by Bethany-Kris
*
Viviana groaned, shifting in the bed to find a more comfortable spot. That didn’t come, and instead, she kicked the blankets off her legs and blinked fully awake, frustrated. It took her ten seconds to realize Anton wasn’t in the bed with her.
That wasn’t unusual. Especially if she considered the phone call from Sergei earlier. It was likely Anton had shut himself away in his library, on the phone with whoever to get the things set up that he needed to. Viviana knew he’d be back in the bed with her by morning, waking her up like he always did.
Unfortunately, sleeping in the guestroom without her husband was irksome. Anton had been right when he said the paint in their bedroom would leave fumes. Their bedroom was a much more personal, safe feeling space, and Viviana didn’t think sleep would find her again until Anton was back at her side.
Deciding to find him so he could help her get back to sleep, she got out of the bed and worked an annoying kink out of her neck. It was only then that she could hear the soft voices murmuring down the hallway outside of the guestroom. Because the bedroom door was open, any noise from the upstairs travelled, no matter how low they spoke.
Anton must have left his office door open, too.
Viviana’s heart stuttered. He’d promised her once that no face to face business would happen in their home.
“I can’t believe you actually thought it was us, though.”
Viviana recognized the voice immediately as belonging to Ivan. Erik’s familiar, deep laughter followed the statement. At least if their unexpected guests were Anton’s closest men, and friends, she could attribute the meeting to the phone call from Sergei. She would overlook it as it wasn’t uncommon for them to be there and the day had been unusual as it was.
What Viviana wouldn’t overlook were Anton’s next words.
“Look to your sides first, right? If somebody was looking to kill me, why not either of you?”
Panic welled like a hard ball of poison in Viviana’s gut. It left a bad taste in her mouth. The god-awful nausea that had finally given her a rest for the last couple of months returned with a vengeance, threatening to make her lose her lunch all over the floor.
Someone was trying to hurt her husband? Why hadn’t Anton told her?
“At first I thought the photographer and slashed tires were just something to pick at Vine, but hell, she didn’t even know about the second issue.”
Slashed tires? When had that happened?
Anton continued, not missing a beat. “It didn’t seem like she was meant to, either. It’s clear the threats were meant for me, you know? Look how close they can get to her, kind of thing. As if they were baiting me or some shit. My guys know how close I keep her bulls—they could work around it like nothing. It’s someone outside of our loop that would have trouble getting that close. So, which guy is working with Sergei? That’s what we need to figure out.”
“You should have brought this up to us way sooner,” Ivan said, frustration coloring his tone. “Two weeks might not be enough. That dinner could just be the final trap. Especially if he thinks you’re wrapped up in worrying about us, your wife, and whatever else.”
“You could always refuse it,” Erik said. “Use the baby’s upcoming birth as an excuse to hold it off.”
“You know what that would mean, man. Gives Sergei every damned right to say Anton needs to get culled. Doesn’t matter if she’s in labor and he says not happening. It’s still a refusal after he already agreed. Technically Sergei’s forgiven for his refusal. There’s no saying the asshole would do the same for Anton.”
Anton grunted his agreement with Ivan. “I’d like to finish it, to be honest. What if Tatiana decides bothering me isn’t enough anymore and she decides to try to take another bite out of Vine?”
Just the mention of Tatiana Belov’s name sent Viviana’s rage spinning. That woman was nothing but trouble. Had she been bothering Viviana’s husband?
“I don’t want to have to worry about someone from Jersey coming into my home after the baby is here, trying an attempt on me because I refused a sit down, either. I’ve been trying my damnedest to keep this from my wife as it is. She doesn’t need to worry about this shit right now. The baby is enough.”
“You haven’t told her anything?” Erik asked, sounding flabbergasted.
“Very little. Certainly not to this extent.”
You have now, Viviana thought sadly.
What was she to do with the information now that she had it?
Viviana didn’t know.
