Undefeated: Bad Boy Fighter Romance (Fighting For Gisele #4)
Read Undefeated: Bad Boy Fighter Romance (Fighting For Gisele #4) Online
Authors: Emily Jane Trent
Gisele stared at the mobster across from her. Yuri’s cold green eyes were like her brother’s, only without life in them. His hairline had receded since she’d last seen him, and his dark, buzzed-short hair accentuated it. She looked at his expensive clothes and the gold-link bracelet on his wrist, matching the thick gold chain he wore around his neck.
The man had some extra weight on him too, but Gisele decided against any derisive comments. She knew that underneath, Yuri was muscle and power. It hardly seemed real that he was the same man she’d respected, and hoped to love as a father.
His last words echoed in her head.
If you value your mother’s life, you will turn over the diamond that your father stole from me
. And what about the father that Yuri had taken from her? What could ever pay for that?
Gisele reeled from all that Yuri had told her. It was as though her life flashed before her eyes, only it wasn’t the one that she’d known. So much had shifted that she struggled to regain balance. Yet there was no time to think, not with Yuri glaring at her.
Yuri’s patience snapped. “I’m waiting, Gisele.” His thick brows drew together. “I had hoped that Aleksei would obtain the vital information from you. But it seems he failed.”
The fact that he called her brother by his full name meant he was unimaginably angry. Yuri was proud of Alek, and she’d rarely heard him refer to his son by his given name. Her brother had been correct in thinking his father had come to Vegas because he was displeased with him, as that was partially true.
Gisele had grown up in Yuri’s home, and she had learned something about how to deal with him. He was a bully, and if he sensed blood, he’d go for the throat. No matter how difficult, Gisele had to show strength if she had any hope of turning the situation around.
“Am I a prisoner?” Gisele squared her shoulders, waiting for his response to her challenge.
Yuri narrowed his eyes. “Of course not.” Then he leaned forward, ever more intimidating. “But I
expect
that diamond.”
So far, Gisele hadn’t admitted to having it, and decided it was best to keep it that way. Yuri assumed enough; she didn’t need to help him along.
When Gisele didn’t confirm his suspicions, Yuri stressed his point. “You have one week to retrieve it and turn it over.”
That gave Gisele breathing room, but very little. She had no doubt the mob would watch her wherever she went, hoping to follow her to the gem. The only reason Yuri didn’t drag her out of the complex by her hair, and force her to take him to it, was that he knew that wasn’t the best approach.
All Gisele’s years of stubbornness had paid off, as even her mobster father knew better than to push her too far. Yuri knew that, ultimately, he would get the diamond. So he probably thought there was no reason to make a messy scene of it.
Backing him off, just to that tiny degree, gave Gisele a chance. She began to regain her wits, so she could think things through. “What about Lazar?”
Yuri frowned. “Don’t worry about the Kovalenkos. I’ll deal with them.” He paused, as if deciding how much to tell her. “We have an agreement. As long as Lazar gets his share, he’ll be fine. He’s done his part, taking care of your mother all these years. It’s time for me to take over.”
It was clear that the Kovalenkos had been involved in the theft since the beginning. Only an obscene amount of money could elicit cooperation between Russian brigades. The forty million, or whatever the blue diamond was worth in today’s market, was enough of a prize for the Danilovs and the Kovalenkos to make a show of supporting each other. Although Gisele was sure if Yuri could cheat Lazar, he would.
Gisele crossed her arms. “I want to see my mother.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Yuri said, without hesitation. He’d probably expected her to ask.
“Where is she?”
Yuri emitted a mirthless laugh. “I assure you that your mother is fine.”
Gisele glared at him. “And I’m supposed to take your word for that?”
“I didn’t expect you to. I’ll allow you to speak to her by phone, but she will be guarded. I suggest you don’t ask her too many questions, but you can gain assurance that she is well.”
“When can I talk to her?”
“I’ll arrange it,” Yuri said. “Come back tomorrow, around lunchtime. I’ll make her available then.”
Gisele grabbed the handle of her small suitcase and stood up. “I’ll be here, and I better not discover that you’ve harmed my mother.”
Yuri stood, but didn’t reply. He glanced at her suitcase, but made no move to take it. Obviously, she wouldn’t be carrying around a blue diamond in an overnight case.
This time when Gisele went down the hallway, the guards didn’t try to stop her. On shaky legs she walked past them, toward the front door. She didn’t see Alek on her way out.
Once out on the sidewalk, Gisele expelled a breath. She’d narrowly escaped Yuri for the moment, but the danger had escalated. A week wasn’t long, but it was something. She waved at Zeke, who was parked down the street, and he pulled to the curb to pick her up.
