Gavril“Everything is in place with the shipment. It will leave today.”I held the phone to my ear, staring out of the bank of windows that gave me the best view of the river as the sun rose. “If anything is wrong with that shipment when it arrives in LA, I will hold you personally responsible.”“Of course, Pakhan.” Surov laughed. “I will not fail.”I ended the call before he could say anything else and tucked my cell phone back into my pocket. I had thought bringing Naomi here would be good for her. But now, after what she’d told me last night, I wasn’t so sure anymore.Sighing, I let my shoulders slump momentarily and drummed my fingers against my thigh. So much was riding on this shipment. Not only my personal future, but the future of the Belaya Bratva as a whole. I needed the Krasnaya brigadiers to be on my side, and delivering this shipment of women to them was going to be the only olive branch I would extend.A token of goodwill so that they would believe I was looking out for

NaomiOne week laterI turned in different directions in front of the mirror, checking my outfit.“I think it’s great,” Katarina said, her legs swinging as she sat on the side of the bed. “You look great. More than great, actually. You look hot.”“Gavrushka will not be able to keep his hands off you,” Aleksandra added, winking. “Not that I think he ever had a problem with that.”I blushed as I turned to the two younger girls. They weren’t far off from the truth. Despite my cold one-on-one meeting with Maria, my time in Russia had been nothing but amazing. Gavril was incredibly attentive, taking me on boat rides with just the two of us or taking me out to dinner so that I could see more of his home city.And St. Petersburg was truly a beautiful city. Growing up, I had imagined all of Russia to be a dreary, gray place. But Gavril had shown me a city that was vibrant and alive. And under his watchful eye and careful guidance, I could almost have believed that we were in America.Tonight,

GavrilI was fucking furious underneath my cool facade. I knew I couldn’t kill the little man before me, but I wanted to snap his fucking neck for even coming to my house and attempting to garner information.He looked over at Naomi once more before tucking the paper back into the folder he had been carrying. “Well, I will bid you all a good night.”“I will walk you out,” I told him.He nodded and I walked him to the door, ensuring that he got back into the car he had come in before shutting it firmly behind him.Fuck.My mother was waiting in the receiving room when I made my way back, along with a pale-faced Naomi.“Bed,” she commanded my wife. “I need a word with my son.”A word. She wanted a word?She was going to get a fucking word from me. I walked over to Naomi, took her hands, and found them trembling.“Go on,” I told her softly, pressing my lips to her forehead. “I will be there soon.”There was a flash of fear in her eyes, and I realized that it was fear for me. She was afrai

NaomiTwo weeks later“I don’t care what anyone says. When I go to America, I want to see the Hollywood sign.”I smiled at Katarina. “You can see it from the highway. It’s not hard to miss. And it looks smaller than you think.”“Well, I could not care less about the Hollywood sign,” Aleksandra replied haughtily, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I want to see the actual sights, eat the local food. I’ve always wanted to try a real taco.”The girls launched into an argument about which was more important—tacos or the Hollywood sign—and I just shook my head, staring out of the window as the city of St. Petersburg passed by us in a blur. I couldn’t believe it when they said that they wanted to take me shopping. I was more shocked that Maria had given them permission to do so.I didn’t mind being with the two of them. I loved Gavril’s sisters. They were extensions of his family and were always full of exuberance that his mother didn’t have. They had made my time in Russia pleasant, and

GavrilI twirled the ice in my glass, debating whether or not to have another drink. We were still hours away from LAX. Naomi was sleeping in the chair across from me, but I couldn’t shut my body down.Hell, I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since we had returned from the Mariinsky, and my body was starting to feel it. It was funny. Every time I returned to St. Petersburg, I wanted nothing but to leave. But each time I decided to leave, I wanted nothing more than to stay.This time would be no different. And there was no way I could ignore the growing tension that awaited me back in the States.The shipment was due at the docks soon, and I wanted to be there to hand it off to the brigadiers, to show them that I was serious about bringing them to my side and the lengths that I was willing to go to ensure their loyalty.I couldn’t trust anyone else with that shipment. Too many things had happened over the last few months for me to hand it off to anyone.So, I was taking Naomi home. I