Dimitri (26 page)

"Like shit, man." Johnny grimaced as he pointed
to his bandaged arm and side. "They really fucked me up,
Dimitri."

"You were lucky, Johnny. They could have killed
you."

Wearing an embarrassed expression, he asked,
"Does Benny know about the car?"

He nodded. "Two detectives were at my door
around sunrise. One of them knows you two well."

Johnny's eyebrows drew together. "Wait. Eric
Santos?"

"That's the one."

"Was he hard on Benny?"

"No."

"Is she really mad about the car?"

Behind them, Yuri snorted. Dimitri ignored his
friend's subtle outburst. "She wasn't happy about it. There's a
bigger issue now. That building you damaged? It belongs to Jonah
Krause."

Johnny paled. "You're joking."

"I wouldn't joke about that. He came by the
bakery to try and force Benny to sign an awful deal for the
building. When she turned it down, he threatened to sue over the
building and ruin her chances of ever opening the bakery again. He
says he's got a private investigator looking for you."

Yuri swore softly. "Then we'll move him
tonight."

Dimitri glanced at his friend.
"Agreed."

"Move me? Where?" Johnny's worried gaze jumped
from Dimitri's face to Yuri's and back again. "How long are you
sending me away?"

"This isn't the kind of thing that blows over
in a few months, Johnny. Your crew was at the bakery this morning
trying to get answers out of Benny. I told them you'd been taken
care of, Johnny."

"So you're sending me away forever?"

"Do you want to take your chances on the
streets? Think carefully, Johnny. If you leave this boat, you're on
your own. I'll do whatever it takes to protect Benny, even if that
means taking her out of Houston to some place where she doesn't
have to look over her shoulder."

"I don't want Benny to get hurt. I never wanted
Benny to get in trouble." Johnny rubbed his face. "I don’t know
what to do, Dimitri."

Yuri cleared his throat. "Can you
swim?"

Johnny frowned. "What?"

"Can you swim?"

"Yes." He pointed to the sling supporting his
arm. "When I'm not in this."

"Are you a hard worker?"

"I can be."

"Can be or will be?"

Johnny swallowed. "I will be."

Yuri caught Dimitri's eye. "I'll give him a
trial run on the yacht."

"You want me to work on your boat?" Johnny
looked taken aback. "I've never worked on a boat. I wouldn't know
what to do."

"You'll be on the bottom rung, Johnny. Think
lots of housekeeping and errand running. If you do a good job,
there's room for advancement." Yuri lifted a warning finger. "If I
get one report of any theft or criminal bullshit, I'll have them
throw you overboard. Understood?"

Johnny nodded weakly. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Yuri turned for the door. "I'm going to
see if we can get someone out here to cover up that shit on his
neck."

As Yuri disappeared, Johnny touched the gang
tattoo marking him as an Hermano. Regret flashed across his face.
"You think I'll ever be able to leave this behind?"

Dimitri felt such strong compassion toward
Johnny in that moment. For the first time in such a very long time,
he sensed Johnny actually understood the enormity of his unwise
decisions.

"Listen, you know Ivan, right? He's like you.
He did some really stupid shit when he was younger. He paid for
those mistakes. Hell, in some ways, he's still paying for those
mistakes but he made a clean break, Johnny. He said no more and he
stuck to that. Even when it came to defending and protecting Erin,
he didn't cross that line. He toed right up against it but never
stepped across."

Johnny blew out a noisy breath. "I don't know
if I'm that strong."

"You are. You have to be. There's no other
choice." He gripped Johnny's hand and drew his full attention.
"This is a once in a lifetime chance. You get to start over,
Johnny. You're getting out of a gang without having to kill
someone. Don't fuck this up."

"I won't." He said it as if he were swearing to
it.

Dimitri released Johnny's hand. "This won't be
so bad. You'll get to travel and see the world and make money doing
it."

"Unless I get picked up on an outstanding
warrant," Johnny interjected. "What if Santos gets the district
attorney to put out a witness warrant for me? I knew a guy who had
one of those. He got picked up crossing the border at
Laredo."

"Yuri and I talked about this last night. If
something like that happens, you'll have to stay away from
countries with extradition treaties." Dimitri waved his hand.
"Don't worry about it. The crew will take care of you. Believe me.
You're not the first person to choose a life at sea to outrun a
shady past."

"And what about keeping Benny safe? Ivan
managed to keep Erin and Ruby alive because he was able to give
back what was taken and negotiate a peace. If you send me away, you
won't have anything to offer."

"I don't need to offer them anything. They know
who stands in my corner—he's a hell of a lot more terrifying than
anything they could possibly use to threaten us."

Johnny's face showed some surprise. "So it's us
now?"

Dimitri's stare didn’t waver. "I love Benny.
I'm not going anywhere unless she tells me it's over."

Johnny returned his stare. "She won't. She's
loved you a long time." His jaw tightened and he narrowed his eyes.
"You better not do her wrong, Dimitri. I swear to God I'll swim my
ass back to Houston if you hurt her. She needs one man in her life
she can count on and that obviously isn't me."

He heard the pain in Johnny's voice. It was
good that Johnny's newfound self-awareness allowed him to see how
badly he'd managed things over the last year. Dimitri hoped this
was the start of a new outlook for the kid.

"You don't have to worry about Benny. I'll take
care of her."

"Get her out of that house,
cuñado.
"

Dimitri laughed. "Oh, we're family now,
huh?"

Johnny gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Let's be
real, Dimitri. You're going to marry her. I may as well get used to
calling you my brother-in-law, right?"

Dimitri nodded. "Yes."

