by Apryl Baker
“Yes, we were at the grocery store shopping for, you know, groceries.” The sarcasm in her voice was hard to miss. “I didn’t realize that was a crime.”
“It is if you’re cheating on your husband.”
Sara sucked in a breath, preparing to let him have it, but Viktor had other ideas. He turned, lifted her up, and set her behind him. “Don’t you dare move.”
Then he turned back to Andy. “I’m here to protect her and her daughter from being hurt by her ex. That includes him sending people here to harass and hurl unfounded accusations at her. She doesn’t deserve to live in fear. You’re not welcome here if that’s your intent. I suggest you get back in that truck and leave.”
“What’s going on?” Mason said from behind them. The incredulousness on Andy’s face made Viktor want to turn and look at his baby brother, but his eyes never left Andy. He had a feeling Mason hadn’t washed his face before stepping out on the porch.
Sara burst out laughing, but Viktor’s focus never left Andy. The man tried to stare him down, but he’d faced drill sergeants scarier than this fucker.
“Nothing to worry about.” Viktor widened his stance, daring the fucker to take a step toward him. “Go back inside.”
“You sure?” Mason asked, and Viktor nodded. His brother might be the scrawniest of all of them, but he was always more than willing to jump in and lend a hand in a beatdown.
“Yeah, brat. Go get cleaned up.”
When Sara tried to step around him again, he caught her and pulled her against him. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
Sara suppressed the shiver that wanted to run a marathon all the way down to the tips of her toes. His voice was fast becoming her Kryptonite. It was sinful to have a voice that good. Right then was not the time to dwell on it, though. She tried to get loose, and his arm tightened around her waist.
“Stop being ridiculous,” she huffed.
“We’ve had this conversation, Sara. If there is a threat to you, then you will listen to what I ask you to do. I told you to stay put. If you can’t be trusted to do it, I’ll make sure you stay put.”
“Andy is no more a threat to me than you are. I’ve known him since I was five years old.”
“Doesn’t negate the fact that he could still be dangerous. He’s here on your ex’s behalf.”
“He’s not her ex,” Andy ground out.
“But he will be soon.”
“And you’re ready to slide right in, aren’t you?” Andy accused.
“Look, Andy, you need to stop. Viktor’s here because I need him here. Roger keeps violating the restraining order when no one’s around. I’m scared of what he might do.”
Andy frowned, his expression turning troubled. “Sara, I don’t understand any of this. Roger doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d beat his wife and kid.”
“You think I’m lying about this?” Viktor’s arm tightened, and he hauled her against his chest when she shouted. She took comfort from his strong arms. He was giving her strength just by being here and supporting her. It was a new feeling for her.
Andy took another step toward her but stopped at the low growl that emanated from Viktor. She rolled her eyes. The man needed to seriously chill. She and Andy were good friends.
“No, Sara. You’re not someone who lies. I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around this. Why didn’t you tell me? I would have done something to help.”
Her shoulders slumped. “It’s complicated.”
“Complicated or not, I would have put a stop to it.”
She believed him, but apparently Viktor didn’t. He wouldn’t let her go when she tried to disentangle herself from his grip.
“I swear to God, if you don’t let me go, I’m going to stomp your foot!”
He only grunted.
Her phone buzzed before she could follow through on her threat, and she pulled it out, seeing her mom’s name flash across the screen. It must be important. Her mother rarely used her cell phone.
“Mom?”
The sob that greeted her sent chills to the very depths of her soul.
“Mom, what’s wrong? Where are you?”
More crying came across the line. She started to shake. Viktor took the phone from her. “Mrs. Grafton. This is Viktor. I need for you to calm down and tell me where you are.” He listened for a moment and then said, “I’m on my way. Stay in the car and keep the doors locked.”
“What? What is it?” Sara twisted so she could look at him. His face was unreadable.
He didn’t answer her. Instead, he took out his phone and shot off a quick text. “Go inside and do whatever Gabe tells you.”
“Viktor…”
“No,” he barked. “This is one of those times I told you about. Get your ass inside that house and lock every damn door and window in the place.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but he shut her down.
“Now, woman!”
She glared, but she moved out of his arms and stomped up the porch steps, completely forgetting about Andy. She was pissed and scared. Her mother had been crying. She never cried. What was wrong?
Viktor watched her as she strode into the house and then turned to Andy. “Time to go.”
“You can’t tell me…”
“I don’t have time for your bullshit. You go back and tell your BFF if he so much as comes near Sara, Delia, or her mother again, he’s in for a world of hurt. Now get your ass gone.”
“Her mother?” Andy frowned, irritating Viktor further by not getting into his truck. “He did something to Mrs. G?”
Viktor snarled and stalked toward Andy. The man had the good sense to back up. “What did I just fucking say?”
“Look, man, Mrs. G. is like a second mother to me. What’s going on?”
“Motherfucker, I will punch you in the fucking face if you don’t get in that truck and get your ass gone.” It was the same tone he’d used on those he’d needed to handle in the military, and it worked on Andy as well as it did those assholes. The man got into the truck without another word and backed out of the driveway.
