by Roxie Rivera
He liked the way she had transformed his house into an actual home. He didn’t much care about the colors on the walls or the pillows on the couches or the patterns on the rugs. What he did care about was the way he felt when he walked through the house. He hadn’t ever felt as comfortable and at ease as he did these days, surrounded by all the thoughtfully chosen pieces Erin had purchased and arranged for their home. He could feel her love for him and her excitement for their future and their life together in every little thing she had done.
Outside Ruby’s door, he sighed. This was either going to end with a truce or a shouting match. Hoping for the truce, he knocked loudly on the door and stepped back, making sure to give her plenty of room. The door swung open to reveal Ruby with wet hair and different clothes, things he recognized from one of Erin’s shopping trips. Scowling, she asked, “What the hell do you want?”
He had to bite back the urge to tell her off. Instead, he held out the breakfast he had gotten for her. “It’s from Erin’s favorite taco truck. I figured you were hungry for something that doesn’t have powdered eggs and fake bacon in it.”
She eyed the food with distrust. “How do I know it’s not soaked in polonium?”
“Seriously? Do you think I’m going to poison you? If I wanted to get rid of you, Ruby, I would have done it while you were in jail, and I had plenty of cover.” He thrust the food at her. “Take it. Eat it. Throw it in the trash. I don’t care.”
She snatched the food from him. “Fine. Whatever.”
He put his hand on the door to keep her from slamming it in his face. “No, not yet.” He kept the door open. “Your sister has done more than you can ever imagine to make things better for you. She went to that pigsty apartment you left behind and sorted through all of that rotting food and trash and the piles of filthy, moldy clothes to find things to salvage for you. She paid for the broken lease, the back rent, and the damage with her own money. She’s been using her salary draw from the gym to cover your attorney fees, the repairs on the house you trashed, and your restitution because she didn’t want you to be saddled with the full amount when you got out.”
She seemed startled by that information, but he wasn’t ready to stop yet.
“She’s been going to counseling to learn how to help you adjust and be successful. She has a stack of books next to the bed that she’s been reading and studying because she wants to do everything right.” He pushed the door open enough to point at the green binder on the small coffee table by the reading chair Erin had chosen. “She spent days on that, putting together all the information you’ll need to make this second part of your life work. So, maybe, you could show a little fucking appreciation for what she’s done.” He breathed out heavily. “She loves you. You’re her sister. You’re her family. She believes in you the same way she believes in me. If you let her support you, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish, but if you fight her every step of the way, you’ll end up right back where you started.”
Ruby swallowed hard and finally nodded. “Yeah,” she said softly. “Okay.”
Glad that was done, he gestured to the nightstand. “I left you some things you’ll need in that top drawer. The cash is yours to cover your expenses until you find a job. The noise-canceling headphones should be self-explanatory.”
When understanding hit, she made a face. “Gross!”
“At least, I warned you.” He backed away from the door and started back toward the staircase. Ruby shut the door behind him. The fact that she didn’t slam it surprised him.
Downstairs, he found Erin scrolling her phone and nibbling on one of her tacos piled high with pico de gallo. He didn’t know how she could stand eating something so spicy and never get heartburn. Taking the seat next to her, he grabbed one of his breakfast tacos and peeled away the aluminum.
“Everything okay?” she asked guardedly as he took his first bite. He nodded as he chewed, and she visibly relaxed. “Good.”
His phone vibrated in his back pocket, and he shifted on his chair to retrieve it. He glanced at the screen and frowned. “It’s Paco.”
“You better answer it. He wouldn’t call on your day off unless all hell was breaking loose at the gym.”
Agreeing with her, he swept his finger across the screen. “Paco?” he answered gruffly.
“Boss, I know you’re on your day off, but we have a problem with the heat,” Paco rushed out in lightning-fast Spanish. “I called the company that did the installation and service, but they can’t get anyone here until tomorrow. We tried turning the system off, but it’s still blowing hot air. It’s ninety-fucking-degrees in here.”
“Shut down the gym and send everyone home if you think that’s best,” Ivan suggested. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“What’s wrong?” Erin asked in between sips of hot chocolate.
“Heating system at the gym,” he grumbled and shoved the rest of his taco in his mouth.
“You’re going to choke eating like that,” she warned with a shake of her head. “And, not to be that kind of wife, but I did tell you that the HVAC system was acting strange back in November and you said—"
He groaned. “I know. I know.”
“Well, as long as you know.”
“I’m sorry I have to bail on our day off,” he apologized as he gathered up the rest of his breakfast and his orange juice.
“Don’t worry about it,” she urged. “This is the reality of owning a business.”
“Will you be okay?” He glanced toward the ceiling. “If she starts her shit with you...”
“I’ll handle it,” she assured him. “But, I don’t think she will. She needs time to decompress. I’m not going to bother her. She can find me when she’s ready.”
“That’s a good idea. Give her some space.”
“Will you be home for dinner?” she asked as he stood and tucked his phone into his pocket.
