I have exactly twenty minutes to sneak back into the penthouse before Misha calls the landline and Tony shows up for his shift, and if I’m not there they’ll send out a search party.
And chances are I will get my ass spanked soundly for that. Tony is not a pussy cat all the time.
She starts with a curse, but I’m grateful when I put my New Yorker cap on and gun it through traffic, weaving my way through cabs like a pro.
I’m panting and fending off monster cat just as I make it upstairs and lunge at the phone.
“Why did it take you so long to answer?”
Well good freaking morning to you too, control freak!
“Er, I have gross bodily functions, too?” I gasp.
Silence is my friend right now, but even I cringe at the thought of him thinking about me going potty.
“Um, okay. Listen, Mama’s coming over today. Don’t let her talk you into anything you shouldn’t be doing.”
“For God’s sake! She’s an old lady, it’s not like she’ll be taking me to a strip club and handing me singles, Misha.”
“You don’t know Mama. Just stay out of damn trouble. Be good for once in your life, Irina!”
“Well screw you, too,” I mutter when the phone goes dead a second before Tony prances in, takes one look at a hissing Sweetie, and scowls.
“I’m telling.”
***
“You need to eat more. Here, Mama make you food.”
“I’m good. I finally fit into those designer jeans Nik bought me a year ago, and my ass isn’t in danger of dimpling, Mama. No more food,” I growl when she tries to shove another slice of bacon my way.
“My sons like real women. No skinny hoes for them. Eat your food. Mama make pancakes.”
I can’t take it anymore, and even knowing that it’s unfair, that I’m possibly taking out all my Misha stuff on an innocent bystander…I just can’t help it.
“Who’s Minka? What the hell happened with Mina? And please, do not insult me by lying, Mama,” I warn.
She gasps and freezes for a few seconds before those eyes of hers go misty. I feel like the biggest jerk when she turns her back and silent sobs shake her.
This can’t be easy for her, considering the little girl was her grandchild.
Good going, just great, you insensitive asshole. Do you feel good making a nice little old lady cry and feel like shit?
“Mama, I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry, okay? I just—”
“She was a beautiful little thing our Minkie. All that golden hair and eyes just like her papa. She was Misha’s pride, that child, and he adored her to the point of obsession. He was a good papa.”
I feel so much pain for them all right now that breathing is almost unbearable as my chest tightens and my throat thickens with the need to cry.
Mama turns back to me and smiles, the sad expression on her face sending arrows of remorse and self-loathing straight to my heart. I’m not this person. I don’t verbally attack innocent old ladies, especially not those I love, and I sure as hell never take my bad moods and insecurities out on them.
I spent hours yesterday sitting alone while Misha brooded in his office, thinking about this and getting pissed. The fact that I kept my cool when he finally ventured forth is a testament to my stubbornness.
I refuse to let that woman mess with my marriage, no matter how curious I am or how much it kills me to keep quiet. Because I am so in love with Misha that leaving him again isn’t an option. I know myself and I’ve become addicted to him.
I crave him the way a junkie needs a fix, and I know that walking away will only hurt me more. Not to mention I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what Mina wanted when she came my way.
I have no idea what that woman is up to, but I am not willing to let her win. No matter how much I lose in the process. I’m committed to and in love with a guy who is emotionally unavailable and will probably remain that way.
It’s up to me to decide if I can live with it or not, and it’s also up to me how I live with it. I need answers, though, and if he won’t give them to me, or if I am not willing to rock this boat to get them from him, I need to get them from someone. Preferably someone who will be on my side.
“He never mentioned her,” I manage to choke out, my eyes stinging with the knowledge that he won’t trust me enough to confide in me. “He told me about…Mina, but not…”
Mama stills at the mention of that name, and I see her eyes narrow before she nods once and turns on her heel. I half expect her to just ignore me, maybe leave, but she just stalks to the cupboard, grabs two wine glasses, and nods her chin at the wine rack.
