by Tabatha Kiss
“And what am I?” I ask.
“You’re the man I chose,” she answers. “I looked into your eyes once and the Zappias could never break me. I loved you; then and now...”
I kiss her lips, unable to hold back. “Sofia,” I whisper.
“And I will love you for thousands of tomorrows.”
I pull her even closer and she falls into my embrace. Her arms crawl around me, sparking goosebumps along my skin. I immerse myself in the comfort of her. I let the memories of this cruel night fade away as I scoop her off the floor and carry her into our bedroom.
Sofia. My beautiful Sofia.
She slides from my hands to sit on the edge of the bed, instantly leaning in close to kiss my stomach as she unzips my pants. I close my eyes, letting my other senses take hold of me. The pleasant scent of her hair. Her soft touch and the warmth of her breath on my skin. Quiet, gentle moans as she opens her mouth to me. I grow hard quickly as she works me in and out, her smooth, wet tongue coaxing my blood to pump south.
I groan for her, my hand resting on the back of her neck. She takes her time, tasting every inch of my cock and I bite my own tongue, wanting so badly to taste her, too.
I lean over to guide her down but Sofia pushes against it. Instead, she takes my hand and leads me down onto mine.
She stands and slides her dress off her shoulders. It drops to the floor, along with her panties, and I admire her beautiful, porcelain skin as she climbs onto the bed and straddles me.
“Shh,” she whispers, her wet lips touching mine. “Let me comfort you, Luka.”
I submit to her. I lie down, allowing her to do as she pleases. She reaches between us, gripping my dick in her strong fingers and sliding it between her willing folds.
I enter her and I see her smile in the dark. Pleasure takes me more and more with every smooth buck of her hips. She reaches for my hands and places them on her breasts and I feel her pulse quicken against my fingers. Her soft, breathy moans come faster. I fall to pieces beneath her beauty. My Sofia. Forever and always.
I gasp, feeling wave-after-wave of heat tempting my release. I feel her body again, from her hips to her breasts and back down to her throbbing clit. She tries to stop me at first, to make this moment for me and my comfort, but my pleasure is linked with hers. There is nothing in this world I find more pleasurable than satisfying my wife.
“Luka,” she moans my name the second my thumb caresses her clit.
I keep the pressure firm as she grinds a little harder, a little faster. Her chest heaves. She loses herself, falling forward and she lays her palms on my chest to keep her balance.
I grit my teeth, feeling climax take hold as her pussy clenches around me. I pull her down for a hard kiss, smothering the deep moan as it spills off her tongue. We come together, our hearts and bodies dissolving into one.
Sofia collapses, her warm breath grazing my skin as she lowers down to lie beside me. Without a word, she turns onto her back and raises her arm, gently pulling me in. I lay my head on her breast, her steady heart pounds against my ear.
She my kisses my forehead and runs her fingers through my hair, a last, warm show of comfort before my eyes close on their own and sweet sleep takes me.
Thirty-Nine
Sofia
Luka’s head grows heavy and I know he’s finally fallen asleep. Soon, the others will come for him. There’s still so much to be done but I want him to be ready. Ten minutes of deep, relaxing sleep in my arms isn’t too much for a wife to ask for.
I catch the shadows moving beneath the door and I sigh.
On second thought, maybe it might be.
I move slowly, guiding Luka to rest on the pillows as I slide out from under him. I grab my robe off the nightstand, quickly wrapping it around my shoulders and hoping I get to the door in time before they knock.
I silently open it to find Fox standing in the hallway.
“Fox,” I whisper as I step out and close the door behind me.
“I’m sorry,” he says, his eyes straying to my robe. “I didn’t mean to interrupt—”
“No, it’s fine. Are you all right?”
He pauses, hesitating as he exhales a deep breath. “Dante and I are leaving but I wanted to say goodbye to you before I go.”
I smile. “I would have been offended if you didn’t.”
“We didn’t get a chance to talk much,” he says. “Maybe when all of this is over, we can find the time.”
“I’d like that.”
“And...” he shifts on his feet, “I wanted to apologize to you for how things went tonight. I know how much catching Gio means to you. I’m sorry I didn’t kill him before... back then.”
“It’s not your fault, Fox,” I say. “I often curse myself for not killing him in his sleep when I had the chance.”
“I’m going to keep looking,” he says. “This isn’t over yet, Sofia—”
The bedroom door opens behind me. I startle around as Luka steps out wearing nothing but his unbuttoned pants.
“Yes, it is,” he says, staring Fox down. “You’ve said your goodbyes, Fox. Now you should go.”
I blink in confusion. “Luka?”
Fox’s face falls with shame. “Look, Luka—”
“I expected it from Dante,” Luka says over him. “He abandoned his promise to take down Gio — but I didn’t expect it from you.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Luka takes a step forward, planting himself between me and Fox. “If you had been there, watching like you were supposed to be, then Markov wouldn’t have been hit.”
“And Lucy? What about her?”
“I don’t care about her.”
I reach for Luka’s arm. “What has gotten into you?”
“You are no longer welcome here, Fox Fitzpatrick,” he says.
