SIX months later, Gedeon was elated to admit he was right about their partnership. He and Meiling worked seamlessly together, as if they had been partners forever. Meiling was a shadow at times, going with him to a meeting, finding a place to sit in an obscure corner and disappearing so she was forgotten.
She was a gorgeous woman as far as he was concerned, but she had a way of downplaying her appearance. She could remain very still once she was in the shadows. She seemed to be able to absorb not only every word spoken, but body language and small nuances. Between the two of them, they accurately judged which clients to take on. They knew who would be a threat. Who would remain loyal. Both preferred to know if a client feared an outside source and wasn’t revealing that to them. Meiling was adept at feeling those fears.
They stood together waiting to be let into the back entrance of Fredrick Atwater’s immense, sprawling home, located in San Antonio, Texas. The two-story house was situated on twenty-two acres of real estate overlooking the lake. They had come at night as requested, telling no one. At first Atwater had balked at the idea of Gedeon bringing Meiling with him, but Gedeon had refused to discuss anything further with him. He simply put down the phone. Atwater called three times before he picked up again.
Atwater’s right-hand man, Harold Brinks, let them in through the ornate door. For a back entrance, the foyer and hallway were beautifully appointed. Meiling stayed in step with Gedeon but gave him enough room to fight their way out of any situation. She was very astute that way. Both appeared relaxed, but they were on high alert. Going into an unknown location and meeting with a client for the first time was always risky. It was just the two of them and Slayer.
“Mr. Atwater is in the conservatory,” Harold Brinks told them. He opened the door to a very large room made of glass windows that angled outward. The cathedral ceiling overhead was glass and that too was all angles. Lacy plants climbed the rock walls, and in one corner a waterfall, looking as if it came out of the wall, cascaded merrily over gray and blue stones. The floor was gray and blue tile. White chairs, surrounding a glass table, invited guests to sit and enjoy the peace of the large haven.
Atwater didn’t seem to be at peace. He paced around the table, which held a tablet and three slim accounting books, as well as what appeared to be several photographs and albums. He stopped moving when they entered the room, his gaze jumping first to Gedeon’s face, then to Meiling’s. Gedeon had seen that look of fear and despair too many times.
“Mr. Atwater,” he said, breaking the ice immediately. When potential clients had that particular look, they could be overwhelmed easily. It was better to get to the problem fast. “Is this room clean? Did you check it for bugs?”
Atwater looked shocked. He exchanged a look with Harold Brinks. “I don’t know. This is my private home. The people who work here have done so for years.”
“That would be a no,” Gedeon said. He glanced at Meiling, and she pulled a small device from inside her coat and began to move around the room. Twice there was a soft pinging noise, and both Gedeon and Harold went to the spots to crouch down and discover tiny round bugs—one in a potted plant and the other on the leg of the table.
“You haven’t had any workmen in recently?” Gedeon pursued.
Harold shook his head. “Absolutely not. We shut down the house when the trouble first started some time ago.”
“Then you have at least one traitor in your house,” Gedeon said, stomping on the bugs and then dropping them in the glass of water on the table. “I believe Harold suspected, or you wouldn’t be meeting with me in the middle of the night alone with just him in the conservatory.”
Harold nodded. “You were under so much stress, Fredrick, that I couldn’t add to it, so I just made sure we didn’t talk about calling Mr. Volkov and his partner in front of anyone.”
“Fortunately, it isn’t known that I have a partner. I ask my clients to keep that confidential. In fact, I demand that it is kept confidential. If you hire me, know I don’t play around. The terms are your life if you double-cross me.”
He pinned Atwater with his hard gaze, knowing the man could see the killer in him. He wanted Atwater to see he meant it. He had Meiling to protect now. Before, he just didn’t give a fuck. Now, killing wasn’t about the violence he needed, it was about keeping Meiling safe.
“My life isn’t worth much if you can’t help me,” Atwater said.
Gedeon indicated Meiling, who had been silent the entire time. She usually was. If she had input, it was normally in the form of a question, and that would come later, when they were discussing the aspects of the case. “This is my partner, Meiling. What can we do for you?”
Atwater raked both hands through his hair. “I don’t even know where to start, Volkov. I should have called you in right away. Instead, I tried to handle this on my own and I just made it worse.” He shook his head. “So much worse.”