While she wanted to be angry with him for hiding the dangerous situation they were currently in, Viviana was only panicked. She suspected that was Anton’s worst fear, even beyond someone hurting him. It wasn’t unlike her husband not to tell her business things because she wouldn’t want to know, anyway.
This was so different, though.
“And what if she wakes up one morning to nothing more than a broadcast like her mother did, huh?” Ivan asked.
That was a loaded question. One that stabbed at her heart and soul with a million little razor sharp knives. Anton might have had his fears, but he wasn’t the only one. Viviana certainly had hers, too.
“Not going to happen,” Anton said sharply. “Ever.”
How could he be so sure?
*
Anton rested back to the headboard to catch his breath and brought his wife closer to his side with one arm. Not bothering to make any attempt to leave his sweaty grasp, Viviana laid a soft kiss to his arm as his hand rubbed up her naked side.
After falling into bed around three in the morning once Erik and Ivan were gone, Anton was woken up by his wife not a couple of hours later. It wasn’t like her to be up so early, never mind wanting to fuck like they had, given the new pressure and pain she’d been experiencing in the mornings. Anton had no idea what came over Viviana, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to complain.
Their coupling had been rough—rougher than he liked given her stage of pregnancy. But even when he tried to slow them down, to take her softer, Viviana wouldn’t have it. Anton wasn’t one to deny his wife, especially not of that.
“Jesus Christ,” he mumbled into the palm of his hand. Even though his body was still humming from her high, his mind was downright exhausted. Three hours of sleep wasn’t new to Anton, but he could use a bit more. “Thanks for the wake-up call, baby.”
Viviana giggled, but even the sound felt off. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Hey,” he said into her hair. The grip he had on her tightened momentarily. “What’s wrong?”
“Hmm?” Viviana turned just enough to lean up and press her silken mouth to the underside of his jaw. “Nothing, just thinking about Sergei.”
“Don’t fret over that idiot. He’s not even a blip on my radar. We’ll get that dinner done and move on.”
Anton was lying through his teeth, but concerning his wife just wasn’t okay with him. What he wanted her doing was focusing on the end of her pregnancy, their son, and her health. He was the boss, so he’d handle the Bratva issues. There was no way she was going to be brought into the crossfire of Sergei’s nonsense, so he didn’t think she had any need to be properly informed.
“Actually,” he said, thinking about his conversation the night before with his spies. “I think you might just show, and then go. You haven’t been feeling terribly great lately, so it’s not a stretch to think you might not feel well that day. Just stay long enough to say hello, forgive Tatiana if you want, and then Rory will escort you home and Joe will follow. Business as usual.”
“Forgive her if I want,” she repeated dully.
“It’d be better if you did, or at least say you do, but it’s not expected. You did ask for her, though, so you have to be respectful about whatever you choose to do.”
Viviana snorted. “When am I ever not? Can I claw her eyes out after?”
“No,” Anton said, laughing. That’d surely be a sight. He bet Viviana would give Tatiana one hell of a run for her money.
“Not while you’re pregnant with my child, anyhow.”
“Yeah, but making her swallow a few teeth would sure make me feel a heck of a lot better.”
“My God. You know there’s nothing there, right? Her and me, I mean. That’s not … It’s just not there, baby. You don’t have to be jealous.”
“I’m not jealous, Anton.” Strangely, he believed her. Viviana shrugged under the weight of his arm resting around her shoulders. “Why should I be … of Tatiana? I have exactly what she doesn’t. Everything she thought should have been hers is mine. I have your life, your son, and your love. Even if she was nothing more than your whore, which she isn’t, she still wouldn’t have any of those things. So no, I’m not jealous of that girl. On the other hand, I do wonder if she is envious of me.”
“I have no doubt of that.”