“Maybe? I’ll keep you updated.”
“The info for our HVAC service contract is in the red binder on the shelves behind my desk. There copy of our contract with the fee schedule is behind the HVAC tab with the rest of the PM records. There’s also a couple of flyers we’ve gotten from other companies that want our business. If you feel like we need to change providers, there are options.”
Amused by her perfectly organized system, he leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll make this up to you.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I want to.” He kissed her again. “Ya tebya lyublyu.”
“I love you, too.”
Thoughts of how he would make it up to her rattled around in his head as he drove to the Warehouse. When he pulled into the parking lot, most of the fighters who trained daily as part of the gym’s full-time professional roster were doing their workouts outside. He stopped a few times as he walked toward the entrance to correct forms or give coaching. Once he stepped inside the building, he grimaced. Paco wasn’t exaggerating. It was as hot as a sauna in there.
He found his longtime co-trainer in the utility room at the rear of the warehouse, shouting all sorts of foul things at the heating system. He stepped up beside Paco and tried a few different things, but when none of them worked, he walked over to the electrical panel on the far wall and flipped the breaker for the HVAC, killing it for the moment. They tried to reset it, hoping that would fix the problem, but when that failed, he flipped the breaker again and made his way to the office he shared with Erin.
As he flipped through her neatly organized maintenance binder, Paco stopped in front of the wall-mounted monitors that were part of the gym’s recently updated security system. He made a strange noise, and Ivan looked up from the binder to ask, “What’s wrong?”
“This truck has been driving by the gym two or three times a day for at least a week.” Paco pointed it out on the monitors. “This one. It’s a late 90’s Silverado. Tan. Gun rack.”
Ivan moved closer and watched as Paco rewound the footage. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, he
said, “It could be someone working nearby. Maybe on the apartments going up a few blocks down?”
“Maybe,” Paco replied, sounding unconvinced. “Might be someone casing us for a robbery.”
“They wouldn’t get much,” Ivan grunted. “Carrying out the equipment would take hours, and we don’t keep any cash on hand.”
“Maybe they’re looking for someone.”
That suggestion caught his attention. Was it one of the men who had attacked Erin and Zoya? “Can you save that? Print out some copies and put them up in the locker room. Try to get the license plate if you can. Let’s ask everyone to look out for it.”
“Sure, boss.”
While Paco handled that, Ivan called their HVAC contractor. Seven hours and thousands of dollars later, he had a new system scheduled to be installed the next day. When the technician pointed out that the problem with the old system could have been repaired when it first started showing issues, Ivan groaned inwardly. Erin would never let him forget this. She wouldn’t bring it up in a malicious or cruel way. She would simply have to look at him, and he would know that she was thinking about the time she asked him to do something that he forgot to do and cost them an outrageous amount of money.
By the time he pulled into the garage, it was nearing eight. Erin had texted earlier, letting him know that dinner was in the refrigerator. She had been happy to report that Ruby had finally come out of her room and shared a meal with her. It seemed there were no small victories where her sister was concerned.
The house was quiet when he entered. Thinking about the truck driving by the gym, he walked the entire first floor, checking windows and doors and setting the alarm for the night. He had already sent a photo of the truck and the license plate information to Kostya. All he could do now was wait for some news on that end.
He quickly ate the dinner she had left for him and loaded his dishes into the dishwasher before heading upstairs. He went into the extra bedrooms upstairs, checking the locks on the windows. When he neared Ruby’s room at the end of the hall, he noticed the door was cracked, and the lights were on. He lightly knocked on the door. “Ruby?”
“Yeah? What?” she called from inside the room.
“Can you check your windows? Make sure they’re all locked?”
The door swung open suddenly. She stood there in a matching plaid flannel pajama set Erin had picked out and crossed her arms. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he assured her. “I like to make sure the house is locked down at night.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Thinking it was rich for her to ask that when she was probably lying about knowing what had happened to Erin, he turned it around on her. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Maybe why you’re supposed to keep your mouth shut?”
Her lips flattened into a grim line. “No, there’s not.”
With a sigh, he admitted, “Our security cameras at the gym caught a truck driving by multiple times a day for the last week. I’m concerned it might be someone doing surveillance on Erin—or you.”
She swallowed and shook her head. “I don’t know about anyone in a truck.”
“I believe you,” he said, sure that she didn’t know of the specific vehicles used by the people who wanted to keep her silent. “When you’re ready to trust me, I can help you. We both know that I’m connected to people who can keep you safe. Who can keep your sister safe.”
“Like they kept her safe when she was kidnapped on your front porch a few months ago?”
The statement stung, but it was a fair question. “One of those men almost died trying to keep Erin safe.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t want anyone to die for me.” She closed the door without another word, leaving him standing there and wondering how the hell he was going to get through to her.
When he finally entered the master suite, he found Erin splayed out on the loveseat in the sitting area of their bedroom. Even though she had piles of pajamas, she wore one of his old, faded tees. Her ankles were crossed and resting on the other end of the couch, and she had one of her favorite reality shows on the TV over the fireplace. She smiled when she noticed him. “Hey!”
