JonI tacked up the photos I had taken earlier and then stood back to admire my masterpiece. Before me was a careful catalog of what I liked to call Naomi’s wall, years in the making. Every movement she’d ever made in the last year was up there. The places she liked to eat. The clubs she frequented. The paths she took day in and day out. When she went to the gym. Where she went to the gym.Everything.It turned out that my quiet, submissive Naomi was quite the popular person when it came to places I thought she had given up, places that I had scoured for months after our breakup, only to find her nowhere to be found. She hid from me, kept her distance, and whenever I got too close, I was forced to back off because she threw herself into the wind again.Every time she did, I would spend months tracking her down. Why she ran, I didn’t know. It did her no good whatsoever.I always found her and always would.Scratching my chin, I turned my attention back to the photos on the wall, each c
NaomiI pressed the heels of my hands against my aching eyes, trying to dispel what I had seen on the docks an hour before. It couldn’t be true. That couldn’t have been Gavril standing there, watching as those men raped young women who didn’t even have a chance to fight back.That couldn’t have been my husband, the father of my child, not lifting a finger to help any of them.It was sickening.It was devastating.I removed my hands and resumed my pacing in my room, my hands twisted together tightly. What was I going to do when Gavril returned? How could I even look him in the eye and pretend that he wasn’t a monster?If I told him I was out there, what would he say? Would he deny it all? It would be kind of hard to do so, considering I had clearly seen him from a distance.Would he say that there was a greater good involved? Any man who stood by and watched a woman be beaten couldn’t have any sort of greater good in his mind. It was wrong. There was nothing he could tell me or do that
GavrilI speared the asparagus on my plate with my fork and broke off the head, popping it into my mouth. The rich flavors burst on my tongue and I chewed slowly, savoring every bite of my victory dinner.At least that was what I thought of it as. Today had been a big step in the right direction. I was on the right track. All my plans, all my actions up until this moment, were paying off, and while I reveled in my successes, I was cautiously waiting for the other shoe to drop. One did not have success in one area without things falling apart in another.In my line of business, things could turn on their head in an instant.For now, I felt like the merger had been successful. The brigadiers seemed satisfied for now with the shipments. And though I knew some were skeptical that I could lead them, it was only a matter of time before they realized I was stronger than Orlov ever hoped to be.I wasn’t one who lived in the past, who relied on old-world connections to reach my goals.I was fu
Naomi“You can sit up now.”I pushed myself into a sitting position, tugging the dress back over my knees as the OB stripped off her gloves and threw them in the trash. I was in an exam room somewhere in downtown LA, having been ushered through a private side entrance into an expensive office building. Dr. Kipley was her name, and her warm smile had immediately put me at ease.The man in the corner, however, still had me tied up in knots.“Well?” Gavril asked, lounging in the chair that he had recently sat in and refused to leave during the examination. “How is she?”Dr. Kipley appeared to be unruffled by his rough tone as she typed away on the laptop before her, cataloging whatever she had found. I couldn’t help but wonder how many of these private visits she had done or who her clients were. Her office gave off the appearance of catering to high-profile clients, from the sleek furniture to the comfortable exam table that I was resting on.I had been offered a warm blanket and robe t
GavrilI stared at my wife, wondering what was going on in that pretty head of hers. When I had left her asleep in her bed, I hadn’t expected her to wake. It seemed that Naomi was now more tired than ever these days, something that I had immediately looked up online to make sure it was normal for pregnant women to be that way.Hell, I did more internet searches these days than I ever had, finding myself worried about each little change in Naomi.I didn’t think this was part of the searches I had done. Never had Naomi asked me to fuck her before, and I wasn’t about to turn her down.I couldn’t tell her no, even if somebody pressed a gun to my head.My fingers found the buttons on the shirt she was wearing—my shirt—and I worked to loosen them quickly, baring the breasts that I had touched hours before. These days they seemed fuller, her nipples taking on a darker rose color than before.I fucking loved them. I couldn’t wait to watch Naomi swell with my child, to watch her figure become
NaomiA Week LaterI stood at the railing of the balcony, allowing the warmth of the sun to beat down on my face. I knew I should have on a hat or something to block my skin from being burned, but the warmth felt too good, and I didn’t want to move from the spot.I was content. In this moment, I didn’t have to worry about anything, breathing in and out slowly to loosen the tension that seemed to have taken up residence in my shoulders.What I wouldn’t give to have a massage or a week’s vacation.Or just my sanity intact.Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked at the walls in the distance. At this distance, the barbed wire covering the walls was barely visible, but not impossible to see. A reminder that I was locked in. Gavril had given me the right to leave the mansion whenever I wanted to, but I hadn’t.For a week since that night in the study, I’d stayed indoors, conflicted as to what I was going to do with the awful truth of who my husband was.The nightmares came frequently now. Eith
GavrilI flipped the page back with a frown, rereading the column of numbers that were staring up at me. That couldn’t be right.I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and squinted at the numbers, trying to make sense of it all. Anatoly was the only one who knew I fucking hated to wear reading glasses, preferring to strain my eyes so no one would see a weakness that I couldn’t do anything about.Call me vain, but I wasn’t old enough for reading glasses, nor did I have the time to go get my eyes fixed.So squinting was the result.Still, even with my bad eyesight, there was no mistaking the numbers there. It was a list of all the shipments that had come from Russia to LA over the last two months, from the women to the additional goods like weapons and drugs meant to placate what was left of Orlov’s men.I hadn’t expected it to be so expensive.Quickly, I added the numbers myself, something I liked to do when I was stressed out and needed a way to calm my mind.Tonight, though, it wa
NaomiI idly turned the pages of the magazine in my lap, not really reading the words. All day I had been restless, and nothing seemed to satisfy me, no matter what I tried to do.I couldn’t even sleep for more than a few minutes, which was what I usually did when I couldn’t find anything else to do.Gavril had been MIA since breakfast, not even showing up for our normal workout time or for lunch.It hurt a little bit to know that he had already busted our routine up for God knows what. Sometimes I wondered if any of what we had experienced over the last few weeks was just a lie, a dream that I had finally woken up from.I didn’t want this rift between us. No matter what I had seen or what I thought he was doing, he was still my husband and the man I depended on for my very livelihood. To have him upset with me was almost like he had cut off my right hand. After nearly two months of being attached at the hip to him, I could feel the distance between us, and mentally, I wasn’t ready fo
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