A few minutes later, Tatyana announces that all the kids can play in their game room while all of the adults go outside. The air in the house is thick, as though the foreboding is all around us. Everybody knows that whatever is about to happen will change the course of the Bratva, of this territory, and perhaps of every single person’s life in this house. It no doubt will, too.
“If you think we’re going to wait until dinner, you’ve lost your fucking mind,” Radimir announces. I watch as he flops into a chair at the outdoor dining table and his eyes stay glued to Kirill.
I can’t help but keep my eyes shifting from person to person as Kirill announces his news. Mixed looks of shock and devastation wash over every person’s face. The men start demanding answers, but as of now, there really aren’t any. I watch as Haleigh begins to cry, and Emiliya stays stoic and emotionless. I can do nothing, and I can say nothing to fix the emotions that are running rampant in this group.
When the food arrives, the shock has worn off, and there’s a feeling of uncomfortableness in the air.
“Okay, stop. We’re going to get through this, all of us. We’ve survived too much to let something like this drive wedges between us,” Tatyana announces. “I mean, shit, we don’t even know anything yet.”
“Get the vodka out,” Timofei calls.
Kirill smiles and lifts his chin before walking away from us. A few minutes later he returns with the vodka. The rest of the night is light, or as light as it can be with the news. We don’t talk about anything having to do with cancer or my torn-up contract for Kiska.
We talk about kids, family, and life. We don’t even talk about the Bratva. Regardless of the shitty news, it’s probably one of the best evenings of my life, calm, relaxing, and with my woman at my side.
KIRILL MOTIONS FOR ME to come to his side once the party has dispersed. Kiska smiles and presses her lips to my cheek as she stands and walks into the house. Nervously I take a cigarette out of my pocket and light it on my way to his side. He’s standing, looking out over the city, a cigar in hand. He doesn’t turn to face me or even glance at me as I arrive at his side.
“You love her, truly?” he asks.
I nod as a vision of Kiska flashes in my mind. I do love her, more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life. She is my entire world, she is more than I ever imagined a woman could be to me. She accepts me for who I am and loves me despite my million flaws. I love everything about her.
“Yeah, I do.”
“She is yours. You do not have to marry her or sign a contract. However, know that by allowing you this, by allowing you these concessions I do expect that you will take great care with her, and of her. There is no contract, but it doesn’t mean that you can just end your relationship either. You are still bound to her, by your word as a man, and as a Brigadier for the Bratva to a Pakhan.”
His words shock me silent for a moment. How? Why? I close my eyes for a second to gather myself before I speak. “She is mine, Kirill. One day she will have my last name, but no matter when that is, it will never change the fact that she is mine. I will never let her go. Now, for the important question.”
“What’s that?” he grunts.
Turning my head slightly I look at his profile. “Where would you like your daughter living?”
His head turns to face me, his gray eyes widening. “Konstantin?”
“If you want her close to you, then that is where she will be.”
I watch as he swallows and nods once, his face giving nothing away, but I know he is thankful, grateful, especially when he dips his chin slightly to me. “I will allow her to make that decision, you and her together. After all, these are things a couple should discuss amongst themselves.”
Thinking about his words, I grin as I clap him on the shoulder. “I would like to know your wishes, Kirill.”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “My wishes are that my family is safe and happy. That is all, nothing else. If being in New York is where she’s happiest, then that is fine. She knows how to get on a plane, as do I.”
“I’ll talk to her tonight, get her decision,” I state as I turn from him, taking a step toward the house. My forgotten cigarette is thrown to the ground, and I step on it to extinguish the embers.
“Just make her happy, Skumin,” he calls out, not turning around.
“Every fucking day, I vow it.”
Once I’ve kissed and hugged everybody goodbye, I sink down into the sofa. This day has been completely draining. I didn’t think things could get more stressful, then my father dropped this bomb on us. My mother moves around the house, unable to sit still. She’s nervous and scared. I wonder if she’ll ever rest again—not likely.