“Let’s sit down and start at the beginning,” Gedeon suggested. “We take care of problems. You wouldn’t have called us if you didn’t think we could help.”
“It’s your reputation for doing the impossible that had me calling you.” Atwater pulled out a chair and dropped into it, as if his body was far too heavy to stay on his feet. “Really, it was Harold’s suggestion. I didn’t know what to do. He was the one who said to call you.”
Gedeon turned his gaze on Atwater’s man. “Where did you hear of me?”
“I have a friend, Elijah Lospostos, here in San Antonio, and we were talking one day. I told him I had some trouble going on and wasn’t certain what to do. I didn’t tell him what it was. I said I didn’t want to involve him or Fredrick. He saw that I was worried, and he asked me what was up. I just said I had trouble. He said if it was bad, he knew of a man who sometimes could help. He warned me that the number he was giving me was confidential and not to give it to anyone else. He said just having it could get me killed. Elijah doesn’t mess around and he isn’t prone to dramatics. I almost didn’t make the suggestion to Fredrick, but we didn’t have anywhere else to go.”
Elijah Lospostos was a big name in the mafia world. He held a huge territory and ruled with an iron fist. One didn’t cross Elijah and live long. He’d been born into a crime family and had the mantle passed down to him. He hadn’t had much choice in the matter. Gedeon knew him to be a man of his word. He didn’t deal in human trafficking as far as Gedeon was aware. He had a wife and family and was very careful with who he let into his world. Harold Brinks wouldn’t dare drop Elijah’s name knowing that Elijah would carve him into little pieces if he was lying. Gedeon had to believe the man was telling the truth. He glanced at Meiling.
Her nod was nearly imperceptible. She thought the man sounded honest as well.
“What’s going on, Atwater?” Gedeon asked.
Atwater just continued to shake his head. It was Harold who crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the door and took up the narrative. “Fredrick goes over the books himself. He’s very good with numbers, always has been. It doesn’t matter how many businesses he’s involved with; he always double-checks everything. Because some of the people he does business with are very concerned with the amount of money owed to them with each transaction, it is more important than ever that every penny is accounted for.”
“I take it the numbers weren’t adding up.”
Harold shook his head. “At first, small amounts of money were missing. Eventually, they became larger and larger amounts. Naturally, Fredrick replaced the money when he paid his partners their share. We tried to track the losses. He began to get blackmail threats. Whoever was stealing from him would tell his partners if he didn’t give them large sums of money.”
“Did you rule out his partners?”
Harold frowned. “I’m out of my depth at this sort of thing. I wasn’t cut out to be a spy or sleuth. I’m a good bodyguard.”
“And a good friend,” Atwater said, looking up for the first time. “If it was just the money and the blackmail, I would have gone to my partners. I’ve known them nearly forty years. When I didn’t show signs of cooperating, they took my little Lilith.” He picked up the top photograph with shaking hands. “Her mother died in childbirth. She’s four years old and all I have left. I’d give anything for her. Twice I’ve paid their ransom, but they haven’t returned her. I don’t think they’re going to. The money is still disappearing from the business transactions and the threat of blackmail continues. I know it’s the same people even though they want me to believe it’s not.”
Gedeon’s gaze met Meiling’s across the room. This case suddenly jumped to priority number one. “How long has your daughter been missing?” he demanded. He wanted to ask why the man had fucked around for so long before calling him.
“Nearly a month now. I paid the ransom twice. Another demand just came in. Even if I pay it, they won’t give her to me.”
“How do you know she’s alive?” Gedeon asked, looking to Harold. Fredrick just kept shaking his head and moaning.
“We don’t. They haven’t given us proof of life. I kept telling Fredrick to wait before he paid them, that we needed to have them show us she was alive, but he was so distraught that they took her that he just paid the money.”
“If you want our help in getting your daughter back, Atwater, and finding these fuckers who took her, you’re going to have to do everything I say. Exactly what I say. You have a spy in this house. A traitor working with them. Someone is reporting to them. They can’t be aware you hired outside help. I want them to think you’re so distraught you can’t function. You’re going to be in bed, in your room, with only Harold looking after you. A doctor will come to oversee your care. Harold, you have to demand proof of life. Only you can talk to these fuckers. Atwater is too ill. Someone working here in the house will be insistent on looking in on him. You have to tell them it is the doctor’s orders that no one disturbs him. I’ll call Elijah and have him send a couple of men to help you guard Atwater’s room. You can’t be up around the clock.”
