Normally, we'd just watch and take notes. If another staffer saw something, I'd question them hard to get the facts out and then make them aware of whom they're fighting. We probably wouldn’t think twice about protecting them. But Tatiana isn't just a staffer. I've marked her as mine, and I will have her. And Malcom Kozlov can't get his hands on her.
"Or you're putting a target on both of you by making it obvious she's important to you." Yuri turns away from the desk and heads for the door. "Come on. We need to look at the security footage, and I want to see what we're actually dealing with here."
I grab my jacket and follow him out of the penthouse down the hall. We walk in silence and I can feel the tension radiating off him. We thought this shit was behind us when Vadim came home with justice for Dominik, but this is the never-ending saga. It's starting to piss everyone off.
The security office is unlocked when I open the door, and several of my guys are parked in chairs watching the monitors that cover the wall showing live feeds from cameras positioned throughout the casino. Right now, everything is calm as can be, though I pick up a bit of movement on the staff entrance and notice Tatiana leaving.
"Boss." The older one nods at Yuri and then at me. "We weren't expecting you tonight."
"We need to review the footage from the night Volodin was killed." Yuri pulls out a chair and sits down in front of the center monitor, leaning forward on the edge of his seat tensely. "Pull up everything you have from ten p.m. to three a.m."
The younger guard moves to the computer and starts typing while the older one hovers behind him looking nervous. "We already went through all this with the police. They took copies of everything we had."
"Show me what you showed them." Yuri leans back in the chair and starts reviewing camera footage from angles all over the staff area, exteriors of the parking lots, front views and street entrances, and I meander away, lost in thought.
God, she's incredible, and the woman can kiss. So fucking hot. I'd have made her mine right on that kitchen island if my brother hadn’t walked in. But things have shifted now. She's not just some fascination or obsession. I feel myself growing super protective over her, like any other thing I've set my eyes on and accepted some sort of ownership over, only worse.
When Yuri named me the man in charge around here, this casino became my baby. I eat, sleep, and breathe all things to do with this business and the side gigs that flow through it. Andeveryone who comes around for long knows it's my baby and I don't fuck around.
But lately, Tatiana has taken more of my attention than anything else, and I find myself feeling personally responsible for her. Nothing about this situation with her being so scared sits right with me. If Malcom's men learn that she's possibly a witness to their crime against Volodin, she won't escape their retribution.
"Dimitri," I hear, and I snap to attention to my brother's snarl.
"What?"
"You've started ID verification?" His eyebrows are high as I mumble my answer.
"Yeah…" Then I let my eyes gloss over as I watch the guys near the back door on the live monitor feeds, two of them with cigarettes tucked behind their ears walking toward the exit. They know they're not supposed to be out there smoking while on the clock because guests don't like the stench of cigarette smoke in the non-smoking areas of the casino. It sparks my memory and a faint hint of the sweet tobacco smoke I smelled on Tatiana's breath when I kissed her. She didn't smoke in my penthouse, but if she's been smoking out back like these jokers, it makes sense that she had a reason to be out there and see the murder.
"So someone inside this casino has been tipping off the Kozlovs that we have a blind spot and they used it to their advantage…" Yuri stands, and the movement pulls me back to the present.
"Yeah, we know that much." I unbutton my suit jacket and stalk closer to him.
"Well if your girl has seen something, she'll be on those cameras going in or out around that time." He glowers at me. "Did youcheck them?" With one eyebrow quirked upward, his lips purse and he stares at me.
I've watched almost every bit of footage inside and out and backwards, but I never watched her around the time of her break. Why am I such a fool?
"I'm on it, Boss," I grumble, tasting the bitter flavor of calling my brother my boss as I force the words out.
"If we have an inside person, they're on those cameras too." Yuri turns to go. "Send me copies of everything. I'll watch it myself."
The frustration in his tone doesn't escape me. I've been so preoccupied with admiring Tatiana, both on the recordings and in my home, that I haven’t done my due diligence, and anger knots up in my chest.
Yuri stomps out, leaving me to lick my wounds in peace, and I stand there watching the back door camera now, knowing two men are outside breaking casino rules. And my security guards probably watch them do it every single time and they say nothing. I doubt any of them are my mole, but I can't be certain. I have to vet them all over again.
And when this is over, I need a new team. One who makes my staff toe the line like they should.
10
TATIANA
Ifind Linda restocking glasses behind the main bar and tell her I'm leaving for the night, then I head for the door, a little less afraid tonight than most nights. The hot air hits my face when I push through the door and I take a deep breath. I need to get home and be away from this place. Anywhere I can relax and distract myself from how my body thrums with arousal.
The bus stop is three blocks away, and I walk quickly with my head down and my hands shoved in my pockets. The street's quieter than usual for this time of night. Most people are either still at work or already home having dinner with their families.
I'm so focused on getting to the bus stop that I almost don't remember how paranoid I'm supposed to be. Dimitri is right about one thing—the alcohol helps me loosen up a little. But I realize my mistake a bit too late when I glance behind me and see a man about half a block back walking in the same direction. He's wearing a dark jacket and keeps his head down, but something about the way he's moving makes my stomach drop.
I don't recognize him, and he doesn’t try to cover his face, but I don't get a good feeling about it. Especially when I speed up and he speeds up. So I cross the street at the next corner and he crosses too.
