by Raven Rivers
She was on her knees filling the fridge one day when she heard a woman giggling. Freezing in place, she realized she knew the voice all too well. It was Dina. A deep, low voice spoke and Dina responded again. The only one of Timur’s men with a soft spot for her was Valisy. Steeling herself, she rose to her feet and realized the sounds were coming from the adjoining garage, where Timur actually kept his vehicles.
Rather than having Valisy sneak around to see his friend, Bethany decided to bite the bullet and just go make nice with her. Standing there, her stomach began to twitch a warning. Her brain told her this was the right thing to do, so why was her stomach saying something different? Pulling out her phone, she started to call and ask if Valisy was in the house. Maybe it wasn’t them after all. Thinking she was making a big deal out of nothing, she cracked the door, worried about interrupting her with another one of the guys.
Nope. It was Valisy. He was leaning back against a BMW and Dina was on her knees in front of him. Refusing to believe what she was seeing, she heard the pretty blonde giggle. Looking at the shiny new burner phone Draj had just given her a few days before, she hit the record button just in time to record Dina pulling open the front of Valisy’s pants. He just stood there, holding his hands out from his side, thrusting his hips forward. He was laughing and happy. They were both having the time of their life.
That was all she could stomach. Stepping back, she didn’t bother stopping at the house. She headed for the front gate, reached into the tiny guard shelter, and hit the button to open the gate. E-mailing herself a copy of the video, she then called her friend Sharon.
“Hello, Bethy, how’s married life treating you?”
“Like shit, can you come pick me up? I’m just outside Timur’s place, over on Glendale.”
“Do I need to bring muscle?”
“Just send whoever in your orbit is closer. I want to be gone now.”
“Tony’s near you. I just texted him. He can be there in five minutes. Can you hold out that long?”
“Sure, I don’t think anyone knows I’m gone.”
“Stay on the phone until Tony arrives. I’ll have him bring you straight here.”
“Shit, I actually think I see him. He’s on a motorcycle and tearing through the neighborhood like a demon.”
“He was only a couple of blocks away and I told him you were in trouble.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Tell him to slow the hell down.”
“Will do. Thanks for the save.”
The motorcycle came to a screeching halt and Tony flipped up his visor. “Get on the back. I’m packing. How many are there?”
“It’s not like that. I just need to get outta here before they kick up a fuss.”
“You got it, beautiful. Hop on and put your arms around my waist.”
As he pealed out, she could hear voices calling her name. Resting her cheek on Tony’s back, she let him drive her away from the whole mess. How could she have fallen for the whole stupid ruse all over again? Feeling like the queen of fools, she began to cry big, ugly girl tears.
Tony drove her straight to the Nash family mansion. Sharon ran out to meet her. Feeling like an idiot, she flung herself at her childhood friend and allowed the woman to drag her into her home and up the stairs to her room. Bethany knew exactly where the woman was taking her. They went to her room, shut the door, and climbed right out the window. They jumped the couple of feet from the window ledge to the big oak tree and climbed into the small tree house they shared as children. Strangely enough, it was still their get-away-from-everyone place.
Flopping down on the plush carpet, Sharon looked at her. “Talk. You know it isn’t going to get any better until you do.”
Since they told each other everything, Bethany didn’t even consider it prying. “I walked in on my husband getting a blow job from his best friend.”
Jerking back, she almost laughed. “Valisy likes guys?”
Rolling her eyes, Bethany clarified. “It was a woman. Dina’s a waitress at one of Timur’s establishments. They grew up together in Russia and were real close.”
“She’s a whore.”
Almost smiling, Bethany responded like they did when they had boy troubles in school. “Yea, she’s a real skank. She’s got big boobs and long blonde hair. I totally hate her. She’s a total bitch.”
Leaning her head back against the wall, Sharon asked curiously, “Is she really?”
Shaking her head, Bethany came clean. “Hell, no. She’s kind of nice. I met her once before I married Valisy and we talked. She’s been through a lot and he’s her rock.”
“Damn, we can’t even hate her. This totally sucks.”
“Yep, it blows big ugly donkey chunks.”
“We need another night on the town.”
“Where’s salt boy when we need him?”
“Forget salt boy. We don’t need no freaking salt boy.”
A soft, feminine voice sounded from the doorway. “You two are obsessed with salt boys. Do you have any idea exactly how germy the human body is? I don’t think I could ever lick salt off a man’s stomach, no matter how drunk I got.” Cassandra crawled over and sat with her legs crossed. “What’s going on? Everyone’s freaking out and our guys are gearing up for a mob war. Timur thinks we stole you.”
Sighing, Bethany pulled out her burner phone. “Why in the freaking hell is nothing in my life ever easy?”
Cassandra looked at her strangely. “You’re married to a Russian mobster.”
Dialing Valisy’s number, she mumbled to her friend, “Pot or kettle? So are you.”
Valisy’s voice came on the line. “We know where you are, wife. We are coming for you right now.”
“Don’t bother. They didn’t take me, I left. You can go back to getting your blow job from Dina.”
“What?”
