The Life (18 page)

“What kind of guarantee, Sergei?”

“A dinner, how does that sound?”

Viviana chanced a glance at Anton, noticing his unease. “I don’t set those up, I have never before, and I’m sure you’re very aware of that.”

“Of course,” Sergei replied. “That is not what I’m asking for here.”

“A dinner, then?
I think it still stands with Anton that Belov Bratva aren’t welcomed in Brighton Beach after the unfortunate incident at his birthday.”

“That would be precisely the point of this dinner, Viviana. Anton owes me words, as I owe him. It’s not a proper thing to be leaving blood to spoil for long, and I believe we’ve waited more than long enough. Having you there would—”

“Me?” Viviana interrupted, flinching at the same time. “I hadn’t realized you expected me to show up, too. I don’t think—”

“Are you refusing, Viviana?”

“No,” Viviana rushed to say. Now, she was in particularly dangerous waters. The last thing Anton would ever want was her in the middle of a sit down, especially when she was pregnant. “But as I said before, I’m terribly close to my due date and one doctor doesn’t believe I’ll make it that long. Travelling to Jersey isn’t the best option for me when I’m supposed to be resting my days away.”

It wasn’t a total lie. The gestational diabetes put a great strain on Viviana and the baby, never mind the worries for the doctors. It put her at risk for other prenatal issues and they did order her to rest, not stress. Other than her exercise, Viviana was expected to keep her days calm and get a full night’s sleep.

“Funny. I heard you just arrived back from the Avdonin family lodge. Shaftsbury, Vermont is a much farther drive than New Jersey, Viviana.”

“That trip was meant to be relaxing, Sergei, and it was. In fact, I slept the entire drive there and back. I can’t say I would do the same if I knew I was heading to Jersey. Forgive me, but your family hasn’t exactly given me the warmest welcome into this world, regardless of who my father is. I do think
Nicoli would have been sorely disappointed if he were alive for this phone call. How obliging would he have been to bring a woman in on business?”

“That was one of his oldest tricks, my dear.”

Viviana stilled. “Pardon me?”

“Women keep things calm, they keep it safe. I picked up a thing or two from
Nicoli myself over the years. And you’re very right, he wouldn’t have been happy to have his tricks played back on him. If Jersey is too far for you, I’m more than happy giving Anton the call of shots on where, when, and how.”

“No heat,” Viviana said suddenly.
In other words,
no guns
. It was a highly unusual request, but one she would demand on anyway if he was so persistent in having her at a sit down. “I’m the one asking for that, Sergei.”

“Unfortunate that you don’t trust me, but the request is certainly doable.
Anything else, Viviana?”

A slow smile crept over her lips as she darted another look in her husband’s direction. If the rage in his eyes wasn’t clear, the clenched fists in his lap certainly were. Why should Viviana be the only woman? Why should Anton be the only man who worried because his wife wasn’t safe in a Russian sit down?
The answer was pretty obvious to Viviana. He shouldn’t.

“Yes, there is something else,” she finally said, reaching out to squeeze Anton’s thigh encouragingly. “Tatiana—
bring her. I insist on it.”

This time it was Sergei who stuttered. “I don’t think—”

“Are you refusing?” Viviana asked, throwing his words back at him.

Please do
, she thought. It would give Viviana every reason to hang up the phone until a more suitable arrangement could be found. She knew Anton would be the one to answer the call next, though. In no way would he agree to her being at their meeting.

“No, of course not,” Sergei said quickly. “It’s just …
well, I don’t think you or my daughter would be pleased is all.”

“Maybe not.
But it isn’t only you and my husband who have things to smooth over, now is it?”

Chapter Thirteen

“He knew we were in Vermont,” Anton said.

The boss didn’t miss the two gazes lifting to meet his at that statement. For the most part, Ivan and Erik had been agreeable to coming over to Anton’s house for an emergency meeting, and they had stayed quiet as he explained the unexpected phone call from Sergei. Anton had finally laid most everything bare for them. They needed to hear what he thought, the things that had been happening, and where he thought they should go from there. Yes, they had been very quiet. Now, though, both men seemed ready to burst.

“There were only a select few who knew where we were,” he added.

“Boss …” Erik started, his face drawn with worry.

Anton’s index finger tapped to his desk. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of guys who know of the lodge in Vermont. It wouldn’t be a huge stretch to think they put two and two together.”

“But it wouldn’t be like them,” Ivan said.

“Truth.”
Anton sighed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head as he lifted his boots up to rest on the desk. “This is … It’s fucking downright horrible. Asking Viviana to come in on a sit down, really. That was dirty pool and I let him know it.”

“Understandably smart, though.” Erik shook his head with disgust. “Your wife is probably the only human being on this earth you wouldn’t draw a gun for. She hates them, so you keep them out of her sight. You’d never hurt her, so you’re not going to risk bringing one into a situation where it might do just that. Clearly he knows this shit.”

