Whiskey Sharp: Jagged. Lauren Dane

whole of her. The whole, fascinating bundle of gorgeous contradiction.

      He’d been thinking about her so hard he didn’t even hear his dad come in until he spoke. “I’m getting too old to be out of my bed on a cold dark morning.”

      An oft-repeated thing from his father, who’d most likely be happily kneading dough right where he stood just then until he was ninety-five.

      “I told you to sleep in today. Nicklaus is coming in soon.” Nicklaus had worked at the bakery for fourteen years and he was Vic’s right-hand man. He normally did the first shift, getting the dough started before the second crew—including Vic—arrived at five. Bread would be in various stages of the process, proofing, baking, second rise, resting and once done, put in wire baskets Vic was sure were older than he was to hang on hooks at the top of the stairs to be brought to the counter.

      His aunt Klara ran the upstairs with his mom and they made up the last shift that started at six thirty. Evie usually came in around six. Her specialty was the sweet dough. Together with their father, they’d make vatrushka with apricots, a particular favorite of their customers, along with cinnamon rolls and the other sweets that they’d sell over the course of the day.

      Every single employee of the Orlov Family Bakery was truly family, including Nicklaus, who was a second cousin. For a long time Vic had appreciated that, but hadn’t understood just how important it was. And then Danil had died and without the support of his extended family Vic was sure they wouldn’t have gotten through it.

      His dad slung on his apron, tying it around his waist with a satisfied grunt. Vic didn’t bother to point out the freshly brewed pot of coffee. His father was old school. He had coffee with cake and black tea with everything else.

      “Your mother was up. She’s in fine form. Bossing the dogs around. I got out before she started on me too.” Though he sounded grumpy, Vic knew it was an act. His parents had a real, deep and intense connection. They could fight, that was also true, but they’d drawn closer each time they’d been hit with tragedy as well as when times were good.

      His sister, Evie, had said once that they were spoiled by that example and would never accept anything less than a love like that.

      He agreed. Vic felt settling was for pizza and music when on a road trip. It was definitely not for love.

      While getting his tea, Vic’s father switched the music from Vic’s choice to Stevie Wonder. Vic hid a smile and kept working. His father was the senior member of the staff and the family. He got to make the musical and television choices. This was his edict for all of Vic’s and Evie’s lives.

      “I’m going to ask Rachel Dolan out,” Vic said, forming high, round loaves on the long worktable.

      “You’ll lose your heart to that girl,” his father murmured as he stirred sugar into his tea.

      Surprised and not entirely sure what his dad had meant, Vic said, “I like her. I have for a long time now. But I knew we had to be friends first. She’s not going to do me wrong.”

      His dad grunted a laugh. “Not my worry.” He switched to Russian, which Vic knew was his dad’s emotional language. “She is fragile and yet resilient. That draws you. You are easy to laugh. Easy to lend a hand. But she is not easygoing. She comes with heartache and sadness.”

      “So do I,” Vic said.

      His dad nodded again. “It’s why you two are drawn together. You want to fix things. Make people happy. You always have. Our little sunshine child, your mother says. But here, with your Rachel, you can’t fix what’s broken with her. You have to live with that and so does she.”

      Hard, he understood, to sit by when someone you cared about dealt with the sort of pain Rachel toted around.

      “One step at a time. First dinner and maybe a movie.”

      “Tell me, why now?”

      There wasn’t any judgment in his dad’s tone. His parents liked the Dolan sisters a great deal. But he wanted to understand. Which is why Vic had brought it up, because he knew his dad would give him good advice and a pep talk that might or might not include an actual kick to the seat of his pants.

      Just in case, Vic always kept a safe distance for escape.

      He told his father about the scene he’d witnessed at Rachel’s house just a few days prior. Explained how he’d felt, how much he’d wanted to burn things down to protect her, even as he’d admired her strength and spirit when she stood up for herself and her sister.

      “I just knew I wanted her to be mine. I looked at her and she was hurting and it meant something to me. I wanted to fix it. Assure her she was everything her father told her she wasn’t.” And because she’d let him stay to witness the whole scene, it had also felt like she’d opened the door up into a far closer and more intimate relationship.

      His father glowered. He adored Maybe with all her vibrant color and noise. Every time she came over to his parents’ place, his dad would brighten. They’d already begun to see her as a daughter and had definite opinions about how the Dolans treated their children.

      He stabbed a finger in the air before he put his tea aside and began to work. “I don’t like those people. How they upset their daughters!”

      What’d been revealed during that terrible scene was very private. But he knew Maybe would be all right with him talking to his family about it. He told his father about how Rachel and Maybe’s dad blamed their youngest daughter for being repeatedly sexually propositioned and stalked by one of his coworkers. Told him about how devastated Rachel had been that her sister had been so abused and hurt. The guilt he knew she would never let go because she hadn’t protected Maybe.

      His father cursed a long stream in Russian. Not loud. No, when Pavel Orlov got pissed, he got quiet. He bellowed when he was happy instead.

      Vic merely nodded at his father before continuing. “They want to control Rachel. Take away something she needs to make her dependent on them. If they succeed in taking her freedom, we’ll fight for her. She can’t be caged.” She’d been at the mercy of someone else when she’d been kidnapped and Vic knew she’d break if it happened again.

      “You make sure she gets the papers to protect herself,” his dad told him.

      “She’s supposed to call Seth to get his advice.” Seth was his cousin Cristian’s fiancé. He was a cop with the Seattle Police Department so he had good information and given the way Seth was, he’d walk her through the process. “I’m making her brunch later on today so I’ll make sure she does it then.”

      “You be careful too. The father is dangerous. It would be good if they leave Maybe alone now. It’s Rachel they want. But if they can’t get it...”

      Richie Dolan had a temper. One laced with threat and menace and Vic didn’t like it at all. He was the type of man who probably bumped shoulders with other men to assert some sort of dominance.

      Vic didn’t underestimate that threat. But he damned sure bet Dolan underestimated his children and their resilience.

      “I am. I promise,” Vic assured his dad.

       CHAPTER TWO

      RACHEL STOOD IN her closet, looking at her clothes. Annoyance warred with delight. It’d been a while since she’d dressed up for a man for more than just a few weeks of sex and then moving on. That was easy. A mask, a costume that spelled out the limits and boundaries of the interaction.

      Sexy in a generic sense.

      But Vic wasn’t some dude she’d bounced on a while. He was someone she knew and liked. Someone who came over to her house on a regular basis. A guy who’d seen some of her most private stuff aired out.

      God. She shouldn’t do anything with him. Just stay friends. If they