What the fuck had I been thinking? The woman who sat on the couch looked both terrified and relieved. I had accomplished the exact opposite of what I had intended, despite my good intentions.
And what was that bullshit I threw at her about wanting to fuck her? Now she was probably worried I was going to jump her the minute she looked the other way. But no matter how much my dick protested, she was going to leave here a virgin.
“I want to keep you under my protection because I want Bunko off the streets.”
Our eyes met, and after a fraction of a second, she shifted her eyes away. She was scared of me. Usually, I didn’t give a fuck about feelings, but she was trying so damn hard to not show her fear. It made me feel bad.
“Despite what I said on the boat, I’m not going to sleep with you,” I reassured her, wondering how torturous it would not to let myself touch her. She is so off-limits. “Do you understand?”
Her gaze collided with mine. “Why are you helping me?”
Because I couldn’t bear the thought of you scared and alone in this world. “Because it will help me in the long term.”
“When I testify.”
“Yes.”
She nodded and seemed to accept that at face value. I can keep her safe. I needed to embrace this situation. I would protect her, and I would not touch her. In this corner of my world, we didn’t see a lot of innocence, and I wasn’t going to be the one to steal her purity from her.
My phone rang. It was Mica.
I stood up to answer, walking away from Olivia. I spoke to him in Russian. “Mica, what’s going on?”
“Hey, I need a huge favor.”
“Name it.”
“Charlie and Nadia came on the road with me. We just landed in New York and picked up four messages from our dog sitter. She is refusing to take care of Sasha.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“We’re going to find a kennel, but can you take Sasha for the day?”
I glanced over at Olivia. She sat with her feet tucked up beneath her on the couch, and she was staring blankly at the floor. She looked completely beat. She needed a friend. Someone she felt safe with. Sasha was a terror, but he could help me with her.
“Don’t bother with the kennel. I’ll take Sasha until you get back.”
“Man, I owe you.”
“Tell the dog sitter we’ll be there shortly.” I hung up the phone and looked back at Olivia. “I need your help.”
She lifted those brown eyes, listening intently.
“I need to go pick up my friend’s dog.”
She looked intrigued. “You need my help?”
“This dog is energetic as fuck. You can keep him calm when I drive.”
She unfolded herself from the seat. “Okay.”
We drove to Charlie and Mica’s place. Beside me, Olivia sat with her hands folded between her legs, not looking at me or talking to me. Her stillness was unnatural, as if she were trying to draw as little attention to herself as possible. One hard bump with the truck and she’d break, she was so stiff, but I couldn’t fault her instincts.
She should be scared of me.
I cleared my throat, trying to think of something to say that would make her relax. “Mica is one of my oldest friends. We grew up together. He plays hockey.”
She glanced at me in surprise. “Professional?”
“Yeah, he got drafted to Canada.” I waited for her to say something, but she didn’t offer anything else. “Mica and his wife, Charlie, got Sasha as a gift from his mom. Sasha is a purebred Siberian Samoyed with the attitude to match.”
“What happened to his dog sitter?”
“Apparently she can’t handle Sasha.”
We pulled up to Mica and Charlie’s place, and Olivia followed me to the front door.
When I rang the doorbell, we heard wild barking, a crash, and some shouting. A moment later, a harassed-looking woman opened the door.
“Oh, thank God. Are you here for Sasha?”
A flurry of white came towards us.
“Sasha, sit,” I commanded.
The dog half sat, half slid towards us. Panting wildly, he looked between myself and Olivia with glee on his face. I pointed inside, and Sasha got up and trotted back inside.
The dog sitter stared at me. “I have no idea how you just did that.”
I stood in the doorway and watched as Sniper approached us, politely putting his nose in Olivia’s hand. Then he moved to his water dish. Meanwhile, Sasha was standing on his hind legs, sniffing something on the counter.
“Do you have his food?” I asked the sitter.
The sitter pointed at two big bags on the floor. Beside it was a big bag of dog food. “Toys, treats, a leash, a second harness. He ate his bed last night, but I put in his favorite blanket.” She looked over at Sasha, who was pulling an apple out of the fruit bowl. “Sasha, get down.”
The dog ignored her and threw the apple on the floor. He watched with bright, dark eyes as the apple rolled across the floor before barking loudly and attacking it with his paws.
“Menace,” I murmured to Olivia.
She was watching Sasha with a spellbound expression on her face.
I gave a sharp whistle, and Sasha trotted towards me. He promptly sat his butt down in front of me.
“That’s amazing,” the sitter said.
I bent down to snap the leash on his harness. “Why are you such a bad dog?”
Olivia, without asking, picked up some of the bags. I grabbed the food.
“Thank you,” the sitter said, as we filed out the door.
Sasha stood on the back seat of the truck. Whatever was happening outside—cars, bikes, people walking—he needed to bark at them. Olivia spent most of her time looking back at Sasha with a smile on her face.
