Anatoly Medlov (19 page)

“Easy for you to say,” she stood up. “You’re still Agosto.”

“Always will be. Now, I gotta get out of here. So, take care of yourself. I’ll see you at the review board.” With that, he rubbed her shoulder and left. The front door slammed behind him.

***

Destiny’s video had already received over 200,000 hits. The guy he had paid to record it from the upstairs balcony got some really great shots. There was nothing traceable back to him. The entire thing had played out in a semi-public place. She was willing; he was able. Plus, he’d offered her a new start. It was her fault for not accepting it.

Anatoly clicked his computer off and turned around his chair. His father was on the phone cursing him out. He sat quietly and listened as the old man berated him for his stunt last night.

“I bet you think this was sart, eh?” Dmitry asked, looking at his own computer in disgust.

“I got her out of way, like I told you I would.”

“You were seen screwing a cop. This family has no contact with cops.”

“Papa, you have a hundred cops on your payroll,” Anatoly defended.

“Name the last time you saw me fucking one.”

There was silence on the phone.

“Well, she’s out of the way,” Anatoly said, running his thumb and index finger over the sides of his mouth. “Now, I just have to find the leak. And I already know who it is.”

“Victoria,” Dmitry said as more of an answer than a question.

“Yeah,” Anatoly sighed. “I should have handled her when I first had a chance.

“Victoria is my problem. I should have handled her that night here in my house. I was weak. I’ll fix it,” Dmitry growled.

“I want to be there.”

“Fine. You and your cousin will meet me in Italy in three days at my winery. We’ll leave there and come back here to finish the rest of our business.”

“I don’t trust Gabriel. Something about him isn’t right.”

“Well, that is our purpose for inviting him to Italy. If he’s not who he says he is, he’ll be very shaken up after his visit. It will be apparent.”

“I’m sorry that I fucked up, papa.”

“You are young. I’m sure in that head of yours, you thought that you were doing something exemplary, but I can assure you that such brazen contact with police will only land you in more confusion. Let this be lesson to you to trust no one who is not Vor. And then trust only certain Vor. Keep the code, Anatoly. Keep the lines clear. Stay on your side
always
. No more screwing police women,
da
.”

“
Da
,” Anatoly answered.

“By the way, you fuck like school boy. Put more thrust into your hips for
her
pleasure next time. It is not
always
about you.” His voice was lighter.

Anatoly smiled. He knew his father had already forgiven him. Maybe he was even a little jealous that he had never thought of something so clever.

“I’ll remember that, papa.”

Hanging up the phone, Anatoly looked over at Vasily. He clasped his fingers together and cleared his throat. “We go to Italy in three days. Arrange it. Have you found out any more on Gabriel Medlov?”

“Information is being collected. So far, everything checks out.”

“Keep looking. I want something before I arrive in Italy.”

***

Anatoly couldn’t help himself. He had to see her. Pulling up to
Dmitry’s Closet
, he turned off his motorcycle and went inside. Renee was behind the counter ringing someone up. She looked over at him and rolled her eyes.

He knew that look. She was still pissed. Pointing towards the back office, he motioned for her to meet him.

She did so quickly.

“What do you want?” she asked, closing the door behind her.

He loved when she wore her hair down. Walking up to her, he tried to touch her face, but she pulled away.

“Have you given any thought to staying longer?” he asked.

“Ana, I already told you,” she said sighing. “I gotta get out of here.”

“Give me some time, please. I need you.” He pulled her face in his hands. “How can you deny your Ana?”

She smirked. “One-month notice. Then I’m gone.”

He sighed. “Thank you.” Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her tight.

“What’s wrong with you today? You’re all touchy,” she said, tapping his back. She pulled away. Her heart began to beat fast, but she tried hard to conceal it.

“Nothing is wrong,” he said shortly.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Something
is
wrong, but I don’t want to talk about it. I was hoping we could go to lunch.”

“Okay.” She grabbed her purse. Her hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned into the desk.

Anatoly’s gaze trailed up her short legs to her wide hips. He had just been with Destiny, but the entire time, he had been thinking of Renee.

She caught him looking and rolled her eyes. “Stop looking at me like that,” she said, standing back up.

“Stopping bending over like that,” he said, walking to the back door. “We can walk over, unless you want to ride on my bike.”

“You know I don’t like bikes,” she answered, walking past him.

The sun was bright and warmed their skin as they walked side-by-side through the busy streets of downtown Memphis over to
Mother Russia
. Anatoly felt at ease once more. Just to be near her was all the relaxation he needed to get on with his day.

As usual, Renee had tons to talk about, but nothing to do with illegal transactions or hits. She talked about the eccentric customers, how her baby sister was doing at Clarke University and where she wanted to vacation next year.

He looked over at her in awe. Her life was so simple, yet so perfect. He often thought of what it would be like to be with someone like her. She was grounded, loving, caring...or as she often put it, “I’m real.”

“Are you listening to me?” she asked as they made it to the front of Mother Russia.

“
Da, da
,” he said, opening the door for her.

“Then what did I just say?”

“You want to go to Jamaica.”

She smirked. He
had
been listening.

“I have a small place in Jamaica,” he said proudly.

“You have a small place everywhere.” As usual, she was not impressed. “And I want to go with my sisters and cousins. They’re renting a place.”

“Why would you want to spend money...”