“Bring three bottles of the red, daughter. I think we will need this.”
I obey instantly, jumping for the wine and following Mama to the living room. She pours two hefty glasses and shoves it at me before taking a seat to my right.
“How do you know about Minkie, my daughter? I have to say I was surprised when you said her name, because I know my Misha. That boy is an ass, just like his papa. They are mules, yes?”
Her use of the adage, as half correct as it is, makes me chuckle softly and I shake my head.
“Stubborn as mules.”
“Ah, yes. As mules and twice as foolish, I think. Once they get an idea in their heads…it is over. Misha, egh, that boy thinks that pretending it never happened will save him from the grief of it all.”
Not a surprise. I’ve been on the receiving end of that attitude in the two weeks since I came home with him, so all I do is shake my head in resignation.
She chuckles a little and we spend the next few minutes quietly sipping our wine as she stares at me, deep in thought. I, of course, get nervous.
“How do you know? Tell me this and we will talk, daughter.”
I can’t fathom telling my mother-in-law that I walked in on my brand-new, shiny husband tarnishing his armor by kissing another woman.
I have some damn pride, but I won’t lie.
Maybe I can just tell her some of the truth.
“She showed up here yesterday demanding to come in. When I wouldn’t let her she started spouting off her mouth. I shut her up real quick by slamming the damn door in her face, but she still managed to get that last shot in.”
“She came here?”
The low, vicious way she says it makes me flinch a little. Gone is sweet Mama, and in her place is a cursing, violent female ready to possibly kill someone. Her face is a mask of hatred, and I thank God in heaven she’s never looked at me this way.
“She did.”
“What did she want, Irina? And don’t give me any shit, kid.”
I squeeze my eyes shut for a good minute and pray for the embarrassment to ease before confessing my secret shame to her, my own anger.
So much for forgiveness.
“To hurt me some more.”
Chapter Four
Irina
“Explain.”
The second glass I drink is more of a frat-boy chug, and I pour myself a third before meeting her eyes and sighing. I’m not as embarrassed anymore.
“A week after we got married, I came home a little earlier than usual. I wanted to cook dinner and bake him some of that apple pie you told me he likes so much. Maybe spend some time…”
My pause and the blush I feel staining my cheeks makes her giggle and I laugh a little, too, feeling loose and floppy as I lean my head back into the sofa and swallow.
“Hanky-panky? When the lights aren’t off, Irina? For shame.” She laughs, making me splutter. “My Kosta and I are the same. We still go at each other like…what you call it? Minks? Da, we still—”
“Mama!”
“What? You tink I got tree boys and one geerl from just calling stork?” she says, her accent thickening with every word.
I find myself screaming with laughter just as the door bursts open and three very inquisitive faces pop into view.
“It sounds like a cackling contest in here. You having fun without us, babe? �
��Nik asks, strutting in and wearing her usual pencil skirt and silk blouse.
The other two follow her in. Nik and Liza go for the kitchen while Tat groans and grimaces at us, her face a nasty shade of green.
“Before you go nuts on me about the shop, we sold out all the stuff your Stalin-ish chef baked and posted a sign on the door. I almost upchucked on three customers when she decided to try pushing some savory piece of drivel that used to be spinach and cheese but looked like dog vomit. No one bought it and I just—”
“We closed early since another customer complained about Stalin’s baking and demanded your phone number. I’m not going back to that hellhole till you’re back, Ri, and that’s fucking final. They’ll form a lynch mob soon, and I ain’t into being forked by anything that isn’t a dick with a bad attitude attached,” Liza grumps, banging a bottle of Jack down, along with four glasses and a ginger ale and crackers for Tat.
“Fine.”
“Whatcha ladies talking about then?”
The look I get from Mama makes me crack up for no good reason as she just shakes her head and winks at me.
“Misha. My son is an asshole. I love him but…finish what you were saying, Ri. I need to know, and…well, the girls are already family, so whatever we say, I know it will stay with just us.”
