Tempting the Badman (Russian Bratva #5)

by Hayley Faiman

  “Why would she leave Inessa alive?”

  “It was Pavlov who would protect her. It was him who kept an ear to the ground to see if he needed to send her somewhere else, for safety precautions. Back then, the girls were taken, but their records weren’t digitized yet. With both parents dead, there was nobody to contact, but he waited and he was ready.

  “Ivan was in Russia, and it was up to Gregori Zima to stay in charge of the American girls. Of course, Pavlov didn’t know at the time that Gregori was part of everything. He almost handed her off to the devil himself,” he says as his voice rumbles. “Maybe Gregori knew who she was the whole time? Maybe he thought it was funny that he was getting her through an arrangement rather than a sale. Who the fuck knows? He was sick and twisted.”

  “So her father knew she would be married off, whored out, or sold as a slave, and he chose to profit the easiest way?”

  “That would be Nestor. He turned shit for profit. He was lazy and always looked for the easy way from about every angle he could find. He was not a close advisor; but Vera, she was very sweet, very kind, and until she met me, extremely loyal,” Pasha explains.

  “She thinks her father adored them, her and her mother. She couldn’t fathom him stepping out on them with Sonia or vice versa,” I murmur.

  “Her father played the part. Perhaps he loved them in his own way, but he stepped out, and he did it often. It was twenty years ago, Dominik, some things they need to lie; but I didn’t want Inessa thinking that I’d hurt her mother by violating her. I’ve been aware of the rumors, but the scandal wasn’t anything I cared to correct. Now, obviously, it needs to happen, at least for her,” he says. He starts to walk past me and reaches for the door handle.

  “What did you say to her?” I ask, twisting my neck to look back at him.

  “She’ll tell you. But, Dominik…” he pauses before he continues. “Take care with her. She’s a good woman,” he murmurs.

  “How—?”

  “You don’t think I would keep an eye on the woman who is the daughter of a mistress I came to care very deeply for? Inessa has lived a hard life, but she’s got every ounce of her mother inside of her. None of her father, thank fuck. Pavlov gave her a beautiful life, but he was a single man raising a girl alone. Vera was special. There was a time in my life that I was questioning a lot. She gave me compassion and a connection when I needed it.”

  Pasha doesn’t say another word before he leaves. I stay outside, not bothering to follow him in quite yet. I’m busy looking out at the skyline, thinking about the words he’s said.

  I’ve not taken care of her in a way that I should. I’ve forced her into things, taken her choices away, and yet, she still looks at me and smiles. I don’t deserve her smiles, her soft kisses, or the way she takes me into her body with zero reservation and one hundred percent trust.

  I jump slightly when I feel two arms wrap around my middle. When I glance down, I see that they belong to Inessa. I turn in her arms before I turn her body so that anybody inside of the apartment that’s watching can only see my back.

  “What’d Pasha say to you?” I ask, cupping the back of her neck.

  “He said that I looked exactly like my mother, who was extremely gorgeous. He also told me that some of the rumors were true, and that he’d explain everything to you,” she practically whispers.

  “Pasha adored your ma,” I say. She blinks. “She didn’t know about the contract. She had no clue your father had done that.” I go on to explain the edited version of what Pasha told me. How he and Pavlov tried to keep her safe, kept an ear to the ground, and then only breathed a sigh of relief when Gregori and Ivan were brought down.

  “He loved her, then?” she asks. Her eyes are so wide and a bit glassy, filling with tears that threaten to spill.

  “I don’t know, but perhaps,” I murmur before I lower my head and brush my lips against hers.

  “I’m so tired,” she admits.

  “I’m going to leave Konstantin in charge tonight,” I mutter. “I’m spending the evening sleeping and fucking my wife.”

  “Dominik,” she breathes.

  “You will probably have nightmares. I’m not leaving you anytime soon,” I grunt.

  Inessa doesn’t say anything else. She rests her head against my chest and wraps her arms around my middle. We stand there for a while, and I just hold her, staring into the city, wondering what the fuck is going to happen next.

