Page 24 of Gangster's Empire: Leeza & Havel

“Ayaan,” the woman said, catching Leeza’s eye.

Leeza nodded. “Leeza.”

Ayaan gave her a slight smile because of course she knew who Leeza was. Leeza and Kris were her principals for the day and she would have been briefed before the assignment.

Leeza shivered as she remembered a similar car ride she’d had into the city. Only the unwilling occupant had been Shaun, and Leeza had been one of her captors. Shame stole through her as she realized how helpless her new cousin-in-law must have felt at the time.

It took some effort to shift her mood from melancholy to super-mom. Settling back into her seat, Leeza turned to her son with a bright smile and said in an excited voice, “Havel is taking us shopping! Imagine all the things we can buy with his credit card. He’ll have to ask Uncle Jozef for overtime.”

Kris grinned and scrunched his eyes but continued looking out the window.

Her heart sank as the SUV pulled up outside the luxury jewelry store the Koba family had frequented for decades. She didn’t need to ask why they were there. Havel was serious in his desire to marry her, which meant they would need rings.

Leeza unclasped Kris from his seat and climbed out after him as Cooper held the door. Havel took her hand, though she tried to snatch it away, while Ayaan and Cooper took their places behind the trio. Four burly bodyguards joined them from another vehicle that pulled up behind theirs.

Leeza raised an eyebrow at Havel. “Overkill, don’t you think?”

“No, I don’t,” he said grimly, his eyes scanning the area as they traversed the dozen or so steps to the jewelry shop.

“Are we in danger?” She pulled Kris closer against her side.

Seeing her fear, Havel’s face softened. “You know me, sweetheart. I’m paranoid. Overkill is kind of my thing.”

She relaxed. He was right. She did know him and he’d always been protective of the family. Especially of you, she reminded herself. Even after she married Adam and Havel grew cold toward her, he still took her security seriously, checking up on her and making sure she had the most vigilant bodyguards accompanying her into the city.

As the team entered the store and spread out, covering the exits, it occurred to her that, Laslo, the owner of the jewelry store was expecting their party. No one raised an eyebrow at the excessive security surrounding a couple entering a store that already had plenty of visible security. In fact, it was the in-store security guards who looked uncomfortable with this new development.

“Ms. Koba, how lovely to see you again,” Laslo said warmly, reaching for her hand. She pulled it from Havel’s grip and allowed the small, bespectacled man to take it. Leeza wasn’t surprised by his warm attitude. Her family had spent a good portion of their sizeable fortune in the shop.

Havel tugged her hand from the jeweler’s and took a step forward into the other man’s personal space. Laslo looked at Havel with a nervous smile. “Mr. Tsotsarov, welcome to my humble shop.”

Havel grunted, gripped Leeza’s arm, sidestepping the man and strode to one of the displays, pointing. “Show us these,” he demanded.

Leeza’s lips twitched and she covered her mouth with a hand to keep her laughter inside. Laslo schooled his features to hide his shock and insult over Havel’s rude behaviour. It reminded Leeza of the old days when Havel was her bodyguard, accompanying her around the city as she shopped or hung out with her friends at Zmatek.

He had no patience for social deference if a person hadn’t earned it. If someone was rude to him then he was going to be rude back, no matter what position of power or wealth they held. As the Koba family’s favourite bodyguard, Havel had been in the store many times. Back then, Laslo hadn’t been as pleasant.

The jeweler recovered quickly and skittered behind the display cases, pasting a professional look on his face as he unlocked the case in question and pulled out the velvet bed containing several wedding rings.

Leeza was relieved that they weren’t engagement rings. The thought of Havel sliding a big, expensive diamond onto her finger felt worse than looking at wedding bands. Engagement rings were for happy couples who were in love. Not for Leeza and Havel.

Leeza hadn’t worn her wedding band from her previous marriage. It stayed in its box in the top drawer of her dresser. She’d only brought it out for formal occasions when it was important to the family that she publicly show off her connection to the Bratva.

The last time had been Jozef and Shaun’s engagement party. An awful night. Shaun had been poisoned and almost died. While she was in the hospital fighting for her life, Leeza and Dasha had apologetically ushered guests out of the house. Ultimately, it had turned out to be Dasha, Leeza’s mother, who had poisoned Shaun.

Now Dasha was gone.

And so was the ring.

Havel tipped her chin up. “What’s with the smile?” His tone was suspicious.

“I was thinking about the house fire and everything that burned in it.”

“Like my wallet,” he said, though his lips tilted up like her audacity at burning her marital home amused him.

She nodded. “And my old wedding band.”

“Good,” he said.

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