NikolaiTwo Weeks LaterTimur rubbed his hands with an arrogant smirk and pulled his chair closer to the table. His eyes lit with the unmistakable glow of a victor in an aggressive match. I scoffed, rolled up my sleeves, and adjusted the tilted angle of the chess board. We hadn’t even started yet, and he already looked like he held the trophy.“Why do you always set yourself up for defeat?”The sound of his laughter was just as I was used to—rich, haughty, and young. He ran a hand over his buzzcut, tilting closer to inspect the game that was yet to begin. “Are we doing this or what?”“Definitelyor what.” I pushed his head back with two fingers and positioned my elbows on my knees. “You just never get tired of losing. I used to love it—your silent way of respecting that I’m the boss—but it’s grown to be tiring.”“I bet five that Timur’s going to win today,” Anatoly piped up on the black velvet sofa at the corner of the office. He touched the tip of his thumb to his tongue and flipped a
RosalynOff goes the scrunchie.Dua Lipa moved on the flat screen while “Levitating”reverberated on all four corners of the room, and I followed, shaking my waist and flipping my hair like a prisoner who could see the sun again after a hundred years of captivity.Off goes the shirt.Her pitch soared, and I threw my hands in the air, bringing them down in a spiral motion, dragging them down my strappy, low-cut bra, allowing them to linger on the waistline of my flared jean pants. I paused, my lungs heaving like I had run a marathon, my heartbeat thumping against my ribcage as Lipa dropped the climax of the song.Rewind.This striptease plot initially started with a revenge plan borne from a bubbling pit of frustration. To get back at Nikolai, of course. His betrayal still stung like the bite of ten jellyfish—not like I’d ever been stung by one before.But it stung, nonetheless. I wanted to get back at him, to make him know what it felt like to be left hanging at the edge of a cliff with
Wasn’t he supposed to be at work or something?His amused gaze met mine after he locked the door behind him, padding over to the television to turn it off.“Clever you.” His thumb lingered on the remote button before he dropped it and turned around. My body tingled in awareness when his eyes ravenously swept from my head, past my bare stomach, and stopped at the aching spot between my legs.I blocked his view with my arms, trying to shield my partial nudity. “Um….” I averted my eyes. “I deserve some privacy.”He cocked his head to the side, a smirk forming after he licked his lips.“Why so eager now to put them back on when the intent was to have them off in the first place?”“Excuse me?” I had to act offended that he blatantly accused me of trying to seduce him when it was, in fact, true. “Why would I do something like that? This is my room, is it not?Although temporary, I believe I have the right to do whatever I want here, and that includes stripping whenever I deem fit.”“Hm.” He p
One look in his eyes told me it was intentional. He was trying to get me in the mood to strip for him.“And all I wanted to do was shock you.”He laughed at my lame comeback, and I wanted to bite my tongue because I found even his laughter sexy.What is wrong with me?“Let’s do something.” He stroked the small of my back and tipped my chin higher up so I felt the warmth of his breath when he spoke. “It’ll be like a game. I will kiss you, and to prove that you don’t want me, you have to ask me to leave. And if you don’t ask me to leave, I’m going to fuck you hardwithouta condom.”I swallowed, and heat prickled at the back of my neck. Anyone with a brain knew he was setting a trap. I had a brain. Iknewthis game was fixed for his wins, but that tiny, relentless voice, nudging me to prove him wrong, made me nod. “Whatever.”“So, a deal then?”“Deal.”Smirking, he cradled the back of my head and pressed his lips to mine softly. The kiss was so gentle at first that my lashes fluttered shut,
In a heartbeat, he dove in, launching an attack, kissing me harder and rougher than before. I released multiple groans into his mouth, working his buttons faster, my head swaying from the impact. He put one arm around my back to steady me and skillfully unhooked my bra with the other. Aggressively, I peeled off his shirt, and at the same time, he tugged my bra off. My breasts bounced in freedom, and he took a nipple in his hot mouth. “Yes.”I sighed, throwing my head back. My fingers found purchase in his hair, and I ran my hand down the length of his back, feeling a subtle ache grow in my chest. I knew I would rarely ever get such opportunities to feel him. Stars blinded my vision when he sucked hard, kneading the soft mound in one hand and flicking his wet tongue over the pebbled peak in his mouth. This insane rush of pleasure should have felt wrong, but it was quite the opposite. When he raised his head, he lay me back on the bed and parted my knees with one strong move of his
Nikolai Five Days Later Ronan didn’t care much for his sister; that was understood. But he’d been publicly humiliated in his own territory. Knowing him as well as I did, that should have been enough to spark an irritation that would propel him to come after me. He never really allowed sleeping dogs to lie, so it was surprising that the past weeks had been met with nothing more than cold silence from his end. Aiden said he’d refused to discuss the incident at the church and kept mute since. But I knew the Irish mutt probably better than anyone did. Years ago, I’d spent months studying the asshole. He was not going to let it go. And if Aiden was unaware of his plans, it meant he secretly plotted to take me out. I tapped my steering wheel and adjusted the rearview mirror. The flash of a Mercedes bumper reflected through the mirror, and a smile tugged at the corner of my lips.Surprise, surprise.It was almost as if I had manifested the situation and was now living it. I’d been drivi
