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

When he’d finally suggested she try to catch a few hours of sleep, she’d actually jumped at the excuse to get away from him for a while. The man was virile and affected her in a way that no other had in a long time.

  Even now, several hours later, her body hummed as she stepped through the bedroom door to see him lounging in the side chair, sleeping lightly. His eyes opened as her feet dragged across the carpeting, and she gave him a tentative smile before whispering, “He’s still out cold?”

  “Yes. He woke once asking for water, but then went right back to sleep.”

  Chelsea approached the bed and felt her brother’s forehead for fever, pleased when she found it was cool and dry. No infection was a very good sign. “I’ll stay with him for a while now.”

  Val did not like leaving her alone with the man. Even though the man was her brother, Chelsea had acted surprised, and not in a good way, to see him the night before. The man had also been packing both knives and a small-caliber pistol in his boot. Val had relieved him of all weapons after Chelsea had gone up to bed, and they were now in his possession.

  He had been very interested to find the serial number of the small pistol missing. It had been deliberately filed off in a way that most small-time criminals would never be able to carry off. Everything about the man screamed danger, and Val was anxious for morning to arrive. He’d already sent a message to Nikolai asking him to get him any information available on the man. He wanted to be prepared for whatever reason had brought him up into the Colorado mountains.

  Looking at Chelsea now, he tamped down on the urge to soothe her worry away. She had the beginnings of dark circles beneath her eyes, and even though she had offered him a small smile, it hadn’t reached her eyes. She’s worried about more than her brother’s health. The thought had all of his protective instincts on high alert. “I will grab a shower and come back down.”

  “No! You’re supposed to be here resting. I can’t let you spend your vacation watching and helping to care for my problem.”

  She considers her brother a problem? That just confirms my wariness is warranted. “It’s no problem. I don’t require much sleep anyway.”

  Chelsea wanted to argue some more, but her mind couldn’t get past the image of him in the shower. All of that tanned skin revealed as water runs over his shoulders, down his sculpted pecs and washboard abs, down below his navel to… Shaking her head, she dispelled the image and gave him a strained smile. “Fine. That will give me time to finish up breakfast before my other guests get up.”

  Val had watched with interest as Chelsea stared at him. Her expressions were so easy to read, as was the desire that had just darkened her eyes moments before. She’d been staring at his body as if she were starving and he was the last morsel of bread on earth. His own body had responded, and he inwardly groaned as he realized he was headed for a shower, not a decadent morning of pleasure. A cold shower.

  “I’ll be back down soon.” Val left the room before he could say anything else.

  Chelsea watched him go, trying not to admire the way his butt filled out the worn denim jeans he’d been wearing all night. They were worn in all the right places and hugged his thighs tightly, accentuating the muscles that were hidden underneath.

  It’d be so long since she’d had a partner. She wondered what he looked like without those tight jeans on, and to feel his warm, hard skin against her hands. Chelsea, stop! She signed, this was going to be a long few weeks.

  Chapter 7

  She glanced at the clock, glad that is was Saturday and she wouldn’t have to worry about getting Darya off to school this morning. Darya rode the bus to the next town, since Clear Springs didn’t have enough kids to justify a school of its own. She didn’t seem to mind the thirty-minute bus ride, and it saved Chelsea having to drive her both ways. The bus transported the twenty or so elementary students Monday through Friday, and Darya seemed to love the extra time she got to spend with her friends.

  She was jostled from her thoughts when movement from the bed caught her attention. She turned to see her brother’s eyes trying to open, a grimace of pain crossing his face as he tried to move.

  “Easy! Terrence, you’re safe. Stop moving around before you tear out your stitches!”

  “Goddamn it, Chelsea! You took me to a hospital!” her brother roared, coming fully awake and trying in vain to push himself up in the bed. “What kind of fool stunt was that?”

  “A stunt that would have kept you from bleeding to death, if it had actually happened,” growled a very male, very angry voice from the doorway.

