NaomiTo block out the noise of his bones cracking. I scrambled to get them, and the moment I slid them on, piano music filled the air, much like the type that Gavril would play. The sound soothed my nerves somewhat, knowing that when I was finished here, we could move on with our future. He could play this melody for our child and me, do the things that he loved to do without fear that I was going to reject him.We had a bright future ahead of us, one that was going to be filled with love, laughter, and a bit of violence, but knowing that Gavril wasn’t going to do the trafficking anymore filled me with contentment so I could handle the rest. My husband wasn’t perfect, but neither was I.Wordlessly, with the music playing in my ears, I watched Oleg remove the tips of Jon’s fingers with his cutter, not bothering to wipe up the blood that dripped from the open wounds before he added the tips into the cup with the teeth. I couldn’t hear any of the noise that he was creating, but watching
GavrilTwo Months LaterSt. Petersburg, RussiaI held onto Naomi’s hand tightly as we followed the dirt path through the headstones, the blustery wind tearing at our winter coats. It was brutally cold, snow threatening in the air, but Naomi had refused to put this off just because of the weather. “We have to do it today,” she’d demanded this morning when I had tried to coax her back to bed. “You have put it off long enough, Gavril.”She was right. I had put it off for years, and since Naomi had her closure with Jon Hampton, it was time for me to have mine so we could move forward.I hadn’t told Naomi about my dream that night, how I had carried on a conversation with my former love. I didn’t know why. I knew she would believe me, but there was something that made me want to keep it close to myself for now. Maybe one day I would tell her.Right now, though, I was going to have my closure another way with Katya.Finally, we reached the hill where my mother had told me she had been buried
NaomiToday was my wedding day.It wasn’t that a woman could look at herself in the mirror and go down the aisle to marry the same man twice, but I could.This time, however, I wasn’t about to marry Gavril as another woman or sign another woman’s name to the wedding register.He was getting Naomi Spencer, social media influencer and B-rated actress.I was getting one of the most powerful men in LA’s crime scene. I was definitely coming out on the sweeter end of the deal.“You look beautiful.”I turned to face my soon-to-be sisters-in-law, taking in their light green dresses. “And look at you two!”Katarina smiled as she modeled the dress for me, a perfect fit for her. “It’s lovely, Naomi. Thank you for allowing us to be part of the wedding party.”“Of course!” I stated. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I had been psyched that the girls wanted to be part of the wedding to begin with, coming to LA for their first time ever a week ago. Ilsa and I had made certain, with Maria’s permiss
GavrilIt was done. The last words fell from Naomi’s lips, and I loosened a breath. I thought I had been nervous before, but today had been nerve-wracking for me, wondering if Naomi would actually realize what she was about to do and run.Hell, I wouldn’t blame her. After everything I had done to her, she was still going to marry me.The priest droned on, but I gripped her hands in mine, staring into her beautiful eyes like my life depended on it. Today I was fucking happy. The last few months, I had been fucking happy, and honestly, I was waiting on the hammer to fall and crash this perfect existence that had become my life. It was more than Naomi, though she was a huge part of this happiness inside me.No, it was the rebuilding of my Bratva, the business ventures that I was taking on that actually were legit ones to make Naomi and our family proud. I wanted the Belaya name to be more than just a crime family.I wanted it to be a legacy that would carry through the generations.“You m
NaomiIt was my wedding day.I had dreamed of this day since I was a little girl. I dreamt of what I would wear. I dreamt about my father smiling at me with tears in his eyes as he walked me down the aisle. I dreamt about my mother blinking away tears of joy when she saw me in a veil that floated down my back, the gossamer material caressing my bare shoulders. My best friend Ilsa would giggle and carry on as she helped me put on the garter belt, and we would toast the happiest day of my life with champagne and wine while my hair and makeup were being done.It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life.I drew in a shuddering breath and looked at the woman staring back at me in the full-length mirror, searching for any remote sign of happiness in her eyes.There was none. I couldn’t even fake it, and as an actress, I prided myself on faking just about any sort of emotion.Instead, the woman in the mirror stared back with other emotions: dread, apprehension, and fear.My father wasn
GavrilOne Day EarlierI braced my hands on my desk and listened to Sveta’s rants as she was escorted down the hall. I hadn’t expected her to react like that. I had expected tears, maybe even some begging. But she had reacted to my plan like a hellion, fighting my men and threatening to kill me.Maybe she had more of Stanislav in her than I realized. I expected a woman who would be afraid of me, one that would be crying for her father, a father she never knew, to come save her.Instead, I found a woman who had defiance in her eyes, and hell, it stirred my cock nearly immediately. Were it not for protocol, I might have stripped her then and there, bent her over and used her until she was a trembling mess.A woman with fire was dangerous, but also a hell of a good time.In that moment, I almost wished that she wasn’t to be my wife. I didn’t want excitement in my marriage. I didn’t even want to think about her other than to finish my plan and have her give me a child.That was I planned
NaomiOne Day EarlierI schooled my emotions from those in the car as it wound up the steep driveway high above the city. I knew that they expected a scared Russian girl who had no idea what was going on, and it was hard to maintain that persona.Okay, maybe not that hard.I was scared, terrified at what might happen in the event that the man who took me found out that I wasn’t who he thought I was.He didn’t look like the type that would laugh at a joke or even crack a true smile. And whatever evil thing he had planned for Sveta? He was definitely expecting it to go his way.I looked out of the window, down at the twinkling lights below us. I had briefly thought about putting up a fight with the guard that had come to get me, noting that it wasn’t the one who had taken me to his boss earlier.He had gotten a face full of raked nails, trying to get me to go back to that prison of a room. He had glared at me immediately after, and for a moment I thought he was about to do something ter
NaomiA wedding dress. The words echoed in my head as blood pounded in my ears. It was as if someone yanked out the world from under my feet. I wanted to vomit on the buffed wooden floors.Those should’ve been the happiest words I could hear. But instead, all I felt was cold reality gripping its iron fist around my heart.“The wedding is tomorrow,” Gavril replied, clasping his hands behind his back. “And you need a dress.”Tomorrow.My head spun. I was having trouble breathing.I clenched my hands into fists, taking his emotionless expression head on. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I wasn’t Sveta, that he could marry me and gain nothing. I could already picture his eyes growing dark with rage, his expression hardening before his hands tightened around my throat to squeeze the life out of me.For one maddening moment, I imagined myself smiling through the pain and spitting in his face as my final act of defiance.It would be easy. Oh, goodness, it would be too easy to