My jaw drops. “Luka!”
“No, it’s fine,” Fox says, calm and steady. “I understand completely.” He takes a step back and my heart twists in my chest. “Goodbye, Sofia. It was nice to see you again.”
He turns and heads down the hall to the stairs.
I look at Luka, hoping the expression on my face is enough to make him take it all back but he ignores me. He walks back into the bedroom, leaving the door open for me, but I stand still, utterly torn between them. My husband and my friend. A soulmate and a kindred spirit. Two soldiers on the battlefield of a war I started.
I step back into the bedroom, dropping my robe as I reach for my dress.
“Sofia, what are you doing?” Luka asks from across the room.
I pull my dress up my body, hooking the sleeves onto my shoulders. “I’m going with them,” I answer.
He jerks his head at me. “You’re what?”
I step into my shoes. “I’m going with them,” I repeat.
“With Fox and Dante?”
“Yes.”
“No, you’re not.”
I head for the door again but Luka bolts forward to cut me off.
“Sofia—!”
“We are this close,” I seethe, “and you turn your back on our most valuable ally?”
“He could have ended this tonight,” Luka argues. “He chose them instead.”
“I would have made the same choice,” I say, refusing to blink. “Lucy was an innocent and she needed his help. Even you made the same choice once.”
He tilts his head. “That wasn’t—”
“I’m going to see this through,” I say. “When they find Lucy, we find Gio. That much is certain.”
I yank the door wide-open as I step around Luka into the hallway.
“Sofia, wait.”
I pause between our room and the stairs, digging my heels in as his face fills with annoyance.
He nods. “I will go with them and you—”
I continue toward the stairwell.
“All right! Wait...”
I stop mid-stride and he deflates. A man defeated.
“We will go with them,” he corrects.
&
nbsp; I smile, nodding once in victory. “Good.”
Luka shakes his head, a bit of pride showing through his bright, gray eyes. “You truly are sinister sometimes, you know that?” he says.
“I’m a Lutrova woman,” I say, crossing my arms. “I get shit done.”
He smirks and returns to the room to fetch his shirt.
Forty
Luka
I wish I were a better father.
I dare say I do better than some, that rotten gutter rat Gio obviously included, but still, I can do more. I can be more present. I can read more stories, cook more meals. Someday soon, I will be.
That is my promise to you, Lucian.
He stirs in his bed in the dark, drawn to me as I’ve always been to him. He opens his tired eyes and looks at me kneeling beside his nightstand.
“Is it morning, Papa?” he whispers.
I shake my head. “No, Lucian,” I say, reaching out to run my fingers along his scalp. “Go back to sleep.”
“You finish the story?”
I smile. “Only if you sleep,” I say. “Okay?”
“Okay.” He shifts excitedly as I tuck him back in.
“Close your eyes now.”
Lucian does as he’s told and settles against his pillow.
“V kakom-to tsarstve,” I begin, “v nekotorom gosudarstve, tsar' zhil...”
I recall the tale from memory, making up and filling in the bits I can’t quite remember. I soon reach the climax of the story and let my voice fade to a whisper without finishing it. He doesn’t object, having fallen back to sleep long before the ending but I wasn’t ready to leave his side just yet.
That’s often the case whenever I sneak in here late at night to watch him sleep soundly after a long night of doing what I do. Moments like these, where my son is safe and warm and happy and my wife is right down the hall waiting for me… they make all of this worth it.
“I love you, Lucian,” I whisper as I stand.
After this trip, I’ll be home more. I’ll be here to tuck you in and I’ll be here to make your breakfast when you wake up.
After this, I am done.
I will not miss another day of your life.
I missed so much before I brought you and Sofia home. I missed you growing inside of her. I missed your first cry. Your first steps. Your first words. I have so few regrets in this life but my absence in your first few years makes my heart bleed.
I will miss no more.
“That one was always your favorite, too.”
I look up as I step out of Lucian’s room. My mother stands with her back to the opposite wall, a whimsical smile on her face.
I close the door slowly, careful to silence the latch. “Apples never do fall very far,” I say.
“With Yuri, it was nothing but Rapunzel, Rapunzel.” She rolls her big eyes. “I always hated the Grimms.”
“Me, too.” I chuckle, quickly going quiet.
“Luka…” She pushes off the wall and hesitates. “I should have told you sooner… about me and Markov.”
I ease a step away. “Ma, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, I do,” she says, taking a deep breath. “I want you to know that everything between us has… it happened after your father…”
“It’s all right,” I say, looking down.
“It took me by surprise as much as it has you, I’m sure.” She shakes her head in nervous panic. “I mean, that first night we made love I wept and wept—”
“I don’t need to know that,” I say quickly.
“Having the blessings of my boys would mean the world to me,” she says, her voice weak as she runs out of breath. “To us.”
I study my mother’s face, finding it difficult to remember a time when she appeared so vulnerable to me. Nina Lutrova has always been the strongest of all of us and yet, here she is…
I hold back a smile. “I don’t know.”
She blinks, raising her head. “You don’t know?”
