He nods, mutters something under his breath.
“I want them both. Alive.”
17
Lev
“I have something I want to show you.” Gleb gestures for me to follow him out back. It’s late, past midnight, and I don’t like leaving Kat alone at the hotel, but at least Maxim is in the lobby, keeping an eye out for me. I just hope he stays sober enough to recognize any problems that might pop up.
“Don’t worry so much.” Gleb waves off my concerns. “I got a couple of my guys parked outside of the hotel. If they see anything, I’ll be the first to know.”
It shouldn’t surprise me that he’s already figured out where we’re staying. New York is Gleb’s turf, and he’s got eyes and ears everywhere. Still, they are guys I don’t know.
“You should have spoken to me first,” I tell him.
Gleb stops, meeting my gaze in challenge. “Are you telling me I need to ask permission from you to protect my own daughter? My grandson?”
I consider my words carefully but refuse to back down on this. “She might be your daughter, but she’s my future wife. And I look out for both of them. I don’t know your guys. Kat doesn’t know your guys. You need to understand that she didn’t grow up in this life. If she sees a couple of bozos speaking Russian, the first thing she’s going to do is run. That’s all her experience has taught her.”
Gleb is quiet, his face unmoving, and I can’t tell if he’s going to club me over the head or finish the conversation. He doesn’t give a lot away. I can see now why Ciara would have been worried about coming to him and confessing her sins. But I also know that he can be softer than his reputation. I saw it with Kat. And I saw it when I mentioned Ciara too.
“You make a valid point.” He shrugs. “I’ll give you that. The last thing I want to do is scare her off. But you need to understand that being her father, and the man that I am, I have a say in what goes on in her life. That includes you. Now, I can respect a man who stands up for his family, but if you want to deem yourself worthy of my daughter, you have more work to do.”
He steps away from me and continues toward the door, leaving me to follow without any resolution to the conversation. This is the way of a mafia boss, and Gleb owns it. He doesn’t have to wait for me. He doesn’t have to respect me as a man, a husband, or a father. And even if I’ve known Kat longer than he has, he also has the right as her father to tell me to fuck off. Not that I will, but he has that right.
I don’t know Gleb well, but I think he’s a man I can respect. He doesn’t fly off the handle when he’s challenged like Vasily would. He listens, and he can be reasonable. And at the end of the day, I want his acceptance of my relationship with Kat. Because with a man like Gleb, you’re either with him or you’re against him.
The back door to the club swings open, and at least five of his men are waiting for us outside. Their faces are a mask of indifference as they allow him to speak first.
“You get me what I wanted?” Gleb glances at the van that’s been backed up to the club.
“Yes, boss. You want it now?”
Gleb nods, and one of the guys gestures to the driver in the van. A second later, both front doors open, and a couple of guys dressed in scrubs step out. I look at Gleb, but he gives nothing away as they walk around to the back of the van and open the doors, revealing a hospital bed.
It takes me a minute to recognize what I’m seeing. The parking lot is dimly lit, but I can make out the familiar face as four of the guys work as a team to offload the bed and wheel it toward us.
“Andrei?”
I can’t help the grin that curves across my face as they get closer. He’s as quiet as a church mouse, but that’s probably because they’ve wrapped a shit load of duct tape around his mouth. His hands and feet are also bound together, and it already looks as though he’s had a hell of a day. Or a hell of a month, more accurately.
“Take him down to the basement,” Gleb commands.
The guys nod and wheel the bed inside, and I shake my head, a little impressed by the reach that this man has.
“How the hell did you get him out of the hospital?” I ask.
“This isn’t my first rodeo.” Gleb smirks. “Now, let’s get down to business, shall we? You want to prove yourself worthy of my daughter?”