Viviana sighed. “Exactly. Tatiana has defied her father, you, and God knows how many others just to hurt me once. That was before we were married, before Demyan, and she only managed to sling words. This time might be different. At this dinner, she’s going to see me pregnant, happy, and protected, all because of you. Again, all that she doesn’t have and everything she wanted. So it brings me back to safety, I guess. You made it clear you don’t want her in any way so would she hurt me, or worse your baby, because of her resentment? Is she that crazy over you?”
Anton stayed silent, letting his wife’s words sink in as he considered them. It wasn’t that what she said didn’t make sense, because it did, but he wondered why Viviana had asked for Tatiana’s presence at all.
“You asked for her to be there, Vine. If you were worried about all of this, why ask at all?”
“I also asked for no guns.”
“And I’ll make sure that’s adhered to as best I can,” Anton said, still feeling confused. “You won’t take a step into any establishment unless it is weapon free.”
Viviana felt tense in his arms. “You don’t need a gun to kill someone.”
“She won’t have any chance to be alone with you.”
“I know.”
“Then what?” Anton asked.
“I want this done,” she said so low he strained to hear. “Put an end to it, however you have to. I don’t want to worry about her or her goddamned family after it’s over. I don’t want to think if she can’t hurt me, she’ll go to the next best thing.”
“You’re worried she’ll try to hurt Demyan.”
“Or you. To me, that’s just as bad.”
“You know that’d never—”
“No, I don’t,” Viviana interrupted coolly. “But if I didn’t have them to worry about, it’d be one less thing for me to consider.”
It was only then that her hidden meanings were starting to dawn on Anton. Viviana never asked him for anything in regards to business. She didn’t like to have her hands in his pots, so to speak. This was entirely different, especially if she was asking what he thought she was asking.
“Come on, Vine …”
“I want it done,” she repeated thickly. “Please.”
“On your head, though? You want that on your mind, bloodying up your hands, too?”
“Please?”
“Stop it,” Anton said, practically spitting the words. “Fuck, just don’t say that shit. I’ll handle it.”
“Before or after one of us is dead?”
Anton was out of the bed before he had blinked. Grabbing the cotton sleep pants he’d kicked off earlier in his haste to be with his wife, he tugged the article of clothing on and avoided Viviana’s stare. With the sheet wrapped tightly around her frame, Viviana turned and watched him from under her lashes.
“You don’t know what that means, baby.”
“I do,” she murmured.
“No, you don’t. Really,” Anton said, raking his fingers through his hair. “Once you’ve done that, you’ve done it. You’re dirty, then. No amount of soap and water is going to wash that filth off of you, Vine. It doesn’t go away. Ever.”
“This isn’t about money, or disrespect, or greed, Anton.”
“Stop trying to justify it to yourself. If you have to do that, you shouldn’t be making the call for it.”
“I’m not justifying the request. I’m not making any calls. And I’m not just anyone asking you for it. This isn’t you being the boss, it’s me being your wife and asking you as my husband. Can it be done?”
Anton blinked out of his haze, meeting Viviana’s determined eyes with his own. “Anything can be done, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be.”
“I think this does. I can’t wake up some morning and you not be here. Why do I keep getting this horrible feeling that’s exactly what’s going to happen every time I think about that family?”
Another blazing understanding slammed down on Anton. He hadn’t thought much of it the night before, but the door to the guestroom had been left open, and they hadn’t exactly been quiet during their discussion. A little too much vodka had made Anton forget his wife was sleeping just down the hall a few steps from his office instead of the other side of the upstairs like she usually would.
In fact, he’d went to their bedroom first looking for her.
Shit.
“Did you eavesdrop on my meeting last night?” he asked.
Viviana didn’t look away as she said, “I didn’t eavesdrop. I woke up.”
Instantly, Anton knew he should apologize for hiding the things he had. “I’m …”
“Don’t bother giving your excuses to me,” Viviana said, her gaze narrowing. The coldness in her tenor surprised him more than her words. “But given how you treated me for an entire week after I made the mistake of keeping something important from you, I wasn’t about to do it again. I suppose you didn’t see it the same way, huh?”
