Obeying the Russian Mafia Boss: A Mob Romance (18 page)

“Boss, they’re going to use her as leverage against
you
,” Matvei said quietly.

Erik ignored his comment. “Danil might be useless in a fight, but Yashin isn’t going to shoot up a hospital. Danil is nothing if not resourceful. All he has to do is keep them out of her room.”

“And what are you going to do? Keep your head down until your father’s men get here?”

“No. She’ll be dead by then.”

“Damn it, boss. You’re going to get yourself killed if you go up against them alone. You’ve done your best to keep her safe, but you need to think about yourself.”

The problem was that thinking of himself was what got her into this mess to begin with, but it wasn’t just guilt that was sending me on the suicide mission.

He couldn’t bear to lose her.

“Do as I say,” he commanded. “If you haven’t heard from me by the end of the day, contact my father and follow his instructions. Above all else, you keep my people safe.”

Before his most trusted man could object yet again, Erik hung up the phone. Valeria and her father would use Ella to draw him out and get the information they wanted. To save her life, he was willing to give up his most powerful weapons, but there were smarter ways to go about it. It was only suicide if he went in without a plan.

Yashin and Valeria’s only strength was their manpower. Take that away from them, and they’d have nothing.

An idea formed in his head as he grabbed the evidence they wanted. As he left the safe house, the sun was just peeking over the horizon. Erik took a minute to stare at it. All his life, he’d been trained for one thing. Even if he wanted something else, he kept quiet. Expanding and enforcing his father’s organization was the only thing he was supposed to care about it.

He wasn’t naive. People died all the time because of him. To risk throwing away all his hard work to save a single soul was damning. If he lived through this, maybe it was time to seriously consider his life choices.

The morning air was still crisp as he jogged easily down the street. There were several shopping centers a couple miles down the road. As long as he avoided the security cameras, it would be easy enough to “borrow” a car and head back into the city.

Most of the businesses were still closed, but there were still quite a few cars parked in the lots. Some patrons from the bars in the square must have taken cabs home. Or gone home with stranger.

It took him seven cars before he finally found some innocent soul who still hid a spare key under the car. Thankful that he didn’t have to damage the car, he unlocked the sporty coupe and slid behind the wheel.

Before he could start the car, his phone rang. It was Valeria.

“Still want to marry me?” he said coldly.

“It’s cute that you want to joke when I have the woman who belongs to you,” she hissed.

Erik snorted. “Believe me, Ella belongs to no one.” He heard her inhale sharply and grimaced. While he didn’t mind upsetting her, he didn’t want Ella to pay the price. “I assume you want the evidence for her safe return?”

“For the evidence, I’ll return her alive. For the evidence and a nice long fuck in front of her, I’ll return her bullet hole free.”

Clenching his jaw, Erik fought to keep control of his temper. “I’ll provide you with a counter offer. Put you father on the phone, or you’ll get nothing from me.”

No matter what she might think, her father still ran the business. When Yashin spoke on the line, he was calm and professional. “Erik. I’m upset to see things end up like this.”

“You and me both, Rostilav. I’m prepared to give you what you want, but there are conditions.”

“I’m not releasing the girl until the evidence is in my hand.”

“I want your daughter out of the deal. You and I both know she’s letting her emotions get in the way, and I can’t help but think that she’s prepared to kill the woman whether you get the evidence or not. I’m not gambling if I know I’m going to lose.”

“Fair point,” Yashin said mildly. Erik heard him order Valeria out of the club. Instantly, he knew where they were. Of course he would choose to hold Ella at the Black Orchid. “It’s done. Tell me where you are.”

“I can get to the city in an hour and a half.”

“Then in an hour, I will call you with the girl’s location. I hope this does not affect our relationship, Chesnovak. Surely you understand that it’s just business.”

Erik hung up the phone without responding. If he pushed, he could be there in forty minutes, and he knew Yashin’s location. That gave him the element of surprise.

Chapter Nineteen

The club looked different now that it was empty. Big. Eerie. Horrifying. It didn’t help that the eight other people in the club were carrying guns or that she was tied to a damn stripper pole.

