“I’m just tired,” I said, forcing a smile.
When the plane was in the air, I covered myself with a blanket and pretended to sleep to keep Rurik from continuing to worry about me. Watching movies and carrying on aconversation weren’t options when I was still so shaken up. Sleep wasn’t an option either now that my old fears were back, stronger than ever. Would there be another message from yet another number the next time I looked at my phone?
We arrived at LAX and went straight to the office. Rurik was champing at the bit to get the updates he’d been ignoring while we were concentrating on the Koboyashis. They might have been our biggest client, but they weren’t the only one. Jet lag wasn’t a thing when there was a company to run.
I settled into my desk, staring at Rurik’s closed door as I waited for my computer to boot up. I was safe here. The building had security, and more importantly, it had Rurik. One little shout from me and he’d come slamming into my outer office to see what was going on.
He came slamming out only a few minutes later, looking harried and muttering into his phone. “Cancel my afternoon meeting,” he told me, barely glancing my way. “Something came up.”
I jumped up to follow him. “What do I need to bring?” I asked.
He shook his head, still storming away at top speed. “You’re not needed for this. Get the reports from accounting and have them on my desk by the end of the day.”
“Will you be back by then?” I asked, but he was already taking the stairs, in too much of a hurry to wait for the elevator.
So, I guess I shouldn’t hold dinner for him, either. Maybe he wouldn’t even be home tonight. Talk about getting jerked back to reality.
Someone came out of the break room and raised his eyebrows at me over our boss’s abrupt departure after only justreturning. I shrugged and rolled my eyes, pretending I wasn’t hurt that Ruik had treated me like an assistant and not a wife.
I had no reason to be hurt. Didn’t I remind myself of this each and every day? Rurik was my boss, so of course, he was going to tell me what to do in the same clipped tones he used before our honeymoon. Which was really just a series of business meetings interspersed with the best times of my life.
No matter how hard I tried, I had begun to believe the fantasy, and that had to stop.
Chapter 30 - Rurik
Last week, I was told things were settling down here in LA. Aleks and Dan had assured me I should extend my vacation. They even made jokes, still not completely convinced that I was telling the truth about Clem’s and my relationship being something that was going to last.
With everything less hectic at home, I had planned to ease them into what Konstantin was up to in Tokyo. Despite his chaotic ways of dealing with the business he had set up, it was thriving and making money hand over fist. It might be a good idea to get involved and even invite him to LA, both for his own good and to confuse the Yakuza, and for us.
But the wheels of the plane were barely back on US soil when my phone was flooded with messages of a new attack. For once, I was glad that Clem was preoccupied with whatever had upset her before takeoff, because she didn’t seem to notice I barely had time to get her to the office before half my American relatives were blowing up my phone.
The attacks had petered out, barely a few scuffles since I left, but now they were back in full swing. Almost as if whoever was behind this new war had been waiting for my return. This new attack was huge and too close to home for me to ignore.
My biggest warehouse was raided shortly before dawn, with fire damage to the building and the assholes making off with a lot of goods that Gavrik Imports stored there, including some that weren’t completely legal. Worst of all, a guard was killed. The man was just trying to make a living, not even in the Bratva, and had seen the fire from the gated entrance to the warehouse park. Trying to help had gotten him killed, and now his kids didn’t have a father.
No amount of money could fix that, though, of course, I would try.
My main worry at the moment was the fact that our enemy now had a shitload of guns that could be traced back to my family. That could be bad on a lot of levels, not the least of having crimes we didn’t commit traced back to us. We had a copacetic relationship with the cops, keeping the dirty ones happy with regular bribes and staying out of the way of the honest ones. A major crime spree using Russian guns would throw the detectives who’d been trying to nail Aleks and my cousins for years into a frenzy.
It was imperative that I go after the culprits and get my stuff back before that happened. Gavril was waiting for me at the warehouse with Dan and Lev. Some of my other cousins were already out pounding the pavement, but there was no good news yet.
Gavril was as furious as I was, ready to call in some of his Collective buddies to widen the net.
“Let’s keep this in-house for now,” Dan said, almost causing a new rift when Gavril accused him of not fully trusting his guys.
“Knock it off,” I said, stepping between them. “There’s no reason to pull anyone away yet, that’s all Dan’s saying.”
Dan didn’t jump to agree, but I kept the fight from breaking out by asking why the hell we were milling around the burned-out warehouse when we should have been out searching. We needed to focus any aggression on the thugs who thought they could stand up to the Fokins and continue breathing.
It was time to teach them who was in charge of this city.
Gavril jumped in my car with me, and with no real information yet, I headed toward the last known location of one of the street gang’s high-ranking members.
“How was the honeymoon?” he asked, putting a little bit too much sarcastic emphasis on the word.
“Is that important right now?” I was as pissed off as he was, and not just because of the guns or losing thousands of dollars' worth of merchandise. I would have much rather been having lunch with my wife, damn it.
He shrugged. “What else are we going to talk about?”