It amazed her how she always seemed to get ensnared in his gaze. “Trust me. It wasn’t the same without you,” Valeriya assured. She had only been at this place for a short while, but it had grown on her along with the family. She could definitely see why he loved them so much.
“And there will be a great homecoming for you. Royal, of course, has insisted,” Dmitry said, sitting up in his seat. He was just as anxious as any of them to finally be reunited with the family. “For now, let’s get off this contraption. I’ve grown tired of flying.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Anatoly said, sending a text to Renee.
“I’m already drinking to it,” Vasily said, slipping his airplane bottle of vodka back into his jacket pocket.
The door to the helicopter was opened from the outside, and the party of six moved quickly out into the cool air. Soft winds blew past them along with the smell of freshly cut grass as they made their way across the catwalk to the front stairs of the enormous mansion.
Gabriel looked up at the house like it was the promise land. Pride swept through him, almost bringing him to tears. His family had come for him. Valeriya had come for him, and most importantly, he had survived.
In preparation for their arrival, Royal had every single light in the garden on and the porch lights shining. Two red floral reefs had been placed on the doors, a single electric candle in all of the windows facing the front of the property, and the house staff lined the steps to welcome them inside.
As soon as their foot hit the final step leading up to the house, instead of the butler opening the door, Royal did, boasting a red, form fitting dress, red heels and her hair down and fanned around her long caramel face. Of course, diamonds were in order. She wore them proudly – a diamond broach, a sparkling diamond necklace, 5-carat diamond studs and her monster of a wedding ring. She didn’t care if it were overkill. Each piece of jewelry had been given to her during a special moment in their lives over the years and now was the perfect time to bring it all together.
For Dmitry, she looked like a queen. Tall, statuesque, poised and beautiful – all his for the taking.
So glad to see her, he picked her up in his arms and kissed her, blocking the door for everyone behind him.
“Damn, it’s good to see you, woman,” he said, finally setting her down as Anya came running through the foyer in a little red frock her mother had personally picked out for the occasion.
“Daddy! Daddy!” she screamed, while at the same time attacking his right leg.
He looked down and swept her up in his arms. “My little Czarina,” he said, kissing her pouty pink lips. “Where are the babies?” he asked, looking for his little boys.
“Asleep, I’m afraid. They’ve been up all day.” Royal pulled him inside and kissed everyone as they came in – Anatoly, Marat, Vasily, Nadei and then finally a little slower to arrive, she came to Valeriya and Gabriel.
Her eyes told the story that her mouth wouldn’t. It was clear that her nephew was in quite a state. Still, his mossy green eyes seemed even more filled with fire now than ever and despite his ordeal, he wasn’t an ounce less handsome.
“It looks a lot worse than it is,” Gabriel said, wiping a tear from Royal’s cheek. “Don’t do that. You’ll mess up your pretty makeup.”
She wiped her eyes and threw her hair off her shoulders. “I’m just so glad to see you home,” she said, hugging him tight. She buried her head in his chest for a moment and allowed it to linger there.
He wrapped an arm around her and looked over at Dmitry with a who-knew expression. Moved by her display, he had to duck his head and look down at her. “You flatter me.”
“I love you,” Royal said, reaching up to lift his chin. “Welcome home.”
“No place I’d rather be,” Gabriel said, casting a gaze over at Valeriya.
Royal stood back and raised a brow. “I love the hair,” she said sincerely. “It suits you, very James Bond.”
Valeriya laughed and shrugged. “I figured the long hair might make me more vulnerable. So, I cut it off.”
“Vulnerable my ass,” Anatoly said, grabbing Renee as she walked up. He planted a kiss right over her heart-shaped lips and looked over at Gabriel. “Your girl is a psychopath. You too should do well together.”
Everyone laughed, but they knew it was true. Valeriya had earned the respect of every man in the family by her actions in Ukraine and would never be questioned again.
