I hum in my throat. “Among other things,” I hedge. She doesn’t need to know the extent of everyone’s specialized skills.
I snag my phone off the table, finally setting down my fork, and thumb out a quick message to Kai and the others. At the very least, I need to try to get rid of them. My heart tells me that Kai will be the hardest of them to shed. Maybe if I task him directly with Valentina’s safety.
I glance over the edge of my phone to my wife, who is happily eating a bowl of fruit while reading the newspaper spread across the table. It’ll be hard enough to get her to leave me as well. Especially after we’ve finally gotten through our disagreement about my protectiveness.
A few minutes pass, in which I shove my breakfast away and settle back into my chair to wait. They file in quickly enough, Kai following Andrea with a heavy frown and Ivan leading at the front.
Victor’s absence hits me all over again. Combined with Andrea’s attack, I’ve barely had time to process it. I miss my friend.
I swallow a heavy lump and study them all. Michail, tall and series. Kai, my second-in-command, dressed perfectly as usual. Alexei and Andrea, so similar yet so different. Finally, Ivan, whose anger is always at the forefront these days. He’s a powder keg I don’t want to be anywhere near when he erupts.
I fold my hands on top of my stomach and try for nonchalance. Not that it will work, but I have to start somewhere. “I have a special job for all of you. I need you to be ready to go within the next couple of hours.”
I catch Kai’s grimace from the doorway. No doubt he’s waiting for the arguments as well. When no one speaks up, I glance from face to face.
“What do you need, Boss?” Michail says, surprising me, and Kai as well by the look on his face right now.
I study each of them and lock eyes with Andrea. “Are you good to go, or do we need to put you in a safe house until we are on the other side of this?”
Her glare could cut a lesser man down in seconds. I weather it and nod in return. “You are on Sal’s family but don’t make any moves. It’s strictly a monitor, assess, and report back to Kai.”
She spins and leaves without a word to anyone else, even her twin, who watches her walk out with a grave expression.
I shift my focus to him for a moment. “You’re on the casino. No one goes in or out without you knowing who they are. Make sure everything stays smooth while we deal with this.”
Unlike his sister, he gives me a brief nod, and then follows his sister’s exit.
Kai clusters closer to Ivan and Michail, no doubt waiting for his own orders. Next up, I pin Michail with a look. “You are on the safe houses. We need to secure what we can and know if any are compromised in case we need to make use of them.”
“Do you want them ready with food or just the basics?”
I consider having one prepped for Valentina, but I won’t tell him right now. Not when she can hear me and try to throw down again about my protection. “Just the basics for now.”
He leaves next, and then I survey Ivan. Of all my men, he’s always been the biggest question mark. One minute, he might be perfectly calm, and the next, he’s curb stomping an asshole for sitting too close to him. “Can you handle the business side of things other than the casino?”
“Anything you want me to watch out for?” he asks.
I glance at Kai. “Give him a list of who to keep an eye on when you have time.”
Kai dips his head in agreement and then watches Ivan stalk out of the room. When I meet his eyes, he shakes his head. “Don’t even think about giving me some bullshit job to send me away. You need someone at your back whether you want help or not.”
“I also need someone to ensure Valentina gets out safely if the worst happens. You are the only person I can trust to do this. The only one who has complete control over what we set up for her, besides her.”
Valentina clears her throat from the end of the table. “Right here, guys. You don’t need to talk around me like I’m an inanimate object.”
We both glance her way but continue talking. No doubt she’ll have something to say about it later, but by then, I can strip her down and spank her for the impertinence to make myself feel better about it.
Kai turns his focus back to me. “If things are that bad, then she’ll be fending for herself from that point anyway.”
He has a point, but hearing it out loud doesn’t make me feel better. Nor does the thought of my angel out there alone at the council’s mercy.
I lock eyes with him. Things have been contentious with us lately, at least on my end, yet he stays by my side when I know he’s gotten better offers from other society members. “Is there anything I can say or assign you to do that will make you go?”
Kai leans across the table and pours himself a glass of orange juice, his hand steady as he raises it to his lips. “Nope. I’m not going anywhere.” Then he tosses back the juice in two big gulps and sets the glass on the table again.
Valentina makes a noise on the other side of him. “Please, help yourself.”
I smile and shake my head, happy for the bickering since it means we might be getting back to normal, at least in the family. Outside of it…well, they have a shitstorm coming that I don’t think they are prepared for.
“Since I’m not going anywhere, Boss,” Kai emphasizes, shoving his hands into his slacks pockets, “what do you want me to do around here to help prepare us?”
The way he says “us”…like he’s in this for the long haul makes me break out in a cold sweat. I can’t lose him any more than I could lose Valentina.
She saves me from having to give an immediate answer by drawing his attention. “Have you heard anything about my father’s disappearance, or his estates, his money? Any of it?”
Kai shakes his head, a soft look in his eyes as he gazes her way. It’s not sexual but sympathetic, and that’s the only reason I don’t shove him out of the dining room and slam the door in his face for it.
“Nothing so far. There are of course investigators looking into his death, a lot of rumors, but nothing that comes back to you or Adrian. And there hasn’t been any mention of transferring assets to you or anyone else. They have his will, though. Do you know what’s in it?”
She shrugs like she doesn’t care, but I see the rigid set of her shoulders as she does it. “No, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t want anything from him anyway. If he did leave me something, I’m going to give it to charity.”
Her eyes stay locked on her bowl as she shifts her remaining food around with her fork. The forlorn look on her face makes me want to gather her in my arms and comfort her all over again. No matter his betrayals and how things ended between them, I think she always hoped he might come around and love her. What little girl doesn’t want her father’s approval?
Kai glances at me, asking if he should say something, but I shake my head. “Keep an eye on the others and have someone on every single council member. I want to know if they breathe in our direction. Otherwise, stay on the task I gave you before.”
As if relieved to get an assignment, he shuffles out the door quickly. I watch him go, hoping this isn’t one of the last few times I’ll get to talk to him.