Russian Mobster's Princess (18 page)

“Is that really what you think of me?” he asked. “You believe the only thing I can do with my life is to be Karkoff’s errand boy?”

“That isn’t what I’m saying at all!” She sounded agitated and he couldn’t understand why.

She shook her head at him, appearing to be downright disgusted. “I think you’re better than this. That’s what I’m saying! You always have been. And yet you’ve never been willing to believe that you can do better than what Karkoff is offering.”

“Who told you that?” Viktor felt like she was hiding something.

“Nobody had to tell me.” She waved a hand at him. “Look at you! You said you thought about going to school, but you never did. You considered a job at the grocery store, but never really followed up. You decided that you were okay just taking the odd jobs that Karkoff threw your way. That was a choice, Viktor!”

“That’s what you think.” He shook his head at her, feeling angry with her for the first time in more years than he could remember. “You don’t believe that I ever aspired to more, or attempted to find some other work? You think I just settled in as Karkoff’s monkey boy and happily spend the rest of my time sitting on my ass and twiddling my thumbs?”

“Ugh!” She wrinkled her nose at him. “Sometimes you are such a
bonehead
!”

He laughed then. Mostly because he couldn’t possibly stay mad at her when she said such ridiculous things. And also because he realized on some level that she might be right.

“You’re laughing?” She stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. “This is not funny.”

“I think it’s hilarious.” He tapped the end of her nose, making her look even more disgruntled than before.

Viktor suddenly couldn’t resist. He slipped his arms around Katie’s curvy body and pulled her flush against him. She was warm and soft. There was no resistance. Instead, she wound her arms about his neck and pressed her mouth to his. He kissed her slowly, lingering over the softness of her lips and savoring the sensation of being close to this woman.

Viktor slipped his hands over her back and down to her rounded butt. He gave the soft globes a squeeze. Katie made a tiny noise of pleasure and stood on her tiptoes to press herself closer to him. He imagined how good it would be to have her wrap her legs around his waist. Or to lay her in the soft grass and make love to her here under the open sky. But for now this wasn’t the time or the place. Not when someone might be watching.

He gently broke away from the kiss, nuzzling her nose as he let go of her delectable backside. “You drive me absolutely crazy, you know that?”

Her lighthearted giggle made everything worth it. “Oh yeah? Well maybe it’s just a short trip to crazy for you. Hmm?”

“Nice. Although I think you might be right.” He took her hand in his and started off down the path.

***

Katie loved the feel of Viktor’s hand wrapped around hers. She felt small and protected there with him. The evening was warm and Max was busy nosing his way through the thick grass at the edge of the trail. They weren’t talking, just strolling along like a normal couple. It was almost surreal.

A car pulled up into the back parking lot where she had seen Viktor with his friends the other day. When Sasha exited the vehicle, Katie realized that her and Viktor’s time together had been borrowed from a life that probably didn’t exist.

“Damn,” Viktor muttered.

Katie realized she was now clutching his hand and forced herself to loosen her grip. “Why is he here?”

“I’m not sure, but it wouldn’t be like him not to say. So I’m sure we’re about to find out.” Viktor took a deep breath and kept going down the path as though Sasha’s appearance hadn’t affected them at all.

Katie tried to be nonchalant but wasn’t sure she quite had the act down. Sasha was unnerving as far as she was concerned. By the time she and Viktor had drawn up even with Sasha’s parked car, Max was glued to Katie’s side. The dog was obviously concerned. Max had much experience reading her moods, and he knew exactly how she felt without her saying a word.

“Well don’t the two of you just make the cutest couple,” Sasha called out. His sarcastic tone of voice grated on Katie’s nerves.

“How’s your toothache?” she asked with a sweet smile. “You know you really shouldn’t be driving around while you’re taking all that pain medication.”

“Toothache?” Viktor murmured, glancing down at her.

“Yeah. He showed up at my office earlier today with a huge abscessed tooth.” She thought about it for a moment. “I really think it was random. He seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see him.”

“Right or left side?” Viktor wanted to know. He was still murmuring in a voice too low for Sasha to hear.

Katie wondered why it mattered. “The lower right.”