Exotic dancers.

Valeria and her father were still arguing in Russian before she and two of the men stormed off. That left five men. At least her odds were better. Not that it mattered. The duct tape around her wrists was as tight as could be.

“Hi. Excuse me. Does anybody else speak English? Can anyone please tell me what’s going on?” she called out. Everyone looked her way, and the older man stepped forward.

“My apologies, my dear. I’m sure you’re quite frightened. Mr. Chesnovak assures me that he’ll be here in good time. There were some conditions that needed to be met first.”

Erik was coming for her? Ella tried not to show her surprise. “Were the conditions that you let me go now?”

He smiled. “The conditions are that my daughter not be here when he gets here.”

“Mr. Yashin, I’m really not all that sure what any of this has to do with me. I didn’t even know that Erik was part of the mob until yesterday. I guess I knew that something strange was going on. Mob seems like a reasonable explanation, but I like to believe the best in people. He was a wealthy man who gave me an obscene amount to clean his already immaculate house.” It sounded so bad when she said it out loud. “The point I’m trying to make is that I haven’t known him for that long. I’m sure there plenty of other ex-lovers that you could have chosen to kidnap.”

Yashin looked at her closely. “So you admit that two are lovers?”

Ella reddened. “I’m sure there are other women that he cares more for than me.”

“Even if that were true, it’s a little late now, my dear. You were the bait, and Chesnovak is on his way. There would be no reason for him to lie if he didn’t care about you. The interesting thing is that I’ve known Chesnovak for a long time. He’s very professional. I’ve never known him to sleep with a member of his staff. I think you’re a little more than just a fling.”

“He’s made it very clear that I’m not. If you’ve known Erik for so long, why are you doing this to him? Aren’t you two supposed to be on the same side?” she snapped.

“Just because we are of the same nationality and in the same profession does not make us friends. I wouldn’t go as far to call him an enemy. Perhaps ‘competition’ is the right word. Yes. Erik is my competition,” Yashin mused thoughtfully. “I never thought he’d be as successful as he is, and when he didn’t agree to share his property with my daughter, I had to take what I wanted by force.”

Suddenly, two shots rang out. Ella screamed as two of the guards went down quickly. Yashin whirled around with his gun in his hand but no one retaliated. She couldn’t see where the shots came from.

“The problem with that explanation is that your daughter made her move first.” Erik’s voice echoed off the walls. “If you’ve stashed her away somewhere to surprise me, I suggest you bring her out now.”

Yashin slowly moved around in circles. His men looked a little spooked, but Ella couldn’t take her eyes off the two dead men on the floor. Their blood spilled across the floor, and she felt her stomach roll. She was out in the open. If they began to fire wildly, things might not go so well for her. No one was watching her, so she started doing her best to pull at the duct tape.

“Mr. Chesnovak, it seems that you were not honest about how long it would take you to get here. No blood had to be spilled today. Give me the pictures, and we’ll leave.”

There was no response. She pulled and twisted and did her best to get out of her restraints. It wasn’t until her hand bumped up against the metal of the pole that she realized she could scrape the tape along the outer bolts that held the pole in place.

“Erik, I’m tired of these games. Show yourself, or I will put a bullet in your lover’s head.” He swung the gun around to point it at her, and she gasped.

She was going to die. She was going to die in a Russian mob-run club tied to a fucking stripper pole.

“I am a good person,” she muttered as she glared at him. “I had a plan for my life and none of it included any of you. I was going to school to help animals. You know why I picked animals? Because they don’t blackmail people and seduce them when they’re at their lowest, and they don’t fucking point guns at my head!”

The tape ripped, and she kicked out hard with her foot. Yashin grunted in surprise, and the guns started firing. Her heart pounding, Ella launched herself off the small dance platform. Tumbling behind one of the bars, she crawled along the bar and searched desperately for something to protect herself with.

Angry words flew in rapid Russian. Since Erik still hadn’t shown himself, Ella could only assume that Yashin was furiously ordering his men to find him.

She hoped he wasn’t ordering them to find her.

