Tempting the Badman (Russian Bratva #5)

by Hayley Faiman

  “How was the move?” I ask him.

  “Good,” he grunts.

  “Just good?” I ask, tipping my head to the side, curious as to why he’s being so… off.

  “She had a meltdown when she saw a box come in that was her parents,” he murmurs. “I tried to call you.”

  I nod, not even bothering to look at my phone. I saw his number and I ignored it. I knew it wasn’t anything urgent. We have a specific code in place for emergencies. I was busy all day, and just—ignored it.

  “She okay?” I ask quietly.

  “She calmed down after she cried herself to sleep, her whole body shaking until she exhausted herself. But generally speaking, I would say no. Fuck no, she’s not okay. I held her for four hours while she was sobbing. When she finally fell asleep, I held her for another hour, afraid to wake her up; afraid she’d make herself sick.”

  The anger that radiates off of him is palpable. I should be glad that he’s so attached to my Inessa. However, I do recall him saying he’d fuck her, so I’m not.

  “Next time you touch her in anyway other than to protect her, I’ll kill you,” I growl.

  “Christ, you’re a clueless asshole,” he announces before he walks past me and slams my apartment door behind him.

  I swiftly walk into the bedroom and see Inessa fast asleep on top of the comforter, fully clothed. That should ease my irritation, but it only heightens it.

  Anger courses through my veins, anger at her and at Konstantin. He touched her and she let him. I alone know how tempting Inessa can be; how just one look at her makes a man weak, makes him want to hold her and bury his cock inside of her.

  “Inessa,” I say as I flip the lights on. It’s after three in the morning, but I don’t give a fuck.

  She rolls over and opens her eyes. They’re puffy and bloodshot. I know that she’s been crying, but she touched another man, and these ground rules have to be set—immediately.

  “Dominik,” she whispers

  I walk over to the side of the bed as she sits up, and I lower myself, to sit down next to her, before I wrap my hand in the back of her hair and pull her closer to me, tipping her neck back. I’m pissed off, and I see the moment she realizes it as her eyes widen and fill with simultaneous fear and hurt.

  “You let another man hold you again, I’ll kill him. You don’t want to know what I’ll do to you,” I say, keeping my voice low and even.

  “He tried to call you,” she whispers with a shaky voice.

  “I don’t give a fuck, Inessa. You don’t touch another man—ever. I thought you understood this shit? You’re mine, that means every single part of your body is mine. You don’t touch another man, and you sure as fuck don’t let another man touch you.”

  “Dominik,” she whispers. It makes my fucking cock hard, just the sound of her voice.

  I shake my head, not wanting to hear anymore. Then her eyes fill with tears, and I watch as they fall down her cheeks. It sends a weird shooting sensation to my chest as her bottom lip quivers and she reaches out for my jacket lapels. I release her hair, letting her crawl over and sit on my lap, her ass nestled against my dick, her face in my neck.

  “You’re an asshole,” she whispers into my neck. I can’t help but chuckle.

  “I’ve been informed,” I murmur as I press my lips to the top of her head.

  “Don’t threaten me, Dominik,” she says softly as she pulls away just enough to look up at me.

  “Inessa—.”

  “No, don’t. You’ve already imprisoned me, and you took away my choice of having a child with you. My career is in detriment at the moment and in a state of limbo. I won’t sit by and allow you to threaten me, not after I’ve just married and moved in with you. Not after the day we had yesterday, and certainly not when I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  I look at her, take her in, and see that she’s serious and strong. It’s that part of her I broke; it’s coming back. As much as I want to hold her down and tell her that she is wrong, that I’ll do whatever the fuck I want—I can’t. The fire in her eyes is burning so fucking brightly, and she’s so goddamn beautiful. I do nothing except slant my head to the side and kiss her—hard.

  “Do you love me, Dominik?” she asks as her lips move over mine.

  “Yagodka—,” I start.

  She pulls back and her eyes take me in before a small grin plays on her lips.

  “I’m going to keep asking you, Nik. One day, one day you’re going to answer me with a yes, and it will be without hesitation, and it will be instant.”