Then she saw Viktor taking stock of Sasha’s positioning against his car and realized that Viktor was keeping that information in his mind in case he and Sasha came to blows. It gave Viktor an advantage when his opponent was not only suffering from jaw pain on the right, but also on pain meds that might slow his reaction time. Great. So Viktor thought this was going to end in a fight.

“You know what?” Katie called out to Sasha. “I think Viktor and I are just going to head back to the other side of the park. You have a great day and I hope you feel better soon.”

She grabbed Viktor’s hand and started towing him back toward the trees. She got maybe twenty yards before Sasha protested.

***

Viktor admired Katie’s attempt to walk away, but he hadn’t any ideas that Sasha would let that happen. They had barely made it past the edge of the parking lot before Sasha opened his mouth.

“I need to have a word with Viktor, if you don’t mind?” Sasha pushed away from his car and quickly closed the distance between them.

Viktor turned and raised an eyebrow at Sasha. “What did you need?”

“My uncle wishes to remind you of your duty to him and the family,” Sasha said in a snide tone.

“Really?” Viktor narrowed his gaze. “Because I spoke with your uncle less than two hours ago and he and I were just fine. And the truth is, I don’t need you to act as a go-between.”

“How dare you!” Sasha leaned forward aggressively, and that was when Max took grave offense.

The dog placed himself between Viktor and Sasha with his hackles raised and his teeth bared. He was only fifty or so pounds, but the sheer density of his muscle was impressive as he let loose a snarl that raised the hair on the back of Viktor’s neck.

“Get that mutt away from me!” Sasha said angrily, backing away with his hands held before him. “I’ll have him shot.”

“He feels threatened,” Katie said calmly. “And he’s not going to stand there and let you bully Viktor or myself. So I think you’d better just go before you get hurt.”

Viktor groaned softly. There was not a worse thing that Katie could have said to injure Sasha’s already wounded pride. Now Sasha bristled even more, pointing a finger at Viktor. “I don’t know what you’re playing at with your bullshit cargo runs. You handed me an empty van last night and you know it!”

Viktor shrugged. “As I told your uncle, I don’t ask questions about the cargo. I drive where I’m told to drive. The rest is none of my business. He was happy with my explanation and we are in agreement. I don’t know what your problem is, but I think you’d best take it up with your uncle and not me. As you’ve pointed out repeatedly, I have no power or rank within the family.”

Sasha clenched his jaw, but a glance down at the still growling dog decided helped him make a decision. He turned on his heel and retreated. Getting into his car, he squealed his tires out of the lot.

Viktor watched until he was gone. Then he turned to Max. “That was a brilliant display of fireworks, my friend, but if you get hurt in the crossfire, your mama is going to kill me.”

Katie knelt beside her dog and put her arm around his neck. “I don’t want either of you to get hurt. What are we going to do now?”

Viktor squatted down, petting the dog and gazing at the woman he would give his life to protect. “I’m not sure. But we’re going to have to figure it out fast.”

Chapter Eight

Katie couldn’t help but be a little jumpy after the crazy confrontation with Sasha at the park. Every time a loud car went by outside her house, she ran to the window to see if it was Sasha or one of his friends coming to make good on their threats. Not that she really understood what the threat
was
.

Finally she retreated to her kitchen. Max relaxed in a corner while she began making muffin batter. She hummed a little tune while she worked. Soon the familiar activity soothed her. She was just bending over to pull the piping hot muffins out of the oven when four men burst through her back door.

Katie screamed in shock. Max was barking furiously, growling and snarling as he lunged at the intruders. Her loyal dog caught the first guy on the wrist, ripping and tearing at the man’s skin while the guy tried to shake him off.

Her heart seized at the notion that one of these bastards might hurt her dog. Feeling desperate, she used the only weapon she happened to have—her muffins. She gripped both sides of the muffin pan with her mitt-protected hands and swung it sideways. The pan bounced off the first man’s face. He instantly let out a scream so high it nearly shattered her eardrums. The pan had scorched a mark into his cheeks.

Hot muffins flew everywhere. Katie changed the trajectory of her weapon, swinging it backhanded to smack the guy on the top of his head. Dazed, he fell to the floor. Max let go and turned to the next guy crowding into the kitchen through the narrow door. Katie grabbed a couple of wooden spoons and prepared to battle.

