ANDREI
I’m numb. I’ve been sitting in my office for six hours, trying to focus on the proposals Alexi asked me to look over, but I can’t
focus.
Vera Popov tried to kill me. The Vera Popov, who was assumed dead with the rest of her family, but her body was never found. My father had known Ivan well when he was in Russia. They were good friends a long time ago. Although I never got the chance to meet him, the stories my father told me of him made me certain he was a good man.
His and his family’s death was a conspiracy, and whoever was behind their death is trying to use her to get to me. The conspiracy is all I can think about.
That, and the beautiful woman locked in her bedroom, waiting for me to punish her. I should kill her. An eye for an eye is the Bratva way.
I don’t want to. A deep and primal connection inside of me that makes it impossible to consider harming her. All I want to do is claim her as my own.
Someone told her I killed her family, which couldn’t be further from the truth. When my father heard about the death of Ivan Popov and his family in Saint Petersburg, the entire brotherhood mourned them.
It’s believed that his merciful ways were the reason for his death. In the Bratva, mercy is a weakness and exploited. Someone has manipulated her to believe a lie. An attempt from Russia to end me once and for all.
I let my tongue flick out over the cut on my lip where Vera bit me. I feel so desperate to take her. I was close to getting on with it, thrusting inside of her and claiming her as my own.
The need for her is twisted and fucked up, particularly since she tried to kill me. A dark part of me wants to make her mine and put a baby inside of her so no other man will ever go near her.
It makes little sense, considering. I can’t bring a woman like her into my life. Danger follows me everywhere I go, and life is easier for me if I have no attachments.
Ever since we fled ten years ago, people in the brotherhood had been after me and my father. They hated how powerful we’d become over here. They hated that we stole from them—but that’s not what happened. My father was framed ten years ago, and now I’ve been framed for a murder I couldn’t have committed.
A knock at the door breaks me from my thoughts. Alexi pops his head through the door. “Sir, Lyov is here to see you.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What does he want?” Lyov is one of our spies who oversees our operations on the ground, reporting to me. It’s rare that he comes to me without a prearranged appointment.
He shrugs. “He didn’t say.”
My brow furrows, but I nod my head. “Fine, bring him in.”
Alexi leaves to fetch him, and I wonder what is so important that Lyov came here without even a call ahead. I tap my fingers against the wood of my desk, waiting.
Lyov enters the room, and he looks as serious as ever. He’s a severe guy who hasn’t quite come to terms with the American culture. I’ve never seen him smile, not once, not even with the brothers in our brotherhood.
“Lyov, to what do I owe this unannounced pleasure?”
If he’s worried about showing up to his pakhan’s office without an appointment, he doesn’t show it. Which is surprising considering what I did to Petrov last week.
He interrupted me during an important meeting with our arms dealers, and I threw him out of the brotherhood, after a rather brutal beating. Lyov may be a higher rank than him, but sometimes he’s too cocky for his own good. As pakhan I have to keep him in check.
He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at me. “There’s rumor of an attempt on your life, sir.”
I wave my hand in the air. “What’s new?”
He shakes his head, eyes serious. “It’s believed they compromised the virgin you purchased at the auction.”
The pounding of my heart thuds in my ears, but I don’t let him know I’m affected by his claim. “Are you suggesting that a young woman can get the better of me?” I ask, standing to my feet.
Lyov is a good spy, but he can often overstep the mark when speaking to me. As pakhan, he shouldn’t insult me with such an insinuation.
“No, sir.” He bows his head. “I wished to inform you of her training.”
I step forward and stand in front of him. “How did you learn of this?”
He meets my gaze. “I received word from Russia.”
I grit my teeth. “Thank you, Lyov.” My eyes narrow as he doesn’t make a move to leave. “Is there anything else?”
He averts his gaze, clearing his throat. “Yes, there are reports of the Miami brotherhood making a play in our territory, again.” He rubs his hand across the back of his neck. “They are becoming increasingly aggressive, and it is only a matter of time until we have to take action.”
I step toward the dresser in my office, pouring myself a glass of bourbon. The Miami brotherhood of the Bratva have been overstepping for the past six months. It’s something I should have discussed with Luka at the auction, but I was too distracted by my purchase.
The warm, woody whiskey heats my throat and chest as it goes down. “What kind of action would you propose?” I don’t turn to face him, keeping my back to my spy.
“A kidnapping might be the quickest show of power,” Lyov says.