Watching the patio door, I see Konstantin walking up. He’s been outside with my dad for at least thirty minutes talking. I wonder what they’re discussing. Me, probably. When he makes his way inside of the house, I focus on his face to see if he’s angry or upset, but he doesn’t look anything but his normal self.
“Come, we need to talk,” he states, walking up to me and holding out his hand. I slip mine inside and allow him to help me stand to my feet. Calling out to my mother, I tell her goodnight.
“Sleep well,” she says.
I don’t bother responding. I highly doubt that I will ever sleep well again, without Konstantin and with my father’s illness, sleep will be nothing but a myth—I’m sure of it. Konstantin’s fingers are firm, and warm wrapped around my hand and I allow him to lead me to my bedroom. Once my bedroom door is closed and locked, his expression changes. He releases me and sits down on my bed with a heavy sigh.
“Come here, sladkaya, we need to talk,” he murmurs. My back stiffens at those words, and I can’t move, my feet literally refusing to close the distance between us. “Nothing bad, Kiska, just decisions that need to be made, together.”
Together. Something I wasn’t sure would be possible for us. My feet finally lift from the ground and swiftly carry me to him. I try to step around him but his hands wrap around my waist, and he guides me to sit on his lap. My ass rests against his upper thigh and my legs hang down his other one. I watch him, waiting for him to speak, and hoping that this isn’t the end of us.
“Your father has agreed for us to be together,” he announces.
My mouth hangs open slightly for a second before I speak. “So you’ve agreed to terms on a contract?”
Konstantin’s lips tip into a small smile, shaking his head. “No, sladkaya. No contract. I gave him my vow, my word, that I would take care of you, always. I assured him that we would be married, eventually, but that right now we are bonded. There is no breaking up, there is no ending this. We’re together now.”
“But there’s no contract. Why did he okay this?” I ask in confusion.
His lips brush mine, staying close before he speaks, touching my own with every word he says. “He loves you, Kiska. He knows that I love you as well. He wants you happy.”
Pulling back slightly, my eyes fill with tears. My papa and I have been fighting like crazy lately, and I’ve been so angry. The guilt of that knowledge fills me, and I can’t control my tears. I should have been kinder. I should have done whatever it was he wanted me to. I feel like a shitty daughter.
“Now, the important question,” Konstantin says, interrupting me from my self-loathing thoughts. “Where would you like to live, sladkaya,” he asks.
“What? You live in New York,” I stupidly announce.
Konstantin shakes his head. “Your father is sick, sladkaya, we’ll live in LA if you wish to be closer to him. We can live in San Francisco if you like the ballet company there better. Whatever you desire, it’s up to you.”
Staring at him, I can’t help but smile. “You would move for my dad? All the way across the country?”
He cups my cheek in his hand “For you, Kiska. I would move across the world for you, sladkaya. Whatever you need, whatever you want, it’s yours. I love you,” he rasps.
Leaning forward, I press my lips to
his. He moans when my tongue peeks out. Then he rolls our bodies so that my back is pressed to the mattress and his weight is against my side.
“What do you want, sladkaya?” he rasps as he kisses down my neck to the tops of my chest.
“You,” I groan.
Konstantin’s hands slide up my chest and wrenches the top of my dress down, along with the cups of my bra to free my breasts. “Fuck, do you see these marks?” he asks.
Lifting my head, I look down as he cups my breasts in his hands and holds them together, his eyes fixated on where his mouth left bruising earlier this afternoon. “Yes,” I whimper as his thumbs glide over my sensitive nipples.
“These marks will always be here, Kiska, do you know why?”
Shaking my head, I press my lips together in an effort to keep from screaming at him to fuck me, I need him, I need his touch. I feel like I’ve been starved for it, and earlier was just a small taste, not enough to fully satisfy me, I want it all.
His teeth sink into one of my hardened nipples, causing me to cry out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. He repeats the motion on the other nipple, and I feel wetness pool between my legs, loving the way he hurts me.