“I came home and walked in on him trying to tongue-screw that woman. And I mean it, Mama. They were having a good go at making a baby without their sex parts.”
“Thees I know. My Leo, he a good boy, he tell Mama everyting. I almost castrate my own son when I hear,” she says prosaically, making us all spit booze before Nik starts laughing so hard, she snorts.
“I love you, old lady.” Nik grins, making Mama scowl.
“I no old, just have more birthdays, leetle geerl. Now hush. Tell me, Ri.”
“Okay. Well, I mean I sorta lost it there for a while. I left and ignored his calls and stuff, and I think I was doing real good till he showed up. Seems one of my best friends,” I glare at Nik, “shot her mouth off about a pregnancy scare, and your boy thought he could get me back that way.”
“Bebe?”
“Calm down, Attila. I wasn’t pregnant, just sick. You know that. Anyhow, we got to talking and he told me about that filled-lip blowfish and the shit she pulled on him.”
“Hate dat geerl.”
Oh, me too, Mama.
“I thought I could forgive him. I mean, he opened up a little and let me in, so that means he must want to really build something with me, right?”
I snort, finishing off glass three and thanking Mama when she leans over to pour the fourth.
“Turns out I’m just an asshole who loves an idiot. She showed up here yesterday looking for him, or me, who the hell knows, and things went bad from there. I was in a little bit of a spiral after that and sort of lost track of time. Didn’t even hear the phone till security almost reamed my ass for not answering, and then the dark prince, himself, showed up and almost killed me by shaking me so hard. Oh, and then he pretended it never happened, screwed my brains out, and went off to work this morning like the pig he is.”
Boy, I like wine. Why haven’t I gotten shitfaced more often?
Four loud sighs join mine and then I hear Mama tsk.
“He’s like this since Minka. Poor boy, I thought for while he will die of the pain, you know, but Leo and Vadi manage to get him back on his feet. He spend years just using women and not loving nothing, but he have heart, yes. He need happiness. Then he find you and he smile again.”
“Awww,” my girls say in unison, and I narrow my eyes at them all before joining in.
“What happened?”
“She get sick, very sick with the pneumonia, and go to hospital. Misha spend every day with her, holding her hand. She was two, so small. So fragile, but so loved. That boy love her so much. Then one day he go home for one hour, just to bathe and dress fresh, and when he go back…they tell him she pass away in her sleep. Mina, that evil woman, she took our little one and have her cremated immediately. My Misha, he never get chance to even say good-bye.”
I can’t imagine the pain he must have felt when he got to that hospital room and realized his child was gone. I would have collapsed and stayed down for the count. Mentally and physically broken.
The fact that Misha survived that loss and came back from it is a miracle, and it makes me love him all the more for the man he is now. He is, by no means, a prince or anything, but he is strong. He has to be to even look at another woman and feel any affection. He cares for me, in some way. He’s gentle and sweet and funny and he almost went crazy when he thought I was dead.
Shit…I can’t think straight right now.
“Fuck,” Nik breathes and we all nod, wide eyed as Mama blinks and shakes her head.
“Mish, he go a little crazy after that. He no want to eat or sleep. He no talk. Just…nothing. It take Leo months to shame him into trying to live. But he never the same again. He laugh, but only a little. He love his family, but only so much. He have sex with women, but never want another one again. Mina, he loved her and she broke him, Irina. Wouldn’t even comfort him after Minka…”
I want to track her down and rip her throat out for what she made him suffer. I want to scratch her face off and choke the life out of her.
“She said it was his fault. That he killed…” I can’t even finish the statement as tears clog my throat and make talking difficult.
I keep drinking as we all fall into silence.
Chapter Five
Misha
“Dammit.”
I stop the minute I walk into my home and feel my balls shrink when five sets of female eyes turn my way and they all start laughing, looking at my crotch the way a scientist looks at bugs under a microscope.
