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
GavrilI punched the bag hard, relishing the bite in my knuckles as I did so. A roundhouse kick came next, and I grunted at the pull in my back muscles.“What did that bag do to you?”I wiped my forehead with the back of my arm and turned to find Anatoly leaning against the wall of the gym, his arms crossed over his chest.“Why do you always have to be the smart ass?”He chuckled. “What did you do wrong this time?”I grabbed a towel off the rack nearby, wiping my face with it. “What makes you think I fucked up?”He looked around, arching a brow. “I haven’t seen you alone in this house since you got married. And I heard that you completely destroyed the dining room this morning. Finally, no one has seen your wife all day.”“I didn’t destroy the fucking dining room,” I muttered, slinging the towel around my neck. “That’s been exaggerated.”“Not denying the other rumors?”“Drop it,” I answered darkly, shooting him a glare. “Eto moi prikaz.”“You know what your problem is?” Anatoly contin
NaomiI lay in the darkness, my back to Gavril, and tried not to breathe too deeply lest he notice that I was awake. I had been aware from the moment that he had walked into the bedroom, too afraid to even acknowledge his presence in fear of what he might say. I hadn’t seen him since his outburst earlier, choosing to stay in my room so that I wouldn’t cause any other turmoil between us.We were already on thin ice, if not already trapped in cold depths that we’d never surface from.Though I had no more tears to shed, I still hurt. It was a soul-rending hurt, like someone had ripped my heart out of my chest and thrown it away with me watching. That was what Gavril had done to me today.It also solidified my feelings for him: I had fallen head over heels in love with a man who had barely given me anything. Had I been that naive to fall for a grin, a sexy body, an expert touch? I had thought I was smarter than that, but clearly I had fallen for it fairly easily.Again.I was such an idio
GavrilI worked my way down Naomi’s body, attempting to put my lips on every inch of her skin. It had taken me some time to apologize to her for my actions earlier.I hoped that she took my apology personally, at least. The way she sighed was the same, but I could still feel the rift between us. She performed the motions, but something felt different.As I moved down to her still-flat stomach, where our child was growing, I paused to meet her eyes. Yes. Something was definitely different.She eyed me like a wounded animal. As if she didn’t know what I was going to do next or how I was going to react.She looked at me like I was going to hurt her.And my heart shattered.I didn’t want her to be afraid of me. I wanted her to understand her place in my life, and fear didn’t belong in our relationship.Fear led to mistrust. Mistrust festered into anger. And anger…I needed Naomi to trust me.I pressed my lips on her stomach, whispering to my son or daughter that was inside words in old Ru
NaomiI woke slowly and stretched my arms over my head. My muscles pulled with the movement. The place beside me in the bed was empty, and I tried my best not to feel anything at all about the person who should be there.Gavril.My husband.Father of my unborn child.Bile rose in the back of my throat and I forced it down as I sat up, rubbing my aching head. Last night had been good. Sex with Gavril was always good—if not great.And now, it was different.Everything about him felt different. Because deep down, no amount of the things that I felt about him could hide who and what my husband truly was.A monster who sold people.Not everything about Gavril was a monster. He wasn’t going to harm me physically.Emotionally though? I was devastated. In my bones, I knew it was coming—if not already happening after our confrontation—and I hated it. I hated the fact that I felt cornered last night, waiting for the moment he would bend me to his will and use me until I had nothing left to myse