  I YAWN, MY EYES fluttering open as I stretch and roll onto Dominik’s naked chest. After the men cleaned up the apartment, he fed me and forced me to take some sleeping pills and go to bed.

  I didn’t fight him one bit. I was exhausted and still scared. Plus, every time I closed my eyes, I saw a dead body in a heap on the floor. I took the pills and took myself to bed after I had a shower.

  Hours later, Dominik woke me with his tongue between my legs. I asked him why he did that, and he said that I was whimpering in my sleep. He thought I was having a bad dream and he wanted to turn it around for me. We had sex, then we passed out, and we repeated it all a bit later, except it was me who woke him with my mouth between his legs.

  “I need to work,” I murmur against his chest.

  I know he’s awake. I can always tell by his breathing. Funny how we’ve only been married for mere days and I can already sense certain things about him that I never did before.

  “Nessa,” he sighs.

  “Please, Nik. I need to. I can’t stay in here all day long, locked up. I can’t spend my days shopping and at the spa. I will go insane,” I explain on a whine.

  “Fuck it. Fine. But you take all three of your Byki with you,” he grunts.

  “Dominik,” I hiss.

  “Non-negotiable. You want to go to work, you have three Byki at all times.”

  I look into his eyes, and I see how serious he is. Not only that, I can see how worried he looks. The fear in his eyes is real, and I know that there’s a good reason for it. A man tried to kill us already, and obviously, this man is not the only threat. I need to give my husband peace of mind, and I need to agree, even if I think that three guards is overkill.

  “All right, Nik. Three Byki,” I whisper.

  “I have to work tonight. It will probably be late, since I didn’t go last night,” he announces.

  I feel my hackles rise. I still don’t know exactly what he does, or where his office is, and his secrecy is bothersome to me.

  “Why won’t you tell me where your office is?” I ask. His eyes slide to the side and his jaw clenches.

  “It’s none of your concern,” he grunts. “Konstantin, Matvey, and Stas know how to get ahold of me if there is a problem.”

  His tone is stern. This is not an open topic, and I should leave it alone. I will, for now, but not for long. He’s hiding things from me, and I have a feeling he’s hiding them with a purpose.

  Dominik rolls out from underneath me and makes his way to the shower. I stay in bed until he’s out and watch as he walks into the closet with his now damp body and long hair. He dons another suit, and I can’t take my eyes off of him as he dresses. He’s mine, I can hardly believe it, but I want to know where he spends his days.

  “You have a good day. Remember what I said,” he murmurs. He walks over to the side of the bed and places his fist next to me as he leans down.

  “Three Byki. I remember,” I murmur.

  “Okay then, yagodka. Be good today,” he whispers as his lips caress mine in a quick kiss. Then he’s up and gone.

  I watch him leave, loving the view of his tight ass beneath his trousers, then I get up and get dressed for the day.

  I take a long, hot shower, letting the water massage my sore muscles before changing into work clothes. I’m only a quarter unpacked from moving, my clothes being the only things that are actually put away.

  I slip a cobalt blue pencil skirt past my hips and then slide a cream camisole on, tucking it into my skirt before I zip it up. My top dips a little low, hinting at my cleav
age.

  I pair the outfit with a fitted, three-quarter sleeve matching cobalt blue blazer before slipping into my favorite nude high heels. My hair is long and straight, my makeup professional and flawless.

  Today, I’m working. Hopefully I can get some viewings scheduled and get back into the swing of things.

  Throwing my gold purse over my shoulder, I walk into the living room to find all three of my Byki playing on their phones.

  “What’s this?” Konstantin asks, looking up at me with confusion.

  “Dominik didn’t tell you?” I ask, furrowing my brows together.

  “No, I haven’t even talked to him today. I let myself in when nobody answered the door. I figured you were still asleep in bed,” he shrugs.

  “I’m going into work today, back to the swing of things,” I announce. Not only do his eyes widen, but so do the eyes of Matey and Stas.