  I kiss her again, but I don’t let her pull away from me.

  I hold her close and I kiss the hell out of my wife. My tempting as fuck wife. If there were any way I could give her those words, I would. She makes me want to be able to say them.

  The woman who will always share my bed, from now until the end of my life.

  My gorgeous Inessa.

  I HAD A COMPLETE breakdown and Dominik was nowhere to be found, so I took comfort where it was available. That meant I let another man hold me while I cried. I knew Dominik wouldn’t like it. I knew that it would anger him, but I was breaking apart and I needed to be held. I don’t know where he was, or why he didn’t answer. At the time, I didn’t care.

  “Where were you when Konstantin called earlier?” I ask.

  I’m lying against Dominik’s naked chest, my fingers tracing his tattoos, and my naked body pressed close to his side. It’s well after four in the morning, but I can’t sleep. I know what will fill my vision when I close my eyes, and I don’t want to deal with it.

  “Work,” he grunts.

  “Where do you work, exactly? I thought you worked at Yakov’s building, but no way would you be there that late,” I say, resting my chin on his chest.

  “No. I no longer work in that building, you’re correct. I work in a different industry. That’s all you need to know,” he says, shutting down the topic. “What did you find that upset you so much?” he asks, shifting the conversation back to me as he runs his fingers soothingly up and down my back.

  “A box of my parents’ that I forgot about,” I say nonchalantly, trying not to get onto this topic.

  “Inessa,” he sighs. I can tell he’s getting impatient with me.

  “Fine. It’s all I have of them. Uncle Pavlov went back to the house sometime after he got me and collected what he thought I might want from them. It isn’t much. Some photo albums, some jewelry, and paperwork. I’ve never looked at the paperwork before. I found their marriage contract,” I whisper.

  “This upsets you?” he asks, sounding a bit bewildered.

  “I didn’t know. I had no clue. I only remember love and happiness. I thought they fell in love and got married like a fairytale,” I murmur.

  “Many of the couples who are matched end up falling in love, yagodka. You know this. Why were you so upset? The real reason.”

  I close my eyes tightly and bite my bottom lip.

  “I found a contract of sale, an agreement that when I turned fourteen years old, I would be sold off to the highest bidder. It was signed by Ivan Chekov and my father,” I whisper. “Then, to make matters worse, there was a love note written to my mother, but signed by Pasha Vetrov. I don’t know what the hell happened, I’m so confused and so—lost.”

  “Fuck,” he curses and pulls me tighter, wrapping me up. “Goddamn it.”

  “Dominik?” I wheeze.

  “I heard a rumor, unconfirmed, that Pasha killed your parents. That he thought Sonia and your father were together. I didn’t know about the contract of sale, though. This—I need answers for these things,” he says as though almost muttering them to himself.

  I’m staring at him in complete shock. He heard rumors about my parents and has never mentioned a word of them to me. I don’t understand. I try to pull away from him, but his arms tighten even more around me.

  “I will find out these answers, yagodka, for you,” he whispers.

  “How long have you known?” I ask, m
y jaw clenched.

  “Not long,” he murmurs.

  “You didn’t think to find answers when you heard the rumors?”

  “It was over twenty years ago. I didn’t want to bring up such painful things. Besides, not only are your parents gone, but Sonia is as well. It would have done no good; but now, with this contact? I want to find out exactly what the fuck happened,” he announces.

  I close my eyes and think about his words before I jump straight to anger. It was twenty years ago. Sonia is gone, my parents are gone, and what he found out were only rumors. He doesn’t know any facts. I feel like I should be angry with him, but rationally, I can’t be. I cannot say that I wouldn’t have done the same as him had the tables been reversed.

  “Why didn’t you tell me, other than it being twenty years ago?” I ask.

  “What good would this knowledge do you, Inessa? It would only cause you pain,” he murmurs.

  I press my lips to his. He wanted to save me unnecessary pain and heartache. How can I be angry with him for that? I cup his cheek in my hand and slide my tongue across the seam of his lips. I squeal when his hands wrap around my waist and he pulls me on top of him.

