Vik (Shot Callers 2)

“I see,” Lev murmured.

God love him, he didn’t see. This was one of those things with Lev. You had to spell it out for him. He didn’t take cues well. If you wanted to tell him something, you had to be direct.

“Have a baby,” I told him. “Hell, have twenty. With Mina at your back, every minute will be a pleasure.”

Lev smiled then. It was small but there. “It already is.”

I was glad he had that. I really was. But, in some underhanded way, all this talk of wives, love, and growing families made me feel the loss of my woman even more.

My mood fell. “It’ll be great, Lev. You’ll see.”

“And if it isn’t,” surly-ass Sasha added with a sly smile, “you can always divorce her.”

“Easy,” growled Lev, while “Are you fucking kidding me?” shot out of my mouth like bullets out of a gun.

His face sober, Sasha uttered a bored, “It was a joke.”

Yeah. Sure, it was, buddy.

“I have a meeting with a distributor in an hour.” Sasha threw me a set of keys. I caught them midair. “Lock up when you’re done.” He threw his towel around his neck and made to exit the home gym. Before he reached the door, he paused, turned, and said to us both, “I may need your assistance with a John.”

Nice. I was out of practice. It had been a while since someone did a runner.

“Anyone we know?” I asked.

It was always good to know before the fact, because friend or foe, I’d have to beat the shit out of him, and I didn’t like surprises.

Sasha seemed to hesitate. “He’s one of Laredo’s.”

Well, shit. Sasha’s uncle was in the biz. Why the hell would this guy risk his wrath by coming to Sasha for a loan? More importantly, why would Sasha lend him the money?

Curiosity had me asking, “Does he know?”

“This has nothing to do with him. But—” Sasha merely looked at me. “—he will if this prick fails to make a second payment.”

Fair enough.

Not that it mattered. If this idiot was stupid enough to borrow money from Sasha and think he’d show leniency when the dough wasn’t returned, he had another think coming. Sasha would take payment where he could. A finger. A kneecap. An arm. An eye. It didn’t matter. Compensation was always met—in one way or another.

“No problem,” I said with a light nod because it wasn’t. This is what I did. I was muscle for hire. And it was one of the rare things I was good at.

His returning nod was almost regal.

With Sasha gone, I went to the bench Lev vacated and sat down, adjusting the straps on my gloves, when Lev uttered a fairly straightforward, “It is not often I’m surprised, but I am surprised by you.”

The hell was he talking about?

I looked up from my hands to find him peering down at me. “Is there a reason you aren’t fighting for my sister?”

My first reaction was to tell him to back the fuck off, but this was Lev, and I knew he didn’t mean for it to sound like an allegation. “It’s complicated, Lev.”

“Yes,” he said. “Things are often complicated until we find someone who uncomplicates them.”

My brow lowered. What in the Mr. Miyagi bullshit was this?

What he said next smarted. And even for Lev, I believed he meant for it to. “I never took you for a coward, Viktor.”

I stood slowly, resting a glare on him, my tone a perfect calm I did not feel. Anger rolled off me in waves. “There are things you don’t know. Watch your mouth, brother.”

But Lev did not feel the danger I put out. “The definition of cowardice is a lack of bravery.” He tilted his head a moment in thought before straightening. “I believe the description fits.”

“Lev,” I warned, my resolve cracking, “don’t push me.”

And because Lev’s mind did not work the same way as most people’s, his response was cool and to the point. “Mina tells me that sometimes people need a push. Not even in the right direction. In any direction. To keep them moving. Because life is motion, and when we stop moving, we never get the time back we lost.” A brief pause. “You haven’t moved in a while. Neither has Nastasia.” His tone was void, but his brow furrowed a touch. “You need a push. You both do.”

Goddammit.

This was how Lev was. One second, you wanted to kick his ass, and the next, you wanted to hug him.

When I took my time responding, he advised, “May I offer you some advice?”

No. I didn’t want advice. I didn’t want to talk. I was hurt and dismal, and I wanted to be left the fuck alone.

A sigh left me, but I said, “Sure.”

Lev looked past me, as though I wasn’t even there. He thought a while, and when he began to speak, he looked me in the eye. “Life begins with love.”