  “I need to call him,” Konstantin murmurs. I roll my eyes but don’t say anything.

  A few minutes of quiet whispers on the phone and Konstantin comes back to me with a nod. Together, the four of us go into my office. I feel like a celebrity with my entourage, and it feels ridiculous, but I don’t complain.

  I spend the morning working from my computer, making calls, and putting myself back out there. I get four appointments set up for the afternoon, and I am finally feeling more balanced as the day wears on.

  I don’t hear from Dominik all day long. I check my phone every five minutes, and not once does he attempt to contact me. It makes me feel a bit sad. I’d thought that since we were good, since we were married and official, that he would want to check in with me throughout the day. I know that he can check in with anyone of my Byki, but I thought he’d want to hear from me.

  It’s eight in the evening when my last appointment finally leaves the house they wanted to look at. They give me an offer and I promise to have it written and delivered to their inboxes before morning for signatures. I know how important timing is in the real estate business, and I pride myself on being competitive for my clients.

  “This is too late to be out,” Konstantin grunts as we all walk toward the SUV.

  “This is my business,” I say as my response. He wisely doesn’t say a word.

  The four of us drive back to my new apartment. It doesn’t feel like home yet, and I don’t know that it ever will. It’s not as though it’s all new and strange, because it’s not. I’ve been inside dozens of times the past few months, but it still doesn’t feel like home. Maybe once I rearrange Dominik’s things and add my own in, I’ll feel better. But for now, I still feel like a visitor.

  I don’t bother eating dinner, or cooking anything. Instead, I walk back to Dominik’s office and power up my laptop to work. I have at least three hours of work to put in this evening before I can go to sleep. Matvey, Stas, and Konstantin all leave me alone, and I’m grateful.

  I yawn as I finish my last email, and then glance at the clock to see that it’s midnight. It took me an hour longer than what I had anticipated, and I groan as I power down my computer and stand up from the desk. Quietly, I make my way into the living room and grin at the three men who are in various stages of sleep on the sofa and in chairs.

  “You finished?” Konstantin grunts with his eyes closed.

  “I thought you were asleep?” I ask as I walk into the kitchen to get a glass of water.

  Since I didn’t eat dinner and it’s way too late now, I’m hoping the water will fill me up for the evening. I’ll probably be ravenous in the morning, but it’s way too late to try and eat anything at the moment.

  “Don’t sleep deeply, kroshka; would make me a shit Byki if I did,” he chuckles as his eyes open fully.

  “I’m going to bed,” I murmur.

  “You look beat,” he observes.

  “I’m exhausted,” I admit with a shrug. He looks me over and then smirks.

  “Maybe you should eat a little something, yeah?”

  “It’s too late,” I whine.

  Konstantin doesn’t say anything else. He gives me a chin lift and I smile before telling him goodnight and taking myself, and my water, to bed.

  I quickly shower, rinsing off the grime of the day before I change into a cobalt blue silk nightie. Apparently, blue is my theme of the day, I think, taking myself to bed.

  I sit up with a gasp, my heart racing and my eyes scanning the room. Something woke me, but I don’t know what. I wait, but the room is silent, and I reach over to Dominik’s side of the bed to find it empty. I glance to the clock and notice that it’s two in the morning. I’ve only been asleep for a couple hours, but I must have been falling into a deep sleep, judging by the way my heart feels like it’s going to burst out of my chest.

  I stand on shaky legs and decide to get some more water. Maybe a quiet walk around the apartment will help ease my fears. I brush off the noise as just being a nightmare. The living room is dark and quiet, but my eyes land on Konstantin, who is passed out asleep on the couch. Matvey and Stas are nowhere to be seen, and I assume that they’ve left for the night.

  I open the fridge, not wanting to fill another cup with water, and grab a bottle instead. I bend down and reach for the bottle when suddenly I feel dizzy, and my legs give out from underneath me. I fall, and before I hit the ground, everything goes completely black.

