Word was going to get out that I had married Sveta as it was already being circulated through our channels. That had been part of my plan, to put the rest of the Bratvas on notice that I was making a claim to the defunct Krasnaya Bratva.Now there was a concern that once Marchetti found out, he would know that the claim was false. But if I could trap Naomi into marriage with a kid, then I wouldn’t have anything to worry about. Withholding a child from his or her mother was enough to keep a woman in line. “I’m not worried,” I told her. “But I will take your suggestions under advisement.”Vera dipped her head. “Thank you, master. That is all I ask.”I didn’t respond as she walked away and disappeared back into the house. One thing that Vera did state truthfully was that Naomi could be used against me as a weapon. She could be taken by my enemies and held so that I would comply with whatever demand came about. Any boss that decided to marry and carry on his bloodline ran that risk. When
NaomiI woke to the sunlight streaming through the balcony doors, my head fuzzy and my body sore in places that hadn’t been that way in a long time. Wincing, I pulled myself up to a seated position, rubbing my head lightly. My eyes felt gritty from the tears I had shed until I fell asleep, disbelieving of what I had gotten myself into.I really should have tried to stop it when I had the chance. It was one thing for me to marry Gavril and become his wife.It was completely another situation for me to marry him and give him a child that was meant to carry Sveta’s bloodline. That was something I couldn’t do, no matter what anyone thought.Sighing, I threw back the covers and took care of my bathroom needs before staring at myself in the mirror.I saw a familiar broken woman who barely knew herself years ago staring back, before Ilsa saved me and pulled me back together.Well, that and a lot of therapy. A bubble of laughter escaped me as I thought about my therapist. Not even she could h
Ilsa“Ugh. Who would have ever thought it would be this hard to get out of bed?”My husband Roman slid his arm around my expanding waist and pulled me flush to his hard body, pressing his lips against my shoulder. “Who said you had to get out of this bed?”I sighed happily, interlacing our fingers together. “I mean, I have to get out of the bed. The designer is coming for the baby’s room in like an hour.”His chuckle stirred the hair around my ear. “You can always tell him to fuck off.”I turned in his arms, gazing at his handsome face. “No! Do you not realize how hard it was to get an appointment with him? He’s the premier designer on the island.”Roman’s eyes sparkled with laughter as he pressed his lips to my forehead. “Fine, but you could just stay in bed with your obscenely gorgeous husband instead of some stuffy designer. Just think of the things I could do to you.”My toes curled, my entire body flushing at the thought of what Roman did to me, and against my better judgment I r
NaomiThree weeks later.I clung to Gavril’s muscular back—not daring to look up at his face—as he drilled into me. I knew what I would find if I did: a man whose expression remained stone cold, with jaw clenched and eyes fixed on the painting above the bed as he silently used me.For the last three weeks, this had been our routine.Sometimes, he took me against the wall or bent over the chair in the corner. I think the only place he hadn’t fucked me was in the shower. But it was probably only a matter of time before he did.I felt a slight tremor go through his body and knew he was close. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Gavril groaned and I felt a familiar wet warmth flood inside me. I squeezed my eyes shut as he emptied himself to the last drop. Soon he would leave, having accomplished what he had come into my room to do.It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it. Gavril was a skilled lover, probably one of the best I had ever had. He knew how to hit the right spots. He knew how to make my
My words seemed to surprise him, and I was glad. I wanted to find common ground with him to not make this miserable and for him not to look at me like a piece of meat.Did he have any softness in him? I didn’t know, and honestly, I doubted it. But he was my husband, whether I wanted him to be or not. So it wasn’t like I had a choice.If I displeased him, he would teach me a lesson.If I ran, he would hunt me down.If I defied him…Well, what was the use of thinking about things that wouldn’t happen?Finally, Gavril moved toward me and held out his hand. “Come, Sveta,” he said softly, his eyes betraying no emotion. “I’m going to take you out to dinner tonight.”If the pool had been any deeper, I would have drowned, my knees weakening in the water. “What?”“Dinner,” he continued, a tease to his voice. “At a restaurant.”Who was this man, and what had he done with my husband? “You want us to go out in public?”A flash of emotion slid across his face and then disappeared. “Of course I do.