“But what about getting the money to Lilith’s kidnappers?” Fredrick asked. “They said if I didn’t bring it to them myself, they’ll kill her.”
“Didn’t they say that exact thing before?” Gedeon demanded.
Atwater nodded, slumping in his chair.
“That’s why you’re too sick to cope with anything. They’ve driven you beyond your ability to function. Your mental health is in a terrible state. You will be living in your room, keeping it dark and staying away from the windows where they might catch a glimpse of you. You aren’t eating. Harold will sneak food in to you. The doctor is giving you intravenous treatments in order to keep up your fluids and strength.”
Atwater nodded. “How is this going to help?”
“If you’re convincing enough, whoever the spy is will have to report to their boss. He or she will lead us up the chain to the one who has your daughter. We take your daughter back. In the meantime, we take a look at the books and see if we can do the tracing for you. There’s always a trail, even if it’s a faint one. You’re the key to getting your daughter back, Atwater.”
It was necessary to give the man a significant role so he felt he was helping to get his child back. Gedeon wanted to get the bastards who had taken a child from her safe haven and not returned her. All he knew was, she had better be alive.
“Where was Lilith last seen and with whom?” Meiling asked.
“She went to the park with her nanny, Minny Tangra. Minny walked with her to the little playhouse and two men came out of nowhere, both wearing masks. One hit Minny hard, knocking her to the ground. The other took Lilith. They ran with her to a waiting dark-colored BMW.”
“Do you suspect Tangra as being part of the conspiracy to kidnap your daughter?” Gedeon asked.
Atwater shook his head. “No. Minny was hit so hard she had a major concussion. For a couple of days, we were afraid she wouldn’t come out of it. She still has some issues from the injury.”
Gedeon nodded, not impressed or sympathetic. That wasn’t his job. “We’ll need her address. We need an up-to-date list of everyone who has worked here in the past four years. That includes anyone working on the grounds. If they’re single; who they’re dating, if you have the information. We’ll need to know who your daughter’s doctor is and her dentist. Who takes her there and why she didn’t have bodyguards that day. Where were they?” He made the last a question, looking between Harold and Atwater.
“As a rule, I don’t use them,” Atwater admitted. “I stopped after I got married. My wife didn’t like the idea of having them. I got out of the habit, other than having Harold with me.” He lifted his pain-filled, very guilty gaze to Gedeon’s. “It was arrogance. I have a reputation among the other families. It never occurred to me anyone would dare to kidnap my daughter.”
Gedeon bit back a curse and turned away from the man. Every pakhan he knew had bodyguards. The heads of the Italian families had bodyguards. It was arrogance beyond anything he’d heard of to think Atwater wouldn’t take a hit at some point. It hadn’t been him but a child who had suffered. Gedeon might come back and slit his throat if that child had been sold into a trafficking ring.
“We need to see the rest of the house. We will also send over a team to search for bugs. Someone planted two in this room. Your home, particularly your office and private apartment, is going to be lousy with them.” Gedeon was already texting Rene to arrange for the team to come in immediately. He wanted them in and out before sunup, and the mansion was huge. “How many square feet?”
Harold told him. Gedeon relayed the information to Rene. Meiling and he spent another two hours familiarizing themselves with the layout of the mansion. The doctor showed up to help set up Atwater’s suite to look as if he was no longer functional and had to have around-the-clock care. Drake Donovan sent a team of bodyguards. He had men stationed in San Antonio and they arrived within minutes of the call.
Gedeon and Meiling gathered up the books and photographs and left the way they had come, trusting Harold to handle his boss and lifelong friend. Either Atwater would cooperate or he wouldn’t.
“Is she alive?” Gedeon asked Meiling. “What does your gut say?”
“It says that man is an idiot. He wanted to find whoever was taking money from him and make an example out of them. He’s been so long at the top, always handling everything with his own set of rules, it didn’t occur to him that someone could come along with a different playbook.”