“I captured what I could stomach to watch on my cell phone. Here, let me send it to you.”
A few seconds after she hit send, he cursed under his breath. “It’s not what it looks like…”
“Save it. I’m sending you divorce papers. Kindly sign them and do not contact me again. If I have to, I’ll get a restraining order.”
“You are not safe right now.”
“That’s no longer your problem. Leave me the hell alone.” Ending the call before he could continue to blabber nonsense to her, she turned the phone off and took the battery out.
Sharon said, “What are you going to do?”
“I think whoever is trying to find me will probably just punch my ticket and I won’t have to worry about it anymore. Whoever it is, I led them right to my aunt Zoe and now to your family. If I had any damn common sense, I would have shut my trap and let Timur and his men figure this out.”
“Fuck that. Staying with a lying, cheating husband is never the answer.”
“Between Viktor and Tony, they’ll figure this mess out. You’re staying right here with us until we clear this up.”
“You two are more like my sisters than my sister.”
“How is Stephanie?”
“You don’t want to know.”
Cassandra shrugged. “I already heard she had a big mobbed up Russian boyfriend.”
“Well, who the hell doesn’t these days? Sorry, I should not have said that.” Scrubbing her hands over her face, she lamented, “I’m just so tired of all the chaos. I just wanted Valisy, not the crazy ex, the armor-plated vehicles, voice activated home security, or a body guard shadowing my every move.” Looking from one sister to the other, she sighed. “I lied about the bodyguard. Mishka’s really nice. I suppose that’s why my sister has the hots for him.”
Cassandra smiled. “Don’t you love it when black girls corner the market on hot Russian guys?”
“Yea, that just wonderful. It’d be so much better for me, though, if mine didn’t have his dick in some other chick’s mouth.”
“Did you really get that on video?”
Shoving the battery ba
ck in, she loaded it up and they watched the clip. In the dimly lit area, Sharon looked up at her. “Dude doesn’t seem all that into her. It looks like they are playing a game.”
Shoving the phone back into her pocket, she grumbled, “Yeah, they’re playing a dick sucking game. Only that dick has ‘Bethany’s Personal Property’ and ‘Do Not Touch’ tattooed on it, and I. Do. Not. Share.”
“Calm the hell down. Jesus, you are losing it.” Cassandra was always the calm one.
Sharon said. “Oh no, back the heck up. Did he really get that tattooed on his actual dick?”
“Right after we got married, he got the tattoo and a prince Albert.”
“Damn, that’s fierce.”
“Yep, if fierce is another word for cheater. Can we talk about something else?”
“There is a bare-knuckle boxing match tomorrow. Want to come?”
“Sure, if you don’t think it’s too dangerous.”
“My father, Tony, and all his men go. A person would have to be crazy to try anything when you’re with us.”
“Count me in.”
The little trap door they barely fit through opened slightly. A little girl crawled through. She turned around and someone handed her a large basket. Cassandra scrambled over and Viktor shoved some blankets and pillows through.
“Aww, thanks, hot stuff.”
“I put the things from the comic strip in the basket.”
“You’re a sweetheart. See you later.”
Bethany sat up. “Well, who do we have here?”
Cassandra pulled the basket and her new step-daughter over. “This is my little Viktorija. She’s named after her father.”
“She’s real cute.”
“Viktorija, this is Bethany.”
“She’s pretty like princess.” Her broken English was kind of cute. It reminded her of Mishka, only tiny and female and wearing pink. Bethany melted a little inside. “You’re the real princess, ’cause you’re nice and sweet.”
“Ice cream makes girl sweet.”
Cassandra smiled down at her little one. “You sound just like your father. He’s really smart.”
“Yeah, it must be real nice to have a husband smart enough to keep his…umm…hands to himself.”
“Sorry about your man troubles, Bethany. Have some ice cream.” Pulling out several tiny canisters of ice cream and spoons, Cassandra passed them around. “Viktor thinks all American women act like they do in the comic strips.”
“That explains the ice cream.”
Digging through the basket, Cassandra said, “We also have chocolate, wine, fruit, cheese, and crackers.”
“You picked a winner, Cassandra. Maybe if we pool our resources, we can clone him.”
“I’d definitely be up for that. The only thing better than one Viktor would be two. Hey, he shoved a tablet in here. Want to watch a chick flick?”
“Why the heck not?”
Getting comfortable, Cassandra picked a real tear jerker.
Chapter 24
Fight Night
~ Bethany ~
“Don’t we look glamorous?” Turning slightly from one side to the other, Bethany admired the long red gown. It looked good against her dark skin. Cassandra was wearing a black gown and Sharon a red and black gown. They all wore their hair up and had large, showy jewelry everywhere.
Sharon responded absentmindedly, “Aleksandr’s colors are red and black.”
Turing to her friend, she asked curiously, “How are you going to feel about seeing him get hit?”
“I’ve been patching him up after his fights for a while now. It’s going to be difficult.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be right there with you.”
Cassandra said, “My little one isn’t very happy about being left behind, but Mom got her distracted by baking cookies, so our plan is to slip out.”
