The Bratva’s Bounty (Volkov Bratva #3)

3. Lev

Chapter 3

Lev

What the fuck is she doing?

Weaving around all these people, turning these stupid street corners, and going down the shadiest streets started to get on my nerves. Something wasn't right, I could feel it. It almost felt like I was following a whole different girl around. Yes, I did wonder if she somehow caught on and did some switch-a-roo on me with a friend or something, but then I remembered the fact she basically had no friends from this little act of defiance of hers.

No, this was still the same Nicole Le I'd been stalking around for the past week; those blue, teal, and dark purple streaks on the underside of her long, black hair made her easy to spot out in the crowd. Honestly, she was doing a piss poor job of keeping low with her appearance. Okay, well, never mind, I take that back; it wasn't a completely bad job. I barely recognized her because of the appearance change. From the pictures her parents showed me, she was a complete girly girl with a soft appearance. This Nicole, the one I found and currently follow, had an edgier appearance with colored streaks in her long, black hair which she kept down rather than up all the time like in the pictures.

In a way, she looked nothing like her pictures—respectfully! The female I saw in the pictures given to me and found online was of this soft, rich, sheltered girl, but this girl a few feet ahead of me—phew! I mean, if it weren't for those fiery eyes, I'd doubt they were the same girl. I wouldn't complain one bit about her change in appearance because, honestly, I dug it. Sure, the lighter colors on her looked cute, but she made black and darker shades of color look stunning on her petite figure.

I couldn't fully comment on the shape of her body because it didn't swing fully one way or another. She may not have some full, hourglass figure, nor did she have very defined curves, but she had an athletic figure. Think maybe my sister-in-law would classify her as a rectangle, politely, of course. Nothing about her body was overtly so, nor were there any areas that were fully accentuated.

Okay, average, almost plain, would be a blunt way to put her, but I didn't mind it on her. Sure, a nice pair of tits or a juicy ass was nice to dig into, but they grew mundane after a while. A model on my arms sounded perfect, but it also sounded boring. Honestly, a huge part of me craved some kind of normality in my chaotic life. A girl was probably the last place to search for that because I seem to attract the crazy ones who only want me for my wallet or reputation.

Maybe that's why Nicole interested me because she paid no attention to me. Granted, she shouldn't be. Otherwise, I'd be doing a bitch ass job of tailing her. Damn, maybe I thought too much into this. Of course, she wouldn't fucking notice me, that's the whole point of this stupid stalking. Would she notice me, though, if she were to cross me on the street? Or if I were to approach her? Or would she shrug me off? What if—

" Blyat' !" I hissed under my breath when she literally disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Picking up my pace, I continued to mutter cusses in Russian under my breath as I went after my target's last known location. I blinked just as she turned the corner, I think. Fucking hell, she was literally here and gone in a blink of a damn eye. No, I was not being sloppy and missed her.

Huffing and growling at myself, I rounded the corner of the building to… Nothing. Well, almost nothing. The alleyway looked like any other rubbish alleyway with dumpsters and litter, but what made me stop was the distinct crinkle under my shoe, along with a neat little takeout box with a black bow on it.

Slowly, with my eyes still scanning the alleyway, I tried to see if I could spot streaks of color amongst the dull area. When there were no signs of Nicole, I deflated with a long sigh as I bent down to pick up the piece of paper and takeout box.

A little treat for some motivation.

See you tomorrow handsome ;)

It was signed with the initials N and L with a little old-school-looking bomb with a smiley face as the center dot between the N and L.

Damn it! She knew! She fucking knew! How the hell did she figure me out?!

Needless to say, I spent a good minute berating myself for being careless somehow. Although, I didn't understand how she spotted me because I stuck to my typical routine that always worked. I kept a very fair and good distance while following her, blending into the crowd by acting mundane, and literally drew no attention to myself one bit. So, how? No one, and I mean no one, has ever made me before on an assignment unless I broke protocol.

" Blyat' !" I growled, crumpling the paper up in a fist and throwing it against the brick wall with instant regret.

Great, now I was getting worked up over some stupid note.