“But how?” Anton dropped his boots down as he leaned forward in the chair, cocking a brow. “
How
, Erik? How many people understand and know me or Vine like that? How many people know it would piss me off and worry me like crazy?”

“Not many,” Erik said. “I mean, we do, but …”

As Erik trailed off, Anton relaxed back into his chair again. By the widening of Erik’s eyes, the boss knew at least his one spy had understood what his words truly meant. While Anton didn’t believe Erik or Ivan had any hand in some of the things happening to Viviana, he wanted them to realize how it looked on both of them.

Anton was starting to wonder if that was the perpetrator’s goal. Did someone want him tearing his own
Bratva apart so they could move in when he was least expecting it?

“Boss, you
gotta know—”

“Do I?” Anton asked.

Ivan canted his head, a knowing expression dawning on his features. “I had been wondering if you were going to bring it up. I thought you’d come to me first and test the waters. You wouldn’t even let me get close enough to the sit down with the Italian for me to hear a thing. You weren’t being shy about it, Anton.”

“Actually, I went to
Daniil first, but I was starting to seriously consider it after Conrad.”

Ivan nodded. “And what did
Daniil say?”

“
He told me what I already knew. He might as well have called me a goddamned idiot for even considering it.”

“Good old
Daniil,” Ivan said with a grin.

Erik just seemed confused. “Wait, so we’re good?”

Anton shrugged. “Yeah, but don’t you see what it looks like? Somebody wanted me to go for the throat first and ask questions later. Suddenly Sergei is calling me up making it seem like he’s all for a sit down, and his witchy daughter dropped off the radar. He thinks he’s talking in riddles, but he’s being a little too clear in my opinion.”

“Smart on Vine to ask for
Tati’s presence,” Erik said.

“I don’t want my wife within a hundred miles of that bitch,” Anton muttered.

Ivan coughed, appearing mighty uncomfortable. “Vine asked for her. She has to show, Anton.”

“But Vine doesn’t have to stay.” Erik shot a pointed look Anton’s way. “Rory and Joe can leave with her not long after we all arrive. She’s been having a lot of that false labor, right?”

“On and off, yeah.”

“Use that as an excuse. Where’d you agree to have it all go down?”

“Brooklyn, but outside of my territory in Brighton Beach. In two weeks. I have the choice in restaurant, so we’ll make sure it’s cleared out except for us. I want to arrive second, but I’ll have the bulls there checking every one of his people for weapons. I think … Shit, what if Little Odessa is what it’s all about, huh? Does that fucker have such a hard-on for my territory he’s willing to start a war over it?”

“Brighton Beach is where we’ve always been,” Erik said.

Ivan jerked his thumb at his counterpart in agreement. “And it’s never been an issue before.”

“But Sergei has no business being in Jersey,” Anton said for them both. “What he does have is a major
Cosa Nostra family edging in on his heels at times. More than once he’s had issues with the Italians in Jersey because he’s greedy as hell and won’t leave their shit alone. Getting rid of the Avdonin Bratva here would be a cherry on his pie. He’d get the safe territory, the business, the already set guys—
my
fucking guys,” he added angrily.

“They’d cut their throats before working for him,” Ivan replied. “They’re your brothers, not his.”

“So which one of my brothers is working with the bastard, then?” Anton asked scathingly. “Which one of them wants to kill me?”

*

Viviana groaned, shifting in the bed to find a more comfortable spot. That didn’t come, and instead, she kicked the blankets off her legs and blinked fully awake, frustrated. It took her ten seconds to realize Anton wasn’t in the bed with her.

That wasn’t unusual.
Especially if she considered the phone call from Sergei earlier. It was likely Anton had shut himself away in his library, on the phone with whoever to get the things set up that he needed to. Viviana knew he’d be back in the bed with her by morning, waking her up like he always did.

Unfortunately, sleeping in the guestroom without her husband was irksome. Anton had been right when he said the paint in their bedroom would leave fumes. Their bedroom was a much more personal, safe feeling space, and Viviana didn’t think sleep would find her again until Anton was back at her side.

Deciding to find him so he could help her get back to sleep, she got out of the bed and worked an annoying kink out of her neck. It was only then that she could hear the soft voices murmuring down the hallway outside of the guestroom. Because the bedroom door was open, any noise from the upstairs travelled, no matter how low they spoke.

Anton must have left his office door open, too.

Viviana’s heart stuttered. He’d promised her once that no face to face business would happen in their home.

“I can’t believe you actually thought it was us, though.”

Viviana recognized the voice immediately as belonging to Ivan. Erik’s familiar, deep laughter followed the statement. At least if their unexpected guests were Anton’s closest men, and friends, she could attribute the meeting to the phone call from Sergei. She would overlook it as it wasn’t uncommon for them to be there and the day had been unusual as it was.

What Viviana wouldn’t overlook were Anton’s next words.

“Look to your sides first, right? If somebody was looking to kill me, why not either of you?”