The bar was fine for coverage, but she was trapped. If she didn’t find a new place to hide, she was going to be easy pickings for anyone who leaned over the top or around the end.

Maybe they’d let her have a last drink before she died.

“Get out. Now.”

The cold Russian-accented words were clearly directed at her. Ella slowly looked up to see Yashin standing at the end of the bar. His gun seemed to be even more menacing before.

“I’m actually okay right where I am,” she squeaked. He fired, and the bullet hit one of the glass bottles next to her. Glass sprayed everywhere, and she cringed. “Okay, I’m coming. I’m coming.”

Moving as slowly as possible, she stood. Yashin seemed to be the only one in the club, but a quick look around told her there were no more bodies. His guards had to be somewhere.

“Tell him to show himself. Let him hear you beg for your life.” Malice gleamed in his eye, and she had a terrible feeling that he enjoyed this.

No wonder Valeria was such a horrible woman.

“Erik,” she called out. Her voice was shaky. She took a deep breath and tried again. “Erik. It seems that Mr. Yashin here would really like a word with you.”

“Beg, you stupid bitch,” he snarled.

Another gunshot sounded, and Ella could help it. A scream tore from her throat, and she immediately ducked behind the bar. Yashin fell heavily, falling into liquor bottles, before landing on the floor next to her.

Blood pooled from his head. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.”

“Ella, are you okay?”

“Erik?” She slowly got up and peered over the bar. He was jogging quickly down the stairs from the second floor lounge. “The other guys?”

“Don’t worry about them. We need to get you out of here before—”

The sound of the door hitting the wall sent a shock through her. “Get down,” Erik hissed. She complied, but she could hear the heels of those familiar boots hitting the floor.

Valeria. What would she do when she discovered that Yashin was dead?

“What happened? Where is my father?”

“He left,” Erik said flatly. “I gave him the documents, and he took Ella and left. I guess his men were supposed to take care of me.”

“He has your woman?” she asked hesitantly. “Good. I will have quite a bit of fun with her before I finally kill her nice and slow. But first, I’ll have to do what they were not man enough to do.”

Erik. She was going to kill Erik.

Ella didn’t even realize she was moving until she was over the bar with Yashin’s gun pointed at Valeria. Squeezing the trigger felt both powerful and awful. It kicked back and pinched the flesh of her hands. Slow motion. Like a dream.
Grab the gun. Kill the woman. Save Erik.

Kill the woman.

Erik reacted quickly. Two shots fired and the two-armed men went down.

Kill the woman.

Valeria gasped and fell. Blood bloomed from her chest, and there was a look of shock on her face. Ella let the gun fall from her hands as she stared. Erik jumped forward and kicked the other woman’s gun away from her body before picking it up, along with the one Ella had dropped.

Kill the woman?

What had she become?

“Ella. Ella!” Erik was next to her, shaking her shoulders. “Look at me, baby. Say something.”

“She was going to kill you,” Ella whispered.

“Baby, she’s not dead.”

“I didn’t want you to die.”

“Ella. Listen to me. She’s not dead.”

“I didn’t even think. I just didn’t want her to hurt you.”

“Ella!”

She tore her eyes away from the scene and blinked. “Erik. I killed her.”

“Hey.” He gave her a strangely sweet smile and caressed her cheek with his finger. “I need you to listen to me, baby. You’re not a very good shot. She’s not dead.”

Confused, she looked back. The woman pushed herself off the floor and moaned.

“Not dead.”

“No, but you did save my life, baby. Come on. I want the paramedics to check you out when they get here. Did he hurt you? Did she hurt you?”

“You called the police? But you’re the mob. And you killed a bunch of people tonight.” She swallowed hard. “Won’t you go to jail?”

“I think I know someone who can help with that,” he said with a cheeky grin. “Come on.”

With one hand wrapped tightly around her, he helped her to the door. As they passed Valeria, he didn’t even look at her, but Ella made him stop.

“You’re a horrible woman,” she murmured. “You take pleasure in people’s pain. You think love is a weakness. You think sex is a weapon. You want to know the difference between you and me? You were going to kill him just because he turned you down. I was going to kill you to save him. And I felt bad about that.”