It was the most relaxed I had ever seen her.
“Would you be interested in helping out with Sasha? He’s a handful, but maybe you can play with him.”
Her look was serious. “I will totally take care of him.”
Sasha chose that moment to hop over the seat in a scramble of white fur and legs until he stood over Olivia.
“Are you kidding me?” I said to the big dog, snapping my fingers. “In the back. Now.”
The dog looked at me with reluctance and then jumped to the back.
Olivia watched the whole exchange with big eyes.
“Can you believe his nerve?” I asked her.
She was turning her head away from me when her smile started, so I only caught the beginning of it. I wanted to see her whole smile.
“You’re going to have your hands full,” I warned her.
When we got back to the loft, I set up Olivia and Sasha to play in the bay closest to my office. From the second-floor landing, I watched her throw a ball repeatedly for Sasha, who raced after it with abandon.
I dialed Viktor’s number.
“Yeah.”
“Keep the first bay clear.”
He paused. “Vlad has it booked this afternoon to receive a shipment.”
“Tell him to move his shipment to another bay.”
“Sure.”
Olivia laughed as she teased Sasha with the ball. Sasha sat down and howled. I liked that they were within earshot.
“Keep that bay empty until further notice.”
“You got it.”
An hour later, Vlad came barging into my office.
“Why is bay one blocked from use?”
I leaned back in my chair. I had inherited Vlad from my predecessor and promised to treat him like family. That meant Vlad raised hell while I looked the other way.
“It’s for the dog.”
He looked over his shoulder and then back at me. “Who’s the girl?”
This was typical Vlad. Always sniffing around, wanting answers.
“She’s a resource.”
His sharp eyes focused on my face. “What kind of resource?”
“Someone who will come in handy one day.”
“What’s she doing here?”
“She needed a place to crash for a few days.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“Did you come down here just to bitch about bay one?”
“You can’t just stop shipment on one bay. We have a schedule for a reason.”
“We have six bays, Vlad, four of which are empty today. Use one of those.”
“Viktor said that bay one was closed indefinitely.”
“Did any of your shipments get bumped?”
“That’s not the point.”
I stood up and looked out the window. “That’s exactly the point, Vlad. Sometimes we have to practice being flexible.”
He cleared his throat and spoke with importance. “Viktor said that our shipments this week went from twelve to six. Want to tell me what that’s about?”
I turned and looked at Vlad. With Bunko making waves, and now with my little hidden witness, it paid to be cautious. Making too many shipments to my less-than-legal customers left us open and vulnerable. Right now, we were tightening our ranks and taking on a defensive position. But Vlad would never understand that logic. He had limited ability to be strategic about anything. All he cared about was the little bit of power he had in this world.
“Not particularly.”
“You’re going soft on us, Andrusha. You’re going to be the downfall of this place. I hope not, but you’d better start thinking things through.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.”
A sharp rap sounded at the door. It was Viktor.
“Come in,” I said, grateful for a reason to get rid of Vlad.
Viktor moved into the room and pointedly waited until Vlad exited.
“Want a drink?” I walked to the bar.
“Vodka, neat.”
I made our drinks and sat across from him on the couch. At least a couple of times a week, we ended our day with a drink. I trusted all my men, but Viktor was the only one I really talked strategy with.
“Is he still pissed about bay one?”
I swirled the ice in my drink. “Yup.”
He shook his head.
I sipped my drink. “We need to talk about this Bunko mess.”
“Agreed.”
“It’s not a good sign that they picked two dirty cops to watch Olivia last night.”
Viktor looked concerned. “You think Bunko’s influence has infiltrated the police?”
“I don’t know. Something isn’t right if the police are looking the other way where she is concerned.”
“Is that why she came back from the ferry?”
Our eyes met. “What do you mean?”
He shrugged. “She’s had some shit luck. She deserves a break.”
Viktor was built like me. His instinct was to protect.
“Something like that.”
“So is the goal to get her to trial?”
I tapped my glass on the armrest. “No one knows of Olivia’s whereabouts. The police, if they find out, will lead Bunko straight here.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking we should have a meeting with one of the lawyers from Crown prosecution.”
He nodded. “What do you need?”
“Get details on the lawyers working that case. I want to know everything about them.”
“When do you want to set up a meeting?”
“Can you make it happen tonight?”
He nodded and drained his glass. “I can make that happen.”
I paused. Listening. Viktor immediately stilled and mouthed, “What?”
“You hear that?” I stood up.
“I don’t hear anything,” he said, following me.
“That’s the problem.”
I walked out of my office and looked over the bay. Olivia was standing stock still, her eyes on the ground. Vlad was towering over her. He was speaking in her ear, quietly, and he had his hand around her wrist.
I put my fingers to my mouth and gave a sharp whistle.
