***
Thrumming tones from the quirky, dark beat filled the bar. The singer’s voice was a low, deep tenor as he sang about a man with a red right hand. Ignoring the lyrics I swayed from side to side, my hips swinging, my hands stretched above my head. Hart had been right when he said Papa’s Place was dark. Nothing more than a dingy, hovel of a doorway from the street front, and a steep, narrow staircase that led into the bowels of St. Petersburg. The bar at the bottom was larger than I expected, most of it hidden though in gloomy shadows. Live music played, one man sitting on a stage lit with dim red lights as he strummed his guitar and sang into a microphone, while a handful of people danced to the slow rhythmic beats before him. A tangy odor of something sweeter than cigarettes hung on the air. Tables and sofas were placed sporadically around the perimeter of the room, and pictures of detached looking men in tailored suits, with impassive stares decorated the walls. They were images of family, friends, and employees of Papa who had died serving him. Not drinks mind you. Apparently Papa was some well-respected Russian mobster, and this bar was a dedication to those he had lost. Like I said, dark.
Two songs ago Hart had moved from the bar to a long sofa against the furthest wall. Since the moment I stepped onto the dance floor I’d felt his heavy gaze. When I danced, he was ensnared. The dress I wore was obscenely gorgeous, fitting so tight I’d been unable to wear underwear. The deep scooped back had a string of tiny diamond shape Swarovski crystals stretching from one shoulder to the other. White fabric with a shimmer wrapped around the rest of my body, chiffon sleeves billowing to my wrists, the skirt finishing mid-thigh. My strappy silver heels were simple, and pretty, giving my small frame the illusion of height. On the dance floor, I was still swallowed by the people around me. From my experience with being drugged, I’m pretty sure most of the other barely dressed women and sharp looking men were high. They paid me no attention, lost to the music and their partners. It was soothing to escape reality for a while and hand myself over to the music and atmosphere. Hart had been training me like a man possessed for months now, and I’d never been in better shape, but the military style regime was hard enough to break the strongest of souls. Thankfully, Hart knew when I needed time out, and tonight’s exercise in torture and interrogation had been both a lesson and a way to give me a much-rewarded break. I’d been working hard, I deserved this, Hart said so himself.
As the song finished and bled into another, I paused and glanced toward the long, leather sectional where I found Hart. His arms were spread wide along the back of the chair, knees parted, and his chin lowered as he watched me through heavy lids. He looked like he was ready to ravish me again, and I was suddenly dying to crawl into his lap and wrap myself around his warm body. Perhaps I would. Sauntering forward, I came to an abrupt halt when a svelte figure stepped into my path, her back to me and eyes on Hart. She was tall with long, dark hair that fell in a sheet over one shoulder. Dressed in a black bodycon dress, she prowled toward Hart before coming to a stop in front of him and slipping into a seductive pose, one hand on her hip and shoulders proudly back. She had obviously set her sights on my man. I could hardly blame her, he was stunning. But, he was also mine. With my heart at a jealous gallop, I resumed my approach. Coming to a stand beside the brunette, I listened as she spoke in a thick Russian accent.
“Why didn’t you look me up, I didn’t realize you were in town?”
When Hart’s scowl found me, I smiled, and the corner of his lip twitched. Those dark and dangerous eyes twinkled with amusement. Leaning into the woman, I wrapped a hand around her waist and stood on my tiptoes to bring my lips to her ear. She flinched at my touch and tried to pull away, but a sharp squeeze of the flesh under her rib cage stilled her. The perfume she wore was strong, and I screwed up my nose as I caught a whiff from a spot on her neck.
“One warning, and if you have friends here, perhaps you should pass it along. If you dare approach my man again, I will slip off these gorgeous shoes and stab the four-inch heel into your eye socket. He didn’t look you up because he has no need for a whore anymore.” A gasp left the woman’s lips. “He has me.”
