Page 111 of Theirs to Desire (Club M: Boxed Set)

NOLAN

F uck. I did not see that coming.

Caleb hangs up, a stunned look on his face. “You caught that?”

“Yeah, I caught it. I caught the part where she asked you to dominate her, and more importantly, I caught the part where you agreed. Quick question: are you out of your mind?”

My friend winces. “I wasn’t thinking.”

No, he wasn’t. Caleb has it bad for Kiera, but he knows, as well as I do, that scening with Kiera tonight is out of the question.

Kiera had a definite reaction when she saw Greg Dratch’s photo.

Last night, her desire was real. Tonight, it won’t be.

Tonight, her interest in us is tainted by the ghosts of her past.

She wants to know what we know.

Caleb crosses into the house and pours himself another cup of coffee, his fourth of the morning.

I stare at my own mug. We’ve both had less than three hours of sleep.

We’re running on caffeine fumes. This is not the right time to be making serious, far-reaching decisions.

“Are you going to do it?” I ask him when he walks back to the deck.

He hesitates for a split-second. “Yes.”

Mistake. Then again, Caleb clearly has had a thing for Kiera for quite some time now. Which makes me ask the next question. “Do you want me to walk away?”

He lifts his eyes up and surveys me. “You heard her. She asked for both of us.”

“It doesn’t matter.” I drain the last dregs of my coffee. “You’re my friend. I’m not going to let a woman come between us. Rafael and Xavier were both involved with Layla, but I didn't think that it was anything that you were interested in. This isn’t your kink of choice, is it?”

He shrugs. “I’m out of practice with women. There’s only been room for casual hook-ups since I got back. Nothing with any emotional attachment. I don’t know what my kink of choice is anymore.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Fine. You want to know the truth?” He slams the cup on the table.

His eyes are furious. “Theo died, and Joha killed herself, and I started wondering if a ménage wasn’t the way to go.

Before I came home, I lived a dangerous life.

If I was in a ménage and I died, then I wouldn’t leave the woman I loved all alone. ”

Shock courses through my body. “Caleb, that’s insane.”

“No. It’s a logical reason. Why are Adrian and Brody both in a relationship with Fiona?”

“I don’t know,” I reply. I haven’t met Fiona, their new submissive, but from all accounts, she makes them incredibly happy. “They’ve always shared. Before Fiona, there was Sandy.”

“Exactly. You don’t know. I asked Xavier about it once. You know what he told me? ‘You just know when it’s right.’” He rolls his eyes. “Calling it an instinct is vague and nebulous. At least I’ve thought through my reasons.”

“And when you’re in the middle of a possessive rage because I touched the woman you’ve been lusting after for months, are you going to use logic to diminish your feelings?”

“You were here last night. Kiera was naked. You jerked off while I fingered her. I was fine. In any case, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. You’re in town for what, a couple of weeks? This is not a lasting relationship we’re talking about.”

I let it go. Caleb’s a grown man, and he’s not in the habit of lying to himself. If he says he’s okay, I’ll take it at face value.

He’s right about one thing. Lasting relationships aren’t for me. I’m a nomad who throws myself recklessly into the line of fire. I don’t have room in my life for anything serious.

Kiera’s skin had gleamed in the moonlight, the dragon looking real enough to take flight. I’d wanted to trace each line with my tongue. I’d wanted to ask her why she chose the dragon. Was it because she wanted to grow wings and fly away? Just like me?

I suppress the strange wistfulness that accompanies that thought. “What’s our plan here, Caleb? We can’t scene with her tonight.”

He types something into his phone. “I detest situations like this. I loathe not knowing the facts. Eight years ago, a woman named Bianca, last-name-unknown, died. She lived in San Diego. If we’re going to find anything else, I need a photo.”

“Social media?”

A smile ghosts over his face. “You’ve got it. Her first name is uncommon, so that’ll help our cause. I had to look for a John Smith once. It was hell.”

“We could call the detective Xavier bribed.”

Caleb shakes his head. “Only in a pinch. If the Russians are watching the cop, I don’t want them alerted.”

Ice trickles down my spine. “You think they’re still looking for her?”

“I don’t know anything right now,” he replies. “I’ve never heard of the Kitai Bratva, have you?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t think the Russians had a presence in San Diego.

It’s too close to the border. I’m surprised the Mexicans let them move in on their turf.

” Frustration runs through me. “I have a fairly good handle on who the major players are, but this isn’t my area of expertise.

I don’t know enough about their operations in America. ”

“Who would?”

I run my hands over my face. Caleb’s a genius at uncovering the truth. We can find out what we need to know, but it will take time. Or I can make one phone call to a man who knows more about the various elements of the bratva than anyone alive. “Nekrasov.”

Caleb raises an eyebrow. “Anton Nekrasov? Will he talk to you?”

“Not a clue. The last time I saw him, he nearly punched me in the face.”

“The two of you are supposed to be on the same side.”

“We don’t go about things the same way.” Only one way to find out if he’ll talk to me, and that’s to call him. I dial Nekrasov’s Moscow number, and shockingly, he picks up. “I have a date in an hour,” he says, his voice clipped. “What do you want, Wolanski?”

