Chapter 8

Kris stood looking in the full-length mirror in his bedroom. He’d run to Blackguard and met with both Mac and Spidey. Mac informed Kris that his government handlers gave him the green light. He could now include the Syndicate as an official part of his Madeneze Cartel mission. They only changed the parameters and instructed him to avoid deadly force unless the safety of himself or collaterals was compromised because he was on American soil.

Instead, he was to inform the local Homeland office of any physical assets he was able to infiltrate and allow them to make arrests and impound product in cooperation with the DEA or ATF. Instead of his normal bounty, he could confiscate any monetary assets found. Spidey was crawling across the web and the dark web looking for every building that the Syndicate, Volkov, or their shell companies, owned in and around the city. Once he had that information in hand, Kris could start his campaign against the Syndicate in the next couple of days. With all that dealt with, he was now free to enjoy his first date with Raisa.

He’d gone by the shop and picked up a dozen coral-colored roses. The color meant passion, and he didn’t want to scare Raisa by bringing the typical red sweetheart with its obvious meaning of love, but he got the smaller coral mini sugar baby variety.

He’d rushed home and after putting them in the fridge to stay fresh, he’d cleaned up.

Now dressed in a suit made of a special Kevlar woven fabric in deep black and a white shirt and electric blue tie, he was almost ready to take Raisa out. He slipped a few weapons into specially designed pockets and hiding places and then strapped his Walther PKP to his waist holster in the small of his back and the smaller Beretta 418 in an ankle holster. He had both pistols made popular by the James Bond franchise.

The 418 was a smaller .25 caliber handgun and a reliable backup piece. He made sure that neither marred the clean crisp lines of the suit, but if Volkov or his men tried anything tonight, he’d be ready for them. He’d asked Ratchet to send a town car for him with a driver who was also a member of Blackguard’s protective detail squad. This would allow him to hopefully focus on romancing Raisa and not having to worry about their safety. With one last look in the mirror, he turned and headed for the door to escort Raisa on their first actual date.

He knocked on the door and was blown away when Raisa answered it. She looked good all the time in her tight jeans and three button shirts at the diner, but tonight she looked amazing. He almost didn’t want to take her out because the little black dress she had on, while classy, was just sexy enough to ensure that every eye tonight would be on his date. It was a simple open neck and held closed by a double row of silver buttons on the front. Just long enough to allow her to bend and sit without showing her heart-shaped rear or panties.

The sleeves were long, three quarter he thought they called them, her hair had been arranged in a sexy up-do with just a few loose curls hanging down her neck to drive a man to want to play with them while buzzing that long beautiful neck. Add to the dress the four-inch strappy heels, and he and every other man who saw her was going to be enthralled. “Wow, you look beyond gorgeous! I mean just ... Wow!”

Raisa blushed. “You like it? I wasn’t sure, but Charlotte and Nova told me I was to get a new dress and then took me shopping at the boutique right down from the spa. When they saw this one, they said I had to get it because it would be perfect.”

She tugged on the bottom of the dress like she was afraid it was riding up too much, and it made Kris wonder if his pants were going to have enough room for everything by the end of the night. “I love it and they were right. It’s perfect for you. I almost don’t want to take you out tonight. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up having to hurt someone. You look so good.”

Kris handed her the roses, and she turned to go put them in a vase with some water. Kris followed her inside and shut the door, and noticed that Sparky was sitting on Raisa’s couch. “Sparky?”

“I know the building is secure, Thorn, but I didn’t want her to be alone with everything that Mac told me about her protection issue. Plus, she needed someone to help her with her hair.”

Kris nodded. “I appreciate it. I’ll take it from here, but since the two of you got along so well, if I need you again, I’ll text you.” He thought for a minute. “That is, unless Mac gets you a more permanent assignment.”

The demure redhead nodded. “As of right now, I’m off for a month. Then I’m supposed to go on tour with my normal client. She’s taking a month off before her European tour begins. So if you need me this month, let me know. A few extra dollars never hurts.”

Kris nodded, and Raisa came over and gave her a hug. “Thank you for helping me today.”

Nova smiled at her. “Any time and call that instructor I gave you. He’ll teach you some self-defense moves that will give you an edge if Thorn or I aren’t around.”

Raisa nodded. “I will. Thank you again.”

Kris raised his eyebrow. “You’re sending her to Hiro?”

Sparky shook her head. “No, Moshie. She was interested in learning Krav Maga. Since I’ll be out of the country for a few months, I sent her to Moshie instead of teaching her myself.”

“Yeah, he’s an excellent choice for her. You’d be better.”

Sparky smiled. “I’ll take over once I get back if I can. You never know with my primary, when she’ll be traveling again. I know she’s supposed to be heading into the studio for her next album after the tour. Anyway, you two have fun tonight.”

With that, she was out the door, and Kris stepped up and pulled Raisa into his arms. “I almost don’t want to let you out of the apartment in that dress, my love. I don’t want to have to beat a man for looking at you.”

Raisa blushed and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad you like it.”

He pressed a kiss just below her ear and started trailing them down her jaw and neck. “Like it? Baby, it’s driving me wild. We need to leave before I don’t let you keep it on.”

She giggled and pulled away. “You told me we couldn’t go this fast. You wanted to take me on a date, so get moving buster.”

Kris let her go, but kept her hand in his. He loved she was coming alive and that at least for now she wasn’t focusing on the dangerous man who still planned to force her into his bed. He wanted tonight to be a fun and romantic time for her, one in which she could forget the troubles of her life and the fact that Gregori stole her family’s restaurant out from under her. Kris’d get it back for her. Just not tonight.

They left the apartment and as they climbed into the town car, Kris texted a command to Friday.

Set building to security protocol, Charlie.

Quickly came back the text: Security protocol Charlie initiated.

He silenced his phone and turned off the vibration function for everything but Friday’s app. The only thing that would interrupt his night with Raisa was a security breach at the apartment building or his flower shop. Neither of which he expected tonight. He looked at the driver. “Take us to Le Meilleur Repas. We have a six-thirty reservation.”

Raisa gasped. “Le Meilleur is expensive, Kris. You didn’t have to do that.”

Kris took her hand in his and pulled it up to his lips, kissing the back of her hand. “I want to give you the best of everything, Raisa. Besides, I want to dance with you and Le Meilleur Repas has a dance floor. Plus, it’s on the lake. If we want, we can take a walk after dinner and kiss under the moonlight.”