Down the Line (Volkov Bratva Book 6) Read online

  Down the Line

  London Miller

  Copyright © 2018 by London Miller

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  For You.

  Who could love Mish and Lauren more?

  Contents

  Foreword

  Newsletter

  Also by London Miller

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  BONUS SCENE: BESA

  About the Author

  Foreword

  Around the holidays, I always get nostalgic, and for whatever reason, I’m drawn to writing Mishca and Lauren—it happens every time. And every year, I always say the same thing: I really want to write another book for them. I still feel that way. The only reason I haven’t is because time gets away from me and I’ve been busy writing other books—the Den of Mercenaries, The Wild Bunch, the newly release Kingmaker Saga—but even as I venture into different worlds and families, in the back of my mind, I’m always thinking about the Volkovs.

  This novella is more of a peek into their lives back during the time of The Morning, and is not intended to be read as a standalone. If you haven’t read it, or any of the other books in the Volkov Bratva series, you might be a little confused by what’s happening here, so I suggest you start there.

  Just a little heads up. :)

  I do have another book planned for Mishca and Lauren that I’m hoping to publish one of these days, and as you’ll learn once you get to the end of this novella, I also have something planned for Luka Sergeyev, everyone’s favorite Albanian.

  Thank you for joining me in another installment for the Bratva. I can’t wait to bring you more—especially as we gear up for the next generation.

  Get ready.

  xx LM

  Newsletter

  Keep up with all things London Miller, including exclusive cover reveals, giveaways, and more!

  http://eepurl.com/dADuKn

  Also by London Miller

  Volkov Bratva

  In the Beginning

  Until the End

  The Final Hour

  Valon: What Once Was

  Hidden Monsters

  The Morning

  Time Stood Still

  Den of Mercenaries

  Red.

  Celt.

  Nix.

  Calavera.

  Skorpion.

  Syn.

  Iris.

  The Kingmaker Saga

  White Rabbit: The Rise

  The Wild Bunch

  Crooks & Kings

  Shadows & Silence

  Seasons of Betrayal

  Where the Sun Hides

  Where the Snow Falls

  Where the Wind Whispers

  Standalones

  Acquainted

  Chapter 1

  For some time, Lauren Volkov had thought watching Sacha toddle on unsteady legs with his little arms outstretched for the very first time was the highlight of her life, but as she stumbled out of her bedroom—desperately wishing she had some coffee, considering how tired she felt even as she had gone to bed early the night before—she was pretty sure she was wrong.

  Because the sight before her was much better.

  Mishca stood in the kitchen with a spatula in one hand as he flipped a golden pancake to its other side, the front of his trousers covered in tiny, flour-coated handprints. The culprit was the toddler currently babbling away as he circled around the island, pressing his hands to anything within reach.

  He was always so proud when he made a mess of things.

  The sight of him reminded her so much of Mishca and was only made better as he smiled toothily at the chaos he left in his wake.

  The only thing she had wanted to do after climbing out of bed was to climb back in, bury herself, and sleep for another ten minutes, but the sight of them together never failed to make her smile.

  “Mama!”

  Sacha was the first to notice her, immediately forgetting about his reign of terror as he raced toward her with his arms outstretched, entirely too cute in his little footie pajamas with elephants all over them.

  “Good morning, my beautiful boy,” she said before smothering him in kisses, her heart nearly exploding at the sound of his giggling.

  She swiped her thumb across his cheek, clearing away some of the flour. With him settled on her hip, she turned to finally greet Mishca, but the words died somewhere in her throat when she noticed the way he looked at her.

  A look that affected her just as strongly now as it had the very first time they met.

  One that inspired butterflies to flutter in her stomach. For goose bumps to dance along her skin. The urge to blush when his gaze trailed over her was nearly irresistible.

  She was grateful for every day she was on the receiving end of that look.

  He finished the last of his pancakes, moving the plate topped with them to the island beside her before he turned off the stove and set the pan aside.

  Lauren wasn’t sure who leaned in first, but the next thing she knew, Mishca’s lips were pressed against her own in a kiss that lit up every nerve ending in her body.

  But it wasn’t until she felt Sacha tug at the hem of her sleep shirt did she finally pull away, floating back down to earth. “Morning, Mish.”

  “Breakfast?” he asked, gesturing to the last pancake he’d taken out of the pan.

  She sighed wistfully, always happy to eat anything he cooked. Her skills might have improved some over the years, but she still struggled at times. “I’d love it,” she said as she carried Sacha over to his miniature table and set him in his chair, “but I’m already running late, and I still need to drop him off.”

