Leopard's Wrath (Leopard People 11)

There was a small silence. Mitya drank half the bottle of ice-cold water. He put his head back and closed his eyes. If that gun had been found by the police, he could have been arrested for Antosha’s murder. Would Ania believe him to be innocent? They had a very delicate balance going.

Jewel had been very suspicious of him, believing he might harm Ania. The two leopards had a rocky start and still weren’t fully bonded. He certainly hadn’t convinced Ania that she was his world. He hadn’t had that chance. Neither had Dymka. Each time they tried, something catastrophic seemed to happen to prevent that final sealing.

That lack of bonding was slowly driving Dymka insane with jealousy, rage and sexual frustration. In turn, those black moods were on Mitya. That didn’t make it easy to show love and be gentle with his woman. He wanted to hit something. He thought Dymka challenging and fighting the two big leopards would take the edge off his dark moods, but if he was anything to go by, it hadn’t helped.

Mitya was restless and edgy, feeling as though he had to find a way to bind Ania to him so permanently she would never think of leaving him. If he didn’t, outsiders could tear them apart. He wouldn’t survive that. He’d survived many things, but he’d had the taste of something good, something miraculous, and he couldn’t go back to that empty void he’d lived in for so long. He had to find a way to make Ania realize she was at the very center of his world.

“Is Lazar orchestrating this?” Fyodor asked. “You know him better than anyone, Mitya. Is he behind this?”

Mitya thought about his father. He was a cold, cruel man who would love nothing better than to start wars between crime families in another country and then sit back to watch the fun. He’d take credit, because his ego was so large he needed others to know and acknowledge how superior he was. He was also an instant gratification kind of man. He’d had his way for so long in everything within the lair, and the surrounding territories, that he had become so entitled, he never waited for anything.

He would have come after Mitya the moment he found out where he was and, in fact, had put into motion his plans to punish and kill him almost immediately when Fyodor had openly begun using the name Amurov.

“No. This doesn’t feel like him at all. Don’t get me wrong, he’s here. He’s close. He got in through the Houston port, I’m certain of that. I don’t know if the Caruso family helped him—my guess is they did, not realizing they were bringing in the enemy—but in any case, he’s here and he wouldn’t be if he didn’t think he had an advantage in some way.”

Fyodor sighed. Again, there was silence as the cousins contemplated Mitya’s assessment. It was Gorya who raised the question they all had on their minds.

“If not Lazar, who? And is he targeting us? Or are we just part of the larger picture?”

“Damn it,” Mitya said. “If one more thing happens, I’m going to lose Ania. Our relationship is so precarious right now. And she doesn’t know anything about what we’re doing. That’s going to add more pressure.” He shoved a hand through his hair and winced when his shoulder protested. “I need a fuckin’ break. Just a small one.”

“Bring her to dinner tomorrow night,” Fyodor suggested. “She likes Ashe and Evangeline. The more we encourage her to be around them, the better the chance you have that she wants to stick around. She’ll realize she isn’t alone. The women will help her whenever she needs someone to talk to.”

Mitya was selfish enough to want his woman to do her talking to him. Still, he couldn’t say it was a bad idea. He found himself nodding. “Thanks, Fyodor. She’ll like that. And it would be nice to just have a dinner without drama.”

Fyodor laughed softly. “I didn’t promise you there wouldn’t be any drama. It’s my experience that when women get together, drama follows. It’s some kind of natural phenomenon.”

“How is Evangeline? Is she up for company?” Mitya asked.

There was a small silence again. Gorya glanced in the rearview mirror, and Timur turned to look fully at his brother.

Fyodor sighed. “She’s pretty sick. She can’t keep food down as a rule. It can get pretty bad. We’ve got a nurse in the home now. She’s staying with us and gives Evangeline regular fluids. I’ve actually set up a small area at the bakery in the back room where Vera can give her fluids if she needs them. I also put a cot in the back for her.”

Timur made a noise in his throat that came off like an angry growl. “She shouldn’t be working. You have to stop giving her every little thing she wants and think about her health, Fyodor. You’ll be kicking yourself if she loses the twins.”