“Lotus Blossom. That tells me nothing. Do you think she’s alive?” Gedeon needed the kid to be alive. If she wasn’t—he was going to go insane and burn down the city until he found every one of the fuckers responsible for taking her. They wouldn’t die easy. Slayer unsheathed his claws and raked cruelly, adding his ire and need for violence.
She nodded. “They need her alive. Atwater may be an arrogant ass, but he’s powerful, and if he finds out who has her, they’ll need her in order to bargain their way out of a very bad situation. He looks like a sweet man, but he didn’t get into that position by being nice. I could smell the rage in him.”
The relief was tremendous. That had been his assessment as well, but it felt good to have Meiling’s logical conclusion match his.
Gedeon opened the passenger door for her, keeping his smirk to himself as she slid in. She had really balked at him being the driver and called him a few choice names. He agreed with every name she’d called him and took his place behind the wheel. Now, she was so intrigued with the books Atwater had turned over to them, she paid no attention that he was the driver. He liked her smart mouth and had to suppress the childish urge to taunt her just to get her going. In the end, she always laughed. He could use the sound of her laughter after hearing Atwater’s admission that he’d waited to call for help even after his daughter had been taken.
“Leopard Boy, Atwater is supposed to be this brilliant mathematician. I read all about him online. Numbers don’t lie. If someone is stealing and doing it consistently, eventually there is a pattern to it. Even if they try to hide that pattern, it will come out. Harold said Atwater checked the books of every business deal weekly. He knew those books intimately. I don’t see how it’s possible he couldn’t figure out who was stealing from him.”
She ran her hands over the cover of the top book again and again as if she couldn’t wait to delve into it. “Did he seem particularly brilliant to you? He could barely speak on his own. Harold did most of the talking.”
“Clearly, he was on some substance. I got close enough to him. It wasn’t alcohol.”
“Harold was covering for him, you think? Or do you believe Harold is part of the conspiracy and that’s why the bugs were in the conservatory?” she asked, leaning her head back against the seat.
Gedeon tried not to notice her silhouette as he drove toward the heart of the city. He had become just as possessive of Meiling as Slayer was. She brought him so many different emotions, all very strong. Some overwhelming. She kept Slayer under control, which gave him peace. There were times when he did wonder if she made the ferocious burn for sex even worse.
When they were in New Orleans, he went to the club every night and hooked up with a woman to see to his needs. One woman had usually been enough for the night, but it wasn’t any longer. He couldn’t make his cock stand down and the sex was getting rougher and more violent. Slayer protested each time he found someone else to try to take that terrible edge off, yet it was Slayer who often seemed to drive him with his sexual needs as well. The protests were ugly and frightening in that the leopard would wait until the moment Gedeon finally managed an actual release. At that moment the cat would throw himself at the man, determined to take over their form in order to kill the woman. Each time Gedeon was with a woman was dangerous, but if he tried to go too long without, he became dangerous. It was a vicious circle. The only time he got any real peace was when he tricked Meiling into sleeping in his bed. Slayer subsided, and even if Gedeon lay awake all night with his cock as hard as a rock, he was content.
“Harold Brinks is totally loyal to Fredrick Atwater. He knows the man is being drugged. Someone is slipping him something to mess him up just enough to interfere with his ability to make decisions,” Gedeon said decisively. “Harold called us in. He wouldn’t have chanced calling us if he was guilty. I have that reputation, babe.”
She winced when he called her babe. He didn’t do it often, but she didn’t like it and sometimes it got her going. “I might die if don’t get coffee, LB. Seriously. Even a very bad cup of coffee will do in a pinch.”
He raised his eyebrow. “LB? You’re going to shorten your nickname for me to mere letters? No. I draw the line.”
“What does that mean, exactly? Where do you draw the line? There’s no sand. There’s no dirt. We’re in a car. You don’t have a pen or a pencil to draw with. You don’t even have a crayon. There’s no logic in that.”
“I was taking you to a bakery that has amazing coffee, but you don’t deserve it, so I’m heading to our hotel. They have coffee, but it’s terrible.”
She groaned and set the books on the console between them. Both hands went to her hair to pull the ribbon from it. She’d left it down, tied with a ribbon at the nape of her neck, something she rarely did. She lifted the silky mass up with a little sigh of relief.
