Page 5 of Paved in Venom

Vitaly looks at the upper level and groans. “I can’t believe you left Oleg up there with them. They’re going to kill the bastard.”

“One day,” I agree with him, “but not today.”

I give my brothers a wave, laughing when Lev flips me the bird. Turning back to Vitaly, I say, “See you back at the house. I need to get some more work done.”

“I need to do a few more things here, and then I’ll be leaving too.” He turns toward the hallway that leads to his office while he looks over his shoulder at me. “Order pizza, man. I’m fucking starving.”

“Will do,” I tell him, already making my way through the main area and towards the front door. When I’ve almost reached it, I hear footsteps coming up behind me. My hand reaches for the gun I have holstered under my suit jacket before I’ve even made the conscious decision to do so.

My fingers are just touching metal when I hear a feminine voice say, “Danil, wait up.”

Fuck, I know that voice. I drop my hand and turn to face Galina. The short blonde looks up at me with wide, excited eyes. She’s in a tiny pair of shorts and a T-shirt that looks three sizes too small. It’s barely covering her tits, and when she takes a step closer, I bite back the irritated groan that wants to escape. Galina set her sights on me right after she was hired and she saw me walking out of Vitaly’s office one day. She’s a pretty girl, but I’m not even remotely interested. Galina wants me to fuck her, but that’s not all she wants. I can see it in her big, dark eyes. She wants date nights and long conversations where we bare our souls. She wants romance and love, and there’s no way in fuck she’s getting it from me.

“I’ve got to get some work done,” I tell her, already turning to leave.

“Don’t you ever take breaks?” she asks. Her accent is thick, but her English is very good.

“Not really.”

She gives me a big smile and reaches out to touch the strap of my bag. “What do you always carry around with you?”

I grab her wrist and push her hand away, because now she’s just pissing me off. I don’t like people messing around with my shit, and I really don’t like anyone coming close to touching my computer.

“That’s my business, Galina. Get back to work. We open in a couple of weeks.”

Her face falls at the hard tone of my voice, but there’s no point in leading the poor girl on. Nothing is ever going to happen between us. The faster she learns that, the better. I turn and leave before she can say anything else. The drive back to the penthouse that my brothers and I share doesn’t take long, and when I pull into my reserved spot in the underground garage, the headache that’s been threatening to bloom hits me full force.

With a groan, I grab my bag and walk over to the private elevator. After the ride up, the doors open onto the main area, and the first thing I see is a long line of framed photos, fifteen in total. Ever since Roman married Emily, things have been a little different around here. The photos are a perfect example. Most of them are from their wedding. They’d said their vows at the penthouse, right out on the rooftop terrace, and all our smiling faces greet me as I step off the elevator.

It’s a nice change. A little over a year ago, Roman’s sister was taken by sex traffickers, and we’ve put all our focus on finding her. She never did outgrow her crush on Matvey, and once she turned eighteen, that crush was finally starting to develop into something more between them, but then she just disappeared. It nearly destroyed all of us. Finding Alina is at the forefront of everything we do, and we will find her, but it’s nice to have moments where we can laugh and enjoy life. Emily has helped us remember that.

When I walk into the kitchen to find her pulling out a tray of cupcakes, my mouth immediately starts to water.

“I’m so happy you married Roman.”

She laughs and gives me a big smile while she sets the tin down to cool off. Roman walks in and wraps his arms around her, leaning down to kiss her while I grab a bottle of water from the fridge. His hand rests possessively on her lower stomach. I know he can’t wait for her pregnancy to start showing, but she’s still in her first trimester and has a long way to go. This baby has given us all a sense of hope, but it’s also given us a deadline. We all want Alina here for the birth, and we’ve all been working like crazy to make it happen.

Grabbing my phone from my bag, I pull up the local pizza place we always use. “Do you guys want pizza? Vitaly wants me to place an order.”

“Are they still at Pink?” Roman asks.

I laugh. “Yeah, I left them with Oleg.”

“I’m guessing they were thrilled,” he says while Emily laughs.

“They’re going to get you back for that,” she warns.

“It was worth it.” I lean against the counter, waiting for her to ice the cupcakes. “So do you guys want pizza?”

Roman looks down at Emily, and when she nods her head, he says, “Sure, we’ll take some.”

I place a large order, making sure to get Vitaly the cheesy bread he likes so much and Matvey the cinnamon sticks he always devours, and while we wait for it to arrive, Emily hands me a spatula and puts me to work. I help her ice the cupcakes, ignoring the guilty feeling that always starts to hit me when I’ve spent too long away from my computer. If I’m not searching for Alina, then I feel guilty for not searching for her. I know it’s ridiculous and that no one can survive for long with that amount of stress hanging over them, but the feeling hits me all the same, not even counting is helping.

My fingers tap an agitated rhythm on the counter after I’ve iced the last one, and when Roman and Emily both lift a brow at me, I let out a sigh and say, “What?”

“You need to take a break from all this,” Roman tells me. It’s not the first time we’ve had this conversation. I know he feels bad that Alina’s disappearance has taking such a toll on all of us, but we’ve never once blamed him. We all love Alina and want to bring her back home.

“I will later. I’m talking to David tomorrow night about the auction that’s coming up. I’m getting an invite to the damn thing. After the auction, I’ll take a couple days off,” I tell him.

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