Page 79 of Desperate Victory

“Thank you, Mr. Zhukovsky, I shall endeavor to do my best.” Then I glanced back to his friend. “Is he with you or just…”

“Oh,” Zhukovsky said as he released me. “Juraj, stop lurking like some street thug. You’re making the ladies uncomfortable.”

The man shot Zhukovsky a thin smile that never reached his eyes. As he climbed the steps, he was as reserved as Zhukovsky was boisterous. Frankly, the men seemed polar opposites.

“Juraj Vedriš,” Zhukovsky introduced him. “This is Miss Emersyn Sharpe, an exquisitely talented dancer. You will swallow your tongue when you see her perform.”

“I look forward to it,” the man said easily, though he didn’t offer a hand or make any move to get closer. He was holding himself apart. He glanced past me, but whatever he saw there had him jerking his gaze back to us.

Interesting…

Were we making him nervous?

More importantly, why were we making him nervous?

“We will make time for tour,” Zhukovsky said. “Don’t worry, I won’t bring Juraj. We will have fun.”

Then they were excusing themselves, well Zhukovsky did. His less than chatty friend said nothing as he strode away up the aisle with Zhukovsky following him.

“That was weird,” Emersyn murmured.

“Hmm-hmm.”

Time to do some research into Juraj Vedriš.

I glanced over to Bodhi who already had his phone out. Good. It could be absolutely nothing. He might just be some street level criminal, but that didn’t fit him.

Not at all.

“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath and shaking off that bit of unease. All we could do was remain watchful. “What do you need to do next?”

Chapter

Twenty-Four

BODHI

I’d acquired three photos of Zhukovsky and Vedriš during their brief sojourn talking to the ladies. Freddie and I were blending into the background. Ideal for the moment, since neither man had paid any attention to us. No, they barely paid attention to Lainey B.

Except Vedriš had been laser-focused on her until Zhukovsky dragged him into the conversation. The theater owner, however, was all about PPG. What I couldn’t tell was how much of that was genuine interest in her skill, pure lust for her beauty, or mercenary desire for acquisition.

“If he keeps looking at her like that, I’m gonna carve his eyes out,” Freddie said, his light tone conversational and relaxed. “Take my time with it. Then chop off each finger.”

I studied PPG again. She didn’t seem upset. If anything, she was more focused on Lainey B at the moment. She’d barely glanced after the men when they left.

“PPG appears to be handling it.”

“Because people have been looking at her like meat for most of her life.” Freddie’s tone didn’t raise nor were there any stress markers present. Yet everything about him shifted. “She expects to be used. To be abused.”

Head cocked, I narrowed my gaze toward the girls. Lainey B had folded her arms and her smile was genuine. Whatever she was saying to PPG made her laugh. It didn’t take Lainey long to notice me staring.

Her eyebrows raised, a silent question. Was I alright? I nodded once. A stir went through me, a shiver that skated over my scalp and down my back to pulse around to my cock and then up again.

Everything about Lainey B was exquisite, from the sharpness of her mind to her unrelenting loyalty to the fierce determination she possessed to protect everyone around her.

Perfection.

“Maybe,” I finally said, conceding the point to Freddie. “Maybe she used to expect it. She doesn’t anymore. No one will allow any harm to come to her.”