Chapter 42

Nikolai

I felt a little guilty, having read the uncertainty and concern on Hannah’s face as I dropped her off, but I didn’t have the ability to deal with that right now. I needed to talk to Drago and see what was going on.
I hated that my father met Hannah. I hated even more that he figured out so quickly what she meant to me. He’d seen other girls at our house before and never given them the time of day, let alone introduced himself to them. I think the first thing that tipped him off was that I had been holding her hand. I have never done that with another girl.
Then, when he started talking to us, I couldn’t stop myself from moving slightly in front of Hannah, attempting to block her from his view, trying to somehow make her invisible to him. That was revealing error on my part and had clearly intrigued him. I knew he was looking at Hannah as a means to manipulate me. I’d put a stop to the whole interaction when he asked her name, but I knew he could get that information easily enough.
Fuck. I hit the steering wheel, waiting for Drago to answer.
“What?” Drago growled in his deep, accented voice.
“I need a timeline. What’s going on?”
“What the fuck, Nikolai, you know I can’t talk about this shit on the phone,” Drago gritted out. He was right, and I knew it.
“We need to meet,” I demanded.
Drago sighed. “Fuck. Fine, let’s meet at the lakefront.” He named a park not too far from here. “One hour.”

*****

I drove up to the lake and parked. I walked up the row of rocks that separated the parking area from the sand and felt myself relax slightly. I normally loved being here. The gentle sound of the water, the crisp air—it was peaceful. I was going to have to bring Hannah here some time. Right now, it was nearly deserted, as it was coming up on sunset.
Drago pulled up about ten minutes later, parking his black Mercedes sedan about forty spaces away from my black Range Rover. He looked around and started walking to a crop of trees without even acknowledging I was there. I waited about ten minutes then followed him. It probably looked like we were going to hook up in the woods, or something, but I didn’t care. I would rather people believe that than have my father’s associates figure out what we’re really here to talk about.
Drago was standing by a tree, smoking a cigarette. He was wearing a dark grey Henley and black jeans. His clothing was nondescript enough, but when you got to his intense, grey eyes and the livid scar that decorated the left side of his face, he was hard to ignore.
“What the fuck is going on, Nikolai?” Drago demanded, irritated with my impromptu meeting.
“I need to know what is going on with the timeline.”
Drago took another drag on his cigarette as he leaned against a tree. “Why?”
I sighed and looked away toward the water. “I’m sort of seeing someone. We ran into Yuri and he looked very interested in her.”
Drago laughed humorlessly. “Ah, you’re worried about your girl?”
“Considering the shit he’s into, wouldn’t you be?” I shot back furiously, feeling my fists clench.
Drago’s smile dropped away. “Yes. Your father, he’s sadistic and impulsive. A fatal combination. For everyone.”
“Look, Drago, she’s already had to deal with some shit. She doesn’t need a fucking maniac like Yuri on her.”
Drago simply stared at me, then looked off to the lake, a hardened look falling over his face. “Nikolai, there is a lot shit going on right now. We are close to finding the Rossi girl. I have to keep an extra eye on Katya, in case Rossi gets any fucking ideas about retribution. Once that’s taken care of, we can handle your father. No reason to fight a war on two fronts, yeah?”
As Drago finished, he raised an eyebrow at me as if everything he was saying was elementary. And it was, to be honest, but that didn’t stop anxiety from wrapping around my neck like a boa constrictor. It was not what I wanted to hear. I wanted to hear we were going to take him out immediately.
“Is there anything I can do to expedite the shit with the Rossi girl?”
“Well, unless you can find out where she was taken and retrieve her without getting yourself killed in the process, I don’t think so,” Drago responded dryly.
“Who’s working on it?” I was curious and concerned. There were good soldiers in my father’s organization. And there were fuck-ups.
“Roman,” Drago replied, and I raised my eyebrows. Roman was usually deployed as an assassin. He was ruthless, accurate, and efficient. He was a powerful ally and a deadly enemy.
“So, he’s with you?” Drago knew I was referring to him overthrowing my father.
“Yes.” Drago cracked a rare smile, his scar pulled slightly at his jawline. “He and I were in Matrosskaya Tishina prison together. It’s where we were recruited by the army,” he explained, referring to the infamous Moscow prison. “He has no love for your father, that is a fact.”
Few people did.
I felt myself release a breath, feeling more confident about this being resolved if Roman was handling it. If we returned the daughter, hopefully with a minimum amount of trauma and then executed my father, the Rossis should be satisfied. I was just going to have to stay vigilant and keep Hannah off my father’s radar.
“Nikolai, I got shit to take care of. Any more questions?” He stubbed out his cigarette against a tree and shoved the butt in his pocket.
“Not right now, but keep me informed.” I knew this came off like an order, but Drago only smiled at me patronizingly.
“Yes, Pakhan,” Drago responded sarcastically.
“Fuck you,” I said without any real heat. “You know I don’t want anything to do with that shit.”
Drago nodded his head, still smirking slightly. I watched him walk through the trees and head back to his Mercedes. It was completely dark now, but Drago navigated the trees, rocks and other debris as though he had night vision. I saw him hop in his car and drive away, as I contemplated how I was going to protect Hannah. I knew my father hadn’t actually done anything yet, but I knew him. He would. He couldn’t help himself.
I needed to go blow off some fucking steam. The combination of anger and anxiety was making me jumpy as fuck, and I needed to work it off. Normally, I would go find a fight or a fuck. Fucking someone else was out of the question. I wasn’t going to fuck anyone except Hannah, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to fuck her for the first time feeling like this. If she thought I was at all rough before, going to her in this mood would definitely freak her out. Of course, she had shown herself to be very receptive whenever I got a little rough with her, so who knew? Fuck, now my dick was getting hard thinking about giving Hannah a hard, rough fuck.
I got out my phone and texted Jack. I needed to find a fight.