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
GavrilI’d never been more entertained in my life.Sveta launched herself at me, the knife aimed for my chest, and for a moment, I thought about letting her stab me just to see if it would hurt.The thought of Sveta stabbing me did hold a certain appeal, and left me rock hard with need.It wasn’t the fact that she was going to do me any bodily harm. It was the fact that she was willing to do it. A nice reminder that she had Stanislav’s blood running through her veins.Just as she was poised to thrust the knife into my chest, I grabbed her wrist and effortlessly turned her arm sideways. She cried out—partly from surprise and partly from pain. One more twist and I could break her arm in two, but that wasn’t my intention.I wanted to see if she was really able to go through with it, and while others would have been worried about their lives, I wasn’t.Fuck, no. I was turned on by the threat to my life by her.There was, however, an undercurrent of worry that I couldn’t shake. I had been
NaomiThere had been times I was scared in my life. Times that I thought I had watched my life flash before my eyes and knew that I was going to die.Feeling that knife pressed up against my throat, though, I knew I had been close to death, too close. One misstep, one wrong move, and that knife would have slipped through my skin like butter.When Gavril had slid the knife down to my breast, I hadn’t been as scared as I thought I would.When he pressed its sharp tip against my clit, I was shamefully turned on by the thought of danger before me. It was disturbing to think that I wasn’t disgusted by the threat.But it also warned me how dangerous the man before me was.I wasn’t dealing with assholes from a club or even overzealous actors that were looking to have a quickie with what they perceived as an eager actress looking for her big break. Or with—and I fought back the shudder at the very thought of the name—Jon.No, Gavril was different.I would bet my life on the fact that he kille
GavrilPresent DayI straightened as I looked out over the crowd of people, keeping my emotions schooled. The organ swelled behind me, the priest clearing his throat every five fucking minutes like my bride wasn’t going to walk down the aisle. Honestly, I would have shot him by now, but killing a man of God in a church would probably be going too far.Then again, my soul was already damned to hell. What was one more sin?Turning my attention away from the priest, I took account of everyone that was present for my hasty wedding. Anatoly stood to my right, the only man that I had standing for me. My other brigadiers were scattered around the church, having brought their wives or girlfriends to witness their Pakhan getting married.None of my family was there, of course. They were in Russia, and since it had all been very quickly put together, I hadn’t thought about flying them over. Besides, having them so close to me and my enemies was unwise.After all, that was how Sveta had ended up