Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
It was why, while I hated working a desk job as much as Jaxon or Darren, I didn’t bitch about it. I didn’t put up a fight. Because I was terrified I would one day succumb to those urges and go off the fucking rails. And while James was a hardass, I would never put him in a position that he had to put me down himself or order a hit on me to save this family. We were brothers in every sense of the word except blood, and I knew having to take me out would be something he’d never get over.
“Still doesn’t explain why Jaxon is taking my paperwork,” I pushed, getting agitated now.
James sighed. “This person did have valuable information. Information about my wife. My child.” I gritted my teeth. Going after us men was one thing. Going after the wives and kids of this family was something else entirely. “They knew where we were keeping our guns and drugs. They knew the codes to my fucking club.” He now had my undivided attention because the only people who knew the codes to the club were me, him, Darren, Jaxon, and Gemma, the manager of the club who’d been with us for damn near two decades. “They knew the code to my fucking private quarters, Adrian.”
“What the fuck?” I snarled. “How the fuck—”
“I don’t know,” James ground out, cutting me off. “Which is why I’m putting you on this. You’re my best friend. You’ve been with me through thick and fucking thin, Adrian. I made you my second and my closest confidante for a reason.” He blew out a soft breath, like he knew his next words were going to piss me off. “And you’re the only person who doesn’t have attachments and can work closely with Ivan to find out who is after us while we work from here on our front.”
It took a moment for his words to register, and then, I shook my head, jabbing my finger at him. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.” I was not working closely with Ivan for however long this fucking took us to solve. That could be mere days, or it could be months.
I would not survive either with my mental health intact.
He ground his teeth before forcing his jaw to unclench. “Adrian, don’t be fucking unreasonable. As a man in your position, sometimes you have to do shit you don’t like. Get over it. I need you on this, Adrian. My family needs you on this.” He was hitting me with the low blows, and he knew it. But when it came to his wife and kid, nothing else mattered to him. He stood to his feet like the conversation was over. Done. Like I’d fucking agreed to this—which I hadn’t. “Besides, Ivan will be here tomorrow for a meeting, and he’s prepared to take you back to Russia with him.”
I glowered at his back as he headed for the door. “I hope Ivan’s fucking plane crashes on the way here,” I snarled. I could not work with the cocky son of a bitch. I couldn’t be around him for that long. He made me feel… volatile. Out of control.
“He’ll be arriving around ten in the morning, so have your bag packed and ready to go,” he told me, ignoring my childish remark, just as I knew he would. I might have been James’s best friend, but that didn’t mean he put up with my shit.
“Burn in hell,” I barked as he disappeared into the hallway.
“I’ve got a one-way ticket there already,” he called back over his shoulder.
I scrubbed my hands down my face before turning back to the computer, agitated beyond belief. I needed to finish this email and then do… something. I had to find something to do to burn off all this energy vibrating under my skin. I was on edge. Too… anxious.
I would be spending the next however many days or weeks or hell, even months with Ivan. And I didn’t know how long I could keep myself under control. Because Ivan had a way of pushing my buttons that no one else in this world did. With a few carefully chosen words, Ivan was capable of making me fucking explode, something he’d done on multiple occasions.
I finished typing out the email for James, hit send, then rocked back in my desk chair, blowing out a harsh breath.
I was so, so fucked.
2
Adrian
I glowered at Ivan as he walked into the room, head held high, power oozing from his pores. At well over six feet tall and built like a fucking tank, he commanded respect the moment he entered the room. And it wasn’t just because of his sheer size. No, it was the way he carried himself. There was an air of arrogance about him, but beneath that arrogance was a fuck-around-and-find-out vibe. And most people had at least enough common sense about them not to fuck around with Ivan Volkov.