Zel: Markovic MMA (16 page)

"Ivan," he corrected. He hesitated before wiping away the slick tears dripping down my face. His rough thumb rasped my skin, his very touch branding me. "You should call me Ivan."

I held my breath as his thumb wiped away the last remnants of my relieved tears. He seemed impossibly tall and so primal and male as he loomed over me. I gazed up into his harsh face and saw the briefest glimmer of something in his light eyes. I couldn't place it. Sadness? Longing?

He pulled away suddenly and stalked to his desk. He returned with a notepad and pen. "Write down your number and address."

"Okay." I neatly printed my information on the yellow paper and handed it back to him.

"You will go home and you will wait."

"For what?"

"For my call," he explained. "You will not involve yourself in this matter again. Understood?"

"But she's my sister and I—"

"No." He interrupted me with a slash of his hand through the air. "These are the terms I require."

I sensed he wasn’t a man used to being defied. "All right. I'll go home and wait."

"Good."

Something he said made me curious. Vivi's warning echoed in my head.
He'll expect to collect
. "Ivan, what other terms do you require?"

His gaze snapped to my face. Eyes narrowed, he asked, "What do you mean?"

Awash in anxiety, I clarified, "Are you going to want to be paid for your services?"

He looked annoyed. "Let's find your sister first. We'll worry about compensation later."

I wanted to press him for specifics but he ushered me to the door. Uncertainty settled into the pit of my stomach. What would he want when this was all over and Ruby was safe? Better yet, would I be willing or able to give it to him?

Silently, Ivan walked me to the middle of the gym. I took the hint and quickly scurried toward the exit. Every gaze in the place seemed glued to me. I kept my gaze fixed forward and put one foot in front of the other, my caramel-colored ballet flats moving whisper-soft against the gleaming wood floor.

This time I managed to open the door without too much of a fight. I cast one final glance over my shoulder and met Ivan's piercing gaze. I slipped my sunglasses back into place and left the building.

But as I walked to Lena's car, I couldn't shake the feeling I'd just made a deal with the devil.

* * *

Ivan watched Erin as she hurried to the exit. He didn't blame her for moving so quickly. That she'd been brave enough to come into his gym and ask for his help still shocked him. There weren't many people who would do something so brazen.

Try as he might, Ivan couldn't stop his gaze from dropping to the enticing swing of her hips. The pale blue skirt of her dress swished against her thighs. Those shapely legs and her tight ass were hard to ignore. Innocent as she looked, Ivan had no doubt that Erin was going to be big trouble.

"Kostya." He gestured for the wiry, dark-haired man to come close for his instruction. "Follow the girl. Keep her out of trouble."

Nodding, Kostya left to trail Erin. Ivan caught Dimitri's gaze. They'd been friends long enough to communicate silently. Ivan didn't even check to make sure Dimitri followed him back to the office. The certainty that Dimitri would be there was absolute.

Dimitri shut the door behind him. In rapid-fire Russian, he asked, "What did she want? Who the hell is she?"

"You know the girl Andrei dates?"

"The junkie?'

Ivan remembered the pain that flashed across Erin's face when he'd used the word. It was the first time in a long time that he'd experienced any guilt, however fleeting. "Yes. That's her sister, Erin. Ruby is missing and so is Andrei."

'They're probably passed out in a crack house."

"Possibly," Ivan agreed. "Erin asked for my help in finding them. She thinks it's something more sinister."

"And that would be?"

"The Albanians."

"You're not serious." Dimitri looked perturbed. "You told her no?"

"I told her I'd look into it. I made no promises."

Dimitri cursed in frustration. "What happened to your number one rule? Huh? Don't get involved, right?"

Ivan asked himself the same thing. There was something about Erin. He couldn’t put his finger on it and couldn't explain it. Wiping the tears from her face had left his heart racing and his lower belly clenching. Was it her soft, green eyes imploring him to help that melted through the icy shield he'd erected around himself? Was it her pink pout and the thoughts of claiming her full mouth? Was it that bright citrus scent of her perfume that wound around him and invaded his senses? He didn't know. He only knew that he felt a connection to her, one that couldn't be denied.

"I'm making an exception." Ivan shot Dimitri a look that warned him to let this one go and not point out his hypocrisy. "Get out on the street and find Andrei and this girl, Ruby. Okay?"

"Yeah. Fine." Dimitri sounded pissed but he would do as told. "And you?"

Ivan rolled down his sleeves so he could slip into his jacket. "I'm going to the Samovar. I have to see Nikolai."

Chapter Two

A few hours later, I climbed out of my car and bumped the door closed with my hip. I glanced around the parking lot of the grocery store and hit the lock button on my key fob. Since leaving the gym, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being followed. I'd said the same thing to Lena when she'd dropped me off at my apartment and she'd looked at me like I was a total loon—but I don't know. Something didn't feel right.

Even after scanning the well-lit parking lot of the supermarket twice, I didn't see anything. Maybe Lena was right. Maybe I was losing it.

Though I still couldn’t stop thinking about Ruby, I had to keep living. That meant working and eating. I had the weekend off thankfully but my fridge was totally empty and the pantry shelves were just as bare. The urge to stuff my cart with junk food overwhelmed me. Maybe I could obliterate my fears and worries with a super-sized dose of hydrogenated oils and carbohydrates.

I grabbed a cart and pushed it down the first produce aisle. My purse started to sing and vibrate wildly. Recognizing the muffled ring tone as the one I'd assigned to Vivi, I stopped and dug around in my purse in search of my phone. "Hello?"

"Hey! It's me."

I smiled and rifled through my bag for the short shopping list I'd jotted down before leaving my apartment. "I know. What do you need?"

"Just thought you'd like to know that Ivan was here earlier."

