Mafia Soldier's Irresistible Lover (The Karzhov Crime Family Series Book 3) Read online

  “A few weeks? Wow—that’s, I mean it’s great you can take that much time off. But it’s a working vacation right? We get a lot of customers in the Rockies like that, but they…well, they just don’t stick around for weeks at a time.”

  He watched her cover the dishes and stick them back into the refrigerator. “Your daughter is adorable.”

  “Thanks, but she’s…well, legally it’s going to be a couple of weeks before she’s mine.” Val heard the slight note of doubt in her voice. Ah, she worries about the adoption. She is not the optimist she tries to be.

  Chelsea wiped her hands on a towel and leaned against the opposing counter. “Darya is a very special little girl. Her mother died a while back. I’ve been her nanny since she was born, so the court granted me temporary custody of her. Her mother’s will designated me her guardian and gave me this house, and hopefully in a few weeks the court will grant my adoption request.”

  A soft smile took shape on Chelsea’s lips as she thought about the little girl she loved as if she were her own.

  “She means much to you,” Val said.

  Chelsea nodded. “Darya means the world to me. I just hope…I want to give her everything Alexandra wished for her…everything I—”

  She broke off the words. But Val understood what she was not saying. Everything she had longed for herself as a child. He could see her past troubled her, so he asked, “But that would have put you as a young teenager when she was born. How did you become her nanny at such a young age?”

  Chapter 3

  Chelsea chuckled, completely at ease now that they were talking about her favorite subject—Darya. “I just turned twenty-five—I was fifteen when Darya was born.”

  Her expression grew solemn as her mind swam with unpleasant memories. “It was a really dark time in my life. I met Alexandra, Darya’s mom, at the hospital where she was giving birth. I’d been brought into the emergency room after being caught by the police. I stumbled into the middle of a turf war, and when I told the police I was trying to get away from someone, they thought I meant one of the rival gang members.

  “My feet were kind of cut up from walking around without my shoes, and the guy I was running from heard I was being taken to the hospital and followed me there. When I saw him walk into the emergency room, I snuck out and ended up hiding out in Alexandra’s room.

  “The ambulance had brought her in, ready to give birth, but the mom-and-baby unit was completely full, so they had her in the emergency room to deliver. She was all alone, and when she saw me sneak into her room, she grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go.”

  “I have to ask, what were you doing anywhere near a turf war?” Val instantly knew there was much more to the lovely young woman standing across the counter from him.

  “I had the unfortunate luck to be born into a family that prides money over everything else. My mom died when I was eleven, and my brother tried to raise me, but then he got involved in a local gang and I tagged along.”

  Val was shocked. This young woman belonged to a gang? He needed clarification, and he needed it now. Choosing his words carefully, he asked, “So, you belong to this gang?”

  Chelsea shook her head, her auburn curls bouncing around her face. “No! Alexandra had Darya and then offered to shelter me until she left the hospital. She told the hospital staff that I was her younger sister, and they bought it. She saved my life.”

  “How so?” Val was stunned at his reaction to hearing she’d been in danger. The urge to hit something was strong, and he clenched his fists tight before consciously relaxing them and spreading them on the countertop.

  “The man who was looking for me wasn’t a very nice guy. Three days after I met Alexandra, he was killed in a shootout with the police. Due to complications, Alexandra had undergone a C-section, and when the hospital released her, she asked me to stay with her and I said yes.”

  Val waited for her to continue, and when she didn’t, he prompted her, “And?”

  Chelsea looked at her hands, then up at him. “And the rest is history.” Pushing off the counter, she tossed the dish towel and apron onto the counter and headed toward the staircase located in the front of the house. “Speaking of Darya, I need to go tuck her in. If I don’t, she’ll be up all night reading.”

  “She likes books?” Val asked, trailing her out of the kitchen and back into the large living room that served as a larger dining room.

