Drake Sisters 06 - Turbulent Sea

under his thumb. What would be the point? I don't know him very well, but yes, I like him. He's personable and intellectual. You know me. I don't hit the party scene hard, but I do like conversation and he's an interesting man. We've been talking quite a bit. He doesn't do drugs that I've seen, so we hang out, have a drink or two and talk world affairs. He's very knowledgeable in a lot of areas I'm interested in.'
    'Such as?' She wasn't touching him, but his aura had changed slightly, enough for her to know he was uncomfortable with the conversation.
    'Well, the market for one, what are good stocks. What makes a good investment. He really knows his stuff. He has advisors, but he does a lot of his own research and makes solid choices.'
    She could hear the admiration in Brian's voice and it alarmed her. 'What about his men?'
    'His men?' Brian echoed, his frown deepening. Now his aura changed sharply, throwing out a mixture of colors -
    annoyance - disturbed - even anger. 'What men?'
    Her eyebrow shot up. 'The ones with guns everywhere. Did you notice them? Those guns are real, my friend.'
    'Well the threats to him are real as well. You ought to know about that. You need bodyguards. Which reminds me, where were your bodyguards when you came to the party? Why was Steve just sitting in the car like an idiot? With the Reverend there, anything could have happened. Jerry warned you that the threats against you have been escalating.
    And you have that nutcase fan fixating on you and trying to tell you he loves you. His letters are very disturbing. Twice he's managed to get nearly onstage.'
    She sighed. T might have a bodyguard or two, but I sure don't have men with automatic weapons guarding my gate.
    What's up with that?'
    He shrugged. 'It's probably a necessity.'
    'Why, Brian?' She persisted, wanting to shake him. 'Wouldn't a bodyguard or two be enough, or some rented security? Have you taken a look at those men? And what about Prakenskii?'
    Brian's head went up sharply. 'I saw you with him. Did he make a move on you? Scare you? Because I can talk to Nikitin about him.'
    She gave a short laugh. 'You really have no clue what's going on there, do you? Nikitin would never fire Prakenskii.
    He's afraid of him, just like anyone else with a brain. And those guards you think he needs, they're all trained soldiers.'
    Brian gave a growl of total frustration. 'You have no idea what his life was like in Russia. He had a lot of enemies.
    That's why he has a man like Prakenskii working for him.'
    'A man like Prakenskii?' she echoed. 'What has he said about his bodyguard?'
    'Just that he's very dangerous and not to cross him. He advised me to stay out of his way.' Brian lowered his voice as if the walls had ears. 'I think he's killed a lot of people.'
    'Is that what Nikitin told you?'
    Brian shook his head. 'He implied it. And the other bodyguards defer to Prakenskii over everything. I've never actually heard the man talk. H looks at people and they just jump into actio without him saying a word. Frankly, he scares nr and I wish Nikitin would get rid of him. I know h doesn't altogether trust him.'
    Joley went on alert, radar suddenly going on wil a loud warning shriek. She was instantly protective, everything in her rising up to defend Ilya - whic was silly - and stupid - but she couldn't sto; herself. 'What does that mean? Why would you have a bodyguard you don't trust working for you? He's the man who takes the bullet for you.'
    Brian narrowed his eyes, suspicion creeping into his expression at her sudden change of attitude. T don't know, but a couple of times I've seen one of Nikitin's other guards, a man by the name of Pavel Demidov, come in and whisper to Nikitin. They both always look around to see where Prakenskii is. If Prakenskii is watching or is close by, Nikitin waves Demidov off. Within a couple of minutes he makes excuses to me and tells Prakenskii to watch things while he disappears for a while. Nikitin almost always goes to a phone and has a heated conversation in Russian. He definitely doesn't want Prakenskii to hear or see him. There's no question he trusts Demidov and not Prakenskii. What's Prakenskii to you?'
    'I'm just curious.' Joley widened her eyes in innocence. 'What does Nikitin say?' Nikitin felt evil, unlike Prakenskii, who felt - well - sexy. She nearly groaned aloud. She was so far gone she wasn't even hiding it from Brian.
    'They talk in Russian, how the hell would I know? And I can only pretend to look for