“You heading out?”
I snorted. At twenty-one, much like a puppy, Neven regarded me as the big dog he didn’t want in the house on the weekend while he partied with a bunch of girls. “No.”
“Bummer,” he said.
I clapped him on the back and stood, swiped the tech off the table, and headed for my think tank on autopilot. Midway there, I turned. “When Lovac comes, tell him to bring my sunglasses.”
“Which ones?”
I collected sunglasses. “The new ones.”
Neven scratched his head. “Ivana bought you three pairs yesterday.”
Christ. “Pick one.” I rounded the pool and lay on the chair farther away from the girls. They giggled and whispered and drank, carefree, never mind the lions—my men—who’d arrived and would start circling soon. I crossed my legs at the ankles and dialed Ludi again. At this point, I was becoming paranoid, but if there was something I needed to hear, I’d have heard about it already. Sokol’s name came up on the screen.
Now, this was his public, or what most people call a regular, phone line, so we wouldn’t talk business, which I welcomed for a change. I couldn’t remember the last time I spent a weekend at home, and if I had, I spent it either in the think patio or in my office working.
When we entertained at my house, it was mainly Ivana’s thing, and I rarely attended unless other bosses forced my hand by coming here. And even then, none of them came for pleasure, always business.
My men grabbed beers and sat by the pool, near the girls. Lovac, my driver, wasn’t with them, and the sun’s rays blinding my eyes annoyed me. Ah, there he was, and limping, a big wound dressing on his shin.
He handed me the shades, and I slipped them on. “What happened?” I asked.
“It’s from last night.”
Some days I felt like I spoke Chinese. “What happened, not when it happened.”
“Got between you and the Russian. Just a scratch. Don’t worry about it. You need somethin’?”
“I need the men to know not to touch the little blonde.”
“Um, yeah, they know, Boss. The entire city and all the bosses know by now.”
I sighed. “Tell me.”
“That’s Mikhail’s niece. Vlad’s daughter.”
“Fuck,” I groaned and slammed the back of my head on the chair’s cushion wishing it to be harder so it hurt more.
“Vlad’s only child,” he continued. “Lost both parents when she was a baby.”
“Mikhail raised her?”
“Not really, but he’s financed her life. She remained in Russia until a few years ago, when she moved here for school. She’s twenty-one, Boss. A k?—”
I lifted my hand and my head, pierced him with a glare. “If you say kid, I’m gonna put a bullet between your eyes.”
He lifted his hands, palms up. “Last night, Maks was trying to protect her.”
“That implies that I would hurt her.”
Lovac stroked his beard. “Not you, personally.”
“It’s my house, so whatever happens here, I’m responsible, no? So how is that not me personally, then? He thought because she was here that she was in trouble or that she would be sent home in a fucking bag? I take that shit personally.”
“Maks thinks all women are whores,” Ivana said by way of greeting. “By default, they should all be sitting at home waiting for mercy from their husbands, boyfriends, or lovers. Meanwhile, those same husbands, boyfriends, and lovers are putting their dicks into other holes and bringing home diseases.”
“Jesus,” Lovac said. “Good morning to you too.”
