Take Me Under (The Bratva Chronicles 2)

No one called this line unless shit needed to be done.

He picked up the phone. “Da,” he said into the receiver, not phrasing it like a question.

“I’m coming out,” Aleczander said in Russian.

“There’s an issue?”

“No, but I want to see how the American operations are running. It’s been my intention to come out once everything was established, and I’m doing that now. That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Of course not.”

“Good,” Aleczander said in his deep voice. “I want to be picked up at the strip at seven.”

“I’ll make sure we’re there.”

Once he hung up, Yvgeny leaned back. He had no issues with Aleczander coming. The only issue he had with Aleczander was that the head of the Russian Bratva usually brought trouble with him. It was inevitable.

Yvgeny would just have to make sure to be on point.

“Yvgeny wants to see you in his office,” said Anna, one of the waitresses in the VIP room tonight.

Alexa looked at the other woman, nodded, and felt her entire body tense.

She set her empty glasses down, wiped off her hands, and headed toward the back room. Two bouncers stepped aside when they saw her coming, letting her pass down the long corridor that led to the storage room and offices. As she did anytime she was going to speak with Yvgeny, her heart raced and her palms started to sweat.

She knocked on the door once she was in front of it, heard him call out for her to enter, gripped the handle, and opened the door. He sat behind his desk, his head downcast as he wrote something down, and she stood there and waited for him to look at her.

His office was bare, with just a few minimalist pieces situated around the room, a couch, a TV, and security monitors that showed the interior and exterior of the club.

She looked back at him, noticed he was already watching her, and her heart jumped into her throat.

“I trust you, Alexa.”

She nodded. Alexa had been working for Yvgeny for years, knew about all the things he did, what he was involved in, and it had taken time for him to trust her with business dealings. Although she knew about things, she also knew he kept things from her. Whether that was the Bratva code or if he was protecting her was something she’d probably never find out.

“Aleczander is coming, and I want you to be there for when we greet him.”

She straightened, hearing the name of the head of the Russian Bratva. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine.”

She knew enough about the organization that if Aleczander was coming, things couldn’t be as well as Yvgeny said.

“I’ll pick you up at six so we can be at the landing strip by seven. Have a few girls ready at the club to entertain Aleczander, and make sure the caterer knows he’s coming. He’ll know what to prepare for Aleczander and any of the men that come with him.”

She nodded, feeling really nervous for some reason. She’d never met Aleczander, but she’d heard Yvgeny and the other men talking about him enough times to know he was the one that called the shots. Whether he was at the top tier of the Bratva wasn’t something she knew—and didn’t want to know, either—but he was a very important man.

“I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.” She held her hands behind her back, twisting her fingers as being in Yvgeny’s presence made her antsy. She hated that she felt like this, hated that she couldn’t hide her emotions well enough. Surely he could see how much he affected her? Hell, she felt like she had a neon sign flashing on her forehead screaming, I love you, please recognize what we had.

Yeah, it was ridiculous, and she felt like she was hanging on to something that wasn’t there and never would be. But as the silence stretched, and as they stared at each other, she thought she could see a flash of emotion move across Yvgeny’s face before he caught himself. Maybe it was just her hopeful desires, or maybe it was something more.

But it didn’t matter either way, because even if he did want something with her, he was too much of a stubborn asshole to come out and say it.

But then again, her stubbornness ran deep, too.

2

“Everything is all ready at the club?” Alexa asked Vasilisa, one of the girls Yvgeny had brought from Russia when he first opened the club in the States. Vasilisa helped run the business from the backrooms, doing the paperwork, organizing events, and basically kept everything running. Alexa might do a lot of things behind the scenes for the club now, but without Vasilisa, things would probably fall apart.

“Yes, everything is all prepared and ready for Aleczander and the others’ arrival. Don’t worry about anything,” Vasilisa said in her beautiful Russian accent. Although she was tiny, at only five foot two, and thin enough she probably could have been a ballerina in another life, Alexa knew Vasilisa was tough as nails when needed.