That’s an interesting way to put it. He’s talking about her like she’s a child. Was she not living in her own apartment when she came to me? “No,” I tell him. “But I’ve been busy lately. I don’t suppose you’ve heard about that whole business while I was overseas.”
“Yes, yes.Moi soboleznovaniya. I’m sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what it must be like to have the helm of Pakhan thrust upon you. If you need any tips and tricks, I’ll be happy to oblige.”
I could laugh. I probably should. It’s clear he means that as a joke. I’m not feeling particularly funny right now, though. “Thank you, but I’m handling things all right,” I tell him.
“Hmm. Yes, you do know how to handle things, don’t you?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. His tone hasn’t changed. He stillsoundslike he’s joking, but he’s not. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean,” he says. “You and my daughter? Fucking in that secret sex club of yours? How long did you think the two of you could keep something like that from me?”
Not long, apparently.“She’s an adult, Vladimir. She can do as she likes.”
“She is my daughter and you know better. You know, I have killed men for lesser crimes than violating my daughter the way you have. You’re very lucky to still be walking around right now.”
“I don’t really have the time or the inclination to argue about this with you. I have important matters to attend to. Maybe you should focus on keeping your family business out of the streets.”
“Easily said for someone who thinks he’s not a part of that business,” he says, his voice deepening. “Let me tell you something, Anton. If I find out that you are protecting her, I will have your balls cut off and shoved down your throat.”
“She shouldn’t need protecting from you,” I say. “Don’t threaten me, Vladimir. I’m a Pakhan now. You don’t want to cross the line with me.”
“You’re still a snotnoseshestyorkaand I will crush you under my heel for desecrating my daughter’s honor.”
“Well, you know where to find me,” I tell him. “I’ll be waiting right here if you want to test your strength.”
With that said, I hang the phone up. Fuck Vladimir. I don’t care who the fuck he is. He doesn’t get to threaten me so casually.
I put my phone in my pocket and leave my bedroom. It’s a good thing I locked up Natalya’s phone. He won’t come for me just for having sex with her. Not now that I’m a Pakhan. That kind of thing would start a war that I imagine he doesn’t want. However, Mikki was right about one thing. When he gets wind of the Amur’s attacks on me, he might be all the more motivated to join their crusade.
I sincerely hope he thinks better of it. It might take me some time and effort, and I believe I could answer his attacks effectively, but staving off two Bratvas in a tenure that’s lasted less than a couple of months is about as undesirable of a situation that I could want.
I walk down the stairs and notice my door is open. My senses are heightened as I approach the door, hand on the gun in my belt. I get to it and see that it’s ajar, so I step behind it and push it open slowly.
Sitting at the curb, just a few steps shy of my front steps, is Mikki’s car. There’s a noticeable trail of blood droplets leading up to my door from where he came in last night. But that’s not the most interesting thing.
The back door of the car is open. I can see under the door are two bare feet with pink nail polish on them.
I smile. I guess she couldn’t wait for me. I take my hand off my gun and walk down the stairs.
When I get to the car, I stand behind her. She’s wearing one of my robes. It’s so big on her that part of the hem is dragging on the sidewalk. Leaning into the car, her ass is turned up as she stands on her tiptoes to get at something on the other side of the pile of clothes on the back seat.
It’s comical. She’s clamoring around in there like a raccoon rummaging through trash. I clear my throat.
She jumps and bangs her head on the car ceiling. “Shit!” she swears as she backs out, rubbing her head. The robe is hanging off her precariously. It looks like she had it tightly tied, but all the movement has moved the belt down and now the opening is showing a little too much of her cleavage.
She looks at me as she winces and touches her head. “You scared the shit out of me,” she says.
“Sorry,” I say as I laugh. “You could have just asked me to take care of this.”
“What? And interrupt your whole… thing? You’ve probably got lots of Bratva stuff to do today. I didn’t want to get in the way.”
I take her by the hand, gently pulling her away from the car. “Relax. I’ll have someone bring all this up to your room today.”
“What am I supposed to do in the meantime?” she asks. “I can’t walk around in an oversized robe all day. I’d like to shower, put on clean clothes.”
“Okay, so… pick out an outfit and get back inside. You shouldn’t be out here like this.”
“No kidding.” She rolls her eyes and dives back into the backseat, picking out a pair of jeans and a shirt. “You still have to get me underwear.”