  Chelsea turned to see Val re-entering the bedroom, a scowl of displeasure on his face. “Hi. That was quick.”

  “I told you I’d be back shortly. You can always trust me to keep my word.” Val eyed her with a serious look that suggested he was slightly offended that she had doubted him.

  Always? No one can always keep their word. Been down that road before. No. Thank. You! Chelsea didn’t voice her disbelief; she simply nodded. “As you can see, Terrence just woke up.”

  Val approached the injured man. His face was set in stone, and his eyes missed nothing.

  “Chels, who is this?” Terrence inquired in a soft, raspy voice that spoke of either a man who smoked too many cigarettes or at some point had injured his vocal chords.

  “Terrence, what are you doing here?” Chelsea asked, ignoring his question in lieu of her own.

  “I wanted to see you,” he offered by way of explanation.

  Chelsea nodded her head. “But how did you find me? Here?” I know for a fact that I covered my tracks when Alexandra and I moved Darya up here a few years ago. There’s no way Terrence could have found me.

  Val listened and watched, not liking the edge of anxiety he picked up in Chelsea’s voice. She didn’t think her brother could find her. Why? Or maybe the better question is why wouldn’t she want her brother to find her?

  Terrence watched his sister, trying to come up with some plausible explanation for his presence here, in her home, but nothing came to mind except the truth. Shrugging his shoulder, then grimacing at the pain the movement caused, he took a breath and offered, “Your name showed up in the court records. A friend owed me a favor and figured reuniting me with my long-lost sister might help settle the score.”

  “And did it?” Val asked, slightly impressed at the man’s ability to use the system for his own gain. But only slightly.

  “Yeah. Who are you again?” Terrence asked, an edge to his voice that hadn’t been there before.

  Val gave him a smile that bordered on a smirk. “I don’t remember introducing myself. Now, why don’t you answer your sister’s question?”

  “What question? I already answered—”

  “I believe she asked you what you were doing here.” Val was growing impatient with this conversation, and he could tell that Chelsea was less than happy to be harboring her brother.

  Terrence looked at his sister, then back to her apparent bodyguard. “That’s for me and my sister to discuss. I’d show you where the door is, but you look like a smart man. Find it and show yourself out.”

  “Terrence! You have no right to talk that way to a guest in my house.” Chelsea glared at her brother, then turned to look at Val, turning her back on her brother in the process. She moved a few feet away from where her brother lay, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Val, I’m really sorry about his behavior. Thank you so much for all of your help last night. I really don’t have any idea why he’s here, but it worries me that he had someone checking for me. I can’t let anything jeopardize my adoption case with the courts.”

  Val could see the agitation building in her gaze and placed a calming hand on her arm. Unfortunately, it didn’t calm either of them. Her eyes flashed up to his, need and desire darkening her gaze and putting a flush into her cheeks.

  Val felt his own body respond and let his fingers drop back to his side. One thing at a time. Deal with the brother now. Deal with the attraction between you and Chelsea someti
me later. “Sorry,” he murmured, acknowledging that he too had felt the spark of electricity pass between them.

  Chelsea nodded and gave him a tentative smile. “It’s okay.”

  Val looked at her another moment, then took her arm and led her toward the bedroom door. “Why don’t you go take care of breakfast and I will see if I can get some answers for you.”

  Chelsea looked up into his eyes. “Really? He’s not going to get any easier to deal with.” On second thought, she turned back and looked at her brother, who was scowling at both of them. She hadn’t seen her brother physically since that fateful night she’d met Alexandra in the hospital. God, that was a long time ago!

  Val picked up on her new concern and watched her face as she examined her brother. “What’s wrong?”

  Chelsea turned her head and met Val’s eyes. How did she voice the concern that her brother was high on something to a virtual stranger? ”Uhm…I just…Terrence used to…” She trailed off, unable to continue.

