Read YURI (Her Russian Protector #3) for Free Online Page B

him. "Is that what you think this is about? That I'm jealous?" Disgusted, he slid off the man and let him sit up. "Lena isn't that kind of girl, but you wouldn't know that because all you see is where she came from and some stereotype of what girls like that are supposed to be. It must eat you up to know that she wouldn't give a prick like you a second glance."
    Danny put his hand to his bloody nose and mouth. "You fucking Russian dick! I'm bleeding!"
    "Be glad you're only bleeding and don't need a hospital." He grabbed Danny by the front of the shirt and jerked him forward for one last warning. "If you ever put your hands on a woman again, it will be the last time you have hands to use. Understood?"
    Danny paled. "She pissed me off, man. Okay? But, look, I didn't mean to hurt her."
    The man's justification for grabbing and bruising Lena made him ill. "That wasn’t what I asked."
    "I understand. I'm sorry. I won't do it again."
    "You know I'll find out if you do."
    "I do. I do know."
    Yuri let go of Danny. He sat back in his seat and fixed his mussed cuffs. "In the morning, you're going to call Lena's firm and tell them you amicably parted ways. You'll let them know that you had creative differences but you'd recommend her to anyone. And when someone calls you seeking a recommendation, you'll give her a glowing review—a review that she deserves."
    "Yes, Yuri."
    "Good. Now get the fuck out."
    Danny didn’t need to be told twice. He bolted from the back seat and rushed to the rear entrance of his club. One of his bouncers took a menacing step toward the car but Derek and Jake stood should-to-shoulder and scared him away. When his bodyguards were safely in place, Yuri addressed Tony. "Take me to Faze."
    By the time they'd arrived at Faze, his anger had nearly dissipated. Now he was ready to sniff out the saboteur among his staff. Even if it hadn't been Lena hurt by the subversion, he would have been just as upset by it. He'd seen enough of that underhanded, backstabbing bullshit during his early foray into the business world.
    At Faze, it was nearing closing time. He found Araceli, the club's manager, and asked her for a private word in her office. The surprise and anger in her expression convinced him she'd had no hand in this.
    "If I had to put money on anyone, it would Jeannie, the new go-go dancer we picked up last month. Her boyfriend, Trey, is one of the bouncers at Faze. She tried getting him a job here but Dimitri wouldn't hire him. He said the guy had a bad handshake."
    Yuri's mouth curved with amusement. That sounded exactly like Dimitri. "She sounds like a good place to start but let's be perfectly honest, Araceli. A girl who dances in our cages and on our tables to keep the crowd pumped isn't the one who would benefit most from taking that VIP party."
    "Agreed." Araceli sighed heavily. "It could have been one of the bartenders up there on the VIP floor or one of the waitresses. Hell it could have been all of them. I saw the bill those guys racked up. The tip is going to be a tidy cut for the servers and bartenders to share."
    "Then we haul them all in here and sweat them." Yuri slipped out of his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves. "I won't have this kind of subterfuge in my clubs. This is how stupid feuds begin between businesses. We nip this in the bud tonight."
    Araceli's instinct proved true. Within four minutes of questioning by the tough-as-nails manager, Jeannie started to bawl like a baby and confessed the whole sordid mess. Trey had approached her about stealing the party to get back at Lena for cutting their side-deals with the hookers and drug dealers and underage kids. Jeannie had acted as the go-between with the bouncers at 716 and the VIP crew at Faze. The Faze team had turned down three major bookings for the VIP lounge to make sure they could accept the athletes bounced from 716.
    Even though Yuri owned the club, he left the day-to-day operations in Araceli's capable hands. He knew what he