At that moment, she eyed her brother, peering through the front door at her. They moved out of the way so that he could come to her. Wrapping his arms around her, he kissed her cheek with tears in his eyes. “I knew that you’d come back.”
She rubbed a hand through his hair. “You know I always will.” Inhaling, she shook her head. “It’s over. Finally. We’re never going back.” Looking over at Gabriel, she held her brother’s hand. “We’re going to have a new life now.”
“It only took a war to get her to change her mind,” Gabriel quipped.
Royal clapped her hands together. Everything was finally as it should be. “Why are we standing here? I’ve got a full feast being prepared. Go and get comfortable and meet back in the main dining hall in say one hour.” She looked around at everyone as they paused. “I need a confirmation. I’m not doing all that cooking to be left at the table alone like I was the last time.”
“As long as we don’t have to wear ball gowns,” Valeriya protested.
Royal laughed. “Only if you want to, but no, tonight is come as you are.”
Dmitry licked his lips. He wanted her badly, but he knew that when he was finished with her, she would be in no mood to entertain and neither would he. “Everyone be back down in 30 minutes. Let’s get this party started, so that we can move on to other things alone, eh.”
On his word, everyone agreed without any more protest. Walking into the house, they went their own way, laughing and talking without a care in the world.
Royal followed Dmitry toward his office. “Aren’t you going to go clean up first, baby?”
“If I go to that room, I’m not coming back out,” Dmitry said, pulling her into him. “And I have audio running on Gabriel’s home. Now that he’s here, I need to turn it off. I don’t want to hear hours of him and Valeriya’s sex sessions playing on my system.”
“That would be disturbing,” she said, watching Anya run ahead of them. “Why did you bug his room in the first place?” Then she thought of Valeriya. “Never mind.”
“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Dmitry said, looking down at Royal’s dress again. “You know how I feel about you in red.”
“I do,” she flirted. “Especially lace red, which I’ve taken the liberty of wearing under this dress for later.”
Dmitry raised a brow. “And you thought it might be smart to go back to our room with you wearing that?”
“No, I want you to imagine it all through dinner and then when our feast is done, I want you to eat me for dessert.” Her eyes sparkled up at him.
“I can always go for a little before dinner, if you’re interested.”
“Mommy, Daddy, come on,” Anya screamed as she arrived at his office door. The guard opened it for her and she waltzed in.
“Or maybe later,” Dmitry laughed.
***
When they got to their floor, alone without anyone to eavesdrop, Anatoly pulled at Renee’s side. “I told you that with Royal there would always be other dinners, didn’t I?”
Renee blushed. “You did tell me that.” She couldn’t stop smiling as she looked at him.
“What is it?” he asked as he led her by her hand.
“I’m just so glad to see you in one piece until I can’t find the words.” She wouldn’t get into her concerns, but she basically had not slept since she woke up and found him gone from their bed a few days before. At first, she had planned to go off on him about it, but then she realized just like always, he was just trying to protect her.
Anatoly stopped walking and spun
around to face her. “I was an idiot before. You care about me. You want to spend time with me, and you want to be a good wife and mother. I need to let you in more and stop being such an asshole. I know that now.”
Renee’s eyes bucked. “Did something happen over there?”
“Why would you say that?” he scoffed with a grin. “Something happened over here, before I left.”
“Well, you just don’t normally,” she shrugged and rolled her eyes, “open up.”
“I’m trying.” He stepped closer to her and kissed her again. “I’m going to try much harder, Renee, like I promised you.”
“Oh, Ana,” Renee said, putting her head on his chest. “You make me so happy.”
“Happy enough to make 30 minutes count?” he asked, rubbing a hand over her backside.
Renee gave a devilish grin. “Happy enough to make 30 minutes feel like three days.” She whispered in his ear. “I’m not wearing any panties.”
“Well, shit,” Anatoly said, picking her up in his arms.
Her giggles echoed down the hall. “Where do you think you’re taking me? The baby is sleeping in our room.”