Stepping away from her body, I moved to stand between Hart’s parted legs. One big hand wrapped around my upper thigh, the rough texture of his palm against my flesh sending tingles through my body. His fingers whispered over a thin, silver line, one of my cuts. The air in my lungs caught thinking this was the moment Hart discovered my self-torture. Instead, his hands kept moving until his thumb brushed the underside of my buttocks and with a little persuasive squeeze of his hand, I lowered myself to his lap. One deft finger swiped through my bare pussy lips and Hart growled.
“No knickers?”
Finding myself speechless, I shook my head from side to side.
“My Beauty,” he purred, kissing my neck, his finger slipping away from my core. I almost growled with disappointment. His other hand went to the tiny red heart that hung from the fine gold chain around my neck. Another gift. It was the most precious thing in the world, and I swore I would never take it off. Chancing a glance, I followed the retreating back of the brunette as she scurried away. My jealousy was barely appeased, but I melted into Hart’s arms.
“She is nobody,” he whispered in my ear.
“She was somebody,” I disagreed.
“Shall I kill her?” Hart offered, surprising me.
“You’d do that, for me?”
“Little monster, I would create hell on earth, just for you.”
His words slayed me. Leaning forward I kissed him hard.
“Viktor will be here any moment,” he murmured as we finally parted.
At the mention of Viktor’s name, ice settled in my veins killing the ignited passion. I didn’t like him, and although Hart trusted him, I didn’t. Hart’s hand began to massage my thigh. His lips nibbled at the soft tissue of my earlobe.
“Promise me you won’t stab him in the eye with your heel?”
“I will do no such thing.”
Viktor was fair game, if he needed a good stabbing I’d be happy to give him one. Having missed his head with the nail by such a small margin had been infuriating. It was like thirsting for water after months in a desert and tipping over the full glass before it found my lips. Utterly futile and very disappointing. Having lost the drunken glow I’d felt only moments ago, I ground my teeth with frustration. Flinging myself from Hart’s embrace, I made my way out onto the dance floor and began to sway to the music once more. It didn’t take long before all thoughts of Viktor were gone and slowly my jealousy seeped away, like a slow retreating tide. With a smile on my lips I danced, not a single person stepping into my space. With my eyes closed, I could almost pretend I was utterly alone in this club. No bodies around me moving in beat to the music, nobody working behind the bar, no suspicious looking men melting into the shadows. With that thought my eyes snapped open. Alone? The weight of Hart’s stare was gone. Glancing to the sofa he had been slouched in only a song ago, I found it empty. He wouldn’t be far, but I didn’t like not feeling his heavy gaze on me. Making my way to the bar, I asked for a glass of water and gulped it back. Two familiar arms snaked around my waist, and Hart nuzzled my neck.
“I have business to attend to, Viktor is going to take you back to the hotel.”
Immediately my hackles rose. I was not some brainless bimbo that needed to be sent home with a minder. And what business would Hart have that I could not be privy to? In six months he’d never left my side, I’d been there for all his meetings. I’d witnessed him tear apart sex traffickers and leave them swimming in a pool of their own blood. Why was I being excluded now?
As I turned to face him, his hands were forced from my waist but he didn’t move away, crowding my body as his dark eyes roamed over every inch of my face. There was no doubt he’d feel the tension in my body and see the anger in my eyes. The corner of his lip twitched, his amusement as usual hidden behind rigid control.
“Do you have something you’d like to say my
love, hmmm?”
That just pissed me off more, it made me feel stupid. While I wanted to ask where he was going and why I couldn’t come, now I just wanted to get under his skin like he’d gotten beneath mine.
“You can send your dog home. I’ll make my way back to the hotel when I’m ready.”
Hart’s head tilted to one side, any signs of amusement dying as his lips flattened.
“Viktor will escort you, and you will leave now. This place isn’t safe for you to be alone.”
Glancing over his shoulder and toward the small crowd on the dance floor, I smiled. “I’m not alone.” Looking back into his sharp gaze which was growing heated with fury by the second, I added, “and I’m pretty sure you brought me here because it was safe. So go, do your business,” I sneered, “and I’ll see you later, but don’t wait up.”
