Page 17 of Ghostly Desires

“Moya golovolomka, what have you gone and gotten yourself into?” Nikolay is trying to be gentle and calm. The only tell he has is the fact that his Russian accent is thicker.

“Oh, you know, just catching up with old assholes who take things that don’t belong to them,” I tell him, trying to be lighthearted.

“We both know that someone taking things that belong to you without asking ends up no longer having the option to breathe,” he says so nonchalantly that one would think we’re having a regular conversation.

“I know.” I lean on my elbow on the counter. “Lucky for me, I have a man who will teach them they’ve made the wrong choices in life.”

Eleven

Nikolay

The plane is getting ready to taxi down the runway when I call Miles to find out what they’ve been able to find out. The knot in my chest loosens just a little when LeeAnn answers instead of him. Her voice is the only thing that could ever calm the rage fighting to get out and lay waste to everything around me.

“Moya golovolomka, what have you gone and gotten yourself into?” I murmur.

“Oh, you know, just catching up with old assholes who take things that don’t belong to them,” she tries to joke, but I can hear the stress in her voice.

The fact that she’s trying to soothe me while having to be terrified herself pierces my heart.

“We both know that someone taking things that belong to you without asking ends up no longer having the option to breathe,” I say, trying to sound nonchalant, as if this is a conversation that anyone would have on a normal day.

“I know,” she says softly. “Lucky for me, I have a man who will teach them they’ve made the wrong choices in life.”

“Da,” is the only thing I can bring myself to say.

We sit there not saying anything until the pilot announces that we’re taxiing.

“We’re about to be in the air. Don’t do anything until I can get to you,” I command her, knowing I sound like an asshole right this second, but not giving a fuck because if something happens to her there isn’t a soul that can stop the hell I will rain down.

“Just make sure you’re here,” LeeAnn says so softly that I know she’s about to do something that I’m not going to like.

“I will be there. Know that if you’re harmed in any way, people will die,” I demand so that she knows I mean every fucking word.

“They’ll deserve it,” she matches my tone.

Miles says something to LeeAnn just as I lose service, and his words light a fire that if he makes it out of this alive, then I will kill him myself. As soon as we’re in the air, I pull my laptop out and connect to the inflight Wi-Fi, ignoring all the guys talking around me until Denver’s name comes up. Sacha says something about him losing his mind because he still hasn’t been able to locate his daughter.

“He won't find her before I find him,” I tell them, spinning to look at everyone.

They stop talking and eye me.

“Fuck, her father?” Machislav questions, draining the last of the liquor in his glass.

“Decisions have been made and the orders placed.” My words are flat because I’m in no mood to answer their questions right now.

“I have a question for everyone though,” I say, and every head turns to look at me with a look of shock on their faces. They sit and wait for me to continue while I process exactly what and how I want to ask my next question. I guess it’s time to be direct.

“You’ve spent more time with Denver in and around his home. Do you ever recall a pregnant woman or a baby around?” I finally get out through clenched teeth.

I check each man’s face as I wait for their answers to gauge if what they say is true or not. Slowly they all shake their heads, saying no and that they don’t recall one. My mind spins due to the fact that the Denver we all know and have met can not keep his mouth fucking shut. So why would LeeAnn having a baby be something he kept so close to his chest?

Oral’s eyebrows draw together. “Why’re you asking about a pregnant woman or a baby when it comes to Denver?”

I decided I was going to be honest with them, but I never said I would give away all my sources. “While digging into him further with the rising issues we seem to be acquiring since he became a part of our lives, a rumor has come out that there might have been a baby around recently.”

“No way!”

“How has all the intel missed it?”