“Let’s not waste any time,” he said, slipping inside of the empty library and locking the door.
***
The boss was back at home, safe and sound, where he should be, but Vasily felt like there were certain things that could not wait. After kissing his wife and son, he used the 30 minutes he had in a much different fashion. Making his way to Nadei’s room, he knocked on the door and then let himself in. He found Nadei laying across the bed, looking up at the ceiling fan with a grimace on his face.
Sitting up, Nadei saw it was his boss and pushed out of the bed.
“You know why I’m here,” Vasily said in a low, grave voice.
“To kill me,” Nadei said, eyeing Vasily’s gun in its holster by his large bicep.
Vasily raised a brow. “No.” He strode over to the chair in the corner and took a seat. “Well, not to kill you physically.” He motioned to the bed. “Please have a seat.”
Nadei didn’t protest. Sitting back down on the bed, he wiped his tired eyes.
Vasily was a quiet man, not much on words, much in the same way that Anatoly wasn’t. He also wasn’t a man for theatrics, so he figured the best thing to do was just to get to it.
“Now that Gabriel is home, as your captain, I’m telling you to tell him.” Vasily rolled his tongue around the roof of his mouth. “To wait will just make things worse. Plus, I don’t want him to feel as though he has any more deceit in his life.”
“Tell him now?” For Nadei, it hardly seemed like the right time.
“He’s safe now. Happiness is something that won’t come for a while anyway, if that’s what you’re worried about. He’s battling a lot of demons, but you might as well get this over with.”
Nadei put his hands over his face and blew out a breath. “You really think this is best?”
Vasily curled up his lip. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was best. Now is the time. Trust me, you give him a few days and he might do a lot worse to you.” He stood up, determined to spend just a little time with his wife before the dinner. “Make sure it’s before dinner, eh. I don’t want you to break bread at his table without him knowing the truth.”
Nadei stood up from the bed. “I’ll do it.” He offered his hand. “Just in case I don’t get to tell you later, thank you.”
Vasily looked down at Nadei’s hand and frowned. “I can’t. Just in case I’m the one who has to finish this, I don’t think it’s proper.” He looked back up at him with finality in his face.
Nadei pulled his hand back. “I understand.”
***
Gabriel was beyond exhausted. When Valeriya helped him into his room, the only thing he could think of was taking a hot bath and lying in his large welcoming bed. He watched Valeriya peal out of her jacket and throw it across the back of one of the chairs near the door and realized that this was the first time that they’d ever been in this room together.
“Come here,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Valeriya swayed over to him and nestled in his embrace. Now cleaned up and shaved, he looked more like the man she had met outside of her hotel. Trailing a hand over his bulging biceps, she kissed his lips. “What is it, my love?” she whispered, wanting him now more than ever. With all the traveling, they had not yet had the opportunity to be intimate, and it was starting to wear on her sensibilities seeing him now on this bed.
“Did you mean what you told Andriy?” he asked, looking at her lips and then her bright eyes.
“Every word.”
He pulled back. “So you’ll stay with me?”
She blushed. “As long as you will have me.”
“So that’s like six months or eight?” he joked. “You know I’m not into long drawn out flings. I like to hit it and quit it before I get bored.”
Valeriya gave him an incredulous look. “Three at most.” She huffed. “Six is just too long.”
Gabriel grinned, as he did the dimple in his chin exploding like a star. “I’m going to hold you to it.”
The knock on the door made him shake his head. “When we move back to the states, we’re getting our own place.” Pushing down his growing erection, he threw back his head. “Who is it?”
“Nadei, sir.”
Gabriel pursed his lips together. “I better take this.” Nadei never came to his door, ever. So something else had to be popping off. He only hoped it was not enough that he’d be forced to leave this room.
“I’ll go and run us a bath,” Valeriya said, walking off. She cast a sensual look back to him.
He watched her backside hungrily. “Us a bath?” Gabriel said, kicking off his shoes. “I like the sound of that.”
