“Holy shit! Alek is one of the Russians and he’s hanging around my sister. This is bad, Slay. Really, really bad. We need to tell her to be careful.”
“Do not tell her anything,” I hissed into the phone. “You’ll just freak her out and there might be nothing to worry about.”
“But it was the Russians who set me up.”
“We don’t know if Alek is part of that group. Just do as I said. Okay, Steve?”
“Yeah. Okay.”
I ended the call and started my Harley. Hopefully, Cass didn’t give her brother a hard time about staying with her. It wasn’t totally unusual for him to ask to stay with her.
Steve was sort of a nomad and couch surfer. At his age, he should have more direction than he did. But his only interest had been in joining the Kings of Anarchy MC, and his family gave him a lot of grief about it.
Well, no time to figure out what to do with Steve. He was on the job watching Cass. With that situation taken care of, I could turn my attention to other matters.
Like digging into the Kozlov Bratva.
5
Cassandra
“I’m so embarrassed.” I placed a fresh cup of coffee in front of Alek. “You weren’t meant to see that.” My cheeks were burning up. Along with my lips and other parts of my body after being thoroughly turned on by my ex. Even my panties were wet.
I never let my guard down. How could I lose my mind today? And with Alek in the building?
It must have been because of that club girl.Suzy.
The Green-Eyed Monster in me had come out with vengeance. It was like I needed to find out if I could still turn Slay on.
Apparently, I could and I felt victorious.
“I was only worried about you. You did not seem happy about him being here.” Alek stirred the cream in his coffee. He seemed different, but I couldn’t quite make out the changes.
“I appreciate that, but I can handle Slay.”
“What kind of name is Slay?”
“It’s not his birth name. It’s a road name he uses in his club.” I leaned against the counter and tried to be friendly like I’d been before Slay got me wound up.
“Very interesting. And what is his birth name?” Alek drank his coffee, keeping his eyes on me.
Why would he want to know Slay’s real name? Just then, my phone rang.
“Sorry, I need to take this.” Saved by the bell, or um, my brother. “Hi, Steve.”
“Hey, Cass. I need a major favor.”
“What?” I pushed my hip out as if he could see me.
“Can I crash at your place? It would only be for a couple of days. Not longer than a month.”
“A month? Why?” Of course, I’d let him. Hewasmy brother. I just wouldn’t make it easy on him. He was on a road going nowhere and needed to take control of his life. Provide for himself. Have his own couch. Buy his own food, instead of eating everyone else’s.
“My girlfriend and I got into a fight. But she’ll cool down. Eventually.”
“Since when do you have a girlfriend?” This was news to me.
“We’ve been on and off for a while. Can I crash at your place or not? I’m sure Slay will let me stay at the clubhouse if you won’t put me up for a few nights. Or a month.”
