Page 15 of Daddy's Reluctant Queen

“Yeah.”

“Line that up with your target. And when you’re ready, squeeze—don’t pull—the trigger. Like this.”

I brush my finger against the trigger, then squeeze it. The gun jerks and pops and the air fills with the smell of gunpowder. The rock on the end goes flying.

“See,” I say. “Easy as pie.”

He blows out a breath, then squeezes the trigger.

His gun jerks and the pop echoes through the trees. None of the rocks move.

“Shit,” he says.

“That’s all right. We’ll try again.”

We do. I manage to shoot more than half the rocks that I placed and Adam only hits two of them. I suppose that’s better than I’d gotten when I first picked up a gun. I’m sure he will get more as we practice.

I hope he will.

I think when we get to Titus’s house, he’ll have to be my lookout.

6

TITUS

Afull week has gone by and the Aristovs have yet to show up, which, honestly, is disappointing in more ways than just being a loose end. I was looking forward to whatever attack they were supposedly planning.

I’m beginning to think that they chickened out. Probably left the city. Maybe even the country by now. I haven’t gotten any report of seeing them board any planes, trains, or buses. Then again, they are Bratva born. If anyone could figure a way out of being seen, it’s likely to be them.

I’m also a little disappointed that I might not have a chance to catch that rare bird that is Marius’s daughter. Something about her stirs something within me that I thought died with Angela. I was looking forward to exploring it.

The meeting is going just as I imagined it would. The discussion has turned from the latest updates with the remaining Penzas to the matter of dividing up territory. All ten of the stragglers have been dealt with, so, save Aristov’s children, Marius Aristov’s Bratva is effectively dead and their territory is ours now. TheArchangels’ reach has now spread to the entire east side of the city. If we keep going, we might actually achieve a thing that my mentor only dreamed of. A full city takeover.

“I don’t understand why it must be you,” Lev, one of my Brigadiers, says. “We are closest to the northeastern part of the city. By rights, it should be ours.”

Cyrus rolls his eyes and says, “Your trade is in pussy, Lev. And that territory is gangland country. We need an expert on arms and drugs. Not a new strip club.”

“Don’t talk down to me, Cyrus. I have been in this Bratva since before you were born,” Lev blusters, a large vein poking out on his wrinkled forehead. “I have more knowledge right now about arms and drugs than you will ever live to learn about.”

“I’ll talk to you however I like,” he responds cooly. “You don’t frighten me, Lev. I’m not one of the whores in your stable.”

“Enough,” I say. “I’d like to get through this with the minimum amount of bickering, thank you.”

They both clam up, but not without giving a silent warning glare to one another. This is normal. If my men didn’t bicker like schoolgirls, I’d think they were plotting against me.

“Bickering notwithstanding,” Ignat says, “Cyrus is correct in that the Northeast side is gangland country. If you want that territory so badly, Lev, I have to question why? You may have some experience in arms dealing, but when was the last time you’ve made any deals with any of our allies? You don’t have a relationship with them.”

He scoffs. “The same roughnecks that show up at the docks show up at my clubs. I have a relationship with them.”

Ignat gives me a side glance that says,Settle this.I sigh and say, “Answer his question, Lev. Why this sudden interest in branching out?”

He rolls his eyes like it should be obvious. Then he says, “It’s prime territory. And I have seniority?—”

“Not to mention the girls at your clubs are getting long in the tooth,” Cyrus says. “No one’s interested in D-squad strippers.” His brother, Cyril, who sits next to him, snorts trying to stifle a laugh.

“Rotten whelps,” Lev mutters in Russian.

The twins turn their glares to him in unison. “Say that again,” Cyril says.