Well, he didn’t hang up. That’s a win. I put the call on speaker so Caleb can hear the conversation. “Information on the Kitai Bratva. What’s it going to cost me?”

Nekrasov won’t want money; he’s richer than both Caleb and I put together. I’m still not going to like the price. “Your friends Lockhart and Payne are securing a site in Baku. I want them out.”

Adrian and Brody are going to be pissed. “What are you doing in Azerbaijan?”

Anton makes a scoffing sound in his throat. “If you think I’m going to satisfy your curiosity, you misunderstand the nature of our relationship, Wolanski.”

Caleb bites back a grin. He thinks this is funny? Next time, he can try talking to Nekrasov. “I’ll pass on your request. But I don’t control them. I can’t make them do this.”

“Very well. That will have to do.”

Why Nekrasov couldn’t have picked up the phone and called Adrian directly, I don’t know.

It isn’t as if they haven’t met before. Then again, Anton, given who he is, has to be quite cautious in his dealings.

My childhood was no picnic—my parents shunted me off to boarding school when I was eight, quite happy to turn over the task of raising me to hired help—but, if the rumors are correct, it’s nothing compared to what Anton Nekrasov went through.

“The Kitai OPG doesn’t exist,” Anton continues, using the Russian acronym for the mafia. “Vladimir Sirkovich got tired of being a foot soldier in Atlanta and tried to muscle into San Diego. He set up his own operation without permission.”

Sirkovich is either very brave or very foolish.

“San Diego, as you know, used to be Italian territory, but it’s now firmly in the hands of the Mexicans. Sirkovich tried to muscle into that. This is not a war the Russians want. An all-out confrontation with the Mexicans would hurt both organizations, and everyone wants to avoid that.”

Foolish, not brave. “Why is Sirkovich still alive?”

“He married well. His wife interceded on his behalf. The Russians have disavowed him, but he’s safe as long as he’s in jail.”

“A woman testified against Sirkovich,” I begin cautiously.

“Yes, Kiera Lynne Thompson. She went into witness protection, I believe.”

How the fuck does Anton Nekrasov remember all this stuff? The guy is a machine.

“Do the Russians have a target on Kiera?”

Anton barks a laugh. “Are you kidding me? Vasily would send her a thank-you card if he could. She took care of Sirkovich for him.”

I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding. Kiera’s safe. She’s not being hunted.

“Friend of yours?” Anton asks, his voice sharpening with interest. “Someone you’re interested in?”

I roll my eyes. “If you think I’m going to satisfy your curiosity, you misunderstand the nature of our relationship, Nekrasov.”

He laughs out loud. “Tell Payne and Lockhart to stay away from Baku,” he says and disconnects the line.

Caleb’s already typing something away on his laptop. “He gave us a last name,” he says. “Thompson. I found her.”

I look over his shoulder. A smiling girl stares back at me.

She’s got vivid blue eyes, straight blonde hair and a gap-toothed smile.

She looks so very young. According to Xavier, she had been fifteen when Greg Dratch seduced her.

Dratch was twenty-five. Ten years older than her. Definitely old enough to know better.

I’m going to strangle him when I find him.

“Now we search?”

“Now we search,” he agrees, his face somber. “She was fifteen. Going by Dratch’s track record, she was probably trafficked. Let’s talk to Alexander. He might know something.”

I grimace. Alexander Hamilton is probably still pissed with me because I didn’t want to see him in hospital. “You call him. I’ve done my share of groveling for the day.”

“Coward,” Caleb grins. He picks up his phone and dials. “Alexander? Hey, it’s Caleb Reeves. I’m emailing you a photo of a missing girl I’m trying to locate.”

“I’m officially retired,” Alexander says easily. “I’ll have to pass it on to my contacts. Hang on, here’s Ellie.”

Ellie, Alexander’s wife, picks up the line. “Hey, Caleb,” she greets him. “How are you?”

“Good. You?”

“I can’t complain.” She sucks in an audible breath. “She’s just a child.”

“It was taken eight years ago,” Caleb says. “She was fifteen then. If she’s still alive, she’ll be twenty-three.”

“She looks familiar…” Ellie’s voice is thoughtful. “I’ve seen her before. Gimme a second, it’ll come to me.”

I have no doubt. Ellie has a photographic memory. She never forgets anything. It’s disconcerting.

Ellie clicks her fingers. “Got it. Cali, Colombia. Two and a half years ago. Jean-Luc was watching a Christmas party thrown by the Cali cartel. Anyone who was anyone in the narcotics trade was there. This girl was one of the attendees. She wore a Dior gown and almost a million dollars in diamonds. A girlfriend of one of the mob bosses, I think, but I don’t know whose. ”

Caleb thanks Ellie and hangs up. The two of us exchange a long look. Bianca Thompson could be an innocent, trapped in a world that she doesn’t know how to escape from.

Or she could be a willing participant.

Fuck me sideways. “How much of this do you want to tell Kiera?”

Caleb goes silent. He doesn’t know how tonight’s going to play out. Neither do I.