“I told ya. See? Like a horse,” Irina trills, laughing so hard I hear her snort.
The coffee table is littered with enough wine and booze bottles to make the place reek, and my mama, my sweet innocent mama, is looking at my crotch with the precision of a surgeon. Though she’s so toasted, she can barely keep her head up.
“I change diapers. I know. Like Papa. All man.”
The laughter starts again, the noise so loud that I feel Leo bump into me before he starts laughing and shakes his head. The humor lasts all of two seconds when he spots Tatiana and shoves me out of the way.
“You’ve been drinking? Jesus, Tatty, you can’t—”
“Calm down, Leo, I’m on juice and ginger ale.”
Apparently that answer isn’t good enough, because she’s in his arms and being hustled out moments later.
“You’re white as a sheet. You need to eat and rest! Say good-bye.”
“But we were having fun. I wanna stay and talk some more. We were just getting to the good parts. Ri is really descriptive about…”
The rest is lost when he just tosses a greeting over his shoulder and walks out with Tatty still arguing.
“Vadim, call the car service to get Mama and the girls home, please.”
“Shit, I don’t wanna ride home with her in that state. Last time she kept trying to tell me how Papa’s blood pressure medication affects his dick. It’s not something you can ever un-hear, Mish.” He shudders, going pale when Mama and Nik start whispering and laughing like loons.
My lips twitch and I just about piss myself when he finally gathers them all up. Nik is so drunk that she’s slung over his shoulder since she can’t walk for shit, and he storms past me, swearing retribution.
“You look loose,” I muse, feeling my dick go steel hard when Irina rolls her head to grin at me.
“Hmm, I feel like jelly, but all that sex talk…geesh. I swear your mother is a crazy woman. She outdrank us all under the table, and boy, I will never look at your dad the same way again.”
“Gross, angel. Stop talking about my parents and sex or this boner I’ll have will definitely deflate,” I warn, stalking closer.
I can’t say whether it’s normal or what, but I can smell my
woman when she’s needy, like some sort of damn animal, and the scent makes me feel crazed to get to her.
“Can’t have that, huh?”
Definitely not, I think as I sweep her up and take the stairs at a run, not stopping till she’s on the bed and naked beneath me, my body trembling when her satin-soft skin touches mine and I see her breasts quiver.
She’s so small beneath me, so fragile that just touching her makes me shake with fear and need. I love everything about her. Her breasts that are just the right size, nipples that tastes so sweet I could come just sucking them for hours, and her sex, that pink slice of heaven that somehow makes me feel secure.
“I got ya now, angel,” I purr, gritting my teeth when she opens her thighs and throws her hands over her head, submitting to me in every way.
I’ve never been that interested in women being submissive in the bedroom, and hell, I really love it when Irina comes at me like a sex-starved wild woman sometimes, but seeing her spread out and at my mercy makes my dick so hard, I feel my pulse pounding there as pre-cum leaks from the tip.
She almost screams her head off when I settle myself between her legs, hook my hands around her upper thighs and open her fully, my mouth opening wide over her flesh and sucking strongly.
She tastes good as her juices flood out and meet my tongue. It’s so good, so right to feel her beneath me this way, ready and needy, that I lose it a little and eat her till she’s sobbing her release. Even then I can’t stop, my mouth attacking her clit, sucking, flicking my tongue over the stiff bundle as she comes again, her thighs gripping my cheeks so strongly, I feel my ears pop.
My woman is a wild one, a lusty, screaming courtesan, and I bask in her sensuality even as I’m forced to rub myself against the sheets to stop from howling in pain.
I’m hard, aching, desperate, and out of my mind by the time I rear up and pull her onto me, entering her on one sure thrust that has my toes curling in ecstasy.
Tight, wet, scorching softness sucks me in, and I peer down at the place we’re joined, shaking my head to clear the lust as I pull out and throttle back in, loving her cries.
BAD APPLE: The Complete Series (Parts 1-5) Page 15