  Val watched her eyes, not liking the fact that she seemed both embarrassed and ashamed by whatever was going through her mind. “Tell me.”

  “It’s just that Terrence has—he likes to use,” Chelsea said on a rush, lowering her gaze and trying to calm her racing heartbeat.

  “Use? As in drugs?” Val whispered, taking a step closer to her.

  Chelsea nodded without answering.

  Val placed a calming hand on her shoulder and leaned down to whisper directly in her ear, “Chelsea, go do whatever needs done for your guests. I will stay here with your brother and see if I can get you some answers.”

  She nodded and left the bedroom without looking back at her brother.

  “Chelsea, where are you going? Come back here. I need to talk to you.”

  She let the bedroom door close behind her, closing her eyes briefly to block out the sound of his voice. “Chelsea, come on, just spend a few minutes with Mateo. I promised him you’d be friendly.” She opened her eyes to dispel the horrible memories, shivering with revulsion as those best left forgotten assailed her mind. I left that part of my life behind. I made a new life for myself, and now I’m making a life for Darya. The past has no place here!

  Chapter 8

  Val listened for Chelsea’s footsteps to move away from the bedroom door before turning back to level his gaze at her brother. He measured the man with his stare as he approached the bed, hiding his grin when the man reached for the weapon that was no longer there.

  He enjoyed the brief moment of panic he saw in the man’s eyes, and enjoyed even more the hint of panic and wariness that replaced the cockiness of moments before.

  “So, you came to visit your sister?” Val inquired, using his foot to hook a nearby chair and pull it toward the side of the bed.

  “You fucking my sister?” Terrence countered.

  “Watch your mouth,” Val bit out. Something about the use of that vulgar word was at odds with what his body wanted to do with the woman in question. He didn’t take time to analyze why that was; he just knew that Chelsea sparked something different in him that required more than a quick roll in the sheets. Guess there’s a first time for everything.

  Terrence narrowed his eyes and rested back against the mattress. “Fine. Mind telling me what your connection to her is?”

  “I’m a guest here. Now, she seemed to be very surprised that you knew where to find her. Why is that? I would think siblings, especially twins, would keep in better touch with one another.”

  “We had a small misunderstanding a few years ago.”

  “How many years ago would that be?” Val asked, gathering as much information as possible from the man himself. He’d know soon enough if he was lying to him.

  “A few.”

  “So I take it you’ve been looking for your sister for a while now?”

  “I never really stopped looking for her. We spoke a few times after she disappeared, but I did something really stupid and she wasn’t ready to forgive me back then.”

  “What makes you think she’s ready to forgive you now?” Val asked, curious as to what was motivating the man lying in the bed. It certainly didn’t seem to be brotherly love.

  “If you must know, I’m in a bit of a pickle and I need her help.”

  Chelsea chose that moment to put her head back inside the bedroom door. She advanced upon her brother like a dark angel. “You have some nerve! I remember all too well the last time you said you needed my help. Did you know what Mateo had in mind? Did you?”

  Chelsea realized she was almost screaming and took several deep breaths to calm herself. She closed her eyes, and when Val laid a hand on her arm, she shrugged him off and backed away from both of the men. The memories of Mateo and his slimy hands and foul breath were as vivid as if the evil man were in the room with her now.

  She fled the room, grabbing her jacket off the hook next to the back door and striding quickly toward the small gazebo she and Alexandra had put together the first year they had moved into the house. The air was brisk this time of morning, with the sun just beginning to climb above the ragged peak of the mountains, and the clouds hinted at snow later in the day.

  She tucked her hands into her pockets, pulling the jacket around her body like a shield, and sat on one of the wooden benches, staring at nothing as she fought the memories that were threatening to consume her. You’re safe. Mateo is dead. Remember? He got what he deserved, and you got a second chance thanks to Alexandra. Terrence can’t destroy that. He can’t!

  Val watched Chelsea rush from the room and made to follow her, but her brother’s voice stopped him. “Let her go. She just needs some time to come to grips with everything. She’ll be fine.”