“I have an atrocious temper, Gedeon,” she suddenly confessed. “Sometimes I don’t think I’m a very good partner for you. You knew Atwater was under the influence of drugs and someone had most likely administered them to him. You came up with a plan to keep him safe and at the same time buy us time to find his daughter. I didn’t care that someone had screwed with his so-called brilliant mind. I wanted to bash him one for being an arrogant ass and taking a chance with his daughter’s life.”
He shot her a grin. He did love the way she had that fiery little streak in her. “That’s why my most special vases are put away.”
“Because you’re an arrogant ass as well,” she declared, and twisted her hair into some kind of knot that only women knew how to manage. Taking a pair of sticks from her pocket, she shoved them a little viciously into her hair to hold it in place.
“Those things weapons?” He indicated the sticks with a jerk of his chin.
“Naturally. I’d find that really nice bakery with the good coffee if I were you.” Meiling tried to sound menacing, but she only succeeded in sounding like she was purring.
That sounded like purring to him, and his body stirred. Gedeon set his teeth and willed his cock under control. “Fine, although you don’t deserve it.” If she were his, he’d spend hours making her purr for him.
The smile faded from the luscious curve of her lips. “I really am questioning Atwater’s arrogance, Gedeon. Why would he risk his daughter? He already lost his wife. Maybe not to violence, but she is still gone. Every other head of a crime family has bodyguards. Most of them have far too many hanging around. What’s the big deal to hire a few to keep his daughter safe? It wouldn’t make him look weak, since everyone seems to have them.”
Her voice was steady, but he realized that, like he was, Meiling was shaken by the kidnapping of the little girl. Neither had been expecting it. Both had suffered too many losses. He nearly pulled the car over so he could hold her. Meiling was careful of their relationship. She wouldn’t welcome him getting too familiar with her.
They had a fantastic partnership, their every step in perfect sync. It hadn’t taken long to get there either. Their personal relationship was good—friendly with lots of laughter. But the intimacy that had been between them in the first six weeks was no longer there. That was on him. His fault entirely, and there was no real way to fix it.
“I get it, Meiling. He should have.” He kept his voice gentle.
It was all the visits to the club. That had come between them. He needed the sex. He’d held out for as long as he could. Once he went, it was as if he was more addicted than ever. He had to go. Meiling stopped coming to his suite. She used her private entrance in the evenings, and that left him alone with a seething leopard and nights of no sleep no matter how many women he hooked up with.
She didn’t bring up the fact that he had sex with other women. He almost wished she would so they could talk about it. He had no idea what he’d say, but at least he’d know it bothered her. The way things stood between them now, she didn’t seem to care. She just went her own way and treated him like a wayward sibling or best friend.
Gedeon had been to San Antonio numerous times, doing work for several of the Italian and Russian families there. They were tight-knit. Very dangerous. Connected in ways he didn’t yet know or understand, but it was all the same to him. As long as they didn’t violate his code, he did his job and got paid in favors or money.
“This bakery is bratya, Meiling. They’re leopard,” he warned. “That doesn’t mean I’m not right when I say the coffee is the best and the baked goods even better.”
Her dark eyes flashed and met his as he parked the car. “I have never been around so many leopards in my life. I think you deliberately just drag me around them because you know it makes me uncomfortable.” She gathered up the books on the seat and pushed the door open on her side of the car. She didn’t get out right away. Instead, she put out one leg and fussed with one of the books as her gaze scanned the rooftops and buildings across the street.
“Two shooters, Gedeon. One directly across the street on the rooftop and the other a block away. The blue building. Woman walking her dog. Looks like a bodyguard to me. Two coming up behind us came from the alley.” She spoke low and then got out of the car as she shuffled the books in close to her and closed the door.
Gedeon locked the doors as he wrapped his arm around her, and they crossed the street together, going straight to the glass door of the bakery. The Sweet Shoppe. The name of the shop was done in calligraphy and looked very elegant. The moment Gedeon opened the door, the aroma of baked goods drew Meiling inside. Gedeon stepped back to allow her in first.
His gaze swept the interior. He’d been to the bakery multiple times. This early, there was only one table with two customers he would consider legitimate. There was a second table with two men he knew immediately were leopard and definitely bodyguards. He recognized both men. The owner, Evangeline Amurov, was married to Fyodor Amurov. He held the reins over a very large territory and did so ruthlessly. He guarded his family, his wife and children with that same ruthlessness. Few would ever dare to cross him. He was surrounded by bodyguards, and his wife and children never went anywhere without them.
