When Nikolai finished speaking to him he walked back into the kitchen. "I need to go back to the cottage, Max is bringing medicine for my assistant. Anya, When the porridge is ready, could you bring it with some light side dishes? And some clothes until I can bring her suitcase from the hotel."
"Of course!" Yes! I am going to be able to see the goddess who was able to bring down my big brother!
Nikolai walked into the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. He touched Merri's forehead and searing heat penetrated his fingers. Fuck! The little angel is burning up.
He reached into his pocket for his phone to call the doctor and Merri grabbed his other hand. She opened her eyes and started crying. "I am so hot...help me please..."
Agitated and disoriented Merri was pulling on the red plaid pajama top and Nikolai held her hand. "The medicine will be here soon."
Instead of calling the doctor he dialed his cousin, there was a knock on the door. Nikolai called out, "Come in."
Merri was gripping his hand tightly and he didn't want to let go. His sister came into the room and almost dropped the porridge in her hand. The beautiful woman in the bed was trying to unbutton the pajamas she was wearing and her brother was restraining her.
He handed Anya his phone, his voice revealed his undisguised worry, "Call Max, see where he is. She needs the medicine, her fever is skyrocketing and she is delirious."
Anya took the phone and her finger was shaking dialing the number. Seeing the panic on her cold brother's face was shocking. He was holding Merri in his arms and smoothing her hair trying to calm her down. His voice was unbelievably gentle,"Hold on, just a while longer."
Merri clung onto him and lifted her head. She gazed at him with watery eyes full of seductive charm, "Kis.." He put his finger over Merri's mouth and knit his eyebrows together and told Anya, "Call in the living room."
Nikolai didn't think the aphrodisiac would flare up again, he wanted to kill LingLing for drugging Merri. He was at a loss as she put her hand on his chest and looked up at him with a lustful gleam in her eyes.
Suddenly the door opened, Anya and Max rushed into the room. Nikolai took the paper bag from Max and said, "Anya, go get an ice pack. Max, wait in the living room."
Ana stood motionless her eyes glued on the incredibly gorgeous little fairy clinging onto her brother. Her hair was long and golden, her facial features were flawless. Nikolai was opening the bottle of medicine. The girl was trying to kiss him, seductively puckering her cherry red lips as she wiggled in his arms.
Nikolai was at his wit's end, his body was reacting to the beautiful girl's mischief and his sister was staring at them. "Put my phone on the table and go."
Anya realized she was still holding his phone and set it down then hurried out of the bedroom. When she saw Max putting away groceries in the kitchen she ran over to him. She tugged on his arm, "The beautiful girl is my brother's girlfriend isn't she?!"
Max closed the refrigerator, "No. She is his assistant."
Anya scoffed, "Liar! She was hanging all over him and he was being so gentle."
He took out a package of noodles from a brown bag. "The woman was drugged."
"WHAT?!"
Max realized he shouldn't have blurted out Nikolai's business. He pulled Anya to the corner of the kitchen and bent down."Don't you dare let Nik know I told you! He would skin me alive."
"I won't if you tell me how that happened."
"No. I said too much already."
Anya pouted her lips and tugged on his arm, "Maxie...Come on. You know I can keep a secret."
He affectionately ruffled her hair, "Yeah right...that's a joke. Let it go...Remember what I said or I will be forced to tell Auntie about your part time job. You know the one you go to when you are supposed to be at the library studying."
Anya puffed out her cheeks and stomped her boot on the floor, "I said I wouldn't say anything!"
Max looked down at his puffed up little cousin and chuckled, "Good. Didn't he say for you to go get an ice pack?"
In the bedroom, Nikolai forced Merri to swallow the pills and drink some water.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and gazed into his eyes. "Why don't you like me? I like you so much."
Nikolai's heart jumped but he calmly unwrapped her arms coiled around his neck, "You are sick right now. You don't even know who I am."
Merri blinked her eyes, "I know...you are my hero. You are kind and gentle..." She pressed her soft lips on his then whispered in a soft voice, "Could you try to like me?"
Tormented by guilt he took her arms from around his neck then touched her face, "Be good." I am no hero. Kind and gentle have never been used to describe me.
She refused to let go, hugging his waist and leaning her face on his chest, "Hold me. I feel better when you hold me. You smell so good."
Anya rushed into the room with the ice pack wrapped in a towel and a thermos. "I brought some herbal tea Mom made. She said it will help bring the fever down."
"Give me the ice pack and go back, tell Mom thanks."
"Didn't you say you have to go to Kazan.? I can stay with her if you want."
"Not til later. I will come get you when I am leaving."
"Okay."
He looked down and Merri was asleep. Very good. The sedative must be working.
Nikolai carefully laid her head on the pillow and covered her with a blanket. He pursed his lips and picked up the ice pack but was afraid she would wake up if he put it on her forehead. He walked over to get his phone to call the doctor.The medicine better clear out the fucking aphrodisiac..if the little angel keeps clinging to me, I am afraid I might not be able to restrain myself.
As he left the room he turned back to check if Merri was still asleep. He quietly shut the bedroom door and walked out to the living room. Max was sitting on the couch smoking a cigarette with his legs on the coffee table.
Nikolai grabbed the cigarette from his mouth and kicked his feet off the coffee table. He crushed the cigarette with his fingertips, "Smoke outside."
"It's fucking freezing out there!"
"Then don't smoke." He flicked the half smoked cigarette into a wastebasket. "Did you get the information I wanted?"
"Yeah. Luc Zaranski has a set routine. At eight o'clock he goes to the Club he owns. He leaves seven guards at the mansion to guard his younger brother who is grounded. But, the kid has a drug addiction and when he can't go out his dealer delivers takeout to him from Mandarin House with the drugs in the paper bag. He calls him at eight thirty every night."
"If Zaranski knows his brother has an addiction why doesn't he have one of the guards check the fucking delivery guy?"
"The drug dealer's brother is the guard at the door. The prick is the one who got the kid hooked."
"That's fucked up. The kid looks to be about seventeen. Why doesn't Zaranski put him in rehab?"
"Well, Zaranski is working on a deal with a conservative German. He can't have any bad publicity...which is probably why he got the hell out of the gallery when the police arrived."
"Hmm. I could get in the gate dressed as the delivery guy but if the man at the door is his brother...Fuck. If the little angel wasn't here I would just kill all the motherf**king guards but..."
"Since that bitch is in jail and you have access to all the rare shit in the gallery, why don't you just make a deal with Zaranski? He was at the auction to get one of 'em right?"
"I need to think about it." He hasn't been able to concentrate because of Merri. "I want to transport the majority of the contents in the hidden room at the art gallery this afternoon. The remainder will be left for the police to confiscate. I'm not sure if Mo Peng knows about the hidden room, so I need to act fast while LingLing can't communicate with him. He must be going crazy. He can't go to the police station or Sydney will find out he and LingLing hooked up."
"Good idea, transporting the merchandise during the day looks less conspicuous. We can use Igor's's van, the art gallery has used his company before."
"We can hide the shit in the warehouse on Beech St."
Max looked at his watch, "I will call Igor and have him prepare two extra uniforms. One o'clock good?"
"Yeah. Anya keep an eye on the girl." He furrowed his eyebrows, "Meng Po could be a real problem."