“They’ll always be here because you’re mine, these are mine—all of you is mine. From now until I take my last breath, you’ll be mine.”
Nodding, I reach out and sink my fingers into his hair. He smirks, his lips not close enough to my sensitive flesh to touch, and it’s driving me insane. I try to pull his head closer to me, and thankfully he allows the move. He holds one of my breasts out for me, his mouth sucking it in deep, his teeth sinking into my skin. His other hand moves down, between my legs, dipping beneath my panties. I throw back my head with a gasp when two of his fingers fill me.
Konstantin fucks me with his fingers as he alternates between sucking, biting, and licking both of my breasts. My hips lift to meet his strokes, enjoying the way his fingers stretch me as his thumb presses against my clit.
“Come on my fingers, Kiska.”
“Baby,” I whisper through trembling lips.
Closing my eyes, I let my body relax, and I just accept his touch, his urgency, and his delivered pain. I whimper as my release climbs. I can feel my pussy pulse around his fingers, he must too because he starts to move his thumb faster and harder against my clit. His fingers curl inside of me, my eyes fly open, and I let out a cry as I come.
“Take your dress off,” he demands with a strain in his voice. My body is still stiff and twitching from my release but I quickly undress and by the time I’m naked so is he.
I lick my lips at the sight of his hard cock jutting out toward me.
“As much as I want to sink down your throat, I’m too close to the edge, and I’ll come instantly,” he grunts.
My body shivers when his opposite hand lifts to my chest and his fingertips gently glide over my wet, bruised breasts.
“These are so fucking beautiful, Kiska.”
I don’t speak, too mesmerized by the look of awe on his face. As though he’s completely shocked that I’m beneath him.
“I could have lost you, I almost did lose you. Never again, sladkaya,” he breathes.
His hand moves from my breasts to around the side of my neck as he leans forward. I can feel his cock pressing against my center, and I lift my hips to get even more of him inside of me. He laughs softly as he slowly sinks into my pussy until he’s completely seated inside of me. His eyes slowly slide closed, and he lets out an exhale before he reopens them.
“Never again,” I whisper, lifting my hand to wrap around his bicep.
Konstantin shakes his head once, pulling out to the tip and then slowly gliding back inside of me. He’s making love. It’s slow and aching, a different kind of delivered pain, but I enjoy it just as much as I do his brutal pain. “Wherever we are, we will be together. I don’t care where that is,” he announces.
I nod, unable to say anything, my emotions too high. He’s willing to uproot his entire life so that I can be closer to my father. He’s willing to move across the country, leave his job and his friends, for me. His hips start to move faster and harder with each thrust.
Lifting my legs, I wrap them around his waist, allowing him to fall even that much deeper into my body. “Are you going to come for me again, Kiska?” he whispers as he drops his head and his lips touch the side of my neck.
“I don’t know if I can,” I truthfully admit.
Konstantin’s hands move and wrap around the outside of my thighs, pressing them down, and forcing my legs to widen. He fucks me, his gentleness has disappeared, and the fire in his gaze causes me to let out a long groan. This is what I need from him. He rolls his pelvis against my clit while his fingers dig into my thighs forcing my legs to burn as they stay open wide.
“Oh my God,” I gasp.
“Come all over my cock, now, sladkaya,” he growls.
His powerful hips surge and on the next down stroke and grind against my clit my orgasm rushes through me. My pussy squeezes him so tightly that it forces him to groan and then he stills and fills me with his release. He doesn’t move except to release my legs, resting his forearms next to my head to keep the bulk of his weight off of me.
Lifting up slightly, I press my lips to the underside of his jaw. “I love you, Konny,” I whisper.
“I love you, Kiska. Now we need to make some decisions,” he murmurs.
I whimper when he pulls out of me. He gathers me in his arms after he shifts to the side and holds me against his big, warm, body.