Damn straight.
He fished his keys out of his pocket and hopped into his Jeep. Sue Anne said she was only a few miles from the house heading into town. If the bastard so much as laid a finger on her, he’d pay.
It took him ten minutes to find her white Corolla sitting on the side of the road. Viktor pulled in behind her and got out, half afraid of what he’d find. If a man had no qualms about hitting a defenseless child, an elderly woman stood no chance against him.
She was slumped against the steering wheel, her shoulders shaking. Anger sparked hot and hard at the sight. He forced it back and gently tapped on the window. She jumped, a scream slipping free. When she saw it was him, her relief was palpable. He wanted to beat Roger.
She rolled down the window and wiped the tears away. “Thank God.”
“What happened?” Viktor reached in and unlocked the door so he could open it. She tumbled out of the car, and Viktor caught her, being as gentle as he could. She looked so frail and scared.
“Roger pulled up behind me and started honking his horn and flashing his lights. I pulled over, afraid he’d hit me. He…he…” She broke off and sobbed.
“Did he hurt you?” The deadly note in his voice must have penetrated Sue Anne’s own fear, because she glanced up, her eyes wide. Yes, he wasn’t as dark as Conner, but if he wanted to, he could be. A form of that same darkness his twin embraced lived in Viktor, thanks to his time in the military. Normally, he kept it tightly caged, but today it was harder to keep it under lock and key.
“I…”
“I don’t mean to frighten you, ma’am.” He held out his hand to her. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
Her eyes flicked from his outstretched hand to his face for a long moment. Tentatively, she placed her hand in his and allowed him to lead her to the Jeep. He went back to her car, rolled up the window, and locked it. He’d send Gabe and Mason to collect
it.
Once he’d gotten Sue Anne settled into the Jeep and his emotions under control, he slid into the driver’s seat, but he made no move to start the SUV.
“What happened when you pulled over?”
She hugged her arms around herself and looked out the window. Her shoulders still shook, and it pissed him off. The fucker wasn’t getting away with this.
“He pulled me out of the car and got right up in my face, demanding to know where Delia was.”
“Why would he do that?” Viktor asked. “He had to know she was at the farm.”
“I don’t know.” Sue Anne shivered. “He wasn’t himself. He was acting crazy.”
It was probably the phone call he got from his mother telling him about Sara and an unknown man in the grocery store. If he showed up at the house while Viktor was gone, Mason and Gabe would handle him.
“Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No, not physically. He just…he…it was the sound of his voice, the way he said we couldn’t keep Delia from him. It scared me. He scared me.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Mrs. Grafton.” Viktor ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out if there was anyone else he could pull to watch over Sara’s mother.
“Roger is going to hurt my daughter.” Sue Anne reached out and grabbed Viktor’s hand. “He wants her dead. I saw it today. It was how he talked about her. Please, Viktor, keep my baby safe.”
“He won’t touch her.” Viktor squeezed her hand. “I swear it on my own mother’s life. He will not touch a hair on Sara’s head.”
Sue Anne nodded. “Can you take me home now?”
Viktor nodded and started the Jeep, his mind already swimming with plans and contingency plans. This would not happen again.
Sara tried to run out the door as soon as she saw Viktor pull up, but Gabe blocked her. He simply shook his head. She snarled at him, but he refused to budge from in front of the door.
She wanted to hit him. She might have to if she weren’t afraid of the repercussions, an ingrained fear she wouldn’t soon get over.
The sound of the door opening pulled her out of her hostile thoughts, and she rushed to hug her mother, who looked shaken. What the hell happened?
“Mom, are you okay?”
“Mason,” Viktor called, and he poked his head around the door.
“Yeah, man?”
“Can you take Delia upstairs and let her show you her room or some shit?”
“Language,” Sara muttered. Her mother quaked in her arms, and she hurried to take her into the kitchen and help her sit at the table.
“Sue Anne, honey, what’s wrong?” Her father rushed from his place at the sink and crouched in front of his wife. He cupped her cheek, his touch as gentle as if he were holding a baby bird.
She burst into tears and fell into her husband’s arms.
Sara ran back into the front hall where Viktor was talking quietly with Gabe. They both looked up when she came running. Neither looked at all happy.
“What the hell happened to my mother?”
Viktor pursed his lips, and some unspoken agreement passed between him and Gabe. The latter nodded and ambled off toward the kitchen.
“Mason, stay with Delia!” Viktor shouted up the stairs and then took Sara’s arm, pulling her outside and closing the door behind them. He didn’t say a word until they reached the barn. Once they were inside, he let her go and started to pace.
He didn’t so much pace as he stalked some unseen prey in the shadows of the barn. Anger vibrated off him, and he let out a snarl, slamming his hand against the wall.
It scared her, and she backed up. “Viktor?”
He turned his head toward her, and she saw the fury burning in his eyes. They looked like black pools of fire. She’d never seen anyone so angry, not even Roger. She took several more steps away from him.