“You were in there a long time,” Zeke said. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m not hurt, if that’s what you mean.” Gisele looked over at the bodyguard. “But everything is far from okay. It’s a mess.”
Zeke frowned, then pulled out into traffic, getting her away from the scene.
Gisele was trembling, but tried to get a grip. First she sent a text to her agent, canceling the appointment to see properties. Then she texted Abby:
I have to postpone. I’ll call you
.
Next was Micah. He picked up on the second ring. “Where are you?” Gisele said.
“I’m at the Bellagio. I just left the roulette table.” Micah hesitated. “Did something happen?”
Gisele turned to Zeke. “Take me to the Bellagio.” Then she spoke to Micah. “I can’t talk now, but I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”
Gisele clasped the phone in her hand as if it brought Micah closer. She fought back tears of fear and frustration. Once she talked to Micah, her outlook would improve. He’d help her figure out what to do.
The first thing was to make sure that her mother was all right. Gisele didn’t trust Yuri at all. If he’d harmed her, Gisele wouldn’t give him a damn thing. He could go right ahead and kill her, but she wouldn’t budge. Yuri had been right that her mother was leverage, as Catarina’s welfare was paramount. It was the traitor’s only chance that Gisele would cooperate.
Micah was worried, as he imagined all kinds of things that might have happened to Gisele. She had sounded distraught, so he was anxious to see her, to find out if she’d been hurt. Had her brother given her a hard time when she’d gone back to the complex, or had he used physical force to coerce her to reveal where the diamond was?
Micah checked his phone, but it hadn’t been more than ten minutes since Gisele had called. He waited by the entrance where he’d told her to meet him, pacing the thick casino carpet, unable to relax until he saw her. The seconds ticked by, seeming like hours. Finally one of the glass doors opened and Gisele walked in.
When Micah strode toward her, Gisele spotted him, put down her suitcase and flew into his arms. He held her tight, and she hugged his waist, with her head against his shoulder. There were no tears, but she was clearly distressed. “I’m here, honey,” Micah said, pressing his hand to the back of her head as confirmation.
Gisele looked up at him. “You won’t believe what happened.”
“Let’s get out of here and go somewhere to talk,” Micah said, and picked up Gisele’s small overnight case for her. “If your phone is monitored then they heard that you were coming here to meet me. We don’t want to make it too easy for them.”
When he released her, Gisele popped the battery out of her phone. “Just in case,” she said. “I know Alek can track my cell.” She rolled her shoulder. “It’s not as though they can’t just follow me, and they probably are.”
“We’ll see about that.” Micah took her hand, and they caught a cab. He had the driver cruise the Strip for a while, then circle a couple of blocks, before asking him to drop them at the Wynn. “I don’t see anyone following us.”
“That’s just a testament to their inflated egos,” Gisele said. “They are so certain they have me, why bother to follow?”
Micah was anxious to hear why the mob was so confident, other than their reliance on violence to enforce their demands. He suggested a drink at one of the bars, and Gisele nodded. “I need a drink, and you will too, when you hear what I have to tell you.”
Micah chose a cozy corner in one of the upstairs lounges. They walked past a blossom-filled atrium off the main entrance and beneath colorful parasols hanging from the ceiling. There was a waterfall, many stories high, cascading down into an indoor lake.
Gisele sat in one of the red velvet chairs next to Micah. There were a few scattered patrons, but no one sitting close. The waiter took their orders, and Gisele didn’t begin talking until the drinks had been served.
Micah took a gulp of his bourbon, watching Gisele sip her cocktail, while waiting for her to share her news. He didn’t want to rush her, as she’d surely been through some ordeal.
“I hardly know where to start,” Gisele said, setting her glass on the table. “I went there intentionally to see Alek.”
“Did he reveal anything?”
“At this point, I’m not sure how much he knows,” Gisele said.
Micah raised his eyebrows. “What makes you say that?”
“Just that he was freaked about Yuri, and feared he hadn’t handled the Vegas operations properly. But he didn’t seem focused on my inheritance, at all.”
When Micah didn’t interject, she continued, “So, my Russian father arrived without advance notice, not long after I got there. I would have made a break for it, but I couldn’t get past the guards.”
“Yuri is in Vegas?”
“He most certainly is, and that changes things significantly.” Gisele went on to fill him in on the details of her encounter with her mobster father, including the revelation that Andrew Shelton’s demise had been at the hands of a couple of his thugs. Micah tapped into his internal fortitude, in order to keep some semblance of composure.
