Page 59 of Paved in Hate

“No, I’m sorry. If I go back, maybe I can sneak into his office, though.”

“Absolutely not,” I say. “Your part in this is officially over.”

Emily smiles over at her. “He’ll never budge. Trust me on that one.” She looks up at her husband, most likely remembering how he told her the same damn thing.

“Damn straight I won’t.” I tighten my grip on her waist.

Katya tries to look mad, but she’s too busy looking like she’s head over heels in love with me. I can’t help but return her smile. When I look back at my family, the look on Emily’s face makes me laugh. It’s the mostI fucking told you solook I’ve ever seen in my life. She’s never going to let me live it down, but I don’t care.

“Good thing he learned how to put a crib together,” Simona says, making Jolene laugh.

“Hey, at least I’ve got someone who can back me up on movie nights. You like action movies, right,ptichka?”

To my absolute horror, she looks at me and says, “I actually really love historical romances.”

When everyone starts laughing, I look at Katya and feel instant relief when I realize she’s joking around. I look over at Emily, the most likely sister-in-law behind this.

“Did you put her up to that?”

“Me?” The look of pure fake, shocked horror makes me roll my eyes.

“Yeah, you’d never do something like this.” I point at Roman. “Your wife is a trouble maker.”

Katya laughs. “I saw the rules on the fridge, remember?”

“Don’t scare me like that.” I give her a kiss. “You almost gave me a fucking heart attack.”

“We should’ve kept that going and made them all watch another three-hour Jane Austen adaptation,” Simona says with a laugh.

I look at Katya. “You see what I’ve been dealing with? Fucking lunatics, every damn one of them.”

She smiles and kisses me. “I’ll watch action movies anytime you want.”

“See? How could I not fall in love with you?”

“Impossible not to.” Her big smile makes laugh.

“Damn straight,ptichka.”

“We need to meet with Dominic soon,” Roman says, pulling me from my adorable wife.

“We do,” I agree.

“Do you know if Konstantin is planning on going to Pink anytime soon?” Danil asks me.

“I’m not sure. I told him to let me know and that we’d plan something special for him.”

He nods and scrubs a hand over his jaw. “I’m going to see if I can get him to introduce me to Casimir. It makes sense that I’d want to know about their security, so I don’t see any issues with asking for a meeting with the guy. Maybe I can figure out where they’re putting all the information about the women they traffic.”

Matvey taps his foot, unable to keep still, and when it’s not enough, he gets up and starts pacing. “I’m not sure how much longer I can wait before I just start killing them one by one.”

“Just don’t start yet,” I tell him. “We’re too close to fuck this up now.”

I know he already knows this, but it’s good to remind him every now and then. I know how close he is to losing control. It’s been slipping for a while now, and he’s on the brink of a complete breakdown, and if that happens, we’re going to have one hell of a bloodbath on our hands.

“You’ll be killing them soon enough,” Lev reminds him. “We just need to know where she is first, and then you can go on a rampage.” His lip ring moves with his wicked smile. “Hell, I’m looking forward to helping you with that.”

Even though we’re talking about eliminating Katya’s brothers, she doesn’t seem the slightest bit upset by it. Based on the serene smile on her face, I’d say she’s actually looking forward to it happening. She was raised in a Bratva; she’s no stranger to violence. It’s obvious from what she’s told me that she can’t tolerate that violence when it’s directed against innocent women, but this is something entirely different. This is a rage she can get behind. I smile because it feels like a family event now. Some people have barbecues; the Melnikovs have bloody rampages. To each his own, I guess.

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