  I walk into the apartment. It’s quiet and dark, but it isn’t empty. I know because I can feel Inessa’s presence no matter where she is. There’s something about her that makes whatever space she’s in a little lighter and just a tad bit brighter than it was before. It’s not just her stunning gorgeous looks either, it’s just her.

  I start to walk to the living room to wake up Konstantin and send him home when I notice a light on in the kitchen. I walk toward it and my heart stops beating in my chest—completely and totally stops. Inessa is lying on the floor, in one of her sexy nighties, and she’s not moving.

  “Boss?” Konstantin says sitting up.

  “Call Pavlov,” I grunt.

  “What’s—.”

  “Call Pavlov!” I shout.

  Konstantin stands up and rushes over to me as I stand horrified at the sight before me.

  “What the fuck?” he curses. I then hear him call Dr. Pavlov.

  “He’ll be here any second,” he mutters a minute later.

  I want to reach down and pick her up. I want to hold her, but I’m frozen to my spot and I can’t move. Konstantin and I stand in silence and wait.

  My eyes scan her body about a hundred thousand times, looking for any kind of sign that something happened to her, that somebody hurt her. But she looks untouched and unharmed in anyway. There’s a knock on the door, and Konstantin moves away just as I hear a moan escape Inessa’s lips.

  “What the hell happened?” Pavlov asks as he walks over and crouches down next to her.

  “I don’t know,” I admit.

  She moans again and stirs as her eyes flutter open. Then she looks up at Pavlov. When she recognizes him, her eyes widen.

  “Inessa, what happened?” he asks soothingly.

  My first instinct is to bombard her with a million questions and demand answers immediately. Pavlov waits patiently while he listens to her heart with his stethoscope and checks her pupils with a penlight.

  “I thought I heard something; it woke me up. When I listened, and realized it was nothing, I came in for some water. Konstantin was asleep on the couch, and when I bent over to grab a bottle, I got so dizzy. My legs just fell out from underneath me,” she whispers.

  “You passed out?” I practically yell.

  “Dominik, pick her up and take her to the bed. I’ll finish my exam there,” Pavlov orders, his voice stern.

  The way he’s looking at me, it’s as though he’s ready to call a morgue to bury me.

  I do as he orders, my concern for Inessa trumping anything else at this point. I pick her curvy body up as she wraps her arms around my neck and holds on. I press my lips to her forehead and carry her i
nto our bedroom.

  “Inessa, what on earth?” I ask as I make my way toward the bed.

  “I don’t know,” she whispers, sounding exhausted.

  I lie her down on the bed, putting several pillows beneath her head and lifting the comforter up to her waist. I don’t like that Konstantin has seen her practically naked, and later I’ll be having a conversation with her about it. Right now, I’m too fucking worried to care.

  “You may stay, but I wouldn’t recommend more of an audience,” Dr. Pavlov says. I know that he’s talking about Konstantin.

  “Thank you, Konstantin. See you in the morning. Lock the door on your way out,” I mutter. He grunts and I hear his shoes against the floor walking away from us.

  Inessa’s eyes connect with mine and she looks nervous, maybe even a little scared. I’m sure if I let my feelings show, she’d see that I feel the exact same way. I don’t, though. Showing emotion is too dangerous in my line of business. I learned quickly how to hide what I felt when I was a young boy in prison.

  “How have you been feeling lately, Inessa?” Pavlov asks as I lean against the bedroom wall, propping my foot against it and waiting for her answer.

  “Stressed,” she admits with a shrug.

  “Extra tired?” he asks as he checks her arms. He then moves the sheet down to feel her ribs and belly.

  “My schedule has been messed up with everything that has happened. I don’t know if I’m extra tired or not,” she says.

  “When was your last menstrual cycle?” he asks. I stand up a little straighter as he ventures to a line of questioning I wasn’t quite prepared for.

  “I—I don’t quite remember,” she whispers.

  I narrow my eyes on her. We’ve only been fucking without her being on the pill for a few weeks. No way in hell could she already be pregnant since then, which means this baby was conceived while we were still casual.