Zel: Markovic MMA (45 page)

He could think of a dozen ways he’d like to take her breath away, but right now wasn’t the time to indulge in fantasies. “Did the concierge send up someone for my suit?”

“No. Why?”

“I asked for laundry service. Will you find my suit in the closet please? I put your jewelry in a handkerchief and tucked it into my jacket pocket. I’d hate for it to get lost at the cleaner’s.”

“Oh. Okay. Hang on.” A short time later, she announced, “Found it! Thank you so much for bringing this to me.”

“I could tell it was important to you.”

“I don’t have much jewelry, but what I do have means something. The necklace and the hoops were a Christmas gift from my dad. He’s the only person who has ever given me jewelry.”

Instantly, Alexei knew exactly what he was going to do when he got to Kazimir’s. Not wanting to tip her off, he changed the subject, “So you’ve put Stas to work?”

“He’s really good at punching holes in leather. I might let him try grommets next. He’s been teaching me to count in Russian which has been cool.”

A zing of jealousy snapped through him. As childish as it was,
h
e
wanted to be the one who taught her how to speak his language. “Well I’m glad to hear that you’re finding him useful.”

“Shay, do you want to order something for lunch?” Stas bellowed in the background. “I’m starving.”

“You just ate three oranges and a banana!”

“Like an hour ago,” Stas called back. “Do you like Chinese? There’s a place a few blocks from here that’s pretty good. Or how about Thai?”

“Do you realize how loud you are?” Shay scolded Stas with a laugh. “I’m just in the next room, but you’re shouting so loud they can probably hear you down in the lobby.”

“I’m starving.”

“You’re a drama queen.”

“I’m about to start chewing on this leather. That’s how hungry I am.”

“Oh my God!” Shay laughed. “We’ll order Chinese, okay? Can I finish my call now?”

“Is that your friend? We can wait to order lunch until she gets here.”

“No, it’s Alexei. Now quiet down and get back to work.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So anyway,” Shay said, returning to their call. “We’re good here. Kylee is going to come over later and spend some time with me. I thought we might take Stas and go see my car later?”

He noticed the way she phrased it as a question. “That’s not necessary. I had your car towed earlier this morning. I’m handling it.”

“Oh. Well…what am I supposed to do about the insurance claim?”

“There won’t be one. We’ll see what the car is worth and sell it. You can use the cash for your business.”

“I’ll have to use the cash for a new car. Well—not a
new
car. A used car that’s new to me,” she said.

He already had his eye on a sporty Jaguar coupe for her, but he sensed this wasn’t the type of conversation that would go well over the phone. “We’ll figure it out, Shay.”

“I’m sure we will. Look, I’m going to send Stas out for groceries later. Otherwise the takeout bill here is going to be sky high.”

Knowing how stubborn she could be, he warned, “Don’t even try to give him money for the groceries. I left him funds to cover your daily expenses.”

Shay started to answer him, but a loud shout of pain interrupted her. Stas began cursing angrily in Russian. “Uh-oh. Sounds like Stas just had his first on-the-job injury. I hope your workman’s comp coverage is good, Alexei.”

“You mean you hope
your
coverage is good,” he corrected with a teasing laugh. “He’s currently working for you.”

“What? That is so not fair!”

“Welcome to the cutthroat world of business, sweetheart.” Listening to Stas swear nastily, he added, “Tell Stas that he is forbidden from teaching you that colorful language. If I hear any of those words come out of your mouth, I’ll know who to blame.”

“When he stops crying, I’ll let tell him.”

“See that you do.” Even though he’d like nothing better than to stay on the phone with her, he had to get moving. “I’ll call you later.”

“Be careful out there, Alexei.”

“I will.”

When their call ended, he held his phone to his ear a moment longer than necessary. He was so tempted to leave the office for this meeting with Nikolai and not come back until Sunday afternoon or even Monday morning. Only the gut feeling that they were going to get slammed with customers later in the day kept him from doing it. He couldn’t leave his employees in the lurch like that, especially not when so many of his them were doing their damnedest to earn their holiday bonuses. He needed to be here to work deals and push through financing.

