GavrilI stripped off my coat next and threw it so that it could join the tie. “None of your concern. I want to know why the embassy would care about a missing American.”The visit wasn’t common. If Naomi had been a senator’s daughter or some high-society princess, I could understand, but nothing in her background suggested either, and I wanted to know who would be looking for her.“Who did you tell?”“No one,” she answered, throwing up her hands. “I have no means to tell anyone even if I wanted to.”I stalked toward her, and she shrank back, causing me to pause. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Even agitated as I was, I wasn’t going to take it out on Naomi.Something flickered in her eyes before she looked away. “I know.”Was my mother right about her? Was she keeping secrets from me?Could Naomi ask me for anything, and I would be powerless to turn her down?“Then tell me,” I said. “Why was that man here tonight?”Naomi looked down and became silent. It took me a few moments before I rea
NaomiTwo weeks later“I don’t care what anyone says. When I go to America, I want to see the Hollywood sign.”I smiled at Katarina. “You can see it from the highway. It’s not hard to miss. And it looks smaller than you think.”“Well, I could not care less about the Hollywood sign,” Aleksandra replied haughtily, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “I want to see the actual sights, eat the local food. I’ve always wanted to try a real taco.”The girls launched into an argument about which was more important—tacos or the Hollywood sign—and I just shook my head, staring out of the window as the city of St. Petersburg passed by us in a blur. I couldn’t believe it when they said that they wanted to take me shopping. I was more shocked that Maria had given them permission to do so.I didn’t mind being with the two of them. I loved Gavril’s sisters. They were extensions of his family and were always full of exuberance that his mother didn’t have. They had made my time in Russia pleasant, and
Naomi“Can I ask you a question?” Katarina asked as the car finally pulled into a parking lot.“Sure,” I answered, looking for my purse. “Anything.”“Why do we call you Sveta when your name is Naomi?”I froze, looking at both girls. “What?”They exchanged glances themselves before Katarina rushed on. “We overheard that embassy worker that night. He called you Naomi.”I swallowed, carefully considering how to answer her question. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I was Naomi and that Sveta was dead. But I knew that the moment I did that, I would be betraying Gavril’s trust and opening his secret up to the world.But I was tired of lying. I was tired of being the person who had this heavy secret on her shoulders and was forced to bear it alone.“I tell you what,” I said, lowering my voice. “Would you like to call me Naomi?”They both nodded, their eyes widening. “You mean like a code name?” Aleksandra asked, her voice hushed.It was my turn to nod. “Exactly. Like a code nam
GavrilI twirled the ice in my glass, debating whether or not to have another drink. We were still hours away from LAX. Naomi was sleeping in the chair across from me, but I couldn’t shut my body down.Hell, I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since we had returned from the Mariinsky, and my body was starting to feel it. It was funny. Every time I returned to St. Petersburg, I wanted nothing but to leave. But each time I decided to leave, I wanted nothing more than to stay.This time would be no different. And there was no way I could ignore the growing tension that awaited me back in the States.The shipment was due at the docks soon, and I wanted to be there to hand it off to the brigadiers, to show them that I was serious about bringing them to my side and the lengths that I was willing to go to ensure their loyalty.I couldn’t trust anyone else with that shipment. Too many things had happened over the last few months for me to hand it off to anyone.So, I was taking Naomi home. I
NaomiI couldn’t help it. When he made reference to me being his wife, it did something to me. There was no one around right now, no reason for him to pretend, but I felt like Gavril was looking at me as Naomi, not Sveta, and that thrilled me to no end.After weeks of him being cold and distant, I didn’t feel it right now. He was warm, teasing even. And I wanted to freeze time for moments like this.Gavril’s lips were on my neck, lightly sucking on the sensitive spot right below my ear, and I shivered. “You like that,” he murmured against my skin, his hand now flattened against my side. “Don’t you?”I played with the slightly curling ends of his hair at the nape of his neck, angling my neck to give him better access. “I like a lot of things you do, Mr. Kirilenko.”His hand roamed up my side underneath my shirt, finding the lace edging of my bra. “Do you now?” he asked. “Care to share?”I gasped as his hand moved to the front of my chest, cupping my breast. “How about I tell you when y
GavrilI answered the texts in rapid-fire succession as the car sped through the familiar streets of LA toward the mansion. Naomi was silent beside me, and I wondered if she had apprehensions like I did about being back.What we had in Russia or even in the jet was far different from what we had here, and surely she had to be worried about it.Hell, I was worried about it, about losing that laughter in her voice, the look in her eyes whenever she looked at me.Last night, I’d thought she was going to tell me that she loved me. When the words had left her mouth, for a moment I had felt the elation sneak in. It wasn’t because I had finally won; I had taken everything she could give me.No, it was because I thought she had found a way to love me, to break down my barriers and worm her way into my fucking heart.Hell, she was already there.Instead, she had said she loved me pounding into her.Any other man’s ego would have been blown, but I wanted more. The disappointment had threaded th
NaomiI leaned over the toilet bowl again, nausea churning in my gut. Gavril hadn’t been gone long, and I had wanted to lounge in bed until he came back. But the impending need to puke up my guts had gotten me out of bed in a hurry.But nothing would come, and it was highly annoying.Sliding back on the floor, I pressed my hand to my forehead, searching for a fever of some kind that would explain my nausea. Maybe it was the stomach virus. After all, I had done nothing but eat since we had come back from Russia.Maybe I’d picked up something in Russia? I’d heard that it was possible, even with the finest foods. The body just needed time to adjust.I rubbed a hand over my face. I didn’t feel odd other than the nausea, and nothing on my body was falling off, so I didn’t think it was something that I ate.That only left one thing.Quickly, I tried to calculate the last time I had my period and couldn’t come up with the date at all. Had it been before the wedding?Realization slapped me in
GavrilI drummed my fingers along the table’s surface, staring back at the men who sat before me. They were in varying degrees of comfort, though I wished all of them were equally worried.A confident brigadier was one that could be perceived as an enemy instead. Pakhans and dons might look like they were untouchable, but the ugly truth was that we weren’t.Case in point, Stanislav Orlov. There was always someone around the corner, someone wanting to make a point or get a leg up on their own fucking ladder. I had learned after the tenth assassination attempt on my life that my position was never ironclad or safe for that matter.I’d started to get smart about what I was doing, where I was going, and how to protect myself.The men before me were what was left of the Krasnaya Bratva, the brigadiers that still had pull in the shambles of Orlov’s once-powerful Bratva and the ones I needed on my side to be loyal to me.Konstantin Poroshenko, Sergei Puzanov, Ramzin Kovalyov, and Nikolai Leb