  The callous response of her sibling pushed Val over the edge. He stalked to the bed, grabbed the injured man by the shoulders, and picked him up before slamming him back down on the mattress.

  “Shit! Man, that hurts!”

  “I hope so. With any luck, those stitches I put in last night will come out as well. Explain to me what has your sister so upset.”

  Terrence thought about ignoring the command in the man’s voice, but one look into his cold eyes and he changed his tune. “That little misunderstanding we had years ago—it involved a guy I was doing business with…”

  “Someone in the gang?” Val asked, smiling when Terrence’s eyes went wide in shock. “Yes. She told me about you trying to raise her and getting caught up in a local gang.”

  “Local?” Terrence huffed out a laugh. “There’s nothing local about the Cordoba cartel. That was always Chelsea’s problem. She just could never see the larger picture. If she’d played her cards right, she’d be living it up in style as Mateo Cordoba’s girlfriend—maybe even his wife!”

  Val sat down, stunned. He’d heard of the Cordoba cartel—a trio of brothers from South America who used their shady business connections within the States to smuggle in illegal immigrants as well as marijuana. There had been rumors flying around that they were looking to start dealing in other drugs, but the Colombian drug lords were not exactly known for sharing. In the last several months, word had gone out that the Cordobas were looking for another business partner to help solidify their position in the West. Could they have known what Danil was up to with Leonid and the Yakuza?

  Val tucked that information away for later consideration and discussion with Nikolai and Grigori, then asked a few more questions for clarification. “So you are connected with the Cordoba cartel?”

  Terrence puffed his chest out and nodded. “Yeah. With Colorado legalizing pot, they’re getting ready to move a large portion of their operations up here. No sense trying to smuggle stuff across the border when we can grow it legally here now.”

  Made sense. But why was he trying to find his sister? “Where does Chelsea come into this?”

  Terrence smiled. “You look like a smart man. And kind of familiar. You ever do any fighting?” He watched Val, taking in the sculpted muscles that were clearly visible beneath the l
ong-sleeved T-shirt he wore. When the man reached up to scratch his chin, his eyes were drawn to the tattoos scattered across his knuckles and the backs of his hands. His eyes widened as the significance of those markings became clear.

  “You’re Bratva? What the hell is the Russian mafia doing in Colorado?”

  Val smiled at the man. “You’re very quick. I can see by the look on your face that you are also very aware of how we take care of problems. Now, convince me that you are not a problem and you do indeed have your sister’s best interest at heart.”

  Terrence swallowed and nodded. “We could work together. I’m sure your boss would like to get in on the ground floor of something this big. Raul trusts me.”

  “I assume you are referring to Raul Cordoba?”

  “Yes. I could set up a meeting and maybe we could help each other out.”

  “Not so fast. First, explain to me the misunderstanding that your sister is finding it hard to forgive you for.”

  Terrence shook his head. “That’s not important now. That happened so many years ago, I doubt she even remembers it all that well.”

  Val didn’t agree. “I would say that her reaction a few moments ago proves that is not the case.”

  “Look—what was your name again?” Terrence asked, making sure to keep his voice congenial and friendly. This man could be more valuable than Chelsea!

  “The misunderstanding?” Val reminded him when Terrence seemed to lose sight of the direction he wanted the conversation to go.

  “It was nothing, really. Mateo Cordoba saw her, and even though he was really nice to her, she wouldn’t give him the time of day.”

  “How old was she when she caught Mateo’s eye?” Val asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

  “She was fifteen, almost sixteen. She’d been around the block a few times and she knew how important he was. She had some dumb idea that she was going to finish high school and go to college, and I guess I let that dream survive a little too long.

  “Mateo wanted to take her away for the weekend so they could get to know each other a little better, but she said no. So I arranged it so that she didn’t have a choice. I knew once she spent a little time with him, she’d come around.”