  “Loves them. Currently, she is fascinated with the story of Alice in Wonderland.”

  Val thought for a moment, then asked, “Isn’t that the story about the girl who fell down a rabbit hole and went on a really bad acid trip?”

  Chelsea stopped and burst out laughing. “You know, I’ve never heard it explained that way, but that’s really good. Just don’t ever say that around Darya. I’ve tried to protect her as much as possible, but she’s curious about everything. She’s also under the current misconception that in order to fully appreciate the need to avoid something, she should explore it for herself. So let’s not mention drugs!”

  Val chuckled. “Got it. My lips are sealed.”

  Chelsea found her eyes drawn to his lips, which were currently at eye level as she stood on the first stair up. Before she knew it, she had licked her bottom lip, drawing Val’s attention to her own mouth. The heat in the room exploded, and when Val took a small step forward, she found herself unable to move away.

  She raised her eyes to his and felt her breath catch in her chest. What’s happening here? I just met this guy and suddenly I’m thinking about kissing him? She was saved from exploring that thought further when she heard Darya calling for her. “Chelsea, I’m ready for bed.”

  Shaking herself from the visual hold he had on her, she gave him a smile and stepped up the stairs backward. “I need to go tuck her in. Thanks for the help with the wood.” She turned and finished climbing the stairs, completely aware that as she did so, his eyes were fixed on her behind.

  Val watched her vanish up the stairs, resisting the urge to follow her and see if the heat he’d just felt moments before was real or not. He took one step up, but then a sound on the front porch captured his attention. Thud!

  Chapter 4

  Val looked up the stairs once more, then reached beneath his sweater and pulled a small gun from his waistband. Never be too cautious. He turned the lights in the foyer down and edged toward the windows in the living room. He looked out on the porch, not seeing anything immediately, but then the sight of a booted foot lying on the porch caught his attention. Had another guest fallen?

  He watched for a few moments, and when the foot made no movement, he headed toward the kitchen door, his weapon in hand as he cautiously opened the door.

  Snow filled his shoes and the cold wind that had come up was chilling him to the bone as he quickly made his way around the side of the house, but he ignored both. What are you doing outside in this weather without a jacket on?

  He dismissed the chills that had him shivering and focused instead on the prone figure lying very still on Chelsea’s front porch. The figure belonged to a man, early twenties, with too long hair, clothing that looked like it had been worn for days, and… Is that blood seeping from underneath the body?

  Keeping his weapon handy, he glanced toward the tree-lined drive, spotting the older truck parked haphazardly off the side of the dirt drive. Well, at least I know how he got here.

  Val used the fingertips of one hand to check the man’s pulse, nodding when he felt the thready pulse after a few seconds. He gently turned the man over, then stopped and stared. The man’s facial features were identical to Chelsea’s. What the hell is going on?

  Before he could even attempt to answer that question, he heard the front door open and looked over as Chelsea approached him.

  “Oh, my God! Terrence!” She raised watery eyes to Val, and he nodded in silent reply to her unspoken question.

  “What happened?” She glanced toward his drawn weapon, then back to the prostrate man on
her porch.

  “After you went upstairs, I heard a noise. It was this character hitting the deck. I snuck around the side of the house to check things out and found him lying here. He’s bleeding, but I haven’t figured out why yet.”

  “Bleeding!? Where? Let me see.”

  Val intercepted her as she made to squat down by the body. “Wait! Let me see what’s wrong with him while you go call the authorities.”

  She frantically shook her head. “No cops! He wouldn’t want to involve the cops.”

  “You know this man?” Val asked, watching her eyes to verify if she was being honest.

  Chelsea nodded and raised concerned eyes to his. “He’s my brother. My twin brother. A man I never thought I’d see him again.”

  Chapter 5

  Val stared at her for a moment, but a groan of pain from the mostly unconscious man drew his attention. “Wait here,” he instructed Chelsea when she made to move toward the man.