Both bodyguards looked up immediately, recognized him and nodded, and then their gazes swept over Meiling with a little too much interest to suit him. He put a possessive hand on the small of her back. If they had been home in New Orleans, going to the Café Du Monde, Meiling would have stepped away from him. She would have done so casually, finding some excuse, but here, she followed his lead.
“Evangeline,” he greeted. “I don’t know why I didn’t expect to see you this early in the morning when I know you’re the one who does all the baking. The last time I was here, your sister-in-law, Ashe, let me know she was not the baker in the family. That was all you.”
Evangeline laughed. “She was telling you the truth. It’s Gedeon, right?”
“Good memory. This is Meiling. I told her you have the best coffee and pastries in San Antonio.”
“Nice to meet you, Meiling,” Evangeline said. “Are you staying in San Antonio for long this time, Gedeon?”
Gedeon remembered the genuine warmth she exuded. She gave that to Meiling, making her feel welcome. Evangeline had a gift. That was part of the charm of her shop. He had been surprised that a man like Fyodor Amurov would allow his woman to continue to work in an environment that could be a danger to them both.
The first time Gedeon had come to the shop, it had been very small, but charming. Now it was much larger, with more tables and far more display cases, although the charm was still there. The coffee machines were set up in a wide U with plenty of space for the women to work. There were rooms beyond the wide, spacious counters and, of course, the kitchen one couldn’t see into. Gedeon knew Fyodor had an office somewhere in the building to stay close to his wife.
“I’m not certain how much time I’ll be spending here.” He put in his order and waited for Meiling to give her selection. “How are Fyodor and Timur?”
“Healthy,” Evangeline said, without stopping the flow of work for a moment. She was making their coffee and putting their pastries on plates for them. She made a face over her shoulder, her eyes laughing. “Bossy.”
“I love everything about this bakery,” Meiling said. “The colors on the walls are so soothing.” She looked up at the ceiling and then around to each wall separately. “I like that your decorator used a deeper blue for an accent wall and then chose the same color for the lines in the ceiling. I never would have thought of that.”
Evangeline looked pleased, a warm rose color creeping under her skin. “I’m the decorator. When I first bought this place it was very small, and I didn’t have a ton of money. I did all the painting and decorating myself. I had a lot of time to think about exactly the way I wanted it to look.”
Meiling did a slow turn right there at the counter, looking around the bakery. “You did a fantastic job. You have a good eye for detail. I especially like the way you detailed the darker blue lines on the ceiling. They’re so faint, but they add dimension. I moved into a new apartment recently and I was told I could paint if I wanted to. I sometimes just stare at the ceiling wondering what I want to do differently, and your ceiling opens up all kinds of possibilities I hadn’t thought of.”
Gedeon took the plates with the pastries. “Do you have a time limit on your tables, Evangeline? We’re working. We’ll be happy to pay for the time.”
Evangeline waved him away. “Get to it. Meiling, later I might be able to find some of the books that inspired me.”
“I’d love that. Thank you.”
Gedeon went straight for a table where he had a good view of the door and anyone coming through it. He put the coffee mugs and pastry dishes down and indicated for Meiling to sit to his right. She slid onto the comfortable chair and placed the stack of books on top of the table along with the tablet and photographs Atwater had given them. The photographs were placed picture-side down.
“Do you have notebooks and pens?” he asked.
“Yes, although I should be asking you that question.” She flicked him a quick glance. The bakery was beginning to fill up with customers. The bodyguards weren’t watching them so closely. She placed one hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide as if astonished at how good the pastry she’d barely taken a bite of was.
“Three cameras. Four o’clock. Six o’clock and twelve o’clock. Glass is thick, looks bulletproof to me. The two men sitting just to the right of the window are leopard and are clearly guarding Evangeline. They mean business too. They’re armed to the teeth.” She reached inside her coat and pulled out two notebooks and a package of pens, placing them on the table between them.
“Anyone coming in look suspicious to you? As if they might have followed us?” Gedeon leaned in to her on the pretense of picking up one of the pens and a notebook. It would be impossible for the cameras to pick up his lips moving.
