Anatoly Medlov (23 page)

She seemed to be happier now, since her mother passed a month ago. Evidently, she had started to sleep full nights again. The dark circles under her eyes had finally started to disappear.

In a way, he was relieved that she had set her sights on someone other than him. But just in a way.

Lately, he was starting to fully understand the full measure of what it meant to be lonely. It was not such a big deal before his mother died, but now with Renee leaving, he questioned more and more what the benefits of the role he had chosen to take on actually were.

Halfway through his father’s violin performance in the great room, where the family always gathered, Anatoly quieted excused himself. With a kiss to Anya’s head, he picked her up off his lap and stepped out of the room. As soon as the doors closed behind him, he felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

The walls in there with his family were beginning to close in on him. Everyone seemed too happy, yet he was miserable inside.

Vasily soon followed. “Boss,” he called out in a low whisper. “Are you alright?”

Anatoly had nearly made it down the hallway. He turned and nodded. “
Da, da

Vasily nodded. “Alright boss, be carefully,
eh
.”

“Not too long ago, I was you, Vasily. I’ll be fine.”

A night drive was just what Anatoly needed to clear his head. He jumped into his father’s black Maserati and headed down the drive, allowing the wind to blow through his hair. With the music blaring, he lit a cigarette and headed down the dark, quiet road towards Prague.

A full moon shone down on him. Luxury surrounded him. And in that moment, the woman that he wanted sitting across from him was Renee. She had given him only a month more of her time, and he was here. It didn’t make much sense. This meeting was very important, but he was certain that it could have been done over the phone or at least in the states. However, his father was committed to being as close as possible to his own family.
At least he had his priorities together.

Prague was always most beautiful at night. He liked the fact that it had such a rich history and beautiful and diverse culture. There were always people walking, talking, gathering at coffee shops, shopping. It reminded him mildly of St. Petersburg with its glorious statues and ancient buildings. He like everyone else was enamored by Prague Castle. The way that it lit up on clear nights over the city was something from fairytales that he often told Anya. He laughed at the thought. She would often beg their father to
buy
it, so that they could live in a castle in the city. However, he would have liked to bring Renee here one day and take her out on Golden Lake. While that was as much of a fairytale as Anya living in the castle, he too wished.

Tonight he headed straight for
Wenceslas Square. As he passed the
mounted
statue of Saint Wenceslas, he felt the tension in his back begin to ease.
For the many tourists of this city, it was just a place on the map to visit. For him, it was one of the only places in the city where he could relax.
By day, the Duplex Club was for business lunches and coffee breaks. However, by night, the swank spot situated at the top of a high building in the centre of Wencelas Square was one of the most elite clubs in the city. And they always had a VIP booth just for him, where he could sit alone or
not
.

Music blaring, he pulled right in front of the building and parked his car. Lines of people looked on, assuming correctly that he must be someone important. A man in a red shirt ran out to him and offered to park his car for him.

“Just leave it,” Anatoly said, waving him off. “I don’t know how long I’m going to be tonight.”

“Yes, sir,” the man said, opening the door for Anatoly.

He stepped o mof the car and looked up at the building to the club that resembled a glass cube, then checked his watch.

As he stepped towards the front door of the building, the bodyguards opened it for him. The women stopped talking and gawked at him.

In a pair of dark distressed jeans that fit his muscular wide legs, a white cotton t-shirt that clung to his taunt defined muscles and did nothing to hide his many tattoos, he breezed past the well-dressed, suited men and stylishly dressed women into the building.

He exuded confidence that they surely lacked. And where most men liked to travel in packs, he preferred the solitude of his own company when he wanted a drink and blend into the backdrops of society without a label, without a title.

The club was packed when he arrived at the top floor. Stepping out, he felt a woman brush his arm and kiss his ear. He looked over at her and gave a quick grin, but his thoughts sated any desire that he might have had normally.

Moving through the thick crowd and the strobe lights to his booth in the back of the bar, he didn’t have anyone to push the people away for him or to see to his needs. Instead, he was on his own like years ago before he was boss. It felt good to be independent again. With a drink in his hand, he slipped into the booth, and watched the people dancing and talking, kissing and moving in the synchronic motion of the DJ’s music.

He wasn’t even on his second drink before he was approached. A tall, blonde woman in a short silver dress slipped into his booth and smiled.

“Hi,” she said, winking at him under hooded, smoky eyes.

“Hello,” Anatoly said, putting his drink down.

“I saw that you were over here alone, and thought I’d join you. Do you mind?” She put her small silver purse on the table and scooted closer to him.

“Well, I was actually just grabbing a drink and relaxing for a little bit before I headed back home.”

“Where’s home?” she asked, raising her perfectly-arched eyebrow suggestively at him.

***

After dinner and the family gathering in the great room, Gabriel retired to his bedroom. With so much on his mind, it was impossible to sleep, but he knew better than to actually sit and write anything down or use the computer. The room could be bugged, the phones tapped. It was best to just rest. However, there was something more curious on his brain than the investigation at the moment. The little blonde French woman with the beautiful accent down the hall had him vexed.
Briggy.

He laid back in the bed and looked up at the ceiling. His heart was heavier than when he arrived. These people, who were supposed to be monsters, who were supposed to make this easy to do, were not monsters, were welcoming and warm.

Chapter
Eighteen

Morning came early at the Medlov chateau. Pulling the warm comforter from his legs, Gabriel checked his watch. 6:30 a.m. He had just enough time to do his morning calisthenics and jump in the shower before
she
came.

He tossed and turned the entire night with thoughts of her drowning him. A grown man wasn’t supposed to think of a kiss like this, but all that clouded his mind were her lips. He wanted so badly to kiss her the night before, to taste the sweet nectar of her warm mouth. Oddly enough, he hadn’t even thought about making love to her, as he normally would have. Instead, he just wanted to kiss her. That would be enough.

Getting down on the hardwood floor in front of the fireplace, he planted his hands shoulder-width apart and pushed his body up and down against his own weight. One push up after another, he stretched his bulging muscles to the brink and his mind continued to race.

He was supposed to be here to find out where the drugs were. That was why he taken this case. . A confidential informant had contacted the DEA regarding large shipments of cocaine that was being transported into the states from the south by the Medlov family. The leak had reported that it was being smuggled by Anatoly Medlov under instruction of his father. Yet, everything that he had heard was about guns. No drugs. And he wasn’t the ATF. So far, not one mention had been made about the shipments. Had all of this been done for nothing? Was he destroying this family for nothing at all?

Then thoughts of Victoria crossed his mind. She had been an innocent. What about her? Wasn’t he supposed to give a damn about her murder?

Rolling over on his back, he pushed through his sit ups. The sweat began to pour down his body. The muscles tensed up and burned. Breathing through the pain, he crunched his abdomen tightly, exhaling out of his mouth.