Down on the main sales floor, he walked the perimeter to ensure customers were being treated the way he liked and that all of the salesmen were busy. The quickest way to earn a pink slip at any of his dealerships was to be discovered standing around, shooting the breeze or laughing with coworkers. The only thing he hated more were high-pressure salesmen. He liked ambition and drive, but he didn’t want the salesmen skulking after customers, breathing down their necks and pushing financing and trades that weren’t a good deal for both sides.

Satisfied that the sales floor was operating like a well-oiled machine, he pulled aside the general manager for a chat. With his temporary absence squared away, Alexei left the dealership and headed for the luxury jewelry store operated by Kazimir and his daughter, Zoya. He hadn’t visited the jeweler in more than a year. Marissa, his last mistress, had preferred a different high-end jeweler so he had indulged her with gifts only from there.

Finding parking at Kamizir’s was a nightmare as usual. Why the man hadn’t moved to a better location Alexei would never understand. He spotted Nikolai’s Land Rover and pulled into a space a few cars down. Ilya, one of the boss’s handlers, leaned against the hood and smoked while keeping an eye out for trouble.

It wasn’t so long ago that Ilya had been the young kid on Alexei’s street crew. Now he had advanced to the inner circle and was poised for a promotion to street captain. He stopped to shake Ilya’s hand and couldn’t help but read the new ink on his hands and neck. Apparently, he had been busy.

When he stepped inside the store, he was instantly greeted by Kazimir who directed him to the cozy room where clients with expensive taste could inspect jewels and designs in privacy. He found Zoya and Nikolai there.

“Lyosha.” Nikolai pointed to an empty seat. “We’re almost done.”

“How are you, Alexei?” Zoya drew sunbursts on her sketchpad. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen you.”

“You should go ahead and unlock the diamond safe,” Nikolai joked. “I have a feeling you’re going to be seeing a lot more of him.”

“Oh?” Zoya’s bright blue eyes lit up excitedly.

“We’ll talk after you’ve finished with the boss.” Alexei waved toward their work.

Taking the hint, Nikolai said, “Zoya, this gift needs to be something beautiful but simple. The bracelet has to be something Vee can wear every day. I want her to see it on her wrist and think of our son and me and the life we’re building together.”

Zoya smiled warmly as she sketched out some ideas on her notepad. “That’s so lovely and sweet.”

“And the other gift? It needs to be regal.” Nikolai emphasized the description with a flourish of his hands. “We need to stay away from anything too gaudy, but I want her to have something incredible to mark the birth of our first child.”

“I’ve gotten to know Vivian’s tastes very well this year. I have an idea of what she likes and what you like and how to make it work.” Zoya jotted down her notes. “Do you have any preference for gemstones for the necklace and earrings?”

“Sapphires,” he answered. “I want them to be as blue as her eyes.”

“Platinum? Gold? White gold?” When Nikolai gave her a look, she let loose a twitter of laughter. “Right. Platinum. Always.” She jotted down more notes. “I should have some preliminary designs in a week. Does that work for your timeline?”

“Yes, that’s fine. Would you mind stepping out for a few minutes? I promise I’ll let you have your room back as soon as we’re done.”

“Of course,” she graciously replied.

When the door closed behind Zoya, Nikolai reached over and smacked him on the back of his head. It wasn’t a hard hit, but it was enough to get his attention.

“Hey!” Alexei winced and smoothed down his hair. “What the fuck was that for?”

“Did you really think I wasn’t going to find out you went behind my back and asked Besian for help? Huh? How the fuck do you think that makes me look?”

“
Shit.
That’s not—I didn’t go to Besian for backup. I went there for information. I didn’t know what was happening with Shay’s sister, but I knew that he would. I never asked him to publicly stand for me.”

“Well he fucking did,” Nikolai shot back. “I had John Mueller on my doorstep this morning complaining that Besian’s Merkurie Motors boys towed his truck from the restaurant he was at last night. This morning, they picked up his wife’s SUV while she was at the gym. Needless to say, he got the message.”

