by S F Draven
I was able to look further into the small kitchen behind where they were sitting to see a young woman in the back washing dishes, her apron tied neatly around her waist, and when she turned to face them, I could see the fear in her eyes.
She’s probably here to take care of the house, but I have to make sure that she doesn’t get hurt in all of this. She’s innocent, I can already tell.
I nodded at Annika to indicate that it was time to get moving. We both noticed the trash bins outside at the far corner of the lot, and if we were to kick them hard enough, it would certainly alert the men inside. Annika and I both took one each, slamming our feet into the metal until they fell over, and we disappeared into the bushes waiting for them to take the bait.
“What the fuck was that?” I heard one of them ask, getting out of their seats to look through the screen door, trying to see if anyone had been out there. For a moment, I began to worry that he was just going to shrug it off, go back to wasting time, making it through another long night with no action. I tilted my head upwards to get a better look at him, realizing that he was starting to open the door, and I nudged Annika to get ready.
“When I say so, I need you to fire off the first shot into his leg. The more men we can lead out here, the better for us, okay?”
“Just say the word,” she said.
“Now.”
Chapter Fourteen: Annika
I tried to keep calm, following suit while Stephan took out the first few guards, drawing them all out while I shot them down the way he taught me to. It was hard to spot them all, hearing them coming barreling from the alleyway behind the house with their guns blazing, but I managed to get as many down as I could.
I watched Stephan turn back at the front door of the house, calling out to me, and I rushed in behind him, shutting and locking the door behind me. I could already tell that there were more of them crawling around the house, and I glanced over to Stephan, noticing the concern on his face that told me we both had to be careful or this was going to go terribly wrong.
“What now?” I asked, frustrated that I hadn’t been paying enough attention to answer that question for myself.
“We need to get to the office, get what we can, and shoot anyone that tries to get in our way. Be careful, and stay behind me, okay?” he said, and I nodded.
“I’m right behind you, Stephan,” I replied, following him up the stairs where we were met by two men pointing their guns directly at us, but Stephan didn’t even hesitate.
He fired the first shot into the man’s arm, knocking the gun clean out of his hand while I tried my best to take care of the other. I didn’t allow myself to flinch, I didn’t allow myself to be scared of losing control, and I followed Stephan’s steps near exactly. He was a great teacher, and with him, I knew I was going to be safe no matter what.
He finished them both off, and we stepped over their bodies, making our way into the little office space, noticing the books and papers that were scattered all over the place. There were stacks of cash at every corner of the room, and Stephan’s eyes lit up the moment he saw just how much we were going to walk out of there with.
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and I glanced into the hallway to see that we still had quite a bit of trouble on our hands. I didn’t say a word to him as our eyes locked, and I took a deep breath, my eyes averting to the cash so he’d know to start packing it up while I took care of the remaining goons myself.
I made sure I had enough bullets in my gun just in case I missed a few shots, and if there was one thing I learned from Stephan that stuck with me, was that in situations like this, there was no time to hesitate.
You either get the first shot or you end up dead.
I thought, and I stood out in the hallway bravely, before they even had a chance to look up at me, shooting them both in the kneecaps while they staggered back.
I shot them both again in the chest, inching closer to them to make sure that they were out cold before I returned to Stephan to see just how much of the room he was able to clear out. It was amazing to see just how good he was at all of this, and how he really didn’t care who he upset along the way if it meant getting what he wanted.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy that, that my body is running on such an adrenaline rush that I’m not sure I ever want to come down from it.
I helped him finish up stuffing the cash into the backpacks we brought before we headed back downstairs to find the first door out of there.
When we were finally out into the open air again, I was overcome with joy, truly astonished that we were able to even pull it off, to begin with, and the minute Stephan and I got back into his car, we threw the bags into the backseat right before he leaned in to kiss me.
We were covered in sweat, hot, and coming down from the high, but we did it. I felt just like I did the night that Stephan and I stole the car together. It reminded me that I wanted to be a part of this, that I wanted to continue being a part of his life because I didn’t ever want this excitement to dissipate.
“We did it, Stephan,” I said, and he smiled back at me.
“You never cease to amaze me, you know?”
“I was just following orders,” I replied.
“I didn’t give you any orders when you stepped out into the hallway and got the first few shots into those men before they even had the chance to see who it was that fired the gun,” he said, and I shrugged.
“I guess I’m picking up quite a bit along the way, huh? It’s almost as if I was made for this,” I said, and he nodded.
“I think it’s safe to say that you’ve begun to figure out what you want, Annika. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve seen a genuine smile on your face.
“I know that things aren’t always going to be this simple, and we’re going to be in danger for quite a while before things settle down again, but I need you to know that I’m right here with you. Even if you woke up tomorrow and decided that you didn’t want this anymore, I would never hold any of that against you. I love you,” he said, and I reached over to caress his cheek.