My jaw clenches at the prospect. “Very well, keep a tab on their actions. If it gets worse, then bring forward a proposal.”
There’s a few beats of silence before he replies, “Sir.”
I turn in time to see him bow his head and leave the room. Kidnapping is a foul way to get what you want, but unfortunately, it is most often the best way to reduce loss of life. One innocent person has to suffer to save many lives.
I crack my neck, feeling the tension coiling through my muscles. Lyov believes I’m at threat from Vera—a young woman who has lost everything.
He may be right. I’m at threat from losing something, but I know it’s not my life.
She’s confused and lost, and deep down, I long to help her find her way. Maybe, we could both be lost together. Two broken and wounded souls, finding each other. I shake my head, knowing my thoughts are certifiably insane.
Vera tried to kill me. All I should be considering is how I will take her life. I stand from my chair, scooting around my desk. There’s no way I can stay in this cramped, confined office a moment longer. I walk straight out of my office and up the stairs.
This is a bad idea. Going near that girl ever again is a bad idea, but the thought of never talking to her and shipping her away riles me. It’s worse than thinking about what might happen if she’s successful in her assassination attempt.
As I climb the stairs toward her room, I realize how insane that is. I’d rather die than see her hurt or harmed or even taken from me. Her room is silent. I wait outside the door, heart pounding fast. My stomach twists with anxiety at the prospect of seeing her.
What am I supposed to say to her?
I reach for the doorknob, twisting it and pausing a moment. When I swing open the door, my eyes land on her. She’s fast asleep on top of the covers of the bed. A strange giddiness comes over me the moment I set eyes on her. The fact she tried to kill me hasn’t dulled the need to claim her as my own.
She may well be mine since I purchased her, but it’s not what I want. I want her to give herself over to me, even if she hates me at the moment.
A mumble from the bed has me starting forward, noticing she’s waking up. Her eyes flick open and she stares right at me, taking my breath from my lungs. Those emerald eyes cut me every time.
“I came to check on you,” I say, lingering a few feet away from her.
She shifts in the bed, backing toward the headboard. “Are you going to kill me now?”
I shake my head, feeling irritated that should would ask me that question. There’s nothing that could force me to harm her. She’s an angel, my angel. “No.” I slip my hands into my pockets and move to sit on the edge of the bed.
She looks down at the bedsheets, twisting them between her fingers.
“I don’t intend to hurt you, ever.”
Her eyes shoot back up and she stares at me in disbelief. “I tried to kill you.”
She watches as I shift closer, reaching to touch her face. A muscle feathers in her jaw, but she doesn’t shift away from me, not this time. “Someone has manipulated you, Printsessa.”
She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip with her eyes fixed on mine, as if searching for the truth in them.
I grab her hand, squeezing. “I promise I will find out the truth about what happened to your mother, father, brother, and sister.”
A flash of pain ignites in her eyes, before she blocks it out. “Why?” she croaks out, averting my gaze.
“My father was good friends with your father, Ivan Popov. He mourned his death.” I shrug. “I may not have known him, but he was a friend of my father. If my father were here, he would want me to help you.”
I shift on the bed even closer to her, longing to touch her. The memory of the way I made her writhe and beg for release on this same bed makes me ache to be inside of her.
She watches me, but doesn’t shy away. I let my hand slip behind the back of her neck, gripping possessively. Her lips part and eyes dilate as I move my mouth toward hers.
I tease my lips against hers, enjoying the way she draws breath into her lungs in surprise. The sound hardly audible, but enough to stir more need. I tighten my grip around the back of her neck and pull her hard against me, deepening the kiss.
There’s something savage and desperate about the way she makes me feel. My tongue teases against her lips, demanding entrance. For a second, it appears she won’t submit. When she does, my cock thickens in my pants.
Vera moans into my mouth, letting her hand fall to my thigh. She digs her fingers in and tries to pull away from me.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Everything.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know what to believe.”
“Believe me, Vera,” I breathe.
Her tongue flicks out over her lips, drawing my eyes to them, again. This time she moves forward, pressing her soft, plump lips to mine in an innocent kiss. I long to take her and make her mine. The not so sweet virgin who tried to kill me. It may not make any sense, but life never does.
Perhaps I see some of myself. A girl who has been warped and manipulated into becoming something she wouldn’t be in another life.
If someone sent her here to kill me, it means I’m no longer safe in New York for now. Lyov knew that. Which means I plan to move somewhere else, and Vera will come with me.