GavrilMoments Before“We are very pleased that you and your lovely companion decided to join us tonight. It’s an honor to have you in my restaurant.”I listened to the rambling of the restaurant owner in my ear as he walked me down to his personal wine cellar below the restaurant. As we descended, the chatter of the restaurant was slowly drowned out and replaced by the hum of the dim lights overhead.When I had decided to take Naomi out, there was only one place I was going to bring her to, a place that would give her maximal benefit to be seen by the elite of LA. The waitlist usually took years to clear out. But I was on another list. I’d done the owner quite a number of favors over the years—both legal and illegal. And seeing as how I supplied most of the rarer bottles in the cellar, he knew better than to deny me entry.We reached a heavy wooden door, and he pushed it open, the automatic lights flickering on and revealing row upon row of dusty bottles in the dim light. He led me t
Gavril“Mr. Kirilenko,” the restaurant manager said, sweat dotting his forehead. “Please forgive me. That man will be barred from the restaurant. For life.”“Good,” I said, an easy smile gracing my lips now. My blood was still drumming through my veins, and I wanted to fuck Naomi so hard that she saw stars, but I had promised her a dinner, and that was what she was going to get.So I turned back to my wife, finding her watching me with wide eyes. Some color had come back to her cheeks, and she didn’t look thoroughly disgusted by what had happened.Interesting. “Are you okay?” I asked, straightening the cuffs of my jacket.“I am,” she replied softly.The staff scurried around me, righting the things on our table, including a new tablecloth, and I sat down across from her, waiting until they had poured the wine before handing her a glass. “Try this,” I offered, holding it out to her.She took the glass, her fingers brushing over mine and sending my mind in the same direction it had been
NaomiI sat beside Gavril as the car started to wind its way down the interstate, heading back to the mansion. I was pleasantly full from dinner, and he had been right; the filet had practically melted in my mouth with each bite.But the filet wasn’t the only star in the room tonight. No. The bigger one had been my husband and what he did. All throughout dinner, we had been watched by the restaurant, presumably because everyone was waiting for Gavril to do something else they had never seen before.Truthfully speaking, I did too. I had seen a familiar flash in his eyes after he dispatched that man. For a brief, terrifying moment, I was convinced he was about to bend me over the table and take me there.And I would have loved it.He hadn’t, of course. Instead, he had been unfailingly polite to me and the waitstaff, even waving off the owner’s offer of a free meal because of his troubles.It was like he had done a complete one-eighty in a day, and now I didn’t know who I was dealing wit
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
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
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
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
Naomi“Here, put this on.”I winced as I took the black plastic apron from the burly brigadier, my stomach in knots. I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to disposing of Jon’s body, but I also knew that if I didn’t see it firsthand, he would still occupy my thoughts.I would still look over my shoulder for years to come, expecting him to have cheated death somehow and return to life. I didn’t want him to have this hold over me any longer.Tugging the apron over my clothing, I tied it across my waist. Oleg wordlessly handed me a pair of gloves next and some goggles. “In case there is a mess,” he muttered as he outfitted himself in the same getup.Finally, he looked at me. “Are you ready?”I appreciated the tinge of concern in his eyes, knowing that my request wasn’t quite what he would have expected. He had taken me from the mansion to an abandoned set of buildings not far from the docks where I had witnessed the women trafficking, and he had been quiet throughout the drive there.
GarvrilThe doctor reached out and shook my hand. “It was a pleasure to do so.”Naomi entered just as Dr. Carter exited and sat on the bed, looking a bit better than she had the previous night. “Bad news,” I told her, reaching for her hand. “No sex.”She looked startled before rolling her eyes. “You did not ask Dr. Carter if we could have sex.”“I didn’t have to,” I stated before tugging on her hand until she was moving onto the bed. I had asked Carter to help me move over so that my wife could at least lie beside me, and he had obliged, even though it had been far too fucking painful to move. “Come here.”Naomi did as I asked, and when she was situated next to me, I pulled her hand up to my lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. “Marchetti still babysitting?” I asked lightly, not sure how I felt about having my enemy in my household.It wasn’t that I wasn’t grateful that he had come for Naomi’s sake, but fuck, it was an odd feeling.“He and Ilsa left this morning,” Naomi said, resting our
GavrilI woke to darkness, and for a moment, I wondered if I had finally died in transition.Gradually, however, the room came into view, and I drew in a breath, swearing when it hurt like hell to do so.“So you are finally awake. Welcome back.”Fuck. Now I really was in hell if Roman Marchetti was sitting at my bedside. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked hotly, fighting through the pain that was coursing through my body.He chuckled, snapping on the lamp before stretching his legs out before him. “I’m giving your wife and mine a break. Trust me. I would rather be anywhere but here.”Naomi. I tried to sit up, but Roman placed a hand on my shoulder. “Now don’t go undoing all the doctor’s hard work. I believe you are going to have to pay him double what you normally do.”“Where’s my wife?” I rasped.Roman reached over and pulled a glass from the bedside table, one that had a straw dangling from it. “She’s sleeping, and I would suggest that you let her do that just a little bit l
NaomiI ran my fingers over the ivory keys, keeping my touch light so I wouldn’t press them down. Had it really been just yesterday that Gavril had sat here, playing his songs for me?It seemed like a lifetime ago, and now I wasn’t even sure I would ever hear him play again.A shudder sliced through me and I rose from the stool, unable to sit still for a long period of time. The basement was the safest place for me, Oleg had stated. After all, bodies littered the mansion and its grounds, now being cleared away by the Bratva that was left.It was a pitiful crew, no more than ten or twelve men, but they had come running the moment Oleg had let them know that their Pakhan was on death’s door. Even from my vantage point, I could hear them moving things upstairs and didn’t want to think about what would be left.Vera was gone. I wouldn’t see her pinched face anymore or have her give me strength when it was least expected. I thought about our last conversation and how she had begged me not
GavrilI opened my eyes to a dull sun shining down at me, my body feeling sluggish. Lifting my hand, I saw that there was no blood on it and when I looked down, I realized I wasn’t bleeding out on the floor of Naomi’s bedroom any longer.Instead my clothing, my suit, was pristine, no sign of the trauma that I had just tried to endure.Fuck. Was I dead? Was I in hell?Pushing up off the floor, I saw that there was a haze to everything no matter where I looked, just a cloudy, empty void that stretched as far as I could see.I had to be in hell. There was no way I had done enough good deeds to make it to the man upstairs. He would bar the pearly gates if I even attempted to approach them.Another thought crossed my mind, and I felt the fear rise up in my throat. I had died. I had left Naomi alone when I had promised not to.Life had a cruel, cruel way of shitting on me, it seemed.A cool rush of air brushed over me, and when I turned, I stumbled back a few steps.“Hello, Gavril.”My mouth