Nik's men fanned out around him, searching the apartment. "Clear, Boss."
"Shit." Not here. Nik sniffed. Cigar smoke. Fresh. The great-uncle had been in the room minutes, maybe even seconds before. "Someone tipped him off." Damn it. He had known they were coming.
"He'll make contact again, Boss," Pavel assured him.
When he did, they'd find him. They had men on Stepan. That was how they found the apartment; his cousin had unknowingly led them there. He'd lead them to the great-uncle again.
"I wanted it over with this morning," Nik grumbled, irritated. He couldn't completely relax with the great-uncle out there. He was a threat to the brat.
"A wedding present, Boss?" The men chuckled, nudging each other, wide grins on their foolish faces.
"Something like that." A wedding present. Hours from now, he'd be a married man. They'd be starting their own empire, him and Tatyana.
"Your bride's something, Boss."
"Yeah," Nik beamed proudly. "She's something." His comment prompted more laughter.
"But this fuck up means everyone is working today." He made that clear. "The bastard will expect us to be distracted and sloppy." He would come after them, after Tatyana. That's what Nik would do. "Then, he's in for a surprise, Boss," Pavel confirmed.
Thirteen
"Exits are more important than entrances."ȄSergei Kaerta Hours later, the great-uncle was the least of Nik's worries.
"How many of your men will support us?" Nik leaned against a pillar, eyeing the bruisers to the left and to the right. Huge, armed, and, by the looks of it, well trained, they all belonged to Igroek.
"If Sergei doesn't back us, not enough, Boss." Pavel's unsettled expression alarmed Nik more than his words. Nothing rattled his number one man.
But then they'd never faced certain defeat before. They'd lose this war. If they fought, Tatyana would fight with them, and she'd also die. "I can't put her at risk."
"Then don't let it come to that. Keep it friendly, retreat, regroup, and try again."
It was sound advice except that Igroek would take her away. He'd block access to her. "The brother? Stepan?"
"Both missing. Neither seen since this morning."
Another problem, but that one could wait. "If she goes back east..."
A dark eyebrow rose. "You think she'd do that?"
"Igroek will insist." She wouldn't have a choice. She'd be on the first flight back today.
A snort. "When was the last time your fiancee did what she was supposed to do?"
True. Nik's grin held no humor. He didn't know what she'd do, but he did know his fiancee was going to be pissed. As though summoned, she waltzed into sight, clad in a white terry cloth bathrobe, hotel slippers on her feet. Fuck. He rubbed his arm. Those slippers would sting.
"What's happening with your hair, Brat?" It was crazier than normal, yanked up in curlers and pins with what looked like tinfoil stuck to the strands.
She rolled her mud green eyes. "It's being set."
"Set for what?" He touched a lock. It was stiff. "Satellite reception?"
"I'm trying to look beautiful for you, ass." She leaned against him.
She thought they were getting married. He kissed her. "You always look beautiful to me, Tatyana." He loved her. She knew that, right? No matter what happened, he didn't want her to doubt his feelings.
Lines appeared between her brows. "What's with the sweet talking? Did you bump that fat head of yours?" She caressed his face. He rubbed his cheek into her soft palm. "And what's this meeting about? The aunties are in a tizzy about you seeing me before the wedding. It's bad luck."
Considering she woke up in his arms this morning... "I don't know." But, he suspected. "This is all Grandfather."
She hooked her arm in his as they walked. "As long as it's your grandfather, not mine. The crazy gnome is not ruining our day."
The crazy gnome? He stifled a chuckle. The label fit. "I do love you, Brat." Yuri opened the door for them, his face a foreboding blank. Pavel, Boris, and Fyodor followed them in.
Tatyana stopped abruptly on the threshold. "This isn't good, Nikky."
It wasn't. He pushed her further into the room. Grandfather's men were situated around the room, trying to blend into the woodwork. Igroek's people weren't as casual, blocking exit routes, their eyes attentive. "Courage, Brat. We'll get through this."
"Together." She gave him a brave smile.
He didn't answer. He couldn't promise they'd be standing together at the end of this interview. "Grandfather."
"Nikolay. Tatyana." Grandfather's gaze surveyed the room. It paused on Tatyana's hair before settling on him. "Igroek and I have come to an agreement. There will be no wedding today."
"Like hell." Retreat was good in theory. In practice, Nik couldn't do it.
"It is decided."
"It is not." He wouldn't let Tatyana go.
"Silence." Grandfather held up a hand. "If you insist on going ahead with this wedding today, you will no longer belong to this family." He played his ultimate card.
"And Tatyana will not be recognized by me," Igroek added.
"You'll have nothing, Nikolay. No family, no protection, no money." As though he'd been given those things, hadn't earned them.
"We won't have nothing. We'll have each other," the brat hollered defiance at the old men.
"And that's enough, isn't it, Nikky? More than enough." There was no doubt in those mud green eyes. She believed in him. She knew he'd say yes.
Nik wanted to say yes but, Pavel shook his head in confirmation, he couldn't. If he did, he'd lose her forever. Igroek would see to that. No, they had to retreat or feign a retreat. Feign a retreat... He drew himself up. "Is it, Tatyana?"
"You're damn right, it is." She squeezed his hands so tightly, his fingertips must be turning purple. "We love each other. We don't need them, Nikky. We'll run away, like my parents did. They were happy, so very happy, and we could be as happy, you and I."
"They're not happy, Tatyana, they're dead." He tugged his hands away, steeling himself. For this to look real, he had to be callous. "And I'm not your
