Page 100 of Claim Me

Huffing, I rubbed my jaw. After all these years I’d finally whispered her name in my mind. I’d blocked it out successfully for a very long time.

A series of images wrestled with the anger and grief that I’d long ago abandoned. Why now? Why did I need yet another burden to deal with? Because I cared about Marissa more than I was ready to admit.

“Stop worrying about me.” Jasmine laughed before pressing her lips to mine. When she was chastising me, her Russian accent was unusually heavy. Tonight, her voice was sultry and far too seductive.

“I’m not worried. Just hungry.” I laughed and grabbed her arm, yanking her closer. She was forced to push her hand against my chest. When I fisted her hair, jerking her head so she looked me directly in the eyes, she purred as she did when attempting to get what she wanted.

Which was almost always.

“Later,moy milyy bolvan. I have a concert to perform.” She pushed herself away from me, laughing as she did.

My little blockhead. Her favorite pet name. “Careful, munchkin.”

She blew me a kiss before moving behind closed doors.

The woman was going to be the death of me, but I was happy, more so than I’d been my entire life.

Whistling, I adjusted my jacket and headed for one of three open bars. A drink before heading to my seat. After being served the tall glass of Macallan and tipping the bartender a fifty, I headed toward the bank of windows overlooking the Great Lakes. It had been a long time since I’d been to Chicago. While Jasmine hadn’t wanted me to accompany her, the fact she’d been threatened wasn’t acceptable.

At least we had plans to spend a couple of days acting as tourists. I sipped my drink, enjoying the smooth taste. A few seconds later, I noticed the house lights dimmed along with the small LED indicators located every few feet on the wall switched on and off.

Jasmine was so excited about tonight. She’d been promoted to first chair of the cello section, something she’d worked very hard to achieve. I was proud of her.

Just as I turned, a fluctuation in movement caught my eye. I’d arrived in Chicago with two of my father’s soldiers on his insistence. Our family had also recently experienced active threats from several sources.

My father had many enemies.

“What is it?” I growled under my breath. There was no sense in alarming the other attendees.

“We have an issue.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that man is stalking one of the performers.”

The deep voice dragged me out of the memory, yet it took me a few seconds to free myself from the labyrinth of pain, this time more suffocating than ever before.

“I definitely think he is. Maybe we should call the police.”

Hearing Alexsey then Mikhail, I laughed half-heartedly and turned around, still shaking my head. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on a plane headed back to Vegas.”

“And leave before hearing the love of your life perform?” Alexsey asked while making certain he was out of my reach. “Not a chance.”

At this point, having more than one of the family in the same location outside Vegas would not a good idea.

Mikhail narrowed his eyes, his silence and head nod asking if something was wrong.

I shook my head. There was no reason to pick at scabs. The past had little to do with today or the future.

At least that’s what my father had told me after the night that…

Well, fuck. This was the last thing I needed.

“The cousins left on the smaller jet you brought. We’ll leave tomorrow with our guest. If that’s still the current plan.” It was Mikhail’s way of telling me he agreed the only place we could protect her was Vegas.

“It is. She will come with me whether she likes it or not.” Now I regretted agreeing to this. If I’d followed my instincts before, Jasmine would still be performing in an orchestra somewhere in the world. Both my father’s words about loving and trusting a woman and those lingering from Marissa were taking a toll.

Mikhail studied my reaction. “But you’ve yet to tell her.”

“She’s not stupid. We fired the attorney handling Marengo’s affairs. My guess is she’s already figured out we need time to determine how to handle the resort away from the people Charlie used.” I still had no true objective or feeling one way or the other. While I wouldn’t rule out a sale of the property if that’s what Marissa wanted, I also refused to destroy the legacy three people had lost their lives protecting.