“I’m not going anywhere, Stephan. There’s nothing that’s going to scare me away this time, not Natalia, not her family, not even my own. I want to be here with you, I want to do this with you because I love you. I don’t know what the future has in store for us, but what I can say is that we make an incredible team,” I replied.
“We certainly do. Your parents are going to be arriving soon, and they’re going to expect you back home,” he said, glancing over at the clock on the dashboard.
“Can we head somewhere to get a bit cleaned up before we head there?” I asked.
“Of course,” he replied, starting up the engine, and driving us away, with his free hand resting softly in mine. I could tell that he was scared, that there was still a part of him that doubted what my wishes truly were.
I didn’t know what else I could tell him to convince him that I wouldn’t ever dream of leaving him. There was nothing that I could go through now that would make me feel that I could ever escape this life. It was a part of me now, and I genuinely believe it was the only way I’d ever be able to find true happiness.
He showed me an entirely different side to life, and the rush alone from the small jobs he’d taken me on, has given me more than the last few years of my life had. I wanted nothing more than to pursue this with him, and I knew he cared enough about me to keep me near.
We were never really going to be safe again, and I was coming to terms with that. Even after we managed to deal with Natalia and her family, there would always be someone else lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right time to strike.
That’s just how these things worked, and I was prepared to deal with it every step of the way, no matter what my family had to say about it. It was my life, and I was finally in a position to start making decisions for myself.
I was just glad that Stephan always gave me options, that he always let me decide how I wanted to move for
ward without forcing anything on me.
I knew that there was some bad blood between his family and my own, but I didn’t want to be afraid anymore that things weren’t going to work out the way I wanted them to. I had to believe that I could convince my family to stand by my side, to let Stephan be a part of my life because he was the only one that was protecting me from all of this.
My family had done nothing in all my years to ever warn me that something like this could happen, and I learned what I could from listening in on their conversations and snooping whenever they weren’t looking.
Stephan showed me the way, he guided me through and left the ball in my court when it came to me debating whether I wanted to become a criminal like him or leave the lifestyle for good. I was smart enough to realize that no matter how much distance I put between me and the crime, it would always follow me.
There would always be people out there that saw me as leverage, and I wanted to call my own shots. I was just glad that Stephan remained by my side, that he didn’t force me out because he wanted to protect me from the danger, even though I was sure there was a part of him that wanted to.
Stephan pulled up to a gas station, and we both retrieved the bags from the backseat, locking them in the trunk for safe-keeping. He pulled me in, pushing me up against the car, and pressed his lips into mine. He ignited a fire inside of me, and I knew we were pressed for time, but I didn’t care.
I wanted to feel him, I wanted to kiss every inch of his body again, the way we did the very first time. He ran his hands through my hair, caressing my cheek while he kissed me hard, and I felt him pull away for a moment, leading me into the back of the gas station near the bathroom, my body exploding with the kind of sexual tension that needed to be let out immediately.
We got inside, locking the door behind us, while he pushed me up against the door, lifting my legs up to his torso while I wrapped them around him, and it wasn’t long before I was off the ground. I kissed him fiercely, feeling his tongue toy with mine while I pulled my hair back out of my face so I could see him in all his glory.
I wanted to feel every inch of his body press up against mine, and I needed him inside me to quench the thirst that had welled up inside me.
His eyes lowered to my breasts, lifting up my shirt ever so slightly so he could take my nipple into his mouth. He sucked on it lightly before we both slipped out of our jeans, and he began pulling my panties aside so he could slip his hard dick inside of me.
We didn’t care that we had somewhere to be, we didn’t care that we had just snagged thousands of dollars sitting in the trunk of his car because all that mattered at that moment was that we were there together.
We had to enjoy these moments because we were chasing danger every time we stepped foot back out into the real world. We had targets on our backs, and everything could change in just a split second if we weren’t careful.
Stephan trailed kisses down my neck, biting at me lightly, while his dick slid inside my wet pussy. It was throbbing, waiting for him, and the moment he entered, I let out a moan. He didn’t hesitate this time, he didn’t bother to slow his motions to start, he drove his dick deep up inside me, making every sensation feel different than the last. I was exploding with pleasure, and we were both doused with sweat, the heat rising in the both of us while I felt him slide in and out of me, his hands on my hips, guiding me into him.
I felt the cool metal of the door my back was pressed up against brush up on my exposed skin while he fucked me. My eyes began to roll back, feeling every inch of him thrust harder inside me until I couldn’t hold the orgasm in anymore.
“I’m going to cum, baby,” I whispered.
“Yes, you fucking will,” he said, picking up the pace, ramming his dick harder, faster, until the orgasm erupted through me. I was shaking, but he held me steady, keeping me upright while he filled me up. I felt his warmth trickle down my leg, just as he glanced up at me, leaning to kiss me softly on my forehead. He felt incredible, and I never wanted to lose that feeling. I felt so free with him, I felt like I was capable of just about anything.