It was difficult to resist the urge to go straight back to the complex and beat the crap out of Yuri. But that was just a fantasy, as Micah would have to get past the guards first, and that wasn’t likely.
Gisele told him that Yuri had come to take possession of the diamond personally. He no longer had faith that Alek could deal with the situation.
“Did you tell him you had it?”
“No, I didn’t admit to anything,” Gisele said. “But he knows. I could fool my brother, but not Yuri.”
Micah took another sip of bourbon, trying to wrap his head around this new development. “But Yuri let you leave?”
Gisele glanced at her drink, but didn’t pick it up. “For now, but that’s only because he knows I’m not going anywhere.” She took a breath. “He told me that my mother Catarina is still alive.”
Micah was stunned. “How can that be?”
“It’s a bit intricate, but I think I understand what happened.” Gisele told him about her father’s wish to go into hiding. “Once my mother was safe, then my father would have disappeared with me…as soon as he got out of prison.”
“Only that didn’t happen.”
“It seems Lazar Kovalenko discovered that my mother didn’t really die in an auto accident, so he found her, then detained her somewhere.” Tears welled in Gisele’s eyes. “I’m so furious that those bastards would treat my mother that way. Can you imagine being a prisoner for fifteen years?”
“It’s unthinkable.”
“It breaks my heart,” Gisele said.
Micah frowned. “How do you know that Yuri isn’t lying?”
“I don’t…that’s exactly the sort of thing that he would do.” Gisele sipped her cocktail. “I demanded to have contact with her, and Yuri reluctantly agreed. He told me to come back tomorrow, then he will let me talk to her on the phone.”
“They won’t allow her to say much,” Micah said. “I don’t know if you’ll be able to tell, for sure, how she’s doing.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Gisele dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “Yuri thinks he’s calling the shots, but I’m not going to let him push me around.”
Micah took her hand. “I don’t intend to let him bully you either. While you were gone, I began formulating a plan. Yuri’s unexpected arrival makes that even more urgent.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’ll fill you in, but not now. Our first priority is to see that your mother is safe.”
Gisele dug her hand through her hair. “I don’t
want
that blue diamond,” she said. “I’d give it to Yuri, in a heartbeat, if he would leave us alone.”
“There’s one problem with that,” Micah said. “He’d have to kill us both anyway, since we know about the theft.” He purposely didn’t mention Catarina, but Gisele already knew her mother’s future was tenuous.
“I looked into Yuri’s eyes today, and…the man has no soul.”
Micah knew there was a fight ahead, but he was up for it. He’d had enough of the mob’s intimidation. They’d crossed the line when they’d killed Gisele’s father and incarcerated her mother. Yuri had to be stopped, and Micah was the man to do it.
But first, Micah had to ensure that Gisele’s mother was safe. Until the next day, there wasn’t much they could do. Once Gisele confirmed that Catarina was unharmed, they’d take the next step. He talked to Gisele a bit more, trying to glean as much as he could about Yuri, as well as her brother Alek.
They had a couple more drinks, taking time to recover from the shocking things Yuri had confessed. Then they strolled through the casino, but didn’t do much gambling. Micah’s heart wasn’t in it. The biggest stakes were those that involved the mob, and his focus was on thwarting them in their aim to scoop the diamond then wipe out any witnesses.
Micah had made reservations for dinner at Costa di Mare. That was before he’d known that Yuri would shatter their peace. It was a restaurant that he thought Gisele would enjoy, and it was very romantic.
They kept the reservation and had dinner in a private cabana next to a serene indoor lagoon. The establishment was known for fresh Mediterranean seafood and house-made pastas. The menu boasted that they had over forty varieties of fresh fish and shellfish flown in daily from Italy’s coastal waters.
They sat at an elegant table by the water and ordered a bottle of wine. Micah was glad to see that Gisele wasn’t as panicked as she’d been earlier, but she wasn’t relaxed either. The wine helped, and he kept his arm around her, wanting only to protect her.
After the meal, they finished the last of the wine, then went up to his room. Micah shut the door and pulled Gisele into his arms. “I love you so much,” he whispered in her ear.
“I love you too.”
Slowly, sensually, Micah undressed her. She had his heart, and all he wanted was to keep her away from danger. Holding her close, he tenderly made love to her, and Gisele clung to him in a passionate embrace. They were together, and the impending gloom only strengthened their bond.
The intensity of their lovemaking swelled Micah’s heart with love. Before Gisele fell asleep in his arms, he buried his face in her hair. “It’s going to be okay, honey. We’re going to make it through this.” And Micah believed that, with all his heart.