Page 15 of Beta Team-The Saviors: Part One

Axel holds his hands up. “I get it. I’ll back off, but I can’t promise Chels won’t shoot Ari if he hurts Jason.”

“I have no doubt,” I laugh.

We spend the rest of the time waiting, talking about nonsense. Tyler and Gavin show up, and Kane arrives a few minutes later. We introduce ourselves and Axel leads us all back to his office, gesturing in front of his desk for Kane to sit. His second-in-command, Blaze, takes up the other chair.

“Everything is in order, yes?” Kane asks, his Russian accent thick.

“Yeah. They’ll take shifts at the dorms until Kira is more comfortable with them. Then they can use their place as a safe house if she wants.”

“We don’t have to explain what will happen if she gets hurt on your watch, right?” Blaze asks, looking around the room. I’ve never been able to put my finger on it, but there’s something very off about him. Cool dude, but crazy eyes. “She’s important.”

“I can assure you we will do everything we can to keep her safe,” Ari says. “We take our jobs very seriously. No matter how big or small they might be.”

“I always thought the Saviors were a myth,” Blaze muses. “Alessa Poletti speaks very highly of you.”

“We’re the best at what we do,” Axel says. “When would you like to introduce Kira to the guys?”

“She refused to come,” Kane answers between clenched teeth.

“She doesn’t want to show up at a new school with a full security detail,” I soothe. “I get it. Since we can’t be discreet, we’ll figure out how to make it easier for her.”

“I appreciate that. Kira understands the danger of being a Lyubava. She’s not stupid. She enrolled under an assumed name, but that doesn’t guarantee protection. She just wants to try and live a normal life independently. I can’t allow that, but I can grant her a reprieve from New York.”

“At least they’re all hot,” Blaze laughs, earning a glare from Kane. “What? At least she doesn’t have to look at a bunch of ugly-ass old men all day.”

“Ari’s an ugly-ass old man,” Tyler throws in. I cover my mouth so I don’t laugh when Ari takes a deep breath to compose himself. “We’ll make sure she can still have fun.”

“No one lays a finger on my sister,” Kane growls.

“They’ll be professional,” Axel assures him, giving us a warning look. “They just don’t want her to feel like she’s in a prison.”

Kane nods but still doesn’t look happy. “She’ll meet them at her dorm.” He stands up and buttons his suit jacket. “We need to get back to Jaxon and Elijah.” Blaze and Kane shake everyone’s hand, and we look at each other when Axel shows them out.

“He’s intense,” Gavin says.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Ari replies. “Kane doesn’t fuck around. Keon and I worked on a mission he was involved in a few years ago. He’s a scary motherfucker. And Blaze? He’s not kidding when he says he’ll gut us if she gets hurt.”

Tyler shrugs, unaffected. “This is what we do.”

“We’ve never done a protection detail like this,” I argue. “This isn’t a game.”

“I didn’t say it was,” Tyler scoffs.

“Make sure you don’t treat it like one,” Ari retorts. “Keon and I are going to have a hard time blending in. On the other hand, you and Gavin look like college students, which means you’ll be the public face of this mission. Don’t fuck it up.”

“No pressure,” Gavin says sarcastically. “We’re just guarding a Russian Mafia kingpin’s sister. No big deal.”

“I don’t think I like you,” Ari replies. “You’ve been around Tyler too much.”

“Because he knows where the fun is at.”

I was looking forward to lighter duty, but I’m not sure this is what I had in mind. So many things can go wrong on protection details, and this isn’t something we can take lightly. Axel really threw us for a loop with this one.

Asshole.

6

KIRA