“Your ex forced your mother off the road.” Darkness coated his words, and she retreated until her back hit the wall on the opposite side of the barn.
“He dragged her out of the car, scared her half to death, and there’s not a damn legal thing I can do about it.”
Her mom must have been terrified. She’d never witnessed that side of Roger before. Sara counted her blessings he hadn’t hit her mother. He was smarter than that, though. If he’d laid a hand on his mother-in-law, it would have given credence to the pending court case against him for assault and battery of his daughter.
“I don’t want anyone leaving this property without either me or Gabe until the bastard is locked up.”
“I never thought he’d go after Mom,” Sara whispered, her eyes tracking Viktor’s movement. He was like a caged animal, waiting to spring.
“He can’t get to you, so he went after the one person he could. He knows scaring your mother will inspire fear in you. It’s his way of showing you that he still controls you.”
And there it was. Roger told her that no matter what she did, where she went, he’d always be right there, the master of her strings. Terrorizing her mother was his way of proving it. Her legs got weak, and she slid down the wall, landing on her ass with a loud thump. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. She’d brought this monster into all their lives.
“Hey, now.” Viktor’s jean-clad legs came into view. “This isn’t your fault. It’s that bastard ex of yours.”
She shook her head. It was her fault. She should have walked away. Pregnant or not, she should have left him. None of this would be happening right now if she’d done that.
Viktor sat in front of her, scooting until his bent legs rested alongside each of hers. She could still feel the anger pulsing off him, and she flinched when he reached out. She couldn’t help it. It was a reflex.
“Sara Jane.”
She couldn’t look at him. She hated feeling like this. Hated it, but she couldn’t help it.
He reached out and tipped her chin up so she was forced to look at him. “I’m not Roger. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” he murmured, his thumb tracing her lower lip. “I don’t think you do, but that’s okay.”
“Really?”
He smiled lazily, and some of the anger slipped away from him. “Yes, really. I am furious. It’s true.” His hand slid down and cupped her neck, his thumb sweeping back and forth across her jawline. “But, Sara…”
“Yeah?” she whispered, afraid to break whatever spell he was weaving.
“There isn’t a force on this earth that could ever make me take that anger out on you.” His eyes got this sleepy look in them, and his lips parted. She had the strongest urge to lean forward and suck his bottom lip in between hers.
Sara felt like a race car driver, one second hurtling a thousand miles an hour around a track, and then the next cruising at a slower speed until the car stopped dead in the pit.
That was what Viktor made her feel on a daily basis. She’d been terrified of him a second ago, and here she was thinking of what his lips would feel like against hers. Whiplash at a thousand miles an hour.
“Why are we in the barn?”
“Because I didn’t want Delia to see how angry I was. She’s seen more than enough of that from her father.”
She sucked in a breath, tears springing to her eyes unexpectedly. He’d put her daughter’s feelings ahead of everyone else’s?
“I had to cool down, and you needed to know what was going on. I guess I should have talked to you after I worked out all this aggression. I’m sorry for scaring you, moye sokrovishche.”
There were those words again—my treasure.
“Why do you call me that?” She searched his face, looking for something she couldn’t even put into words, but she’d know it when she saw it.
“Because you are the most precious treasure in the world, Sara. You deserve to be cherished.” He reached out and cupped her face with both hands. “Believe me when I say I will never lay a hand on you in anger. I’d hurt myself f
irst.”
Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, and Viktor almost came apart right then and there. He wanted her, wanted her like he’d never wanted a woman in his entire life. Kissing her right now would be so easy.
He’d struggled with his feelings from the moment he met her. So many reasons he’d used to justify staying away from her, but only one mattered. She scared the shit out of him.
Gabe had been right.
There was something here, something special, and he understood it better than she did. He’d watched his parents live it, and he’d grown up wanting it. Hell, he looked for it with every woman he dated, but it always remained elusive. That feeling his dad told him about. The one where he’d sacrifice everything just to see his woman smile.
He’d fought his attraction to her, but he wasn’t going to do that anymore.
Seeing her sitting here crying, scared because she thought he might take his anger out on her, had twisted him up inside so badly it caused him physical pain. That, more than anything, pulled out the protective bastard who would fight for both of them. She needed him to fight for her.
She may not realize it, but she needed that more than she needed him to ravage her lips, but damn, it was hard to resist.
“I’m sorry.”
He smiled, tilting her head back to get a better look at her. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for, moye sokrovishche. I’m the one who should be apologizing. I know how anger affects you. I will be more aware of it in the future. Forgive me?”
“I do.”
She sounded breathy, her pink lips just begging for attention. He leaned in, but instead of face planting onto them, he kissed her forehead. “Thank you.”
The frown that marred her face made him chuckle. She wanted him to kiss her. It hadn’t slipped his attention she’d changed her clothes once they got back. She’d put on a very form-fitting red tank top and shorts that barely covered her ass.
“You need to put some pants on.”
Her head snapped back. “What?”
