“We’re done.” She hurried forward, got between us, and glared at me. “Everyone, we’re done for today!”
Done doing what?
Many of them scattered, especially Anton. Pavel frowned and handed the thousand to me. I winked and pocketed it.
Emily’s other man, Boris, walked over and positioned himself behind her. After a few minutes, only my men, Emily, and Boris remained.
I took my shirt from Pavel and gave it to her. She put it on and tied the hanging fabric around her waist. I gestured to Boris. “Why is he still here?”
Emily spoke, “He’s my second.”
“And who’s your first?”
“Maxwell.”
“Have you talked to Valentina about that? She told me Maxwell is watching her.”
“This morning, Maxwell said he’d just been kicked out. He has to do something for Misha and will be back in a week.”
Valentina, you can’t have tantrums with the Harlem crew. They move differently. And damn it, I’d thought I’d gotten rid of Maxwell.
My frown deepened. “What is Maxwell doing for Misha?”
“I don’t know.”
I scowled at Boris. “So, you’re her number two? Then, why did you let that thug drag her on the ground?”
Emily answered for him. “Because I wanted to learn how to fight the Russian way.”
Edge laced my voice. “You already know how to fight the Russian way. Pick up a gun and shoot their head off.”
“I won’t always have a gun.”
“You won’t need one.”
She shook her head. “You never know.”
“I will know!”
She blinked and crossed her arms across her chest. “You told me you would give me free rein with my men and building.”
“I am.”
She gestured to my jacket in Pavel’s hands. “You can’t just walk in here and beat up my men because you don’t like the way we’re communicating.”
Communicating?
All the little bit of calm disappeared. I pointed to her bloody nose. “I can and I will!”
Boris stirred.
Pavel cleared his throat.
Her chest rose and fell. “Maybe we should finish this conversation back at the house.”
“Go ahead.”
She stormed off.
I followed.
No one else came with us.
At this point, the whole property was learning. If we had a disagreement, everyone was to stay out of our way until we dealt with it.
Your shirt is off. Jeans ripped. Nose bloody. Bruises. I don’t give a fuck if you’re mad.
She marched forward, muttering curse words every few steps.
I didn’t keep up with her. I enjoyed watching that plump ass shake as she stomped off. Anger radiated from her frame, so much it made my cock jump. But I wouldn’t fall into my desires too quickly. She needed to understand her men were there to protect her, not to be trained to wage war or to slap her around.
What were you thinking?
In silence, we made it back to the house.
By the time we hit the stairs, her body must’ve ached. She limped a little and had slowed down her pace.
I took her hand and helped her up. “The doctor should see you first.”
“No.” She frowned. “We should talk first.”
I clenched my jaw. “After you’re cleaned up and he has seen you.”
She rolled her eyes.
I stopped her on the top of the stairs and pulled her close to me. “The next time I see one of your men hit you, I’ll kill him.”
She moved from my arms. “It was part of my training.”
“It doesn’t happen again.”
“Kazimir—”
“End of discussion. We had several deals. You broke them, so I get to break the rules too.”
“What rules did I break?”
“I gave you seven men. You added. We agreed at thirty. Today, the whole basement was crowded.”
“We already settled that with the ribbons.”
“You hired more this morning too. I called you to end it.”
She shrugged. “I didn’t hire any more men after that phone call.”
“So, you hired women. Very cute, mysh.”
She pointed toward our bedroom. “There were cut-off monkey heads in our bed—”
“You’re bloodied and bruised.” I glared. “I told you that you were mine.”
She blinked. “But—”
“I love you, and I want you safe. I won’t bend on that, so get used to it before I kill all your men and flatten that building.” I left her there, not wanting to yell anymore.
She called out. “Kazimir, can we talk now?”
“See the doctor!” I stomped away. “We’ll talk more in our new bedroom…when I’ve calmed down.”
She remained silent behind me.
Rage filled every inch of my body. It took everything in me to walk off, and when I did, I didn’t look back.
“Kazimir?”
“And when we meet, make sure you’re naked!”
Chapter 6
Emily
The doctor had okayed me like I knew he would. There were only a few bumps and bruises. Nothing broken. No major injuries.
I stood in the shower. Hot water streamed down my aching body.
What am I going to do with him?
Kazimir was being possessive and overprotective. Part of me loved it. The rest hated it.
I knew he wanted to handle the monkey head situation on his own, but I had to do it myself. One of his brothers was threatening me. The last thing I needed was him swooping in and saving me. It would tell others they could fuck with me behind Kazimir’s back.