet in your brain.”

It was a hard truth, but it was their way. Josef nodded to the man. “I am going to go look for the doctor. Someone needs to let him in and brief him.”

“Yes,” Papa agreed. “Send me two men to watch Mikhail.” He glanced toward his son. “In case he should do something else stupid.”

But the threat was gone. Mikhail was blubbering like a baby. Kneeling at his father’s bedside, he buried his face in the sheets as he most likely came to grips with the seriousness of his crime against his family.

Josef nodded to the man who had been like a father to him all his life. Then he headed out of the room to do his duty. This time, though, it was with joy. He was no longer alone. He had Dani. And apparently they needed to discuss a secret she had been keeping…