Vengeance Aside (Wanted Men 0.5)(69)



“The prick just entered the building,” Maksim growled around the sound of a keyboard being banged on. “You have to move now. Take your muscle, and go into the club proper. Make sure you walk by the main bar. When Dawson sees you and Samuel, he’ll know the girls are alone and he’ll go searching. But you know they’re not really alone,” he added in a long-suffering tone, “because the boys are camped behind every closed door in that fucking hallway, and two of them won’t stop complaining about the stench behind the dumpster in the alley. Come on, Zavrazin. I have them covered.”

The reassurance did nothing to lessen the dread clawing its way up Lukas’s spine. “Why don’t I just take him out when I see him at the bar.”

“I told you earlier, if you do anything in gen pop, you’re going to draw attention. We’re doing this from a distance. Didn’t you hear Gheorghe’s warning before he left?”

Yes. Lukas had heard it. Over a late dinner last night, while Dale had been in the kitchen with Farah, Gheorghe had told Lukas and Samuel that his cousin wasn’t impressed by the spotlight their personal issues had put on the city. Lucian had sent along a message stating that if they did anything to exacerbate the problem, their Bratva would be punished. Getting a warning like that from the Romanian wasn’t a treat, but Lukas understood why it had to be done. In their world, gaining the attention of the authorities, or worse, the press, meant stopping whatever business one was in the middle of until the spotlight moved on and operations could continue with no one the wiser.

Fine. He got it. The takedown would be quiet, and he’d have to trust Vasily’s boy.

“Don’t worry,” Maks drawled. “We’ll lure him into the alley, take him out, and you can be home making babies with your woman within a couple of hours. Vasily said you’re trying for a kid already. Who the fuck talked who into that?”

Lukas hung up. Apparently, his father and Vasily had been chatting.

He went to Dale and took her face between his palms. “Samuel and I need to take care of something. I want you to go out back with Farah and wait for the car.”

“Okay.”

The unconditional trust staring up at him from those emerald eyes nearly brought him to his knees. I love you, Magdalena.

“Come on. We gotta go.”

Samuel looked fucking ill as he stared at his wife from the doorway. It was clear both he and Lukas shared some control issues. Maybe they should have been more insistent when refusing Maksim’s offer—demand—to run this takedown. But, because the Goliath had essentially done most of the legwork himself, pinning down Dawson and all but orchestrating the fucker’s next move, Lukas hadn’t felt it was in their right to insist Maks allow them to take over.

“Are you okay?” Farah went to Samuel, looking concerned as she smoothed his hair back from his forehead. “You look worried.”

“I love you.”

She blinked and smiled. “I love you more.”

“Go wait for the car,” Samuel reiterated for nothing. “I’ll be with you the second it’s over.”

Lukas kissed Dale once more then pushed his brother out into the corridor before Farah could ask any questions. The girl could be relentless when she wanted answers.

***

“Okay. You’re going to figure out soon enough when to be suspicious of these guys,” Farah said as she frowned at the empty doorway.

Dale was doing the same. But whereas Farah didn’t look particularly bothered, Dale’s stomach was in knots because she’d picked up on the anxiety that had increased exponentially during Lukas’s phone call. “You mean like now? What the hell was that about?”

“I don’t know. And we probably never will.” Farah grabbed her purse from the table and followed the path her husband had just taken. “Let’s go. If the car shows and we’re not out there, they’ll get the call and shit will hit the fan.”

As they left the staffroom and headed down the corridor, Dale looked back. “Lukas said Patrik would be on me twenty-four-seven.”

“They must have needed him.”

Dale skipped to catch up. “Why don’t you have a regular guy?”

“I do. He just left with his brother.”

Dale chuckled. “You’re very good at handling this. I feel sick being out in public alone for the first time since all this happened.”

Farah gave her a look. “Hang out with them for seventeen years and you no longer find yourself reacting when they get like that. I used to throw a fit, demanding to know every detail. I soon found out it’s better to be in the dark about certain things. She nudged Dale’s shoulder. “What’s gotten into you—aside from Lukas—since you hooked up with him? You used to be the one handling shit with no trouble. Now you’re, I don’t know, emotional or something. Maybe you’re pregnant.”

Or maybe she was becoming a rational human being who experienced feelings along with the rest of them.

They looked at each other and smiled, sharing the excitement that came with the idea of a baby on the way. While they’d made Oreo cheesecake last night—it was Kostya’s favorite—and the men had closed themselves into the dining room for a business dinner, Farah had admitted she and Samuel were freaking out at the prospect of having a baby in the house. She’d promised Dale to try her hardest not to become a pain-in-the-ass, but only if Dale promised she and Samuel could babysit on date night. Dale had agreed.

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