  Back in the kitchen, Mishca cut up one of the pancakes into triangles—because Sacha insisted, and Mishca had a tendency to give in to what their son wanted—before drizzling syrup over them. As quickly as he had wanted their attention before, Sacha was now focused on just how many pancake triangles he could fit in his hands and mouth at one time.

  “I can take him.”

  She stroked her hand over the softness of his hair—even as she made sure he didn’t choke—before turning back to Mishca. “Ten more minutes won’t hurt.”

  “Or,” Mishca started with a shrug, while managing to sneak a grape before carrying the rest over to Sacha, “he can spend the day with me.”

  She tried not to show the hesitation she felt with that idea. It wasn’t as if the offer was out of the ordinary. There’d been plenty of days when previous plans had fallen through, and Sacha didn’t end up going to his daycare. If anything, he tended to be in a better mood when he spent the entire day with one of them—but that fear of him being with Mishca while he was working hadn’t dulled with time.

  Just the thought of something happening still made her anxious.

  Logically, she knew there was no safer place for him to be than when he was with Mishca and the wall of protection he kept around them at all times—especially when one of those men was Luka, and God help the poor bastard that thought to try anything with him around—but the mother in her worried all the same.

  Swallowing it down, though, she forced a smile. “Yeah, he’d love that. Tell Luka no chocolate sundaes this time, though,” she said, remembering just how easily the Albanian tended to give in whenever Sacha wanted something. “
He was climbing the walls for hours.”

  A doting uncle who couldn’t say no had been fun in the beginning—it was always endearing to see the way Luka spoiled him—but now it just meant longer nights for her.

  Mishca wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into the fold of his body, pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head. “I’ll keep him in line.”

  “Good.”

  “And hey.” He waited until she met his gaze to finish. “You don’t ever have to worry, yes? You’re both safe with me.”

  “I know,” she whispered, and she did know.

  Even when she panicked momentarily.

  “Text me when you get to class.”

  “Always,” she returned before kissing him one last time, then pulling away.

  As much as she wanted to linger and spend just a few more minutes with them, she was running late. And since she was pretty sure her professor was springing a pop quiz on them, the last thing she needed was to miss that.

  “Have you thought about where you’ll intern?” Caleb asked as he took a huge bite of his sub, eyeing their group expectantly.

  While Lauren had only been half paying attention to the conversation around her as she texted Mishca during this free hour between classes, the question brought her back to the present.

  It was a question that, though she wouldn’t have to truly worry about the answer for another year, she had given a lot of thought to recently.

  Of course, the decision wouldn’t ultimately be hers, but she still wondered about it all the same because the decision wouldn’t just affect her.

  There could very well not be an opening in any of the hospitals in the city or even the state for that matter. And realistically, there was even a chance she would have to relocate if she wanted to find an internship in her field.

  Before Mishca, she hadn’t actually given much consideration to her major or even what she wanted to do for a career, but now, after so much hard work and sacrifice and late nights, she wanted nothing more than to be a doctor. Even as her entire family was here in New York. Hell, her life was here—not to mention it was imperative that Mishca stay in the city he ran.

  “They’re definitely going to be hard to get,” Joseline said before taking a sip of her cola. “I had a friend last year who graduated in the top twenty percent of her class and didn’t find a placement.”

  Lauren still wasn’t really listening.

  Manhattan General was her first choice, of course. It was right in the heart of the city–not to mention in the state. The commute wouldn’t be awful, all things considered. But even as she was lost in her own thoughts, she was brought back to reality very quickly.

  “You’re probably not as worried, right, Lauren? Considering who your husband is and all.”

  From experience, Lauren knew one in every group was always unnecessarily rude for no other reason than because they must not have been loved enough as a child, but their bad behavior was generally excused because they offered something that made up for it.

  Jessica was that person in their study group.

  They had all been paired up for a group assignment early in the semester—and also happened to have the same free hour for lunch on Mondays and Wednesdays—and while the assignment had come to an end, Jessica had stuck around. Though Lauren was never sure why.

  All she ever seemed to do was judge and turn her nose up at other people.

  It was inevitable, considering the amount of time she spent around them, that they would eventually want to know more about her, considering she wasn’t like many of the other students here.

  Like the fact she had a driver who took her wherever she wanted to go and doubled as a guard of sorts who was never too far away though he never came into class with her.

  And sometimes, when she adjusted her jacket just so, her shirt would pull to one side and show one of the stars tattooed on her collarbone. While the tattoo was mostly innocent for anyone who didn’t know the significance behind it, one only needed to hear the rumors.

  It had only taken one person to connect her last name with the businessman featured in the paper for charitable contributions before people made assumptions about who she was and the man she was married to.

