Read NIKOLAI (Her Russian Protector #4) for Free Online

who would let him get away with it.
    Ushering us forward, he used his wide shoulders
and intimidating size to create safe passage through the packed
dance floor. We caught up with our friends and exchanged quick hugs
and air kisses before ducking out of Faze.
    Out in the cold night, I shivered as a blast of
chilly air swirled around my bare legs. The temperature seemed to
have dropped twenty degrees while we were in the club. They'd been
forecasting a winter storm to hit in a few days but it seemed to
have arrived a bit early.
    Safe inside Sergei's SUV, we rolled out of the
Faze parking lot and onto the busy streets. I leaned over and
punched Bianca's address into his GPS unit. It started to drizzle
as we left the downtown area for the historic neighborhood where
Bianca lived. The house she'd purchased a few months earlier was in
the same area as Nikolai's so the trip didn't take us very far out
of our way.
    As Sergei navigated the narrower streets, his
phone started to ring. He fished it out of his pocket but I swiped
it from his hand with a frown. "You can't talk and
drive!"
    He frowned at me and tried to grab the phone
but I smacked at his hand. Bianca laughed in the backseat.
"Children, do we need to pull over?"
    Grinning, I answered the call.
"Hello?"
    "Vee?" Nikolai sounded surprised. "Why are you
answering Sergei's phone? Where the hell is he?"
    "Calm down. He's driving. We're taking my
friend home."
    "When you're done dropping off your friend,
tell him to bring you to the warehouse."
    His unnaturally harsh tone worried me. "What's
wrong?"
    "Someone vandalized your studio." His
reluctance to tell me came through clearly. "I'm sorry. I should
have had someone here."
    "It's not your fault." My heart ached and my
stomach soured as I imagined what the miscreants had ruined in my
art studio. My gaze jumped to the windshield. Bianca's house had
come into view. "I'll see you in fifteen minutes or so."
    After we ended the call, I glanced at Sergei.
"Someone vandalized my studio. Nikolai wants you to bring me
there."
    His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"Yeah. Okay."
    "Um, what's going on?" Bianca leaned forward
and gestured to herself. "Doesn't speak Russian,
remember?"
    I hadn't realized I'd slipped into the other
language. "Sorry." I shot her an apologetic smile. "There was some
vandalism at my studio."
    "Oh no! What about your paintings? Oh, I hope
they're all okay. Do you want me to come with you?"
    "No, this is probably going to keep me up all
night. You have brides coming for their last-minute fittings
tomorrow." I squeezed her hand. "But I really appreciate the
offer."
    The SUV rolled to a stop outside her darkened
house. Sergei pointed at me. "You sit here. I'll be right
back."
    Before Bianca could protest that she didn't
need to be walked inside, Sergei already had the door open and an
umbrella waiting. She seemed flustered by his attentions but
allowed him to walk her to the front door and see her safely
inside.
    After stowing the umbrella in the backseat, he
slid behind the wheel. I wanted to tease him about Bianca but
decided to let it go tonight. I didn't want to get his hopes up
when it came to her. There was one thing she swore she'd never do
and that was date any guy in the underworld. After what had
happened to her brother, I understood that rule.
    By the time we reached the warehouse Nikolai
had converted into studio space for me, there were already two guys
out front trying to paint over the filthy words that had been spray
painted on the façade. My lips parted with a shocked gasp as I
realized what had been written there.
    The vandals had tagged the wall with
the word snitch in
English and Spanish. There were numerous gang tats badly outlined
too. Someone unfamiliar with Russian had scrawled mob whore in badly shaped
Cyrillic letters. They'd translated awkwardly but the meaning was
clear enough.
    Sergei swore under his breath. I was still
taking in the ugliness of it when my door was wrenched