GavrilI sat in the lounger on the terrace, Naomi settled between my thighs as we soaked up the late afternoon sun. After her nap, Vera had provided us lunch in Naomi’s bedroom. The housekeeper had arched a brow as she saw me in my joggers in the middle of the day, but wisely said nothing.It was odd for me not to be working. But after what the day had brought, I had two reasons for being here. First was to make sure that Naomi was safe. After that fucker had gotten on my property and scared the shit out of her, I was begging for him to show up again so I could handle him personally. If that meant staying home today with her, then I would.It wasn’t just protecting her though. I was enjoying myself. That was the second reason for me being here. She made me feel like a human, like I could be someone different and still keep my pakhan world separate.My phone vibrated in my pocket. I sighed. I pulled it out and looked at the number. It was the fourth time that Anatoly had tried to reach
NaomiI rolled my neck and shook out my arms, feeling the coldness of the mat underneath my bare feet. The weather sucked outside, another rare day where rain came down in sheets and the sky was gray even though it was nearing noon, but I was glad not to be in bed watching it.When Gavril had woken me this morning and said he wanted to show me some self-defense moves that I could use if and when I was ever threatened again, I’d jumped on the chance to do so. It wasn’t that I felt like I couldn’t fight back, but clearly Gavril had been able to protect himself all his life, and surely he knew a better way than I did.Or at the very least, what he knew had been gained from practice and not some class.Jon was coming back. I felt in my gut that he wasn’t going to just walk away and forget he ever saw me.That, and he knew I was pregnant. I imagined that would fuel his plans even more.I wasn’t going to be his victim any longer. I was tougher than that. After all, I was married to the pakh
GavrilI sat at the table in the far back of the club, guarded by Anatoly and a few other loyal Belaya brigadiers. The sniveling man before me was Justin Vida, a businessman who had once been considered a partner of the Belaya Bratva. He had used his real estate business as a front for me to push money to a few of my friends in Mexico and Canada. Until now.Now, there were rumors that he was keeping some of the money for himself. I had taken the liberty of checking the reports on my own. The old Russian adage of trust, but verify. And sure enough, the numbers added up.So, I had called Justin here for a discussion. A chance for him to plead his innocence. Or at the very least, own up to the theft.I demanded loyalty. It was the one trait that my own mother had instilled in me when she allowed me to take over the reins. Loyalty was everything to a Bratva but also to the businesses that I dealt in. If I couldn’t keep my own men honest with me, then how could I keep my reputation with th
NaomiI pulled the blanket tighter around me as I watched the sappy movie on TV, hating the way I was feeling. It seemed that no matter what I watched, my emotions always got the better of me and I ended up crying.Stupid hormones. If they were already this bad, I couldn’t even begin to think what they would be like in a month or two.Glancing over at the clock on the table, I frowned. It was well past midnight. Gavril had promised that he would be back in an hour or two, but it had been well over four already.Had something happened?I drew in a breath, trying not to think in that manner. At some point, I needed to get used to the fact that Gavril was always in some form of danger.That thought inevitably brought me to thinking about our future together. After the last couple of days, I felt like something was finally coming together. Even despite the terrifying display of violence that Gavril had shown me in the training room, I still cared for him.I loved him. I hadn’t lied to him
GavrilI stood at the window, looking out as the city lights twinkled in the distance. In a few short hours I would be going to war to protect my Bratva and all that I cared about.Including my wife.I hated that Naomi hadn’t told me the truth about Jon. I fucking hated that it had to be someone like Konstantin Poroshenko who forced me to confront the truth about my marriage and my relationship with Naomi.A tortured chuckle escaped me. Naomi wasn’t my wife. The name on that marriage certificate wasn’t hers, and now that the secret was out, I could cut ties with her permanently. I didn’t need to have her in my fucking house for her to give birth to my child.She had deliberately and willfully held back information that could destroy all that I had worked for. Her ex could bring hell down on me, and no number of good fucking lawyers was going to dig me out of that hole.I fucking hated it. I thought we had gotten past that, gotten past the point of her hurting me.It was an ugly admiss
NaomiI glanced down at the clock wearily, feeling another hour slip away that didn’t bring any peace to my life. I felt like my body was moving at a snail’s pace, the fog around me never truly lifting.More than that, I continued to hear the sound of the crib crashing to the ground repeatedly in my mind, a lifetime of what could have been dreams and hopes for the future gone in an instant.It had been Vera who had found me still curled up against the door and had helped me to my bed, even holding me briefly and whispering that it was going to be just fine.I allowed her to do so, comforted that the stern older woman would even consider offering me comfort when I was the subject of so much pain for the man she served.Did she know that I wasn’t Sveta now? Did they all know? Was I the butt of some joke that Gavril was dealing with?Had I truly ruined everything for him?It was all my fault, after all. If I had only told him about Jon’s true identity in the beginning, he could have been
GavrilI watched as the men filed into the study, clasping my hands behind my back as they took their seats. Internally, I was fucking exhausted from the events of the last few hours. From the meeting with Konstantin to my moment with Naomi, I hadn’t had a moment to breathe but doubted it was going to get any easier from here.After I had left the nursery, I had thrown myself into my preparations. With Anatoly’s help, we had rallied our troops and stored our weapons cache in a safe place in case Konstantin decided to attack the places I had shown him previously. Money had been moved all around the world into various accounts, and, in the likelihood of me not winning, my family would survive. I had briefly debated on warning my mother, but decided against it for the moment. She would find out soon enough.At least they were in Russia and would be protected from the shit that was about to go down here in the States. I had already sent word for Inessa to take the girls on a vacation, all
NaomiI simply looked at my husband, taking in his handsome profile in the morning light. My head hurt and so did my heart, wanting nothing more than to crawl into the large bed in the next room and cover myself with a blanket.I hadn’t yet, wanting to see Gavril and ensure he was all right, at least, and now he was standing before me, a darkly beautiful man who was so broken on the inside. “I’m terrified of you,” I admitted, feeling like I needed to say it aloud. “I’m terrified of what you will do in your Bratva. I’m terrified that you look at me now and are disgusted by what you see.” That hurt my heart the most. I could take him being angry at me, but for him to look at me like he had was not something I liked at all.His jaw clenched, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. Gavril had to be under pressure about this whole war, and why he had come to see me, I wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t going to be good. “I don’t know who you are,” I said in a softer voice. “I see two