  I feel his hard length as I straddle his body and I slide against him. We moan simultaneously the moment our bodies connect. Dominik’s hands leave my waist and travel to my breasts. He cups one and runs the pad of his thumb over the nipple. It sends a zing straight to my belly.

  His eyes connect with mine the second I wrap my hand around his cock and hover above him, placing it at my entrance.

  “Inessa,” he rasps. I don’t say a word as I slowly sink down onto him.

  Once I’m fully seated, he bites his bottom lip with a groan as his fingers pinch both of my nipples. I don’t bother staying still. I move, rolling my hips as I ride him—my husband.

  The memory of what I found in that stupid box drifting away as I take him over and over, feeling the way he stretches me each time I rise and fall against him.

  I lean back, taking every inch of him. I moan and bite my lip as he pinches and pulls on my nipples. Then, suddenly, he grunts. I lift my head and watch as he reaches next to him, and I gasp when he pulls out a gun. As if it’s in slow motion, he fires his weapon. I scream and try to get off of him, but his free hand clamps against my waist and stills me.

  “He was alone. Keep going,” Dominik grunts.

  “Nik,” I whisper, horrified.

  I gasp when his hand comes down and slaps my ass before his thumb is pressed against my clit. He starts to rub and orders me to finish. I whimper before I start to move against his thumb, against him. Soon, my eyelids flutter closed and I come with a slow moan.

  Dominik flips me onto my back and pounds inside of me with all of his strength. I wrap my hands around his shoulders and dig my fingernails into his skin, feeling the way he moves inside of me and loving every second of it.

  “Christ. Fuck,” he shouts as he stills. I feel him grow and twitch inside of me with his release as his eyes connect with mine.

  He regains his breath and then he looks up and grunts. I move my head and look at the dead man on his floor, my eyes widening before I scream. Dominik presses his mouth to mine and swallows my scream. Once I stop, he lifts his head and looks down at me.

  “Get some clothes on, yagodka. I have to call some men in to take care of this,” he murmurs against my lips.

  “You killed him. He walked in on us. You killed him,” I whisper in horror. His head turns back to mine and he looks right at me, hard and serious, his jaw clenched.

  “It was either I kill him or he shoots you in the back of the head while you’re riding my cock. I like your body warm and alive, yagodka, so I killed him first,” he murmurs as his nose slides along mine.

  “Dominik, you killed a man right in front of me, and then you made me keep going, and then I came,” I mutter.

  “What are you more disgusted by? The fact that I made you keep going? Or the fact that you came all over me, hmm?” he whispers against my ear.

  “I don’t know,” I answer honestly.

  “Maybe you’re going to be even more disgusted when I make you come again?” he murmurs as he slides out and then thrusts back inside of me.

  “Dominik,” I warn.

  “Quiet and fuck your husband,” he grinds out, as he moves inside of me.

  That’s what I do. At five o’clock in the morning, with a dead man on the floor in the doorway of the bedroom—I fuck my husband.

  We both come again, and Dominik buries his face in my neck when he cries out with his climax. It’s the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard in my entire life.

  “Now, up and clothes, Nessa,” he whispers against my neck before he slides out and stands up. I miss his connection immediately, but I take his hand and try my hardest not to look at the man on the floor.

  In thirty minutes, my living room is starting to fill with men from the Bratva. I advise them not to touch anything until Yakov and Pasha arrive. The dead man on my floor isn’t Russian. I’ve never seen him before, and I want the two Pakhan’s to get a good look at him before we dispose of his remains.

  Konstantin, Matvey, and Stas are the first to arrive, and their eyes widen when they stumble across the man.

  “I think he’d hoped we’d be asleep in bed,” I grunt.

  “But you weren’t?” Stas asks, looking at the man.

  “Nyet, I was very much not asleep,” I inform them.

  All three look up at me, but only Matvey and Stas smile as their eyes shift from me to the unmade mess of a bed behind me. Konstantin glowers at me before his head snaps over to the bathroom.

  I look over and watch Inessa as she exits the space. She’s wearing a pair of tight legging pants and a long top with a hooded, zipped up sweatshirt over the top that ends at her waist. Her shirt hangs down over what I know is her sweet ass.

