Page 11 of Paved in Hate

The look Danil shoots me has Lev laughing from the driver’s seat. “I’m talking to you, too, Lev. You’ll have to trade in your motorcycle. But look on the bright side, a nice line of minivans will look so pretty parked outside the elevator doors.” I let out another laugh and nudge Jolene. “Very kick ass.”

She laughs, but she also says, “No way in hell are we getting rid of the motorcycle.”

Lev winks at her in the rearview mirror. “Never going to happen,malinkaya,and we can get something safe that’s not a minivan.”

“It was just a suggestion,” I say with a shrug.

“You’re terrible,” Jolene whispers.

“A man with that many piercings and tattoos and muscles needs to be kept humble, and I think a minivan would do the trick.”

Jolene laughs and shakes her head. “Can you imagine him showing up for his next fight driving one of those?”

When I start laughing at the image, Lev darts a quick look at us. “What are you two laughing at?”

“Nothing,” I say while Jolene tries to stop laughing.

“She’ll tell me later,” Lev warns.

“Yeah, but I’ll be safely locked in my bedroom by then.”

He shakes his head at me, and by the time he pulls up to the gated driveway, all the tension I’ve managed to cut comes back in full force as the reality of where we’re at and who we’re about to meet comes crashing down on us. The two men at the gate are well-trained. I can see it in the way they hold themselves, in the eyes that take in every detail of our vehicle and the man driving it, and if that wasn’t clue enough, the guns they have strapped to their bodies would be enough to let anyone know they’re not fucking around.

We’re armed, too, and I’m guessing Konstantin and Osip will be as well. There’s going to be a lot of guns at the dinner table tonight. One of the men steps closer and looks past Lev, and when his eyes land on Jolene, I lean forward and angle my body in front of hers, meeting the guard’s eyes.

“We have an invitation, and if we’re late, then the food will probably get cold, and I really fucking hate that.” The guy narrows his eyes at me, and I can tell he really wants to reach in and punch me. I smile and add, “Open the fucking gate,” in Russian.

Lev shrugs. “You heard him. He hates cold food.”

The man steps back and speaks into the earpiece he’s wearing, letting whoever’s listening know that we’ve arrived. When he nods at the other man, the gate is opened and we drive by and down the long-ass driveway. The gate closes behind us, and I know my brothers are all thinking the same thing I’m thinking. If shit goes bad, it’s not going to be easy to get our asses out of here.

“Timofey and his team in place?” I ask Danil.

“Yeah, they’re surrounding the property.” He checks his phone again and adds, “He said they’ve counted thirty guards on the property so far.”

“I really don’t like this,” Roman mutters.

When Lev pulls in front of the enormous mansion, I say, “Looks like I was spot-on as usual. Pretentious and a shit-ton of armed men. I really hope the food’s good at least.”

“Let’s fucking get this over with,” Lev groans, opening his door and quickly pulling Jolene against him as soon as she steps out. Danil and Roman do the same, and soon we’re all walking up the stairs and past the columns that of course this mansion has. Lev rings the doorbell and within seconds a young woman answers it. She’s wearing a simple black dress and matching heels, and when she greets us in Russian and quickly steps aside so we can enter, it’s obvious she works for the Lebedev family in some way. She keeps her eyes down and offers to take the coats the women are wearing.

“Please follow me,” she says, leading us further into the house.

I look around, not bothering to hide my curiosity. Aside from some ugly paintings that probably cost a fortune and a bunch of furniture that looks so uncomfortable I’m guessing it would put your ass to sleep within minutes, there isn’t much to see. Everything here is for show, and none of it is going to actually tell us anything about the men we’re here to meet. Stopping in front of a formal sitting area, the woman gestures for us to step in as she says, “Mr. Lebedev, your guests have arrived.”

We walk into the room and come face to face with the man we’ve been researching for months. Konstantin grins and rises from the chair he was sitting in. A tall, blonde woman does the same, standing beside him with a pasted-on smile. I chance a quick glance at Matvey because she is blonde, and she does have huge tits, so I was right about the trophy wife. She’d be pretty if she didn’t look so strung out. Her hazel eyes are glazed and empty, and the smile she gives is obviously just for show. I doubt this woman actually feels anything. I’m guessing she’s done everything within her power to make herself as numb as possible. Being married to Konstantin has clearly taken its toll.

Konstantin holds out his hand to Danil, who’s standing closest to him. “Welcome and thank you all for coming.” He’s speaking English, letting us know that he’s done enough research to know that Simona, Emily, and Jolene don’t speak Russian. “You must be Danil, right?”

“Yeah,” Danil says, shaking Konstantin’s hand and then tensing his jaw when Konstantin takes Simona’s hand and leans in to kiss her cheek. “A handshake is good,” Danil says, cupping his wife’s face and kissing her forehead, refusing to let another man put his lips on her.

Pulling back, Konstantin runs his eyes over her and gives a soft smirk. “I remember you.” Danil’s had all he can take, and when he tightens his arm around his wife and angles her so she’s no longer in his view, Konstantin gives a soft laugh and says, “I hear congratulations are in order.”

He smiles and then continues down the line like nothing is amiss, shaking hands and offering congratulations to the three pregnant women. Emily is really the only one that’s showing. Simona’s starting to, but you could easily overlook it, and Jolene is only a few weeks along, so there’s no way in hell he could know it unless he’s really dug around and found their medical records.

“I see you’ve done your research,” Lev says, not bothering to beat around the bush.

Konstantin smiles and shrugs before shaking my hand. “I’d be stupid not to.”

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