“Enough!” Callahan shouts at the source of the water.
The gushing arc moves to the side and, through blurred vision, I see Callahan hold up a hand defensively, while wiping water from his face with the other. To my left, Natalia stands with a garden hose aimed at us. She releases her grasp on the trigger, causing the flow to stop, but she doesn’t lower the nozzle.
“Okay. Alexei? Enough?”
I stalk over to her, grab her around the waist with one arm, and jerk the hose away with my free hand. I toss it aside. “You are in a lot of trouble,” I whisper, water and blood dripping from my head onto her.
“Hmm,” a male voice says. “Looks like a street fight, but they didn’t make it to the street.”
My head jerks toward the voice, and I find Connor McCann, the leader of C Crue, standing next to the crue’s crack gunman, Trick. By their expressions, they’re not pleased.
“Half street fight, half pool party,” Trick murmurs.
“Hey,” Callahan says to them. “Just settling a debate here.” His tone is practically genial.
I say nothing, and to her credit, neither does Natalia whose feet are not quite touching the ground. I lower her so she can stand, but keep a possessive hold on her.
“Fight’s over?” McCann asks. “Or should we place some bets? Trick, you like Callahan or Vesenina as the last man standing?”
The corners of Trick’s mouth twitch, and he moves so I can see his gun holstered to his side. “Aiden’s tough to beat in a brawl. I’d bet on him most days, but I recognize that look on Vesenina’s face.”
“Me, too,” McCann says, watching me with a cool expression. “Natalia, come over here.”
“Fifty says no.” Trick says in the same instant my grip tightens on her.
I shake my head at McCann.
Trick chuckles. “Told ya.”
McCann draws in a breath and exhales as if I’m trying his patience. I don’t give a shit. When it comes to the girl, he’s not in charge of deciding anything. Natalia stays with me.
“This is mistake,” Natalia says in English, her words rushed and heavily accented. “Russian boyfriends are very jealous. I know this. But Alexei is not telling me before that I am his girlfriend, so I was not understanding this way that he sees it. Just a mess-up. No. Mix-up? Everything is all right now. They are both very strong. The fight is draw.” When she speaks to me, she switches to Russian, and her tone is softer. “Come, let me get your clothes for you.” She twists and puts her hand on my chest. “Your skin is very cold, Alexei, truly.”
My arm drops, and true to her word, she grabs my shirt and suit coat. Then she hesitates.
“You’re wet. You will make them wet, too, and you won’t get warm.”
“Whose fault is that?” I murmur.
A saucy expression flits across her features, and she speaks to me in Russian. “What else could I do? When wolves are snarling and fighting, do I put my arm between them to try to stop it? Am I crazy? A hose is the only safe way.”
She’s right that it was a smart decision to use the hose, but I don’t say so. I put my shirt on but don’t button it. “I have to change clothes.”
“This is what I am saying.”
I grab her wrist in a tight grip and pull her along with me.
“Natalia, you all right?” McCann asks her.
“Oh, yes. It is very nice party. We are enjoying it and will come back soon.”
Callahan follows in our wake, heading toward the hotel with us.
“Aiden,” Trick says. “A word.”
Callahan stops dead and turns back.
Good. I don’t want him sharing the small elevator with us.