  “Go into the living room, yagodka,” I murmur as I slide my hand around her waist and press my lips to her temple.

  “Okay, Nik,” she murmurs as she tries not to look at the body.

  “Do you guys want coffee?” she asks the men. They all give grunts of agreement.

  Just like a true Bratva wife. My Inessa has had not one ounce of sleep, yet she’s going to make coffee for the men. She’s even stepped over a dead body to do so, pretending as though it doesn’t faze her, though I know that it does bother her.

  I have no doubt that she’ll have nightmares from this; but right now, in front of my men, she’s being strong—she’s being everything I need her to be. That means more to me than anything else in the world. At least it does right this minute.

  “Irish?” Konstantin asks.

  “I think so.”

  Twenty minutes later, my house is full of men; they’re everywhere. I watch as the cleanup crew sets up, though they have nothing to cleanup quite yet. When they’re finished, we all just stand around and wait. Inessa sends Konstantin and Stas out for food and coffee. My little pot isn’t enough to supply these men, and she’s adamant about feeding them something.

  Suddenly, the room starts to crackle and pop. I know this is because Yakov and Pasha have entered the room. They’re forces in and of themselves, but the biggest reason the air is so thick is because Inessa is staring at Pasha.

  I have no clue what she’ll say, if she’ll say anything, but she’s staring at him. She looks contemplative.

  “Morning, Inessa,” Yakov says to break the silence.

  He walks over to her and presses his lips to each one of her cheeks as a show of respect and friendship.

  “Morning,” she whispers back, her eyes very much focused on Pasha.

  Pasha watches her for a moment, but then makes his way over to her. He looks weathered, tired, and completely worn out from the loss of his beloved Sonia. It’s only been a few months. I don’t know that he’ll ever recover from his loss; but looking at him now, he’s not even close to healing. I hold my breath as he cups her cheeks and then runs his thumb along the ap
ple of her cheek.

  I don’t hear what he says as he whispers to her, but Inessa bites her bottom lip and jerkily nods before he wipes a tear from her eye. She glances at me before she smiles and shakes her head, no. Then she turns and walks away from him, away from us, and goes to the other end of my apartment where my office is.

  I look at him questioningly, but he shakes his head and brushes past me on the way to the bleeding corpse on my floor. Pasha bends down and rifles through his pockets until he produces a wallet. Flipping it open, he glances at it before he turns to me.

  “Irish, but not Ronan Kelly,” he grunts.

  “Well, we know they haven’t given up,” I point out.

  “And that they’re getting braver. Maybe even a little more desperate,” Yakov mutters.

  “Get rid of this trash,” Pasha barks to the cleanup crew just as Konstantin and Stas walk in with food. “But first eat,” he sighs.

  I chuckle to myself as I watch the men pounce on the food.

  “Dominik,” Pasha murmurs.

  I turn to him. He lifts his head, jerking his chin toward the balcony. I watch as he starts to walk that way for a beat before I follow him.

  I close the door behind me and look up to him in confusion. His ass is resting against the balcony, and his arms are crossed. Pasha looks so serious all of the time. Right now, its magnified by a hundred.

  “Yakov informed me that you married Inessa Kozlova?” he rumbles.

  “I did, just a couple days ago,” I agree with a nod.

  “The rumors, they aren’t true. Well, not all of them, anyway,” he grunts. I wait for him to continue. After a deep exhale, he does. “Her father didn’t have an affair with Sonia. It was actually reversed. I had an affair with her mother. Christ, Inessa looks exactly like Vera when I knew her.”

  “There’s more,” I say, recognizing that he isn’t finished, nowhere near probably.

  “Vera found a contract of sale for Inessa.”

  “Inessa just found it in her things when she moved in,” I explain. He nods.

  “Vera didn’t know her husband had signed it, offered their only child up for a life of sexual slavery as soon as she hit puberty. She came to me, a fucking mess of tears. The contract was signed. It was common practice back then, so there wasn’t anything I could do. She begged me, Dominik. I killed them both for her. She knew if she lived, she would have to see her daughter being taken away. The contact was binding.”