Life Begins (20 page)

              She nodded, then lifted to her toes so she could give him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll also take Juljiana with me. That way you won’t have to worry about her while you’re grilling. Josif is in the baby pool with Ljiljiana and Katia. He’s going to complain, but it is almost his naptime and I would really like to keep him on schedule, even with everyone here.”

              “We’ll just put all the little ones together in the den.” Žarko promised her.

              “Thank you,” she said. Then she was bouncing away from him, going to take care of getting more food, probably much more than they were going to need, simply because she wanted to make sure that she fed everybody for longer than one day.

              “You are going to be killing a lot of people in order to keep that woman.”

              Fortunately, Žarko didn’t have a problem with that. “Whatever it takes.” He wouldn’t be the big boss if he weren’t willing to do the hard things himself.

Chapter 21

              The idea of opening a small catering company to use her grandmother’s recipes stayed with Josie long after the barbeque had finished. She struggled, because she did want to stay home and felt that starting a business would take her away from her family. She supposed she could try to incorporate a catering business later, once the kids all were in school and wouldn’t need her the same way. But, she sighed, she just didn’t know what to do. What was the right way? She thought about asking her husband, but she knew him. He would let her do whatever she wanted to do without question.

              She glanced at the video monitor, where she saw her daughter napping in her crib and made her decision. She could write at home, because it gave her something to do in between times, but she couldn’t bear to actually be away from her children. If she had the desire again in the future, then she supposed that she could reevaluate.

              “You okay, Josie?” Nenad asked her.

              She nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. I think it’s just the pregnancy hormones getting to me.”

              “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

              She smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just tired and thinking thoughts that are silly.” She paused slightly. “Well, maybe not silly since I know I can do it, but sort of counter to the lifestyle that I currently live, you know.” She leaned into the kitchen island, putting her chin in the palm of her hand. “You ever feel like that?”

              Nenad shrugged. “Honestly, I’ve gone through a lot of things.” He also leaned into the island. “Promise you won’t tell anyone this?” he waited until she nodded. “I’ve been thinking about getting married to Katia.”

              Josie perked up. “Really? That would be nice.”

              He tapped against the dark marble, arms crossed over one another. “I don’t know though. It’s such a big step to take with someone that I’m barely sure I love. It’s like, every time I’m around her, I feel committed, but then, when I’m away from her, I keep feeling like there could be someone else. I don’t want to take the risk of getting married if I feel like that. It wouldn’t be fair to either one of us.”

              Josie made a sympathetic sigh. “I see what you mean. My grandmother used say that if you were willing to risk your current relationship to pursue someone else, you should probably just end it. I didn’t understand what she meant, because I thought that I was all in love with Gary, but I think that I see her point now. I don’t think that I could ever risk leaving Žarko for another man. Even if he would allow it. If you feel like you can find someone better suited, then you should probably just end your relationship now. It would be terrible if you dragged things on, only to turn around and possibly cheat on her later.”

              He started laughing. “You know what, Josie? That actually makes complete sense.”

              Josie nodded. “My grandma was a wise woman. It’s just a shame that I never listened to her about dating and marrying Gary. I can’t complain too much though, because I wouldn’t have my babies.” Then she thought about her husband. “And then, I probably wouldn’t have met my current husband.”

              Nenad headed to the refrigerator and pulled out the bottle of fresh squeezed orange juice she’d bought just that morning. He held it up to see if she desired some, but Josie shook her head, not interested in drinking anything but water at the moment. He grabbed a glass to pour some for himself. “It’s actually nice having someone to talk to,” he finally admitted to her. “I wasn’t around for the previous wife, but I’ve heard a lot of horror stories.”

              Josie stretched her back as she answered. “Žarko won’t tell me anything but the most basic about his previous wife. I just know that she’s dead and it’s probably in my best interest not to ask any questions.” Not that she was scared of her husband or anything. “I don’t think she was very good to the girls.”

              Nenad nodded. “Probably not. I remember when I first met them. They were terrified of women and wouldn’t go anywhere without having the boss within sight. I’m honestly surprised that they love you as much as they do.”

              “I think it’s my little ones that they like. They both took to Josif and Juljiana like little mothers. I have been more than glad for the help, because I wouldn’t know how to get done everything that needs doing without them.” She then looked at the slight playful frown on Nenad’s face. “And of course, you’ve been a ton of help. I can actually take a break from the kids and get some writing done when needed.”

              He smiled. “Well, I’m glad to help. It keeps me from having to run all around town doing menial tasks within the organization. Žarko has always been private about his personal life, so no one ever gets a chance to see how he lives. It makes for an aloof boss, but without him at the head, everything would fall apart and people know it.”

              “I would imagine being private would be the best way to live this kind of life,” Josie had to admit. She checked the monitor as she thought about how she wanted to say what she had to say. “I would think that someone trying to take over would want to know everything about the boss’ life in order to have some kind of leverage. That’s what I would do if I were criminally minded. Go after the family, keep the big man distracted and then strike when he least expects it.”

              Nenad jerked the slightest bit, showing his surprise. “That sounds so dirty coming out of your mouth. You trying to take over the organization from the boss?”

              Josie laughed before pushing forward the notebook she kept at her side. “Nah, I just want to be a mystery writer.”

              He pulled the pad close to him, reading through it. Josie left him looking over her notes as she heard the sound of little feet through the monitor, letting her know that Josif was probably in the baby’s room, getting ready to wake her up. She caught her son just as he reached a hand through one of the slats.

              “Stop right there, little boy.” She pulled him by the back of his shirt and marched him down the stairs and into the kitchen where she’d left Nenad. Josif pulled away from her, running fast to hug around the young man’s leg.