“Enough!” Sasha shouted. He shoved his way into her kitchen holding a gun in his hand. He leveled the barrel at Max. “You do what we say or the dog dies. Your choice.”

“No!” Katie screamed. She grabbed Max’s collar, hauling him back behind her. “If you hurt him I will hunt you down and rip off your balls one by one. Do you understand? I will sauté them in butter and force you to eat them.”

Sasha’s eyebrows shot up. Beside him, the other two men—the ones not half unconscious on the floor—were chuckling. They started babbling in Russian. Whatever they said made Sasha even madder, because he yelled back and started waving his gun around in midair. Katie took the opportunity to shut Max in the bathroom. She locked the door from the inside to make it harder to get at him.

“You stupid cunt!” Sasha made an ugly face at her. “Why did you ever have to come back to this city?”

“You didn’t grow up here,” she told him, throwing her jaw out aggressively. “Why did
you
ever have to show up?”

There was more laughing, and Katie realized that Sasha was having a tough time really making an impression on these men. He acted like he was in charge, but they certainly didn’t seem to have much respect for him. That was a bad thing, for her at least.

“Grab her!” Sasha shouted to one of the other men. “Put her in the car. Hurry! Karkoff wants a word with our Miss McClellan.”

One of the big men gave her an apologetic look before scooping her up into a fireman’s carry and flinging her over his shoulder. Katie gave an indignant shriek. It was horribly uncomfortable, not to mention demeaning, to be carried in such a way. Then she saw the other man do the same with his buddy that she had laid out on the floor with her muffin pan. Katie felt a smidge better.

She realized that she had no idea where she was going. They carried her outside into the darkness. An SUV waited in front of her house. The windows were tinted the same dark black as the paint job. Her captor opened the rear hatch and tossed her inside. He took considerably more care with his fallen comrade. Katie had a moment’s satisfaction when she spotted a muffin-shaped burn on the man’s face. It really served him right for barging into her kitchen without even knocking.

The drive was jarring. Katie tried to use her legs to press her body up against the edge of the SUV to keep from rolling around. When they finally arrived, her captor returned to the back of the SUV and again threw her over his shoulder like a big sack of potatoes.

“Can you please put me down?” she asked irritably. “I’m getting a headache. Where are we anyway?”

“Karkoff wants a word with you.” Sasha’s arrogant tone was a far cry from the vulnerable man who could barely make a decision on his own.

Katie smirked at him from her place hanging upside down on some man’s shoulder. “I think you took too much pain medication. It’s screwed with your brain.”

“Shut up!” he snapped.

She made a face at him. “You shut up. What are we? Ten? I know you are, but what am I?”

It was obvious that she had already pushed Sasha too far. She just wasn’t certain she cared anymore. The guy had pushed her too far as well. Was he really acting on the orders of someone else, or did he have his own agenda? Either way she was sick and tired of getting pushed around and watching them push Viktor around right along with her. If Karkoff wanted a word, Katie was ready to give him several.

***

Viktor wanted to know what had happened to the women he’d let out of the van less than twenty-four hours ago. He slunk through the shadows of the alley around the corner from the hospital where he had jimmied the lock and let them go. There was still evidence of his presence there the night before. Several burlap sacks lay discarded against a brick wall, a few shreds of nylon rope lying on top of the pile.

He squatted down and poked through the refuse. Pulling out his phone, he used it as a light to search for any shred of information that might help. He was feeling a little guilty for just dumping them and dashing off to meet Sasha.

A noise pulled his attention away from his sober contemplation. He quickly stashed his phone, leaving himself shrouded in pitch black. There were low voices speaking in Russian, perhaps two or three. The men were walking in his direction.

“Why are we looking here?” the first man asked. “No woman is going to hang out in an alley waiting to get mugged after she managed to escape slavery. This is stupid.”

A second man tripped over a pile of garbage in the alley. He cursed, and then snarled at his companion. “There’s a hospital less than a block away. If you were a woman in a strange city without money or clothes, wouldn’t you go to a hospital?”