The last three years had flown by with me attending events every two to three months. I was currently in the longest stretch where it’d been almost five. Real life had caught up to my playtime.
Turning to Hudson, I smiled. “Give me all the kinky details.”
CHAPTER SIX: MAKSIM
As I sat in the backseat of a blacked-out Escalade, I surveyed the employee exit of Speech Pathways–the office where Dr. Sarah Whitfield practiced along with five other Speech Pathologists. The practice itself was housed in an impressive brownstone in Society Hill.
Instead of making an appointment myself, privacy had dictated that I send a representative. That’s why thirty minutes ago, Aleks disappeared into the employee entrance after Lev, who currently sat across from me with his iPad, hacked into the security cameras and the pin for the door.
Before Aleks had gone inside, I’d watched the other doctors leave one by one, including the pompous ass whom I’d refused to see. When he’d taken a moment to circle Sarah’s car and lingerat it while staring back at the building, the hairs on the back of my neck prickled.
Apparently Mr. Pompous had the hots for my therapist. Who could blame him working so close to something so beautiful and sexy and smart? At the same time, my fists clenched, and I fought the urge to lunge out of the SUV and take him down for even thinking about Sarah in that way.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Lev questioned from the seat across from me.
I realized then I’d been growling. “Sorry,” I muttered.
Lev had come along because he was the tech guru in the family. All of us played a part in the Bratva including Mila who managed the gallery that was a front for money laundering. Kira’s place was yet to be assigned since she was just nineteen and still in college. But most likely, she would be expected to do something on the financial side.
“Is everything still g-good with the cameras?” I asked.
He shot me an exasperated look. “I know how to do my fucking job.”
Since Lev was only twenty-one, I sometimes still saw him as my kid brother. After Irina’s death and he’d moved into the mansion, I’d taken him and Kira to raise just like Dima and Mila had.
But I had to give him credit where it was due. He’d worked his magic on the scheduling system, so we knew when Sarah would be alone. He’d also done a hell of a deep dive into her digital footprint for me.
As the time continued ticking, I shifted in my seat. “Easy, man. I’m sure Aleks is handling things,” Lev remarked, his eyes still focused on his iPad.
I snorted. “Are you sure we’re t-talking about t-the same guy?”
With a grin, Lev glanced up at me. “He’s good at what he does.”
Grimacing, I replied, “I’m still not sure why it was a good idea to send in our enforcer.”
“Because we had to involve as few people as possible, and you had to stay secret and I had to man the security,” he answered diplomatically.
“I suppose.”
“Unless he comes out with her knocked out and draped over his shoulder, I think we’re good,” Lev mused.
“Fucking hell.”
At the sight of Aleks exiting the building, I shot up in my seat. With Lev’s picture of an unconscious Sarah fresh in my mind, I exhaled a relieved breath that Aleks remained empty-handed.
Since we didn’t want to call attention to ourselves, Aleks got into a separate car that he would be abandoning down the road. It was probably a lot of unnecessary subterfuge, but I wasn’t going to take any chances.
When my phone rang, I jerked it to my ear. Before I could say hello, Aleks said, “I’m sorry, bro.”
“What happened?”
“She refused.”
I exhaled the stupid fucking breath I’d been holding. “What d-do you mean?”
“She claimed that since she focused on children, she wasn’t qualified to work with you. She was nice and offered to find someone else.”
“Bylat!D-Did you offer her money?”