Getting off the bed, he limped over to the door and opened it. Leaning his head against the door, he looked down at Nadei with red eyes and sniffled. “This better be really, really important, bro. Valeriya’s running a bath, and I’ve popped like three OxyContin.”
“It is Boss,” Nadei answered formally. He clenched his jaw. “It’s urgent.”
Gabriel shook his head. “Of course it is. It wouldn’t be the Medlov compound if it weren’t.” He opened the door and motioned for him to come in. “What’s wrong now?”
Nadei walked in while Gabriel closed the door behind them. “I have to confess something to you that you’re not going to like.”
Gabriel wasn’t lying about feeling dizzy. Going back over to the bed, he took a seat and grabbed the remote to turn off the television. “Talk to me.”
Nadei wasn’t sure where to start, but he knew that Gabriel didn’t have the time to wait for him to figure it out. Still, it broke his heart to say the words that he knew would forever ruin his friendship.
“I spoke with Briggy before I left and…”
Gabriel’s gaze narrowed. “She’s here? Fuck, man. Why didn’t you guys leave her in Memphis?” He ran a hand through his hair. “She hasn’t spoken to Valeriya has she?”
Nadei didn’t want to get into all of that just yet. He raised a hand to calm his boss. “I spoke with her because although I heard that she was pregnant, I didn’t know how far along. When I saw her here the first day, I found out how far along and…”
Gabriel’s muscles began to tense. Tilting his head, he smirked. “What are you trying to say, Nadei? Just get on with the shit. I’ve got things to do.”
“In Fiji, she was pissed that you didn’t come down to meet her. She was adamant that you were off with another woman.”
“I was…with that Sasha chick from Budapest.”
Nadei continued. “We were all out on the deck, watching out to make sure that she didn’t sneak off the boat, just like you told us to do. Then she came out with a few bottles of vodka and some other shit and demanded we drink with her…keep her company. We got pretty fucked up. I don’t know if she laced it or what, because I know how to handle my vodka and I shoul
dn’t have been that drunk after a few shots.”
Gabriel’s labored breaths could be heard across the room. “Did someone rape her?”
“No,” Nadei said, raising his brow. He ran a hand through his hair and sat down on the seat closest to the door.
“Stand up,” Gabriel ordered, voice full of authority. “And finish your fucking story.”
“I blacked out, Boss. I woke up that next morning with her on top of me. Honestly, I don’t remember touching her once, but the next morning we were both naked. I told her then that we needed to tell you what happened.”
“Did you?” Gabriel’s eyes were wild. “Because that was the honest thing, right?”
“She threatened me. She said if I said a word that she’d tell you that I raped her.”
“Well, you can’t say what happened because you were blind running fucking drunk,” Gabriel said, clenching his jaw. “Un-fucking-believable.”
“I did not rape her, but I could not risk her saying that I did. She swore me to secrecy, threatened me and then you sent me here to work on some other shit a few days later. So, it was just…brushed under the rug.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this in Ukraine?” Gabriel asked. “Why wait until right now?”
“I didn’t know that she was that far along when we were in Ukraine. I went to her before I left here to get you a few days ago to confront her and get the truth and she threatened me again, but I’m telling you because it is the right thing to do. I’m telling you, because it was never my intention to deceive you. Plus, I don’t want you raising my kid because I didn’t have the balls to tell the truth.”
Gabriel popped his swollen knuckles. “So you fucked her and more than likely you knocked her up.”
“Yes,” Nadei answered quickly and flatly.
“Was that the only time?”
“Yes,” Nadei answered. “She said that you’d never check the timeline. She swore that you’d never know, but I know.” He released a sigh. “So, I’m here at your mercy, because I can’t keep a secret from you. Do with me what you will, Boss, but I can’t look you in the face and keep this kind of a secret. It’s wrong.”
Gabriel's Regret: Book Two (The Medlov Men 3) Page 23
