Until the End (Volkov Bratva #2)(27)

Rubbing his jaw, he said, “I’ll answer what I can.”

“What do you do…exactly?”

Smiling, he answered, “I own a club.”

“And…”

“That’s it.”

She smirked. “But you’re a Captain, right?” She tapped one of the stars on his chest. “Shouldn’t you have minions that are shaking down business owners.”

“And you complain of Susan watching too much television.”

She giggled. “I think that’s a valid question.”

“To put it simply, I do a little bit of everything.”

“Have you ever killed someone?”

“Plausible deniability,” he said and she didn’t ask him to answer. She didn’t think she really wanted the answer.

Moving on. “Since you’re like a Captain, do you have people that you rule over?”

“Not in so many words. There are men that follow my direction, yes.”

“How many?”

“Scores.”

“And they all just follow you?” She asked, snapping her fingers as she said, “Just like that.”

“Some yes, others just follow the stars.”

Meaning the twin eight-point stars on his chest. They were tattooed in faded black ink. She couldn’t even remember what answer he had given her when she asked him what they meant.

“What—”

“We have plenty of time for questions, moya globushka.”

The endearment made her smile. She missed it more than she knew.

She settled closer to him, resting her head on his chest, closing her eyes. “I’m glad you’re back, Mish.”





And just like that—besides Amber and Rob—things were back to how they had once been. Mishca came over for Friday night dinners when he wasn’t busy with his obligations.

As Amber popped her head in, Lauren slammed her laptop shut, staring up guiltily though she tried for the life of her to look innocent. Sadly, she didn’t get a chance to mute it, so Amber heard the last few seconds of the flick she was watching.

Looking amused, Amber asked, “Should I come back later?”

Clearing her throat—trying to will the blush staining her cheeks away—Lauren said, “Nope, what’s up? Did you need something?”

“I was going shopping, thought you might want to come…unless of course you’re hoping to be alone.”

“Okay, shut up,” Lauren said over her laughter. “I was trying to get some tips.”

“Tips?”

“Well…yea.”

“Seriously?”

Huffing out a breath, Lauren quickly explained her predicament. “I wanted to surprise Mish with a weekend to ourselves and I’m pretty sure we’re going to…well you know.”

Biting her lip, Amber tried to restrain a smile. “No, I don’t think I do.”

Trying to fight down her embarrassment, she whispered, “Have sex.”

“Why are you so red? I’m surprised the two of you haven’t done that before now.”

Lauren shrugged, looking away. The opportunity had come up on plenty of occasions, but it seemed like Mishca had been waiting on something, and after all that had happened later, she doubted sex was a top priority on either of their minds.

“Yes, well since it’s my first time, I want it to be special, but I also want it to be good for him,” she hastily added. “Remember that time Tristan was complaining about that girl being a lazy bottom?”

Sometimes Tristan had a knack for telling them about his sexual exploits, not caring whether it made them uncomfortable or not…or even if they knew the girl—like that time he was telling them about a girl from Amber’s art class.

“Tristan was just being a dick. Don’t ever take sex advice from him.”

“Then teach me, oh great one.”

“Be ready in ten.”





Lauren wanted to check her account balance first before they headed into the shops, wanting to ensure that her paycheck had arrived. When she stuck in her debit card and punched in her pin, she definitely wasn’t expecting the amount shown.

She blinked once, then blinked again, wanting to make sure she was reading the screen correctly. She even exited out, reentering the information just to be sure, but her eyes weren’t deceiving her.

As she wondered where the money could have come from, she had a sneaking suspicion.

She dialed Susan. Listening to it ring, Lauren tried to decide how she would go about this, knowing that it wouldn’t be easy for either of them.

When Susan finally picked up, Lauren asked, “Mom, did you rob a bank?”

“I don’t think so,” Susan said confused. “What are you talking about?”

“I checked my bank account today and there’s more money in my account than…well ever.”

Susan was quiet for a long time and what Lauren had assumed, she knew for sure now.

“Your father set up a trust for you, your portion of his life insurance. Once you turned twenty-one, it went into effect.”

“But why is it so much…” Then she remembered the payment from Mikhail, Susan’s hush money.