RosalynTwo Days LaterWe chose this place for one reason: It was the last place anyone would look for us.The air was thick with the scent of mildew and decay and the distant sound of raised voices and blaring music from the neighboring apartments. This was the kind of place people kept their heads down, where no one asked questions—old apartments in dilapidating suburban areas.I moved over to the grimy window, pushing aside the tattered curtain to gaze out at the bleak landscape. It was nothing like the view back at Father’s house or Nikolai’s, but it would have to do. The streets were lined with crumbling buildings, and the sidewalks were cracked and uneven. It was a place where hope came to die.Hannah joined me at the window, her shoulder brushing against mine. I didn’t think I’d taken the time to thank her for being here. Almost everywhere I was, if I was being honest.I sighed, my voice barely above a whisper when I asked. “This is it, huh? Our new home.”She nodded, pulling o
NikolaiTwo Months LaterAnatoly dragged the unconscious man on the floor, leaving a thick red trail across the room to a chair placed by the wall. He dropped the hefty man on the seat like a sack of weighty potatoes and crouched to his knees to tie him up. The man’s bloodied head lolled forward. Anatoly shoved it back with a grunt, impatiently working the knot on the twine.Leaning back in my desk chair, my eyes caught and narrowed on the fancy desk calendar. One of Timur’s weird gifts before his quick trip back to Mexico. The date, in small black serif fonts, glared at me.Two months.She’d been gone for two months, and there was no word. Nothing but silence. I secretly commended her for being able to maintain a low profile for that long. Honestly, I didn’t think she had that stealth ability in her. Even some of the men had grown weary of keeping an eye out for her. The routes had been closely monitored since her escape, but there were no traces that she had made any attempt to leav
I got up from the chair, walking past Arlo to the door as I watched them both. Like the colors of a rainbow, my brother had different sides. He had his days: good ones, bad ones, crazy ones, and bloody ones. I didn’t trust him to keep his cool with this foolishly brave girl. But fuck interfering. I wasn’t going to stop him.Whatever he decided was going to be her fate. She was his problem to deal with now.“Let him do whatever he wants. My only concern is those two.”“But Enzo….”“I’ll blow his fucking head off if it comes down to the worst.” I was unbothered, and I made sure he understood that.“You know what? Forget your fucking brother….” The Italian and Rafa were still at it. “You’rethe piece of shit, you crazy fuck! Who stands in the middle of the road with a gun anyway? My papa’s going to have your head for this!”“Boy, am I going to enjoy killing you. You called me a dog. Pleased to inform you that I barely bark; I fucking bite.” Theshinkechoed in the room, and silver pressed a
TimurI adjusted the gloves against my wrist and tossed the syringe to the floor while I watched the sight of them resting against each other,Pchelkaand her brother. They both had bloodied faces, but I was more concerned with the sunshine princess, whose golden hair had mingled with streaks of red. The other one, with dark eyes and a spitfire mouth, had her eyes shooting daggers at me, Rafayel, and Arlo.She’d woken up first.“I’ve heard a lot about you, Timur Yezhov, but none of those briefs warned me ahead of time that you’d be this dumb.”“I’m going to slice your fucking tongue off, bitch,” Arlo sneered beside me in Russian, but I raised a hand. There was no use spilling her blood yet. We had to hear more from her; then I’d decide if keeping her alive was worth it. Her feistiness was interesting to watch—entertaining, even. She was good sport.Jerking my chair closer to their huddled bodies, I propped my elbows on my knees, leaning forward. She didn’t even flinch. Cocking her head
Jayden shot me anare-you-serious-right-nowlook over his shoulder, still marching forward toward the pavement.“They don’t have Honda Odysseys,” he emphasized, like that wasn’t already obvious. “And they don’t do simple.”Then, he halted in his tracks, allowing me to step beside his huge frame. Taking my hands in his, he let me in, permitting me to see the fear in his eyes for the first time that night.“Look, Seri, I know this is not the life you planned for either of us. You’ll miss your kids at school, you’ll miss the house, you’ll miss everything. But none of us could have known what Dad did, the debt he owed. I promise we’ll sort out this messafterwe leave. Those goons can’t know we’re gone.”Sniffling tears, I nodded and pulled him in for a brief hug before we got to the car. Subtly, he knocked on the window three times. It was eerie, like a secret Morse code only he and the driver understood, and when the door opened and the driver walked up to us, I blinked in disbelief.The la