  “Nonsense! He’s hurt and needs help.”

  Val grabbed her arm, and immediately regretted the action. His intent had been to stay her advance toward the unknown threat the man presented, but his body had forgotten everything except how good she smelled and how much it was craving closer contact.

  Chelsea looked down to see his large, tattooed hand wrapped around her upper arm and tried not to jerk away from his touch. It felt like a live wire and had set off a series of shivers down her back and butterflies in her stomach that were fluttering madly around. I don’t know if I want to puke or fall into his arms and demand he touch me more!

  Hearing another groan, she made a feeble attempt to pull away from the gorgeous man who still had her arm captive. “Please, let me help him!”

  Val shook his head, using his clasp on her arm to steer her a few feet away and push her down onto the porch swing. “Stay here while I check him out. I promise I’ll let you tend to him once I make sure he doesn’t pose any threat to your safety.”

  Chelsea gave an exasperated sigh, but sat down. “Fine! Just get on with it so I can help him.”

  Val hid his smile, then focused on the man who was starting to stir. He cautiously approached, keeping his gun drawn and ready to use. He knelt down and spoke to the man. “Hey, wake up! Do you know where you are?”

  The man’s only response was another groan.

  Val took in the man’s appearance, including the blood that was slowly soaking his shirt. He gingerly shook the man, but all he got in return was another moan of pain.

  Tucking his gun in his waistband, he grabbed the man’s arms and pulled him up and over his shoulder. Pushing himself up off the porch, he hefted the man in a makeshift fireman’s hold and turned toward the house. “Chelsea, show me where I can lay him down. He’s out cold, but his injuries need to be tended.”

  When Chelsea didn’t immediately reply, he glanced over to the porch swing to find her watching him with a look of awe on her face. “Chelsea?”

  “Oh, sorry. You can put him in the back bedroom, behind the kitchen.” Chelsea led the way back around the side of the house, opening the doors to allow Val to pass through them with his heavy burden. She couldn’t get over how strong Val was. Her brother easily weighed at least two fifty and was a few inches taller than she was, putting him over six feet tall.

  Val gingerly laid the man down on the bed before taking a step back as Chelsea pushed past him to begin assessing her brother’s wounds. “Could you get me some clean towels from under the kitchen sink?” she asked Val with a soft smile.

  “Sure. Be careful.” Val didn’t like leaving her in the room alone with the unconscious man, but he also didn’t have any evidence that would justify his wariness. Just a very bad feeling in his gut. A feeling he had learned throughout the years to trust, implicitly.

  Chelsea watched Val leave the room, then turned her gaze back to the one person in the world she had hoped to never see again. Someone she hadn’t seen in almost a decade. What are you doing here, Terrence, and how did you find me?

  *****

  “Have you found the girl yet?” Danil asked quietly into the casino phone even as he kept a watchful eye on Pyotr, who was a few meters from him. Nikolai had placed the guard on him, and he knew the man was watching and listening to his every move. He had no doubt in his mind that his home phones had been bugged, which was precisely why he’d chosen to use the casino floor phones to take care of this unpleasant business.

  For years now he had been building alliances with both the rival eastern Bratva groups and the Yakuza operating primarily in the San Francisco region. With both entities working together, he would have the perfect combination of power to finally achieve his lifelong goal of becoming the most powerful Pakhan in North America. The type of ruler all other smaller leaders would look up to and take their orders from.

  “We’ve managed to trace her to a small mountain town in Colorado.”

  “Colorado? So Alexandra didn’t move that far after all.”

  “Sir, we believe Alexandra is dead. For some ten months now.”

  “Yes, I was aware of that, but it is her daughter that poses the most threat to all of us. If she lives, she will become leverage to be used against us at a later time. Just like my long-lost niece is being used now. I do not want any more unpleasant surprises showing up years from now. Go take care of her.”