"I'm serious, Dimitri. Get her out of that damn
house. It's nothing but memories. It's not healthy for her. She's
got to learn to move on from all that. Mom's gone. Dad's gone.
Abuelito and Abuelita are gone. That house is full of ghosts—and
the bakery building, too."

Dimitri sat back. "Is that what this is all
about? You wanted to force her to sell to save her
from—what?"

"She's going to work herself to
death." Johnny shook his head. "She's so fucking stubborn. When Mom
and Dad were killed in that wreck, she wouldn't let anyone else do
the funeral arrangements. She was
fifteen
! Grandpa dropped dead of a
heart attack in the bakery and who was there doing CPR to try to
save him until the paramedics showed up? Benny! And then when
Abuelita was dying of cancer, it was like Benny thought if she just
prayed harder and worked harder and researched more, she could save
our grandma. But she couldn't, Dimitri. That bakery? It's going to
kill her."

"I'm trying to get her to cut back. I got her
to go out for dinner and dancing last night."

His eyes widened. "Benny? You got Benny to go
to a club? Damn! She must really love you."

Dimitri chuckled. "Apparently so."

Serious now, Johnny said, "Promise
me that if you help her restart the business, you won't let her
work these eighty and ninety hour weeks. Make her rest. Make
her
live
."

"I will, Johnny."

The kid extended his hand and Dimitri gripped
it tightly. "I know thank you isn't enough for all you've done for
me, but it's all I got."

Dimitri squeezed Johnny's hand and nodded.
"It's enough."

Chapter
Fifteen

I'd always wanted to snoop around on a luxury
yacht but I'd never thought it would be like this. Under the cover
of darkness, and after two car and driver switches, Dimitri slid
his arm around me and hustled me toward the gleaming white yacht on
the very end of the exclusive marina slip. I was quickly led onto
the ship and into a beautifully decorated living area.

"Benny!" Yuri grinned and opened his arms as he
came toward me. He engulfed me in a bear hug and pecked my cheek.
"It's good to see you again. I'm sorry the circumstances are less
than ideal."

I held tight to his hand. "Thank you for this,
Yuri. I don't how I'll ever repay you."

"Don’t worry about it. I owed you."

I frowned. "Owed me? For what?"

"You helped me smooth things over with
Lena."

My eyes widened with surprise. "She accepted
your job offer?"

He laughed. "No, but she did follow me back on
Twitter this morning. That's progress."

"Um…sure." Was this how romantic overtures
began in the era of social media?

He smiled and gestured toward a slightly ajar
door. "Johnny's waiting for you. Why don't you take a moment with
him before the lawyer gets here?"

I glanced at Dimitri. "What lawyer?"

"Johnny wants to sign over his interests in the
house and bakery. We need to get that taken care of before he
leaves."

I didn't like being in the dark about the
lawyer situation but wasn't going to argue with Dimitri here.
Later, in private, I'd let him know that while I enjoyed him taking
care of things, I also wanted to be kept in the loop when it was
this important.

Stepping away from Dimitri and Yuri, I entered
the other room. Johnny sat in a low chair near a big, wide window.
The view of the night ocean was stunning, especially with the
moonlight reflecting on the smooth surface. He smiled at me and
beckoned me closer.

I knelt in front of him and hugged him
carefully. "You look so much better."

"I feel better."

My gaze moved over him slowly. I wanted to
reassure myself that he truly was all right and would make a full
recovery. I spotted something new on his neck. "What's
this?"

He winced as he pointed to the spot where he'd
once had that ugly Hermanos tattoo. "Yuri wanted it covered up. He
says the clients he brings onto the yacht don't mind tattoos in
general but the obvious gang tats make them nervous."

I studied the dramatic angel wings the tattoo
artist had applied over the numbers and letters. He'd skillfully
hidden the gang mark. I glanced at Johnny with some surprise.
"Angel wings?"

He shrugged. "Yuri saw my full name on my
license and passport when Dimitri brought them earlier this
afternoon. The guys I'm going to work with are already calling me
Johnny Angel."

I squashed a smile. "Sorry."

"I think this is karma."

I moved to the empty chair next to him and held
his hand. "Santos came by this morning. He wants you to come in,
presumably so you can finger the shooters who killed your friends."
I hesitated before asking, "Are you sure you want to
run?"

"I don't want to, Benny, but I know it's the
only way to survive. I've done some stupid shit in the last year or
so but I've never done anything violent. Last night? Getting shot
and watching my friends get their brains blown out right next to
me?" He shook his head. "I can't live that way anymore. I can't put
you at risk either. My crew will expect me to pick up a gun and go
after those bastards. The other gang? They're going to want to kill
me to keep me quiet."

He wasn't saying anything I hadn't already
considered. I'd hoped it would help to hear him say it but it
didn't. "I'm really going to miss you, Johnny."

"Yuri says you'll be welcome to visit whenever
you want. If I do well on this ship, he'll move me to the crew on
his big yacht. They sail the Mediterranean with that one. That
would be a nice vacation, right?"

"Sure." I nodded, teary-eyed now. "I just
wanted so much better for you."

His dark eyes shimmered. "I did this to myself,
Benny. This wasn’t your fault. God knows you tried to keep me in
line."

Holding my brother's hand, I tried to keep my
grief at losing him in check. If I started sobbing, I might never
stop. Beside me, Johnny shifted in his chair. He gently tugged his
hand free from mine and reached into the pocket of the new jeans he
wore. I realized someone had picked up new clothes for him.
Dimitri? Yuri? Kostya? I wasn't sure who I owed a thank
you.

Johnny darted a nervous look at the doorway.
Assured it was clear, he thrust a phone into my hands. "Keep this
hidden. Give it to Santos when you see him."

I shoved the phone into the pocket of my jeans
and lowered my voice to a whisper. "Why?"