Serena“And you’re sure this is a good idea?” I asked for the hundredth time. And, again, earned a tired, frustrated growl-slash-sigh from Jayden.Upfront, he stopped walking and turned around with his flashlight pointed directly at me. I squinted, raising my arms to shield my eyes from the bright rays. We were in an abandoned dry canal—one I didn’t know how Jayden had managed to find. Dressed in a black hoodie with a backpack slung over his shoulder, standing at the center with that annoying flashlight, he looked like a villain—a teenage ninja villain.But it was just Jayden.“Take that thing out of my face, please.”I couldn’t see his face, but I knew my brother well enough to feel his vexed eye roll. He dropped the flashlight and turned his back to me, continuing his trek down the canal. Quietly, I shifted the knapsack on my backpack, following the sharp outline of his broad back as he trudged deeper into the swallowing darkness.“No, it’s not a good idea,” his voice echoed around
“Fuck! I almost had him,” Rafayel cursed, dropping his cards beside mine.“My apologies, but this is important. Level one shit,” Arlo said, looking anything but remorseful for interrupting our moment.I didn’t mind because I knew he had something—he always did.He stopped in front of me, flashing his phone toward me as if I could see the screen. A sly grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Got updates on the Skye siblings.”The Skye siblings.Truly, level one shit.“Good or bad?”“Somewhere in between. They barely leave the house. They’re scared. Real scared.”Satisfied, I approved the update with a nod. Of course, they were scared. They knew exactly what was coming and couldn’t run far enough. But Arlo wasn’t done.“But that young one,” he continued, his eyes narrowing slightly, “Jayden.”“The boy?”“He’s got eyes of fire. They know we’ve been watching and are gonna try to run. I see it.”I sat up straighter, grabbing the cards. “Then let them.”He paused, and Rafayel raised a ques
TimurRafayel dealt the cards with that familiar glint of mischief in his eyes, but his face remained calm.Clicking my tongue distastefully, I leaned backward on a chair, folding up my sleeves. We sat across from each other, the low rumble of thunder muffled in the background. It was supposed to be one of those rare moments when we had some peace, no business to deal with, no chaos to clean up—just a game of cards between brothers—until the clouds gathered.“It still bothers you, doesn’t it?”Rolling the cigar stick between my fingers, I trimmed the end with my cutter. “Sometimes.”“And the dreams?”I fixed the cigar between my lips, bouncing my feet up and down the rug. “Stopped about a year ago. Stop talking, and let’s play.”Fucking lying through my teeth. The dreams hadn’t stopped. Not since that night after I was literally tied to a chair and forced to watch one of my father’s techniques for truth extraction. The aggressive thunderclaps, the artistic splash of red on the walls,
Serena“Who were those men?”That was the first thing Jay had asked five nights ago after the unannounced visit of the men in black.Quickly, I’d wiped the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hands. My feet stopped moving, pausing by the counter. I was about to put the cake away, ready to chuck it inside the fridge, when he stormed into the house, confused, concerned, and angry at the same time.I’d wished him a happy birthday, but Jay didn’t care, not about the wish or the cake I’d spent hours baking. Instead, we’d spent the wee hours of his birthday talking about the Russian mafia and the debt our late father owed.We sat in the living room tonight, the same cloud of gloom and uncertainty hanging over our heads as more rain pelted the glass windows. He parted the curtains with his fingers again—for the fifth time exactly—and the view was the same: rain, dark, cloudy skies, billows of what appeared to be dusty wind, and a black truck with bright white headlights.“They’re not goi
“This…this is outrageous!” Waving the paper midair, eyes zeroed in on me, glaring with instant anger. “My dad died last year, so you can’t get anything from him.”“We are well aware of that because he stopped paying last year.” Eagerly, Arlo gestured toward the contract. “Read the last line.”She did.And she jumped to her feet, red-hot with anger. She was trembling with tears, the prickly pines emerging from within as she got ready to defend her home and her brother with everything. “No.”I sat back, assessing her while she faced my underboss.“Technically, yes. Oliver signed that contract.”“And I don’t care! You…you guys can’t do this. It’s evil. How can his debt pass on to his male blood relative? It washisdebt, and we knew absolutely nothing about it. Jay doesn’t know a thing. Please, I’m begging you. He’s only seventeen. He’s still a child.”“Child, my fucking foot. I cut a man’s finger off at fifteen. Your brother’s already fucked a woman, and you wouldn’t even know.”Realizing
TimurI sat on the couch in the dainty living room, Arlo standing beside me and Kristian and Vasili by the door. Everything was more her than Oliver: the colors, textures, and smell. She owned the space, and her composure and confidence were the indicators.Placing the basketball cake on the center table, she took the seat opposite mine, crossing her legs with elegance and chewing her bottom lip with her nerves all over the place.Raising her head, she looked me in the eyes—a sparkling pair of blue eyes that reminded me of the reflection of clear skies on the vast ocean. She was not tall, but when she squared her shoulders in a feeble attempt to appear fierce, her height edged upwards.“You claim that you’re my father’s friends, and yet, I don’t even know your names.”I shouldn’t have been surprised that she wanted an introduction. She looked like the type, anyway.“Timur Yezhov. Not exactly pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Serena Skye, given the circumstances.”“Arlo.” Arlo ra