“I didn’t mess up the cargo,” Naveen countered. “The dog was an asshole.”
“Well, you still shouldn’t have tried to shoot the dog.”
“He bit me!”
“You gave him PTSD. I had to send him to my father. Who knows if the puppy’s mental state ended up being more messed up from staying in that castle.”
Why are we even talking about this?
Naveen droned on. “I saved you a lot of grief. A puppy is a bad birthday present for a newborn baby. You had me watch Valentina for several months. I’m certain she doesn’t like dogs and that furry asshole would’ve been too old by the time her daughter could remember.”
That’s probably my daughter. And if she is, then she’ll want a puppy.
Soft feminine humming sounded near me. I glanced at the bathroom. Steam traveled out from the shower. I leaned back to get a peak of what was going on in there. Ava slowly lathered soap onto her body as she hummed.
Damn it, Naveen. Hurry up with what you have to say. I should be in there with her.
Ava had kept the door open as if inviting me in.
I damn sure intended to accept the offer.
Reluctantly, I returned to Naveen. “Forget the puppy. Why did you call?”
“Fuego told me that the witness was a bit of trouble—”
“Let’s make this clear.” I gritted my teeth. “The woman in New York is not a witness.”
“I didn’t think so, but Fuego is treating her like one.”
My stomach twisted into knots. I lowered my voice and turned away. “This isn’t a witness to anything. This is the grandmother of someone that’s very important to me.”
Naveen remained quiet on the line which was never a good sign.
I did my best to keep the rage out of my tone. “What the fuck did Fuego do?”
“You should’ve called me to handle this.”
“It never works between us, when I have to repeat myself.”
Naveen let out a long breath. “From my understanding, Fuego went over to the grandmother’s house late at night and told her to come with him to Russia. Naturally, she thought it was weird for a tattooed Russian guy to show up at her door at midnight, requesting her presence and talking about packing bags.”
“Goddamn it.”
Naveen’s voice went serious. “Did you tell Fuego why you wanted her or—”
“What the fuck did he do?” My temples pounded with dread.
“There was a struggle between Fuego and the grandmother.”
Shit!
Naveen cleared his throat. “And. . .there was a chase.”
“Are you fucking serious? He chased her grandmother?”
“He caught her a block away.”
I rubbed my hand over my face.
“He didn’t shoot her.”
My stomach bottomed out. “Goddamn it. That won’t stop me from shooting him.”
“Fuego got the grandmother on the plane by carrying her.” Naveen couldn’t help but add, “This was after the duct tape and rope.”
The shower shut off.
Ava had finished.
My hands shook.
Not many things made me nervous. Usually, I could see myself out of any difficult situation. But this was fucked up on so many levels.
What had gone from a romantic surprise to further court Ava, had now turned into a fucking kidnapping expedition. At first glance, there didn’t appear to be many ways around it.
What was the poor woman thinking, after some strange man duct taped and dragged her on a plane? What could she possibly be going through in that eleven-hour flight? What the hell would be on her mind?
After damn near stalking Ava for a fucking year, and finally, last night getting the balls to approach her. . .Fuego had ruined all my efforts with just one night.
“Who’s grandmother is it?” Naveen asked.
I didn’t have the patience to explain anything to him. “Where is Fuego and the grandmother now?”
“In the air. They land in two hours.”
“Fuck. Is she still duct taped?”
“I don’t know. Fuego called me real nervous, right before the plane took off many hours ago. He woke me up and begged me to call you and smooth things over. He started getting the feeling that maybe she had nothing to do with Bratva stuff.”
“What gave it away?” My voice held edge. “The fact that she was a nice old woman in a normal neighborhood or that I told him not to use any goddamn force!?”
“You should’ve called me.”
I gripped the phone hard. “I don’t pay you to give me advice.”
“True, but you pay me to protect you and your interests.”
“Naveen, I keep you for the heavy hitters, not missions to get a hard-working grandmother to her granddaughter’s performance.”
“So, you finally banged the ballerina?”
“Fuego is a fucking idiot!” I made myself lower the voice, hoping Ava didn’t hear me. “Where are you?”
“Yeah I figured you would need me. I’m at the LAX. My plane boards in ten minutes. I leave Los Angeles and arrive in St. Petersburg after midnight.”
“Not good enough.”
“Well. . .you should’ve called me.”
“Fuck you. I know Fuego is your military buddy, but he dies as soon as he lands in St. Petersburg.”