Panic welled like a hard ball of poison in Viviana’s gut. It left a bad taste in her mouth. The god-awful nausea that had finally given her a rest for the last couple of months returned with a vengeance, threatening to make her lose her lunch all over the floor.

Someone was trying to hurt her husband? Why hadn’t Anton told her?

“At first I thought the photographer and slashed tires were just something to pick at Vine, but hell, she didn’t even know about the second issue.”

Slashed tires? When had that happened?

Anton continued, not missing a beat. “It didn’t seem like she was meant to, either. It’s clear the threats were meant for me, you know? Look how close they can get to her, kind of thing. As if they were baiting me or some shit. My guys know how close I keep her bulls—they could work around it like nothing. It’s someone outside of our loop that would have trouble getting that close. So, which guy is working with Sergei? That’s what we need to figure out.”

“You should have brought this up to us way sooner,” Ivan said, frustration coloring his tone. “Two weeks might not be enough. That dinner could just be the final trap. Especially if he thinks you’re wrapped up in worrying about us, your wife, and whatever else.”

“You could always refuse it,” Erik said. “Use the baby’s upcoming birth as an excuse to hold it off.”

“You know what that would mean, man. Gives Sergei every damned right to say Anton needs to get culled. Doesn’t matter if she’s in labor and he says not happening. It’s still a refusal after he already agreed. Technically Sergei’s forgiven for his refusal. There’s no saying the asshole would do the same for Anton.”

Anton grunted his agreement with Ivan. “I’d like to finish it, to be honest. What if Tatiana decides bothering me isn’t enough anymore and she decides to try to take another bite out of Vine?”

Just the mention of Tatiana Belov’s name sent Viviana’s rage spinning. That woman was nothing but trouble. Had she been bothering Viviana’s husband?

“I don’t want to have to worry about someone from Jersey coming into my home after the baby is here, trying an attempt on me because I refused a sit down, either. I’ve been trying my damnedest to keep this from my wife as it is. She doesn’t need to worry about this shit right now. The baby is enough.”

“You haven’t told her anything?” Erik asked, sounding flabbergasted.

“Very little.
Certainly not to this extent.”

You have now
, Viviana thought sadly.

What was she to do with the information now that she had it?

Viviana didn’t know.

While she wanted to be angry with him for hiding the dangerous situation they were currently in, Viviana was only panicked. She suspected that was Anton’s worst fear, even beyond someone hurting him. It wasn’t unlike her husband not to tell her business things because she wouldn’t want to know, anyway.

This was so different, though.

“And what if she wakes up one morning to nothing more than a broadcast like her mother did, huh?” Ivan asked.

That was a loaded question. One that stabbed at her heart and soul with a million little razor sharp knives. Anton might have had his fears, but he wasn’t the only one. Viviana certainly had hers, too.

“Not going to happen,” Anton said sharply.
“Ever.”

How could he be so sure?

*

Anton rested back to the headboard to catch his breath and brought his wife closer to his side with one arm. Not bothering to make any attempt to leave his sweaty grasp, Viviana laid a soft kiss to his arm as his hand rubbed up her naked side.

After falling into bed around three in the morning once Erik and Ivan were gone, Anton was woken up by his wife not a couple of hours later. It wasn’t like her to be up so early, never mind wanting to fuck like they had, given the new pressure and pain she’d been experiencing in the mornings. Anton had no idea what came over Viviana, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to complain.

Their coupling had been rough—rougher than he liked given her stage of pregnancy. But even when he tried to slow them down, to take her softer, Viviana wouldn’t have it. Anton wasn’t one to deny his wife, especially not of that.

“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled into the palm of his hand. Even though his body was still humming from her high, his mind was downright exhausted. Three hours of sleep wasn’t new to Anton, but he could use a bit more. “Thanks for the wake-up call, baby.”

Viviana giggled, but even the sound felt off. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Hey,” he said into her hair. The grip he had on her tightened momentarily. “What’s wrong?”

“Hmm?”
Viviana turned just enough to lean up and press her silken mouth to the underside of his jaw. “Nothing, just thinking about Sergei.”

“Don’t fret over that idiot. He’s not even a blip on my radar. We’ll get that dinner done and move on.”

Anton was lying through his teeth, but concerning his wife just wasn’t okay with him. What he wanted her doing was focusing on the end of her pregnancy, their son, and her health. He was the boss, so he’d handle the Bratva issues. There was no way she was going to be brought into the crossfire of Sergei’s nonsense, so he didn’t think she had any need to be properly informed.

“Actually,” he said, thinking about his conversation the night before with his spies. “I think you might just show, and then go. You haven’t been feeling terribly great lately, so it’s not a stretch to think you might not feel well that day. Just stay long enough to say hello, forgive Tatiana if you want, and then Rory will escort you home and Joe will follow.
Business as usual.”

“Forgive her if I want,” she repeated dully.

“It’d be better if you did, or at least say you do, but it’s not expected. You did ask for her, though, so you have to be respectful about whatever you choose to do.”