Sighing, I bent back down to pick the paper ball back up and straightened it back out, smoothing it between my large palms. Well, she put some effort into this note, so it felt wrong to just toss it. So, I stuffed it into the pocket of my jeans and trudged off to my car.

I was calling it a day. If she made me then she most likely made herself scarce and ran back to her hiding hole. I struck out today, and I had to accept that.

But fuck was I pissed about it.

For once in my life, I was lost.

Nicole seemed to go about her daily routine without minding me one bit of attention, which threw me off because, obviously, she knew about me. Well, she actually gave me a glance—a single glance—and that was it. So, she certainly knew I was present and tailing her. Honestly, what the hell cooked up there in her damn brain? I knew she had one; she finished college with a few business degrees, so she definitely had a brain. Now, whether or not it functioned properly was debatable because this woman made questionable choices.

For fuck's sake, who the hell went out and had a routine that involved the outside world and public when they're supposed to be in hiding? Unless she wasn't in hiding, but then why the paranoia and skittishness? This woman made no sense, and my head pounded with annoyance whenever I tried to figure her out below the surface.

Obviously, she actively avoided her parents, and she could have very valid reasons for doing so. Either way, she didn't seem like the runaway rebel her parents painted her to be. Honestly, I felt a little bad about having to kidnap her back to her parents, but a job was a job. Well, I could withdraw from the contract and shove it back in their face, but that would reflect badly on me and the company.

We could take the hit, but it would be a little risky with the Le's because of their standing and reputation in the city as one of the top cybersecurity companies out there in California. They could easily spread the word about Volkov Inc. to their customers, who were also high profile, and we could lose a lot of business that way. Also, the Le's were involved in the mafia, too, from what I dug up, but it was unclear which side of the fence they fell into.

The last thing I wanted to do was make more enemies than necessary for my family's bratva. Nikolai—the Pakhan of the Volkov Bratva and my older brother—already had a lot on his plate with the recent merge with his wife's triad after she disbanded it. Going from controlling half the city to nearly all of it in one night was a lot to take on. Recently, we started to branch out more because of our new connections to other cities. We might have bitten off a little more than we could chew, but we managed fine currently. Still, the fewer enemies we make right now, the better.

So, unless I had a very good reason to call off this contract, I had to keep it for now. Something in my gut refused to settle on the fact, though, because I smelt something fishy about this whole thing. Sadly, until I had solid evidence to back my decision to pull out of the contract, I couldn't.

Finally, after following her around for what felt like an eternity, she finally approached me after we stewed in some gelato café shop. "I figured ice cream as a first date sounded good. What do you think, handsome?" The gall of this woman, I swear.

Offering no words in response, I only gave her a scoffing sneer before sipping at my coffee. I was speechless, but she didn't need to know that. If it wasn't obvious, I've never been approached by a target before like this, let alone a pretty one this nonchalantly.

Without a single care, she slid into the seat across from me and settled her pretty little head up on her crossed hands after propping her elbows on the tabletop. "Oh? Shy type, huh? Strange, didn't ping you as the brooding type." She was toying with me, judging from the devious little smile paired with the little glint in her eyes.

"Either way, I'm Nicole, but I like to go by Nicki as well. What about you, handsome? It'd be nice to put a name to my silent stalker for the past week or so. Gotta say, they're not usually as good-looking as you." She chattered on with a growing smile until it became overly stretched as if she was trying to make me feel uncomfortable.

Too bad her little tactic won't work.

Refusing to engage her, I kept my lips firmly planted around the rim of my coffee cup, only offering her my intense gaze as a response.

"You're an odd one… What's your game? Want access to my underwear drawer? Some pervy pics through my window? Some weird voyeur from afar? Or is there a different reason you're following me?" She commented out loud while gesturing at me with her straw and studying me with careful eyes. "You don't seem like the typical fanboy or dude looking to score some rich bitch like me. You don't look like someone my parents would hire as a bodyguard either, but you do look of high caliber."

Do I tell her? Do I lie?

Fuck, I didn't know what to do for once in my life.

How the hell is this woman getting to me without trying?