“It doesn’t seem very… appropriate,” I say, furrowing a judgmental brow. “The two of you? Sneaking in and out of each other’s quarters at all hours of the night? Unwed?”
Her eyes roll as she recognizes her own words quoted back at her from my youth. “Okay…”
“What will the staff think?”
“That’s enough, boy.”
I laugh, breaking character. “Ma, it’s… it’s something to get used to, that’s for sure.”
“It is,” she says with a nod.
“Markov has been a member of this family since before I was.”
She exhales, thinking back. “He has…”
“But I will always be grateful to you for how you welcomed Sofia the night I brought her here,” I say. “What kind of son would I be if I didn’t do the same for you?”
Her throat bounces as she swallows unfallen tears. “Thank you, Luka,” she says.
She steps forward to hug me and I open my arms, wrapping them around her little shoulders as she laughs in my ear.
“You took this way better than I thought you would,” she says.
I chuckle. “Have you told Yuri yet?”
“Oh, heaven’s no.”
I cringe and pat her back. “Good luck with that, Ma.”
She groans.
A throat clears down the hall. We pull apart to see Markov standing by the stairwell, his hands folded in front of him.
“The plane awaits you,” he says to me. “The pilot has charted a course for Paris. You should arrive in four or five hours, less if the storms clear.”
I nod and walk his way. “And Sofia?”
“She was the first one on,” he answers, amused. “Fitzpatrick and Mr. Hart are on-board as well.”
I stop beside him, grimacing slightly. I’d foolishly hoped she’d change her mind and stay behind but there are countless miracles in this world far more likely than that.
“I’ll head that way, then,” I say. “Thank you, Markov.”
He nods and the bandage over his left eye stays in place.
I stand still, glancing at him and my mother as a new tension bounces between us. “You’ll stay here,” I tell him. “Let me know if you and Yuri get anything more from the snake. Try to get some rest like the doc said and look after Ma and Lucian. Keep them safe.”
“Of course,” he says.
I turn to walk away but I pause, my right shoulder touching his. “If something were to happen to me and Sofia, then he’s to go to you and Ma. Understand?”
Markov shifts his stance as he looks back at me with his good eye for a long, silent moment.
Finally, he bows his head. “It would be an honor, Luka,” he says.
I continue forward to the stairs.
“Luka.”
I turn back and Markov smiles while Ma’s eyes fill with tears again.
“You looked like your father just now,” he says.
I nod, feeling a sense of pride in his words.
He feigns a shiver. “Creepy.”
Ma slaps his arm.
I step up onto the plane and the pilot takes that as her final signal. We give each other a quick nod as I pass the cockpit on the way toward the seats. The four large chairs near the back are turned to face each other. My wife occupies one, sitting forward in quiet, intense conversation with Fox and Dante across from her.
My Sofia, willing and able to take any awkward situation and get people talking. Was there really any wonder why the Zappia indoctrination never worked on her?
She sits back as she sees me, giving me ample space to take the empty seat beside her. “And you did it?” she asks, eyes locked on Dante. “Just... right there in the middle of the casino?”
He nods. “Yes, ma’am.”
I roll my eyes, thinking she’s churning sordid gossip of some sort out of the poor guys.
Her jaw drops. “In front of Antony himself?”
I pause. “What?”
“Martino!” she says, poking her forehead. “He shot him in the hea
d!”
“Oh...”
“I would have loved to see that.”
Dante nods politely. This is obviously not the reaction he expected. “Well, it was—”
“Tell me how you did Lorenzo,” she says quickly, her tone excited and eager... almost giddy.
Fox smiles.
I exhale. “Sofia...”
“What?” She twists in her seat. “I was tortured by these men for almost two decades. I deserve some closure.”
Dante shifts in his chair. “After he had my brother killed, my sister and I chained Enzo to a cinder block and dropped him into the lake behind our childhood home,” he answers.
Her expressions grows softer as she leans forward. “Did that make you feel better?” she asks.
I glance between them. Neither of them blink as they regard each other, two souls connected by circumstance. His little brother. Her little sister. Both taken from them by the Zappia cult.
I immediately let go of any plan I might have to ever kill Dante Hart. Sofia will never allow it.
Dante takes a breath. “It didn’t make me feel any worse,” he answers.
Sofia nods with understanding. “Was this the same sister who took out Antony’s casino guards? Lilah, you said?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says.
She grins. “I like her.”
Dante chuckles. “I think the two of you will get along just fine.”
Sofia sits back as the plane rumbles around us. Another minute or so and we’ll be up in the air. I fasten my seatbelt and settle in for the ride.
“Fox,” Sofia says, “Luka has something he’d like to say to you.”
I fire a sideways glance in her direction but she doesn’t falter, staring me down with the fire of a thousand sunsets.
I clear my throat and look ahead at Fox’s curious expression. “I would like to apologize,” I say slowly, “for the tone in which I spoke with to you earlier. It was wrong and I’m sorry.”
Fox bites his cheek, an obvious attempt to smother his smile. “Apology accepted,” he says.
Sofia jabs my ribs with her thumbnail.
