During the wedding, one of my men had been assigned to keep an eye on Nadja, to keep her close, because I knew she’d run. As soon as the mayhem ensued, she’d become skittish, like a rabbit knowing hunters were near.
I gritted my teeth as rage filled me at the fact that she still slipped away. I brought the glass to my mouth and downed the whiskey. It was their top-shelf kind, but you could taste the cheapness laced in the alcohol. I curled my lip in disgust and set the glass back on the table. A naked woman sauntered over to take the empty glass and set it on her tray. She wore nothing but a G-string, her nipples covered with bright white tassels.
“Another,” I said without paying her any attention.
Marco, the man assigned to keep tabs on Nadja at the wedding, had gotten his throat opened up for failing at his task. He’d made more work for me, and when you fucked me over, couldn’t follow directions and orders, you were finished.
It was the rules of our world.
They didn’t call me a monster for nothing.
She’d gone quiet, gone underground for a good chunk of time. I knew she wouldn’t leave the country right away, so I set out feelers. She’d gotten help from one of Petrov’s employees, an older woman who had some pretty deep fucking connections herself. I could have taken out Marina right away, but I watched her, waited to see when she’d make contact with my woman.
And I knew she would. She was only still alive because she served a purpose.
I leaned back in the booth and stared at the stage. The current entertainment was a curvy bitch with big tits and a bigger ass. She ground on the pole sexually. I curled my lip in disgust again.
I’d been so damn close to tying Nadja to me, but affairs had to be put in order—put to rest on that specific day. It hadn’t been ideal, but it had been necessary. Besides, I didn’t need an official ceremony to tie Nadja to me. I’d chain her to my fucking bed.
Although I knew she was clever, Nadja was smarter than I gave her credit for. She stayed hidden, so deeply that my feelers hadn’t located her. But I knew she’d find a way to leave the country. She was Petrov’s daughter, fucking smart enough to know staying stationary would only end up killing her.
She’d go back to America. I had no doubts about that. And although Petrov kept her relationship with the thug thief a secret, nothing stayed hidden. When I knew she’d be mine, I dug deep, found out every little piece of information I could on her… and the one she loved called Frankie.
Five years may have passed since she lived in the States, but I knew even after all this time, she’d go back to what she knew, what she was comfortable with. If nothing else, she was a creature of habit.
But now I was in a fucking predicament, with some of my men trying against me for fear from the organization. They betrayed me, and now I had the fucking bratva on my heels. Running was certainly not in my resume. But until I could get things in order once more and take control of things, take out the other high-ranking officials so I could claim the top and rule things the way they needed to be done, I had to wait. I had to bide my time. I had to be smart.
And if nothing else, I was fucking patient.
But I needed Nadja by my side, a good, submissive little Russian wife who grew up in the life and knew her place and who owned her. She knew how things ran, how to fall in line.
She’d fight me, no doubt, but that’s what I was counting on. There wasn’t anything better than when she denied herself to me. There wasn’t anything that felt better than forcing her to bend to my will.
And I would find her. There was no place on this planet she could hide from me, no one she could align herself with that would protect her from claiming her as mine, especially not some hooligan named Frankie.
I felt my cell vibrate with an incoming message. I reached in the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out the burner phone. Opening up the message, I stared down at the image that had been sent to me. It was grainy, poor-quality, but the man I used to find her had done just that.
Along with the picture was the information I needed to go to her. The address where she was currently at.
A slow smile spread across my face. If Nadja thought a new name, a haircut, a dye job, and some colored contacts could keep her hidden from me, she didn’t know the lengths I’d go to get what I wanted.