It felt so strange to be standing at my front door again. It felt like I hadn’t been home in ages, and to think it wasn’t that long ago that I was a naive girl, hoping to start the rest of my life somewhere far away from what my parents chose to do as a living. Though, now everything was different. I remembered for a moment how scared I felt the minute I learned that my home was broken into, that there were men making demands, waving their guns around.
I thought back to seeing Adrian’s body bleeding out on my kitchen floor, and how scared I was after that experience, but now I’d truly hardened up to anything of that nature. Now, it felt normal to see those things happening in my everyday life, and in just a short amount of time, I’d become a completely different person.
I took a deep breath, clutching the ends of my worn clothes, trying to keep a straight face because I could only imagine how my parents were going to react the moment they opened the door to find me standing next to Stephan Volkov. They had absolutely no idea of any of the things that I’d been through, of stealing cars, protecting billion-dollar paintings, and getting kidnapped. In their minds, I had a pretty simple last few days, getting ready to open up my gallery and live out my dreams of collecting art, but none of that seemed to interest me anymore.
I had a different perspective, I was ready to dive headfirst into truly building up a life from the ground up, standing by Stephan’s side. He reached for my hand, and our fingers interlocked as I rang the doorbell, hoping that this wasn’t going to turn into a complete disaster.
I could tell that he was afraid, that he hadn’t prepared for what he was going to do if they tried to force him out of the house. I knew my father well enough to know that he was going to pull out all of the stops, trying to tell me that I was ruining my life by pursuing a Volkov, but I was prepared to talk him down from the ridiculous threats he was going to make.
I didn’t care if he was going to throw me out onto the streets, or if he’d start to believe that I disgraced his family by getting involved with a crime family that he didn’t approve of. I knew where my heart was, and I knew that I had fallen in love with Stephan. There was nothing that anyone could say that would change my mind.
I rang the doorbell again, waiting for the door to swing open, but it never did. I looked down at my wristwatch to see that it was much later than I’d expected, and my parents should’ve been home by now. I looked over into the driveway to see their car right there, and it didn’t take long before I started to put the pieces together.
My heart sank into my stomach at the thought of something bad happening to my parents, especially because I’d come looking for their support, and they had no idea what they were up against. I turned the door handle and it opened with ease. Stephan stared back at me, reaching for the gun in his holster.
“No, this can’t be happening. They just got back into town, they have no idea what’s going on! I was ready to fight with them about them possibly having a problem with you. There’s no way that Natalia’s family could’ve gotten to them so quickly. I don’t know if I can go in there, Stephan. I’m too scared of what I might see,” I said to him, and he reached down to squeeze my hand tightly.
“I’m going to go in first, and you’re going to follow, okay? Everything is going to be okay, Annika. Don’t worry,” he said, and I knew he was just trying to talk me down from the fear that was welling up inside of me, but it wasn’t doing much to keep me calm.
I’d seen so many terrible things over such a short amount of time, I knew that if something had indeed happened to my parents, there was no telling what I’d be walking into. Stephan opened up the front door slowly, taking the first step in, and I followed right behind him. We both walked into the living room, and before I could catch my breath before I could slow the pounding of my heart, I saw both of my parents tied up, beaten, with duct tape over their mouths, their eyes widening when they caught sight
of me.
“Mother! Father!” I screamed, rushing to them, but I didn’t get very far. I felt a sharp pain on the back of my head, and everything faded to black.
Chapter Fifteen: Stephan
What the fuck happened to me?
* * *
I struggled to open my eyelids and my eyes were met with the piercing lighting of the chandelier over my head. I looked down at my body, to see that I was sitting in a chair with my hands and feet tied together, bound just like Annika had been when I rescued her the first time. I looked around the room, my vision blurry, and I knew I had to have been hit incredibly hard in the head for it to take this long for me to fully come to.
When I could finally see somewhat clearly again, I noticed that I was sitting directly across from Annika’s parents. They both had their eyes on me, and I could see the fear in them both, but I didn’t see any blame like I expected to.
They ought to have been feeling guilty for not looping Annika into the dangers of this lifestyle sooner, playing pacifists, pretending like they weren’t actually out there hurting anyone when they knew exactly what they were doing on their little business trip.
My father used to give my brothers and I the same excuse when we were too little to understand what was going on, but Annika is far older than I was when I first learned about what the family business was really like. She should’ve been given a heads up a long time ago, and if she had learned earlier, we might not be in this position right now.
I knew that I had no place to judge them because I’d never know what that would feel like until I had children of my own.
I saw Annika’s father look over at me, shaking his head, and that’s when I realized that Annika was nowhere near me. I looked around the room frantically, wondering where the hell they would’ve taken her, but before I could start struggling out of my bindings, I was met with a familiar face who couldn’t have been happier to see me subdued for once.