“No, I did. What I didn’t want was you having this crap on your mind right now. If I had to handle something, I didn’t want it on your conscience, too.”
“Well, it is now, Anton. And I’m asking you to finish it.”
Anton let his emotions simmer as Viviana moved across the bed. With her bare legs dangling over the edge, she reached up and fisted his sleep pants with one hand, using the other to keep the sheet tight to her chest.
“I’m not mad,” she told him quietly. “Not with you, anyway.”
“Nobody’s going to hurt me,” he said.
“But they’re going to try.”
“Hit them first, is that what you’re saying?”
Viviana shrugged one shoulder. “You’ve got the call on when, where, and how. Use it.”
Anton released a shaky exhale, nodding subtly. “Did you hear what I said about Tatiana, too?”
“That she was bothering you,” she replied, calmer than she probably felt. “How?”
“It was only twice. She didn’t cross any lines, so I overlooked it.”
“That’s not what I asked, Anton.”
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Anton said, “When I bought your pearls, she showed up at the jeweler’s. A week or so later, she showed up at the coffee shop I frequent.”
“She has no need to be in Brooklyn,” Viviana noted quietly.
“I know, and I’ve considered that. I had someone check up on her, to make sure she wasn’t trying to get close to any of my guys. She came back clean, or so it seemed.”
Bleakly, Viviana nodded her assent. “I still don’t trust her.”
“Me, either.”
He couldn’t help but remember how tightly Viviana had held him that morning, how sharp her teeth had felt nipping into his jaw, and the way she somehow pulled him deeper with every cry. Their lovemaking had been frantic, rushed, and desperate. At first Anton hadn’t known why, but he supposed now he did.
“That’s what this was for you, huh?”
Viviana cleared her throat, looking away. “What?”
“Me and you this morning. Like you weren’t going to have me again.”
“No, more like I didn’t want to forget. Like every other day, you
have to leave. Are you going to be back, Anton? That’s my new question. Do I get a new promise to go along with it, too?”
Smacking his lips, Anton could still taste the hot and heady flavor of his wife lingering on his mouth. Viviana’s fingers shadowed along his thigh over his cotton pants, keeping his nerves awake and aware of her body’s closeness and the heat it caused. Already, his own body was reacting to her and her innocent touch.
“I’ll handle it.”
“Will you?” Viviana asked, her stare flicking up to seek out his.
“Yeah, but I won’t tell you.”
Bloody hands, Anton thought. She’d never have them on his watch.
Chapter Fourteen
Two weeks later, Anton found himself calm and waiting as he fixed the knot on his tie in the master bath’s mirror. Things had fallen seamlessly together for the dinner with the Jersey Bratva family. A little too easily, maybe. Anton was going to make sure that after tonight, his family, his Bratva, and his wife wouldn’t have one more thing to worry about when it came to the Belovs.
“What do you think?”
Anton turned at Viviana’s voice, his eyes widening and a low whistle of appreciation falling from his lips. The thigh-high, black dress she wore was tight enough to show off every beautiful curve of her body. And despite being pregnant, Viviana still had her curves and a swaying walk that memorized him if he watched for too long. Black peep-toes with a four inch stiletto heel clicked-clacked against the hardwood floor as she came a little closer, waiting for him to speak.
The sleeves of the V-neck dress stopped at her wrists, effectively covering the scarring she rarely ever noticed anymore. A slight shimmer to the fabric glittered under the lights in their master bath. Her black hair fell in silky, sleek waves and the sharp cut of her bangs only served to shadow her gaze to a demure effect. Not that her eyes needed shadowing. Viviana’s features were flawless with her high cheekbones accentuated with blush, full lips painted a striking red, and her dark eyes lined with heavy, black strokes of kohl.
Holy sweet, good goddamn, he thought.
“Is it good?” Viviana asked. “Or too much?”