              “Hey, buddy,” Nenad told him. “What have you been up to?”

              “I took a nap,” Josif replied, his face serious.

              Josie allowed them to have their conversation while she pulled together something quick for her son’s lunch. She’d already premade what she planned to feed baby Juljiana today and just needed to make sure she got the journal ready to record her little girl’s reactions. So far, she seemed to have a lot of success in getting the baby to try new things. She didn’t seem to like peas, but Josie didn’t exactly blame her for that. She herself hated them.

              “You’re so organized.”

              Josie glanced up from her preparations. “I’m a busy mom. If I don’t have a system together than I would lose my mind.” She had a whole detailed calendar in her office, complete with sticky notes and everything. “Now that the girls are starting outside activities, I have to be even more detailed.”

              She got Josif set up at the island and took her writing notepad back from Nenad. She needed to get dinner started and didn’t need the distraction of her writing, even though it was prone to get somewhat in her way. Nenad did his job of keeping the little boy entertained and learning Serbian as Žarko desired. Josie tuned it all out, getting into the flow of cooking for her family and making sure that everyone remained healthy.

              Žarko opened the document he received from his men, with pictures and a voice recording of Josie’s ex-husband in discussion with the judge of their case. He’d been delaying listening, simply because he still wasn’t concerned. He knew that Josie had kept all of her documentation from the divorce and he knew her to be honest enough to tell him if she had tricked her husband into signing away his parental rights. Gary didn’t know a damn thing about dishonest people, other than himself and he was really too stupid to get away with most of what he had gotten away with in his life.

              His left hand used the mouse to scroll down the page, finding other information that he had requested. He’d wanted to know everything about this Gary. From what time he took a shit, to when he masturbated. With every image, Žarko had to say, the man was disgusting.

              “He likes the prostitutes,” Srecko said needlessly of what Žarko had in front of him. “And not the high class ones a man of his pay grade should use.”

              “I see. Josie is lucky that she had never had an STD from this man, what with the women he visited.”

              “Maybe he waited until after the divorce?”

              Doubtful, Žarko thought with a sneer. Now he would have to talk to Josie about her medical history. He’d gotten himself tested when he knew that he would marry her, and had even gotten tested once after, just to make sure that they were clean. “I imagine they would have used protection for most of their marriage because of his lack of desire for children. Whatever the case, it is a blessing for her that she is no longer with him.”

              Srecko nodded. Žarko started printing out documents so that he could have a physical file in addition to his electronic one. He had plans for the information that he’d found. The police were going to have a field day when he gave up evidence of Gary’s embezzling scam at his job.

              “You should just put a bullet through his brain and be done with it.”

              Žarko quirked his lip in amusement. “I would love to, but I promised Josie to leave the worm be unless absolutely necessary. So I’m thinking of setting a trap for him. Feed him information that will lead him to do something foolish and will give me an excuse to kill him.”

              “Self-defense?” Srecko made a satisfied sound at the back of his throat. “I like that. Commit crime under the nose of the police and still get your point across. The wife will not like that.”

              “That is why we are not speaking English. She will not have to know about the plan so that she could be honest with the police about what she knows. Josie makes a terrible liar.”

              “She may surprise you.”

              Žarko nodded, even as he silently disagreed. Josie made a good mystery writer, from what he’d been able to pick up from her notepad, but writing a good mystery story did not make one a natural liar or someone that could even be an expert at it.

              He took the papers from the printer and stuck them in an envelope. “I want Marko and Jovan to keep close watch on the ex. Find out everything he is up to. Make note of it and send it me. Then, I want pieces of information to be left for him, anonymously. Give him clues as to my address and my schedule. Make it known that sometimes, Josie is alone in the house. It’ll probably be best to wait after we have replaced the judge in the court case, when he’ll be very angry.”

              Screcko stood to his feet. “Understood. Anything else you need me to do?”

              Žarko scraped at the scruff growing on his cheek. “The due date for Pavele’s loan is approaching. Put someone on him to make sure he doesn’t try to skip town on
vacation
. I am getting sick of these people thinking that they can play me for a fool.” People would have to learn that marriage wouldn’t make him soft. “Start taking out loved ones if you have to.”

              Screcko nodded. “Will do. Stevan has been a pain my ass looking for a job. I’ll put him on it.”

              “No. He is too much of a loose cannon. If he needs a job he can be my sparring partner in the gym. Maybe that way I can beat some sense into him. Put Lazar on it. He actually can do as he’s told.”

              “Whatever you say.” Žarko ignored the other man’s smile.

              Žarko was happy about something that did not involve Josie and having sex, so naturally, it scared the crap out of her. She kept her peace over dinner, not exactly hiding the fact that she was worried and watchful over her husband. She got the little ones dressed and ready for bed. Then, came the nightly bedtime stories with all the kids before the smallest ones were put down for sleep. Desa kept her distracted with helping her with some of her homework problems right before her own bedtime. Once she got Desa to bed and Ljiljiana went to her own room to get some sleep, Josie decided that it was time to confront her husband about this sudden change in mood. She found him in the office, looking over some paperwork that he was quick to cover up as soon as he saw her.

              She had to lift an eyebrow at that. “What’s going on with you?”

              He sat back in his chair, watching her. “What do you mean?”

              She didn’t know why she felt the need to, but she tiptoed her way into the room cautiously. Treating her husband as if he were some kind of wild animal. “You aren’t sneering and unless you’ve been cheating on me, I doubt you’ve been laid.” And if he did ever cheat on her, she planned to gut him like a fish, because she refused to deal with that kind of man.

              He actually had the nerve to laugh at her. “Josie. I have hellcat in my bed. Why would I seek other female to share my body with?”