As he was about to step inside behind Renee, he heard a familiar voice scream his name. He turned to see Destiny coming towards him. In a pair of jeans and a red tank top, no bra, breasts swinging, she called out to him, nearly running down the street.

“Who in the hell is that?” Renee asked, turning around to look out of the door.

He put his hand on the small of her back, “Go inside,” he said, motioning towards Vasily. “I’ll be right there.”

Anatoly turned around and walked towards Destiny once he was sure Renee was out of sight. Slowly, he felt for his gun. He had to expect the worst considering what he had done to her.

“How could you?” she asked with tears in her eyes.

“I told you to stay in Miami. I offered you a new life. You didn’t take it. That’s not my fault.”

She reached back to slap him in his face, but he instinctively caught her hand and pushed her against the brick wall of the neighboring building. People walked by quickly, trying to avoid the two. He v>

“You fucking bastard! I’ll get you, if it’s the last thing I do.” Tears ran down her face.

“Sure you want to do that?” he asked, brow raised. “I could have killed you, fed you to my dogs. I could have cut your throat. I could have had your family killed. I could have served you up and fed you to your boyfriend, Harrison. I could have sold you to some drug dealer in Cuba. He could have turned you into a whore on the streets of Old Havana.”

Her breath caught in her chest.

Anatoly’s eyes were cold and empty. “I could have done a thousand things to you that would have left you none existent, except in memory - and not even in my own because I don’t care to think of you.
But instead
, I screwed you. If you ask me, you got off easy. And you did get off,” he said, trailing his hand down her breast. “Didn’t you? It’s so sweet, too.”

She pushed away from him, rubbing her head that had been banged against the hard wall. “I hate you. I hate everything that you stand for!”

“Hate me?” Anatoly smirked. “I was honest with you. You knew who I was before you ever bothered. You came into my life. You knocked on my door.” He pointed at her. “You asked for it. And you got what you deserved.” His voice was low and menacing.

Vasily walked up behind them. “Is there a problem boss?” he asked, looking at Destiny.

“Destiny was just leaving,” Anatoly said, never taking his gaze from her. “But if she ever comes back, kill her on sight. Wipe it under the rug. I don’t even what to know about it.” He wiped his face and smiled at her. “Fuck you, cop.”

Chapter Fifteen

Tuscany, Italy

The hills of Italy reminded Gabriel of the paintings he’d seen in expensive hotel rooms. He tried not to outwardly gawk at God’s beauty as he was escorted from the private airstrip to Dmitry’s wine estate, but it was hard to resist. With the sun slowly setting against the beautiful slopes of preserved land, the green and blue hues dancing right below the yellow-gold haze, he felt amazingly relaxed.

It was quite the contrary to what he had felt when he first got off the jet. He had been summons alone. His men were forbidden to attend, and he had the distinct feeling that this was a set up. Still, he had come. Things had gone much too far now, he was in too deep.

Word had traveled through the grapevine that Anatoly had uncovered an undercover last week. Her fate had been the destruction of her career and her name, still he had seen worse. In fact, he knew that the Medlon would do a great deal worse to him, if they found out who he really was.

But Gabriel had to do this. He had to know from the inside why everything in his life had happened the way that it had. It wasn’t just his father who had hated Dmitry. It had also been his mother, a militant woman whom had been cut out of her family estate because of his uncle Dmitry only a couple of years after he had been born. His entire life was a puzzle. The only way that he could make any sense of it was to finish this.

***

Anatoly pulled into the Medlov wine estate on his bike. He had arrived the day before and decided to do a little sightseeing.
In actuality, he had tried to stay as far away from Victoria as possible.
When he got Italy the night before, his father had not arrived yet. The wicked side of him told him to go and get one last screw out of
her
before she was ended, but his father’s voice in the back of his head forbade him from such a thing. Instead, he had ordered Vasily to make sure he had no visitors and stayed on the left-upper wing of the castle.

Now, the men were getting ready to convene. Only this was not a Medlov Organized Crime Family meeting, this was a Medlov family meeting. There was a distinct difference, and in his opinion, these were normally more dangerous.

The butler opened the door for him as he climbed the steps to his father’s place. Taking off his helmet and leather coat, he passed them to the butler dismissively and headed up to his room to shower. He knew that on the right-lower wing, his cousin was getting ready. On the right-upper wing
that bitch
Victoria was getting ready. And on the left-lower wing, his father was already ready for all of them.

The oak door closed behind him as he stormed into his room. Thoughts of Renee were consuming him. Since his arrival in Italy, the only thing that he could focus on was love. He questioned if he really was
in love
or if he was in lust. He questioned if she truly loved him or if she was simply enamored. Still, there were many things about Renee that he knew he would never find in any other woman.

Her honesty amazed him. Her cleverness consumed him. Her sexiness ignited him. Yet, he pondered why now? She had been in his life very intimately since his family had relocated. Considering that he was not exactly a holy man, she was his conscience. When he felt that he was truly in mental peril, she was there. When he was starving, she would cook him a hot meal. When he was hurting, she lovingly gave him a massage. When...when...when.

Throwing himself in the middle of the bed, he kicked off his shoes and comfortably rested his head back on the pillow. As he looked up at the ceiling, his mind drifted off to Memphis. He couldn’t believe that she was actually leaving after all of the time that they spent together. What the hell would she do in Atlanta without him? Who would pay her like he would? Who would be there to need her like he did? And if she did find someone to console, to love, how long did she actually expect him to allow the
sonofabitch
to stay alive?