  Though, whatever they thought, she could almost guarantee that Mishca was probably worse, though no one would have ever suspected that at first glance.

  Lauren plastered on a smile, hoping it felt half as real as she hoped it did. “That’s one thing I won’t need his help with.”

  After all, her GPA was higher than Jessica’s, but she didn’t need to point that out.

  They both knew without her ever having to open her mouth.

  The same thought seemed to drift through the other girl’s head because her condescending smile faltered a bit. “Must be nice.”

  Jinx, who’d been as quiet as Lauren during most of this conversation, snorted and finished the last of her yogurt. “Isn’t there a new wing in the library here with your family’s name on it?”

  Willow—affectionately dubbed Jinx since she had a tendency to break things without meaning to and was, all in all, a bit of a klutz—was one person in their group who Lauren actually considered a friend. While they didn’t hang out much outside of school, they still tended to stick together when they were here on campus.

  She also had a tendency to ignore Jessica—in part because the latter had bragged once about how much money her family had when Jinx had been explaining her scholarship worries at the beginning of the semester—but she also wasn’t one to bite her tongue.

  “What’s that have to do with anything?” Jessica asked, an edge creeping up in her voice.

  Jinx shrugged with a slight smile. “Must be nice.”

  Lauren loved her for it.

  “I’m just saying,” Jessica went on. Rolling her eyes away from Jinx, she dismissed her, though it was clear she was insulted. “It’s like I was telling my friend—I’ve known them forever, ya know—it’s really hard to focus on school and have a kid, right? And you know what she did? She got pregnant our third year of undergrad.”

  Lauren knew she was lucky in a lot of ways.

  Not only had she gotten pregnant before she started med school, but she had also managed to skate through the first nine months of it with relative ease and only a few unavoidable absences. Even after Sacha came into the world that cold winter night, she had still managed to juggle being a new mother with her time at school.

  But she would be lying if she said she hadn’t had plenty of help.

  Mishca had happily taken over whenever she couldn’t. And even in the early days when she couldn’t remember much beyond every two hour feedings and endless diapers, he had been right there alongside her.

  If there was a night when she really needed to study and Mishca wasn’t available, even if one of their family couldn’t watch him for a few hours, she could still afford a babysitter.

  Not everyone was able to do the same.

  Something that her table mate liked to remind her of every so often. Four months into the semester, she still wasn’t sure if Jessica was just a complete bitch or whether she actually believed she wouldn’t be able to make it far simply because she had a son.

  “I told her,” Jessica continued, oblivious to Lauren’s growing annoyance, “I didn’t understand how she managed undergrad as much as she had with a baby attached to her hip, but I mean … you’ve made it further than her.”

  Patience had always been her strong suit. Lauren didn’t think she had ever been the sort of person to yell unless it was absolutely warranted, but as she got older, her patience for this sort of thing waned.

  “Do you have a point?” she finally asked.

  The girl blinked as if she couldn’t understand why Lauren would be tired of her constant talking. “I’m just saying …”

  “Ili, mozhet byt,’vy delali predpolozheniya, osnovannyye na tom, kto moy muzh?—Or maybe you made assumptions based on who my husband is?” she asked, kn
owing Jessica wouldn’t understand a word she said. “Probably not your best idea.”

  It didn’t matter really that she hadn’t said anything particularly threatening. Jessica didn’t know that. “Sorry?”

  “You were, ‘just saying,’ right? Best you not say anything at all.”

  That, unlike anything else, managed to shut her up as her mouth clamped shut and color infused her cheeks. “Rude much?”

  Lauren smirked as she climbed to her feet, practically daring the other girl to say anything else. She glanced over at Willow. “I’ll see you in class.” She didn’t wait for a response before turning to walk away, blocking out the sound of Jessica’s whispering behind her.

  Chapter 2

  One might have thought Mishca had summoned an army, considering the number of SUVs waiting in a row in the parking garage as he left his apartment building, carrying a squirming Sacha over to his car. But when it came to his son’s safety, he took no chances.

  He would have let Sacha walk on his own, knowing how much he seemed to enjoy his independence, but they needed to get going. Mishca knew if he put him down for even a second, Sacha would take off across the lot, walking as fast as his little legs could carry him.

  And if he thought someone was trying to pick him up, he’d start running even faster, practically tripping over his own feet and giggling all the way.

  The meeting he needed to attend wasn’t one he was particularly looking forward to, but as pakhan, he couldn’t exactly delegate the task to someone else.

  Once, he had let Niklaus stand in for him—many forgot he had a twin brother, which worked in his favor at times—but that had ended with his twin’s fist in the other man’s eye, and that just wasn’t good for business.