“Where do you want to be?” he asks, again.
Thinking about the question and I know where my heart leads. I need to be with my family. I love dancing, it is a part of me, but none of my passion would be possible without my father being at the forefront of my dream.
None of it would have happened had he not paid for the classes and assured that I was taken to my lessons when I needed to be. He also made sure I was in the best performing arts school in the city. All of it is because of him. I need to be here for him, for my mom, and for my little sister and brother.
“I need to be here,” I whisper, lifting my eyes to look into his.
Konstantin’s hand gently fists in the back of my hair, and he tugs my head back a little more. “Then this is exactly where you’ll be. Although, we’ll have our own place,” he grins with a wink.
“Really?” I breathe.
He nods. “Yeah, sladkaya, really. Whatever you need, wherever you need to be or want to be, that’s where we will head toward. I love you.”
“What about your job,” I say, scrunching my nose. “And your Viveka?”
A darkness washes over Konstantin’s eyes. “She’s gone, and Bronislav can take over the stable. He’s been helping me, he knows the ropes.”
I don’t question him about Viveka, I know what gone means when it pertains to the Bratva. I also know what that cloud of darkness that passed in his eyes meant too. She’s dead. I try to find a place in my heart to be sad about that, but I really can’t. I’m sure that makes me an awful person, but it also makes me human. She wanted Konstantin, and I have no doubt she conspired with Akim about something.
“Sleep, Kiska. Tomorrow we’ll make plans for the future, for us,” he murmurs, releasing my hair. I press my cheek to his chest and let out a sigh as his fingers begin to gently stroke my ass and lower back.
“I’m scared, Konny,” I whimper.
He hums, and I feel the vibration against my cheek. “I know, sladkaya. All will be okay. Your papa is strong, your mother is strong, your sister and brother are both strong, but you, my Kiska you are unbreakable. We will weather this storm, together.”
SITTING ACROSS FROM KIRILL is a different experience this morning then it was just yesterday. There is nobody else with us, and the door is locked. He watches me, waiting for me to speak. He wants to know where Kiska will be headed. Will she go back to New York or stay here? He should already know the answer to that. He knows his daughter’s hear
t.
“We’ll need a temporary place to stay until Kiska finds whatever house she wants me to buy her. I’ll need a crew or some type of work. Kiska will have to look into dancing here locally, I’m sure there’s a company or something,” I state.
Kirill’s eyes widen as if he’s actually surprised. I don’t know how he could be, Kiska loves him. “You’re moving, here?” he asks almost on a whisper.
“Kiska and I talked last night. It was ultimately her decision, I told her whatever she wanted, she could have. She chose to come here, and I will be at her side,” I state.
Kirill nods once, then swiftly changes the topic to housing. He tells me about some apartment building he owns that’s furnished. He says we can stay there, and there is a car I can have that is there as well. All on a temporary basis, of course.
“What are you thinking for work?” he asks, pinching his brows together.
I shrug. “I’ve been running a stable as of late. I can do anything really.”
“I have a couple stables that are fairly large, I could funnel some girls to you, get you up and running. You’d probably have to recruit some more to make it equally as profitable as the one in the city,” he explains.
I nod and agree. The work is easy for me and allows me my freedoms to spend time with Kiska, as well as be available for Kirill if he has a need for me to do anything extra.
“Then it’s settled,” he sighs.
I lift my chin. “Yeah Papa, it’s settled,” I chuckle.
“Shut the fuck up, or I’ll shoot you in the knee,” he grunts.
I leave his office laughing to myself, at peace with this decision and this agreement between us. A contract wasn’t needed after all, and I’m glad for it. It’s something that was weighing on my mind, something I fought my entire life, and yet, I would have done it, had it been for the right reasons. I would do anything for Kiska.
Walking out of the front door, I’m surprised to see Bronislav standing in Kirill’s driveway. “You’re staying here, aren’t you?” he asks.
Chosen by the Badman Page 23