Just a tic at the corner of Hart’s eyes was the only thing that gave away his temper. His big hand rose, and he placed it against my clavicle before brushing his fingers up to my neck where they wrapped around my throat. He was effectively collaring me, a gesture that some might find threatening. But I didn’t. I knew this man’s very soul as if it were my own. I’d basked in the gloomy shadows of his heart, and I’d never once been afraid.
“I know what you’re trying to do,” he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine. Even though I was angry with him, my head tilted to one side, making space for him to rest a kiss on my cheek.
“If you leave Viktor with me, there will be bloodshed.” Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the smug looking bastard who was standing beside Hart and giving us the illusion of privacy. He returned my stare, those beady eyes glaring down his nose like an arrogant prick. “And it will be his.”
At that, Viktor grinned, though there wasn’t an ounce of humor in it. It was more of a dare and a challenge. Fuck him . . . he was too much like Algis. Too confident, too sly, too condescending. To say I disliked him was a gross understatement. I loathed him. Knowing it had been me who put that inflamed red scratch down his cheek was very satisfying. Hart sighed deeply, his hand around my throat resting without pressure, his thumb rubbing soothing circles over my pulse.
“I have a meeting with a Frenchman by the name of Hubert Dalcourt, he’s . . . prickly, and Bear doesn’t respond well to strangers, most especially women. He’s your typical narcissistic, conceited, rapist fuck and our relationship, if you could even call it that, is tenuous at best. If I take you with me, it could destroy any chance I have at following this lead.”
“Ruby?” I breathed with hope.
Hart nodded. The thought of being separated physically hurt, but Ruby was all that mattered. If finding her meant I couldn’t go to the meeting, then I wouldn’t go. Peering over Hart’s shoulder, I glared at Viktor and he glared right back. He didn’t scare me, nothing did anymore.
“I promise I’ll come for you as soon as I can.”
Holding up my pinky, he tangled his with mine.
“Always?”
“For always and ever.”
“Okay, I’ll let your dog drive me back to the hotel. But I don’t want him staying in the room with me.” Wrapping my arms around Hart’s waist, and snuggling into his warmth, I whispered, “He smells like cheap aftershave, it brings back bad memories.”
Confessing to those lingering thoughts that continued to battle for supremacy in my brain was a big thing for me. Most days I pretended they didn’t exist, and on the days they won the fight and were front and center of my every waking moment, I locked myself away in the bathroom and cut into my flesh. The pain and blood were the only things that released the building screams that were barely restrained inside me. I would have preferred it was the blood and pain of someone else, but for the short term, it worked.
“He doesn’t have a key to the room. He can wait in the lobby until I get back. I won’t be long.”
“Then I guess I’ll see you soon, my heart.”
It was the first time I’d used an affectionate name with him, and even though it could have been interpreted as just his name, he knew I meant more. The possessive flame in his eyes told me that much. With one last indecent kiss, he was gone.
4
HART
Walking away from Beauty was like tearing a limb from my body, almost impossible and unnervingly painful. I’d been her shadow for the better part of six months, and breaking that connection was difficult. Slowly, I was coming to terms with the fact I was well past possessive and now living in the realm of obsession where Beauty was concerned. It probably wasn’t healthy and for a short time I struggled with an irrational anger over the foreign feelings, but steadily I was coming to accept that this was who we were. Two merged into one, our souls tangled so tightly around each other that there would be no unravelling. Being away from her made me feel less than whole. I’d never thought there was anything missing from my life, much less someone that could make me feel weaker and stronger at the same time. Beauty was it, my misplaced piece. That little crumb of my heart that had been chipped away so long ago slotted back into place.
Her attempt to tease my temper had been cute, and frighteningly close to successful. The disobedient and stubborn nature she possessed was glorious, but when her safety was at stake, it was downright inconvenient. Regardless of her dislike for Viktor, he’d been working with me for over twelve years, he’d earned my trust and would get her back to the hotel safely. Beauty would no doubt make it difficult for him, and I had every faith she’d be in a right royal mood by the time I finished my meeting. Perhaps I should find her a gift before heading back to the hotel. My Beauty did have an affinity for presents.