“I didn’t ask Besian to get involved. He promised he would have my back if things went sideways but he didn’t tell me he was going to harass Mueller and his wife.”

“Apparently, Mueller went by that marble monstrosity of yours this morning, but there was no answer so he decided to walk over another street to bother me. Do you know how I like to spend my Saturday mornings?”

Alexei had an idea of what Nikolai enjoyed doing on Saturday mornings, but it was too graphic and dirty to say to Nikolai’s face, especially where Vivian was concerned. “Probably not having coffee with the Mr. White Is Right.”

Nikolai leveled that cold no-nonsense stare of his so Alexei eased off the sarcasm.

“Look, obviously, this was not how I envisioned any of this happening, okay? So get off my fucking back, Kolya.”

Nikolai’s jaw tensed. He spun his wedding band around his finger, a gesture that seemed to have replaced his old habit of tossing that lucky lighter of his back and forth between his hands. “It seems An Trinh is mixed up in this mess now. She’s threatening to blackball Mueller around town. She even told Mueller that all it would take is a few words from Vivian and Bianca and Holly to have his wife blacklisted around town.” Nikolai shook his head. “That woman fucking scares me. I can’t get a read on her at all. I used to dismiss that rumor about her poisoning her husband but now I’m not so sure.”

Alexei had heard the rumor and had instantly believed it. The man had been in his late thirties when he had died while on vacation abroad. The official word had been a heart attack but the whispers were poison. That marriage had always had problems apparently.

“An is giving us a free pass for that bullshit that went down behind her family’s restaurant, but she’s blaming Mueller for his men trespassing on her turf and trying to beat an innocent young woman to death behind one of her businesses.”

“She came to see me this morning. I’ve agreed to pay for the replacement of the security system that was disabled.”

“Keep her happy,” Nikolai ordered. “She can make trouble that we don’t need.”

“Understood.”

“Besian is pushing for the council to sanction Mueller. This is the third time he’s trespassed into someone else’s territory. He’s done it to Spider and the MC twice. First it was the kidnapping at Spider’s trailer park when all that shit went down with Step’s girlfriend and her little brother. Yesterday his men trespassed again to shakedown your girl. Then trying to beat her up in the Lu family’s backyard?
Blyad
.” Nikolai rubbed his face. “They’re too fucking reckless.”

Alexei held his tongue and waited to see what Nikolai would say.

“I told Mueller that he’s going to have to eat the cost of his downed men and that whatever bad blood there is between his side and yours ends today.” The boss slashed his hand through the air. “You and Shay are free and that score is settled. I made it clear that if his men even look at Shay, I’ll let you gouge their eyes out. It’s done. Over.
Finished
.”

“And the sister?” Alexei didn’t have high hopes for Shannon’s case but he had to ask.

“She’s not my problem.” Nikolai cast a pointed look his direction. “Or yours. Don’t be stupid like Vanya was with Erin’s junkie sister. You stay away from Shannon and Ruben. Let Lalo’s men sort that shit out.”

“Have you heard anything about Lalo?”

“He’s looking for Shay.” Nikolai reached into his jacket pocket and retrieved his phone. He swept his finger across the screen and read a message that made his mouth twitch with amusement. There was only one person in the entire world who could make him smile like that. “I sent Danny over to talk to him this morning and to let him know that Shay belongs to you and that I’ve taken an interest in her. Lalo assured Danny that he only wants to make sure that Shay is safe.”

“Lying little prick,” Alexei groused.

“Don’t worry about him.” Nikolai typed a reply. “I went over his head and cleared Shay’s safety with Hector Salas. Lalo’s boss will put him back in his kennel where he belongs. Just keep her away from him until his wounded pride heals.” Nikolai pocketed his phone and grinned. “Danny said Lalo has two black eyes, a broken nose and a bandaged head. I guess he must have slammed face first into the ground. That’ll teach the little bastard to try to assault some poor woman again.”