"Here? Where? The Samovar?"

"Yeah."

"And?"

"He met with Nikolai at the corner table," Vivi said, her voice soft and conspiratorial. No doubt she was hiding in a linen closet or bathroom stall at the restaurant to make her secret phone call. "I couldn't hear everything. They only wanted tea so I came to the table twice and that was it. I heard your name a few times and Andrei's." She paused. "Nikolai wasn't happy and Ivan left pretty pissed off, Erin."

My stomach flip-flopped. "You're sure?"

"Oh yeah. It's that look they get in their eyes. Cold, you know? Just be careful, Erin."

"I will."

"Why don't you come stay with me and Lena tonight? We'll feel better if you're safe at our place."

"I'm fine, Vivi. Stop worrying. You're going to give yourself an ulcer." I pushed my cart forward. "I'm buying groceries and heading home. That's it."

"Text me when you're safe inside your apartment, okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

"Bye." I dropped my phone back into my purse and finished my shopping. The store wasn't very busy but there were only a handful of checkout lanes open. I ended up four carts back and smack dab in the middle of the magazine aisle. A home decorating magazine caught my eye. I flipped through the pages of gorgeous interiors and lusted after the beautiful homes. The small two room apartment I shared with Ruby would fit in most of the sumptuously photographed kitchens.

My cell phone started rattling around in my purse again. Certain it was Vivi calling to see why I hadn't texted her yet, I jabbed my hand in my bag and swiped my finger across the screen while bringing it to my ear. "Look, Vivi, I'm still in line—"

"Erin!"

My eyes widened at the sound of Ruby's voice. "Ruby! Where are you?"

"Oh god. I'm in so much trouble."

"Just tell me where you are." I pushed my cart out of line and left it near the end-cap of lighters and charcoal. I flashed one of the employees an apologetic smile and mouthed
I'm sorry
before rushing out of the grocery store.

"I don't know. It's, um, it's a house. Andrei brought me here to hide out but he left this morning and never came back."

My stomach lurched. Was Andrei dead? "Can you get to a window? Can you see anything outside? Maybe a restaurant or a building or a store or something?"

"It's a street. Like a subdivision, I think." She sounded groggy and was probably coming down from a nasty high. "The house across the street is brick. The number is 16114."

I tried not to get aggravated with her but it was hard to keep cool. "Can you see a street sign?"

"Um…"

I climbed into my car, locked the door and stabbed the key into the ignition. "Ruby?"

"Harmony Fields."

I scrunched up my face. "What? Is that the street name?"

"There's a sign on the corner. It's limestone and wood."

"The subdivision name?" I put her on speaker and Googled the name of the subdivision. The address was clear across town. "Okay. I know where you are."

"My battery is dying."

I cursed softly as I backed out of my parking spot. "Okay. Why don't you go ahead and hang up to save battery. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. Just stay put."

"What if Andrei comes back?"

Even though I wanted to punch that rat bastard in the balls for dragging Ruby into his organized crime mess, I knew she wouldn't come with me unless I protected him, too. "I'll bring him back to our apartment. You'll both be safe there."

"Promise?" She sounded so childlike and nothing like the big sister I'd once known her to be.

"I promise, Ruby."

"Okay. I'll see you soon."

"Yes. Bye. Be careful." I dropped my phone into the cup holder and left the parking lot. My stomach knotted painfully as I navigated the early evening traffic. On a hot, humid Friday like this the clubs and restaurants would be packed. Vehicles jammed the roadways. I had to cross some of the busiest intersections to reach Ruby. My gaze darted from my dashboard clock to the windshield and back again. I prayed she'd be safe just a little while longer.

But what the hell was she doing in that part of town? It was a middle-class neighborhood and definitely not one where I would have ever looked for her. Ruby might not have been abusing hard drugs like meth or heroin or cocaine but the places where she and her pill-popping, pill-snorting friends hung out and scored weren't very nice. They definitely weren't two and three hundred thousand dollar houses…

My gaze flitted briefly to my rearview mirror. A black SUV followed me through a left turn. Paranoia gripped me. Hadn't I seen that SUV in the parking lot of the supermarket? I tried to convince myself that I was crazy. I mean, there were a lot of SUVs in Texas, right? But something wasn’t right about this one.

As if confirming my worst fears, the SUV turned into the Harmony Fields subdivision and crawled along behind me as I searched for the right house. Did I dare park and run inside to find Ruby? What if this was one of the bad guys? Had I just led them right to her?

Instead of stopping, I kept right on driving and picked up my cell phone. I dialed Ruby as I drove along the street to the end of the cul-de-sac. Spotting a for sale sign, I parked in front of the vacant house and pretended to be looking at the property. Why wasn't Ruby answering?

I glanced in my rearview mirror. The black SUV drove slowly by me but I didn't dare make eye contact through my window. I kept my gaze fixed on the house and pretended to be studying it intently. The SUV made the turn of the cul-de-sac and turned off a side street. I waited another few minutes before putting my car in drive again and heading back to the house where Ruby hid.

I found 16114 and parked across the street at 16115, the house where Ruby must have been. It was a small brick ranch house that looked innocuous enough. I twisted in my seat to check the street. Everything was quiet.

Phone in hand and ready to dial 9-1-1 at the first hint of trouble, I exited my car and locked the doors behind me. Keys in hand, I suddenly wished I'd done what most of my friends had done on their twenty-first birthdays and treated myself to a concealed handgun class and a small pistol for my purse. A year ago, I'd never dreamed I'd find myself in a situation like this. Now I was silently cursing myself for not being more proactive. What if Ruby wasn't alone in there?

My finger hesitated just above the doorbell. Should I? Uncertain, I tried the door knob and found it unlocked. Gathering my courage, I pushed the door open. "Ruby?"