  “I’ve been told to remind you that everything comes with a price,” the voice with the Oriental accent came across the phone line.

  “Of course. What does Yoshi have in mind?” Danil asked, trying to hide the derision in his voice. He needed these powerful allies to trust him, and even though he didn’t really feel they measured up to the Russian mafia’s abilities, they would serve a purpose when the time came.

  “He hasn’t made that known to me as of yet. He will let you know.”

  I know he will. I just hope I can afford the cost. Danil held back his sigh and answered the man on the other end, “Very well. Tell Yoshi I thank him for his cooperation in this matter and I will of course be at his disposal in the future.”

  “We will be in contact when all is accomplished.”

  Danil held the phone to his ear for a moment longer, listening to the dead silence and hoping that this particular dead end would be buried very soon. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and made another call, this time to his contact at a bank in the Caymans.

  “Matthew? Danil Yakimov here.”

  “Oh, sir, ’tis good to hear from you. How is life in the States?”

  “Good.” Danil rolled his eyes at the man’s overeager attempt to chitchat with him. “I need you to do a favor for me…”

  Ten minutes later, Danil hung up the phone with a smile on his face. Matthew had been more than happy to help him with the matter of disposing of the account set aside for Alexandra and her brat. And why shouldn’t he? He just became half a million dollars richer! Even after paying off his superiors to make the transactions and accounts disappear, the man would become very wealthy..

  Danil stepped away from the phone booths, glancing to the side as Pyotr followed suit. No doubt the man had been trying his best to listen in on his conversation, but Danil had been sure to pick a phone between an obnoxious woman with a vulgar British accent and a man who was all but having phone sex with the person on the other end of the phone. One could only hope it hadn’t been one of those 1-900 numbers. That was why they made hotel rooms.

  Danil straightened his tie and headed for the card tables. He was feeling more optimistic this morning than he had in recent weeks. Taro Hodama was the Yakuza’s equivalent of the Bratva’s cleaners and known for his thoroughness. If anyone could take care of Misha’s daughter, it was him.

  Chapter 6

  Chelsea put the pans of French toast in the oven and headed for the back bedroom. At Val’s insistence, she had finally crawled up to her own bed a few hours earlier, her brother having woken up only twice since being brought into the house and then falling right back into an unco
nscious sleep.

  She had removed his blood-stained shirt to find an ugly gash on his upper chest. She’d done her best to clean out the wound, but it had needed stitches, and after half an hour, she had finally given up trying to take care of his wound herself and asked Val to help her take him to the hospital.

  She smiled now as she remembered his response. You want to take him to a hospital, but wouldn’t let me call the authorities? And for that little scratch? She’d nodded her head, only to have Val smile at her and promise to return shortly.

  He’d disappeared, coming back a few moments later with a small black bag in his hands. He’d methodically set out all of the necessary items needed to stitch her brother’s wound closed, including a syringe filled with antibiotics. Luckily Terrence wasn’t allergic to anything that she knew of.

  Terrence had stirred briefly when Val had taken the first stitch, but then fallen back into unconsciousness, for which Chelsea had been grateful. She’d tried not to watch Val’s hands as they diligently pierced her brother’s flesh time and again, making neat, even stitches that easily closed the wound up and stopped the bleeding. What kind of photographer was he?

  She’d not been able to take her eyes away from his talented hands. The tattoos that adorned the backs of his fingers were unreadable to her eyes, but she recognized the writing as Cyrillic letters and wondered at their meaning. She was too afraid to ask. Something about Val set off warning bells in her head, but her libido had chosen not to listen.

  She’d been given the perfect opportunity to peruse her newest guest up close and personal, and her body liked what it saw. By the time he’d finished helping her brother, she had been hot and bothered and having a hard time hiding that fact. She’d lectured herself sternly for over an hour, but with her brother not yet awake and Val sitting across the bed from her looking so absolutely gorgeous, she found it very hard to think of anything but him.