Meiling shook her head. “We weren’t followed. I really like the atmosphere here, Gedeon, although why they let you in, I have no idea.” Deliberately, she allowed the bodyguards to read her lips. “I would think you might be considered trouble.”
One coughed behind his hand. The other snickered and turned it into a cough. Gedeon flicked his ice-cold gaze in their direction.
“Do you know them?” Meiling asked. Her coffee cup was up to her lips, hiding anything she said.
He nodded, not liking that she was curious. Was that interest in her eyes? He realized he was becoming more possessive of her the longer he spent time with her. That wasn’t a good sign. She seemed able to detach her emotions from him. The physical attraction that had been there when they first were together had slipped away, at least on her side. Now she didn’t flirt with him. She might tease him, but she wasn’t flirtatious. He didn’t want her flirting with the guards. He didn’t want her flirting with anyone but him. He also couldn’t afford to fuck up their professional relationship or their friendship with irrational jealousy.
He had come to Evangeline’s bakery on purpose. Fyodor Amurov was not a man you fucked with. The other men holding territories all had close ties to him. The moment the plane had touched down and Gedeon Volkov had walked off it, Fyodor would have been informed. Gedeon was bad news. He had a reputation for leaving behind dead bodies. Fyodor, like all the other heads of the families, would want to know why he was in town. It was smart to be proactive and pay his respects to Amurov first.
“Yes, the man on the right is named Kyanite Boston. The other is Rodion Galerkin. Leopards out of Russia. They work for Fyodor and are watching out for his wife.” He might not like it, but he gave them their due. “They wouldn’t be given that assignment if they weren’t considered extremely fast, the best he has.”
“That’s nice,” Meiling said, taking another drink of coffee. “That he would care enough to put his best men on his wife.”
Gedeon knew she was thinking about the fact that Fredrick Atwater hadn’t put bodyguards on his daughter and she’d been kidnapped.
“Yeah, Lotus, Fyodor puts Evangeline first always.”
“Says a lot about him. And you were so right, this coffee is good. If it wasn’t for the beignets at the Café Du Monde, we would have to move here.” She took a bite of an apricot scone. “Seriously, Gedeon, think about it, I could learn to fly a plane.”
“I have a pilot’s license,” he admitted.
Her head jerked up and she narrowed her eyes at him. Those dark eyes that looked like two liquid pools of water he could drown in. She had a beautiful face. He often stared at the oval delicacy of it. The way her bones appeared so fragile, the high cheekbones and aristocratic nose and that chin that drew his attention like a magnet. He wanted to shape her face with his hands, run his fingers over her petal-soft skin, trace her full lips and commit every detail to memory over and over. He was tactile with her—not with anyone else, just Meiling.
“That is withholding important information. Do you own a plane?”
“I do. It’s a small plane. Nothing fancy. I bought it for fun, not for going from one country to another.”
“In the grand scheme of things, Mr. Volkov, having a plane and a pilot’s license would come in very handy if I were in desperate need of an apricot scone and great coffee one morning after putting up with your annoying two a.m. calls so you can get decent sleep because Mr. Sinister is acting up.”
He struggled not to laugh. She was hilarious. “Mr. Sinister?”
“Well, he’s not Mr. Bojangles, and you shot down Mr. Sparkles, which was a perfectly good name. I could have shortened it to Sparky.” She took another bite of the apricot scone and closed her eyes as if savoring the pastry.
Her long black lashes feathered in a crescent against her skin. He found it sexy. His body stirred again, and he had to force himself to look away from her. God help him if she moaned. He wasn’t the only one looking at her. Kyanite and Rodion were looking too. For one terrible moment, that murderous part of him he always kept contained rose up, threatening to take over. That didn’t happen on a job. Never out in public, especially when he knew he was being observed.
Behind the counter, where Evangeline helped a customer, the double doors leading to the kitchen opened and a tall man with wide shoulders, scars on his face and cold, flat eyes emerged. Almost at the same time, Meiling rose. “I’m heading to the ladies’ room and then getting more coffee before we start work. Do you want anything?”
“Order me another as well,” Gedeon said. He’d chosen the right woman. She was astute. Smooth. So natural, no one could fault her. He watched her walk to the room marked for women, her hips swaying gently. Rodion and Kyanite didn’t take their gazes off her either until the door closed, cutting off their view.