“Bear flies out in two hours, we don’t have much time,” Raul reminded me as he drove us through the city and toward the private airstrip our contact would be departing from. Hubert Dalcourt was much like myself, a man who appreciated anonymity and no red tape, therefore he rarely travelled by commercial airlines. The Frenchman was a monster of a man with a reputation for having a hair-trigger temper, surly disposition and no mercy, hence his moniker, Bear. Women ranked low in his world, therefore bringing Beauty to the meeting would have been catastrophic. Bear would have insulted Beauty the moment he saw her, and then I would have killed him, which would have started a war between the Dalcourt family – a powerful entity in the French Mafia – and the Los Zetas. Charlie would have my balls for creating such a prickly situation.
“You’re Beauty was grumpy about you leaving without her.”
Casting Raul a sideways glance, I said nothing.
“She is nothing like my Sylvie. Sylvie is obedient.”
Raising a brow, I scoffed. “Sylvie is anything but obedient. She is very clever at allowing you to think you’ve won your arguments, when really you haven’t.”
Grinning, Raul nodded. “Sí, perhaps, but it keeps me in her good books, and it keeps her attending to this.” Placing his hand on his groin in a crude gesture, I huffed out a bark of laughter.
“I’ll tell her you said as much next time we do dinner.”
Raul’s smile fell, murmuring in Spanish something about me being a traitor to the male species. Turning up the music, I ignored him as we wound our way further out of the city.
An hour later, our car pulled into a gravel driveway which led to a private airstrip that few were privy to. As expected, Bear was already there, his jet sitting on the cracked tarmac ready to go. Several of his men were scattered about the place, two rather discreetly at the gate we’d just passed through. Bear wouldn’t make a target of me though, it would mean going to war with the Los Zetas and that was not something he was prepared to do. He also owed me a favor, and though he was a man without mercy, he still had honor, which meant he wouldn’t kill me. Not this time, anyway. Climbing from the car, I tugged my jacket around my waist and slid the button into the hole as I approached Bear, allowing Raul to do his job and watch my back.
“Bear,” I greeted the man who stood before me.
It had bee
n at least a year since I’d last seen him, and the year had not been kind. Although still a giant of a man, standing easily a full head taller than me, he had lost a great deal of weight, his usual thick stature sickly lean.
“Hart,” Bear said with a deep husky voice. “Let’s walk.” With that he turned and began to move away from the jet and into the dark field alongside it. One of his men moved to join us but was put in his place with a harsh French curse.
“These men, always wanting to follow me around like little lost puppies,” he growled as we edged further away from the plane. “I can’t even take a piss anymore without someone watching.”
His confession made me immediately sense that something wasn’t right with the Bear. But I wouldn’t ask, we didn’t have that kind of relationship, nor did I particularly care. His death would be a blessing to the numerous he had sinned against.
“I’ve heard rumors,” he began, saving me the task of meaningless conversation. “You are after a girl . . . to fuck?” That was just like Bear, straight to the point.
“No, not to fuck.”
Bear grunted. “Perhaps that validates the next rumor I have heard.”
“Never took you as someone interested in idle gossip, Bear.” That wasn’t true at all, Bear loved to gossip. It was how he gained a reputation as a man who knew more than most.
“I listen, you never know when you might hear something useful.” Coming to a standstill a few yards away from his men, Bear turned to face me, the heavy lines in his aged face stark under the moonlight. He looked pale, and ill. “So, it is true, you have a woman now, someone you are keeping?”
Sliding my hands into my pockets, I rocked on the heels of my feet as I took in the man standing in front of me. It was unlike the Bear to be interested in a woman His interest in Beauty had my hackles rising.
“I’m wondering how my sex life became of interest to you.”
BEAU2Y: Part 2: Blaire's World (Beauty's Duet #2) Page 3