“Hey.” He crossed the room and leaned down to kiss her. “Thanks for dinner.”
“Of course.” She gave the bottom of his shirt a little tug. “So? What was the damage to our business account?”
He grimaced. “We can talk about it in the morning.”
She laughed. “That bad, huh?”
He sighed. “Go ahead and get it out.”
“Nah, I’m saving this I-told-you-so for our next argument,” she decided. “Just going to stow it away until it’s useful.”
“You are so mean,” he said, leaning down to kiss her one more time. “I’m going to shower.”
He didn’t waste time and went through his nightly routine in record time. He had other plans for tonight. Plans that didn’t include mindless TV or discussing his fuck-up with the heating system at the gym.
He didn't even bother with clothes. As soon as he was dry and his teeth were brushed, he shut off the light and stalked across the bedroom to where Erin still lounged on the loveseat. She eyed him with an amused gleam, surely recognizing that he was in the mood for only one thing. He bent down and snatched her up off the loveseat, tossing her over his shoulder and giving her naked bottom a good smack.
“Ivan!” she squealed with laughter. “What are you doing?”
“Making it up to you, remember?” He set her down by the bed and yanked the tee up and over her head. He threw it aside, not caring where it fell. He took a moment to enjoy the sight of her naked body. She was so beautiful and sexy. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of staring at her like this.
He picked her up again and deposited her in the middle of the bed before crawling over her. He grabbed both slim wrists in one hand and held them over her head. Capturing her mouth, he kissed her until she was panting and rubbing her thighs together beneath him. Still holding her wrists, he nipped and suckled his way down her body, making it all the way to her navel before traveling back to her mouth.
“Ivan,” she sighed happily.
But he didn’t want soft sighs and moans. He wanted her begging and screaming. He wanted her to go wild and use him for her own pleasure. He wanted to make her come so hard and so many times that she would drop limp and exhausted to the bed and sleep with a smile on her face.
Using his grappling skills, he flipped her on top of him while rolling onto his back. She giggled at the sudden movement and then gasped when he grabbed her thighs and hauled her higher up his body. He reached back to grab the pillow under his head and threw it across the room, hearing it hit the wall with a thump. Flat on his back, he was in a better position for what he wanted most—a taste of his wife.
“You don’t have to make it up to me like this,” Erin said, biting her lip as she stared down at him between her thighs. She shuddered when he kissed and nibbled the sensitive skin there. “I mean, you can if you want to...”
“I’ve been thinking about this since I left.” He nuzzled closer to where he really wanted to be and slid his hands from her waist to her ass, lifting her up a little higher and pulling her right down onto his face.
“Wait!” She tried to squeeze her thighs shut, but he kept them open with his broad shoulders. “My sister can hear us!”
“Not for long,” he said before swiping her cunt with his tongue. “I left a pair of noise cancelling headphones in her room.”
“Thank god for technology,” she whimpered and then relaxed. She placed her palms on the upholstered headboard for support and moaned as he licked up and down her slit. When he fluttered his tongue over her clit, she threw her head back and cried out, “Ivan!”
Grinning, he let his tongue make amends for all the stress and upset he had caused her that morning. He suckled and lapped, overcome with her taste and scent. Memories of the first time he went
down on her, right here in this house, rushed to the forefront of his mind. He had always enjoyed giving a woman pleasure, but he had never initiated that early in a relationship. He hadn’t even asked her out on a date before he had his face buried between her legs, learning all her secrets with his tongue.
Even then, that first night, he had known she was it. It was as if she had been made for him, as if he had been waiting all those years to find her. His strange and harsh life had brought him from Russia to Houston, putting him right in the middle of her life’s journey. The way their lives had intersected couldn’t possibly be chance. It was always meant to be.
“Ivan. Ivan. Ivan.” Her thighs tensed, and she pressed down against his mouth, seeking his tongue with her movements. “Please. Oh, please, don’t stop. Don’t stop. Don’t!”
She came with a strangled cry, and he held tight to her hip and ass, holding her right there on his face while he made her scream. Every time she tried to lift away, he tugged her back down, using his superior strength to force through the waves of her orgasm. She let go of the headboard, placing her hands on either side of his head, and whipped her hips back and forth on his mouth, going wild as a second and more intense climax overwhelmed her. He smacked her ass—hard—his palm bouncing from plump cheek to plump cheek. She cried out with a mix of joy and pain and then screamed his name.
Smiling against her inner thigh, he let her go, and she dramatically dropped off of him, landing in a heap as she panted to catch her breath. He didn’t even get a chance to try to make another move before she surprised him by aggressively shoving him back onto the bed. She flipped back her hair and planted both hands on his chest before throwing her leg over his hips and straddling him. She reached down between them, gripping his aching cock in her soft hand, and stroked the length of him, squeezing as she reached the tip. He groaned and tried to shift her into position, but she wouldn’t let him.