“I know this sounds terrible, but I wish I could get in my car and just keep driving. Maybe pull into some seaside town and just start over again.”
“That’s not going to happen until we figure out who’s stalking you. I’m supposed to let you know that your husband has been trying to call, like, a lot.”
“I’ll talk to him if your family wants me to tell him to lay off, but I’d rather just have no contact. You saw the video. We don’t have anything to talk about.”
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”
“Maybe I just need to put some time and distance between us, and then everything will fall into place.”
“Try to take the night off from worrying about it. We’re going out to dinner and then to the fight.”
Bethany laughed. “I honestly can’t believe they dress like this for underground bare-knuckle boxing. It seems so extravagant.”
“It’s just a bunch of old rich dudes betting on fights, much like regular boxing. They like showing off for one another. The final fight of the season is always formal attire,” Cassandra answered.
“Boxing isn’t really my thing, but I’ll try anything once.”
There was a gentle knock outside the bedroom door and Viktor stuck his head into the room. “Are you ladies ready to go? The limousine is here.”
Cassandra went to him and straightened his tie. “We’re ready, handsome. Let’s go have some fun.”
“In case you are wondering, I love America.”
“Good, ’cause I’d hate to think you were unhappy.”
Tony had his pretty redheaded stripper on his arm. She was dolled up like a show girl and hanging on his every word. Something about the way she looked at him and cuddled up to him when he spoke felt very authentic. The woman was head over heels in love with the shifty mobster.
The restaurant was super nice and their father escorted her on his arm. It was fatherly and nice. Everyone knew the crazy old mobster only had eyes for his pretty wife, so no one got the wrong impression. It was like old times as they strolled into a fancy Asian restaurant. The moment she stepped over the threshold, that feeling in her stomach began to twist. She stopped so suddenly that Sharon bumped into her.
“Not here. We can’t eat here.”
Leading her by the arm, Mr. Nash said soothingly, “It’s fine. This is a recent acquisition of mine. You’re perfectly safe here.”
Swallowing down her anxiety, she relaxed, drank sake, and tried to enjoy the wonderful company. Each piece of flatware had a crescent moon engraved onto it. The cocktail napkins had the same symbol. She remembered the name on the building was The Eastern Moon. She tried to tell Mr. Nash something was up, but he wouldn’t listen. Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t place it.
Finally, she pulled out her cell phone and took pictures of the logo. She texted them to Timur and tried to explain it in a way he might understand. It wasn’t like she could talk about a bad gut feeling or the psychic friends’ network. She finally settled on what to tell him. It was a little white lie, but once she hit send, she was able to put it out of her mind.
They got back in the limousine for a short drive to the venue and once there, they clamored out. Sharon seemed totally revved for the evening. Bethany realized at some point that her sexy Russian was texting her on and off, when he wasn’t in the ring. Tony and Viktor were like peas in a pod with their ladies on their arms and their heads together whispering most of the night.
It was the custom for each bodyguard to stand behind the female they were guarding, and as the VIP section was balcony seating and only one row deep, it was actually feasible.
Sharon whispered excitedly, “There he is.” The man’s eyes immediately sought her out and she blew him a kiss. Sharon walked down to the ring, leaned over, and gave him a good luck kiss before the fight began. Whatever she whispered in his ear must have done the trick, because he came out of his corner fighting like a wildcat the second the bell rang. The crowd went absolutely wild when his opponent went down and didn’t get back up again.
Alek looked up at Sharon, clearly a man in love. When his second mat
ch began, Alek refused to look at any of the spectators, including the woman who had clearly stolen his heart. He was a man on a mission, thinking only of the task at hand. Each time it was his turn to fight, he tore into his opponent with a vengeance and left the mat victorious. With nothing better to do than watch the fighters, Bethany could see how Alek studied each fighter in an effort to determine his weaknesses and then used it to his advantage.
Finally, it was approaching midnight and it was down to him and one other fighter. The man was German and looked like he could lift a house. Alek looked around for Sharon in a panic. Bethany motioned to the far side of the ring with one finger as inconspicuously as possible.
The attention starved man’s eyes followed in the direction she indicated until he saw Sharon standing right behind the cage separating the mat from the audience. As soon as their eyes met, she walked over to the cage and he stalked over to meet her. He laid his gloved hands on the cage and she reached one small hand through the spacing in the bars and pulled him to her. She gave him a kiss through the bars, touched her forehead to his and whispered something to him. Alek smiled at the beautiful woman, hit his gloves together, and headed back over to the mat.
Sharon was totally wound up by the time she made it back to her seat. Bethany whispered, “Dial it down a notch. You’re growling at your stupid brother.”
“God, I don’t know what’s wrong with me tonight.”
“Your boyfriend’s about to get his face smashed in.”
“Screw you. He’s going to punch the guy’s light out.”
“I don’t know, he looks pretty intimidating.”
“I promised my guy sex if he gets through the night with no one marking his handsome face.”
Bethany grinned at her friend and waggled her eyebrows. “That’ll definitely do the trick. Now I wish I’d bet real money.”
