PUSHED (Capitol Corruption Series Book 1)

by Linny Lawless

  “Oh my…” Nadia breathed, batting her crystal blue eyes at me, taking a sip of the thousand dollar champagne.

  Nolan pulled out two fat Cuban cigars, clipped the ends, and handed me one. “So how did it feel watching Lucas die, Nadia? I’d love to know the details.”

  Nadia smiled, starring down into her glass. “It was very satisfying. Almost orgasmic!”

  She giggled as I pulled her close to me. “My beautiful savage did not flinch or look away as I sliced through his neck with wire.”

  Nolan puffed on his cigar. “You make us proud, Nadia.”

  Christina took my warning seriously and handed over the details of Lucas’s planned private birthday celebration at the Ritz in Georgetown. Lucas booked the best suite – the Royal Potomac, with its three-thousand square feet of space to throw his birthday bash.

  Nolan was by my side, bringing along his high paid ex-special ops men. He wanted to “join in on the fun”.

  We crashed the party, walking right in to the private suite with one easy swipe of a key card. Our guns were drawn as two of Lucas’s men sat on a couch with three frightened young girls dressed in skimpy sequin dresses. One man stood and went for his gun. A silent bullet pierced his throat, thanks to Nolan’s quick reflexes. He went down and the girls screamed as blood spattered onto one of them. They held hands and ran off, hiding behind the couch. We aimed our sights at the second man, who stood up with his hands raised.

  Lucas emerged from the sitting room adjacent to the master bedroom, dragging Christina with him. The barrel of his gun was pressed against her temple, “I’m untouchable, Push. There’s no way you can get to me. There’s a contract out for my protection! And if I go missing, there are plenty of men that will get paid a fuck load of money to make you disappear!”

  Christina gripped his forearm, her cheeks streaked with black mascara and a dark bruise that blemished her cheekbone.

  I smiled, taking two steps toward him. “I’ve made some modifications to that contract. I went and upped the ante on that fuck load of money.”

  I could see the whites of Lucas’s eyes as he glared at me, smiling at him. Lucas shoved Christina hard and she hit the wall. She collapsed to her knees and screamed. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Ok, fine. Go ahead.” He pointed to his forehead, “put the bullet right here.”

  I couldn’t help but snicker, “It won’t be so clean and quick for you, Lucas. My Nadia doesn’t want it that way.”

  My fist shot out, smashing directly into his nose, breaking it. He went down, knocked out cold. I looked at my gloved hand. His blood was smeared on my knuckles as Nolan’s men carried Lucas’s limp body out of the suite and down the freight elevator where Mac was waiting with Nadia’s Lincoln.

  There was no time to gather the leaders and businessmen who dictated their realms of organized crime and money making. Gabe Russo’s business empire, that Lucas took for himself after he murdered Gabe, now belonged to Nadia, who was the rightful heir to it all. This crooked world was run by men and I knew some would not be so accepting of a woman taking power. Those men would be dead by daybreak.

  With Osamu and Nolan’s help, along with Dane and his connections in the Atlantic City area, the word went out through the channels of the corrupt underground of politics, and organized crime. Everything was in place.

  I stayed in bed with Nadia through late afternoon the next day. Kumiko checked in on us only once, to bring us a tray of food so that we could sustain ourselves through a full day of fucking and conversing about our future together as business partners and lovers.

  The room smelled of our sex as I laid back on the pillows in bed. Nadia sat beside me and raised a ripe strawberry above my mouth. I leaned up and growled, biting into it and savoring the sweetness as she laughed. I grabbed her soft ass cheek, sucking along her shoulder, mingling the sweetness of the strawberry with the taste of her skin.

  She giggled and brought her hands to my chest. “Push! I’m exhausted and sore! “

  I leaned back into the pillows, grumbling. “It’s not easy for me, but I’ll do my best to be gentle next time.”

  She sighed, as her head tilted. Her blonde silky hair was messy, making her look sexy and thoroughly fucked. I reached over and brushed strands of hair from her face, “Are you happy, Nadi?”

  She nuzzled her flushed cheek against my palm, “I don’t know if I am happy. I don’t know what happy feels like. But balance? Yes. I do feel a balance inside.”

  Nadia was all I had ever wanted. She brought life back into my stagnant heart. She endured so much, lost so much, just as I had in my past life. Giving her Lucas, so that she could look into his eyes as he struggled and died made my cock hard, and the adrenaline pump through my body.

  “This is the way we will always do things. Right here in this bed, alone. Just the two of us. We will fuck, eat, and make business decisions together.”

  “Yes. I have so much to learn and it weighs on me.”

  “You are going to realize very soon that the men who partnered with Gabe are ready to pledge their loyalty to you, Nadia.”

  Her brows shot up with surprise “Me? But I don’t know anything about this business and how to oversee any of it!”

  “I know it can be overwhelming, and that is why I’m here. To guide you, teach you, show you. We will take it slow, one day at a time.”

  Two days later, a meeting was set in the Mandalay Bay Conference room at the MGM, thanks to Nolan. The top ten men who worked closely with Gabe Russo and Lucas Peterson were there. Some were men who dealt in gambling, prostitution, drugs, and politics. Some were Russian and some were Italian families from New Jersey.

  And our most loyal and trusted friends were there too: Osamu Takata, Nolan Reynolds, Dane Neri. They all stood as I entered the room with Nadia.

  She was regal – her chin held high showing her confidence. “Gentlemen. Please sit.”

  She took her seat at the end of the board room table. I sat next to her and addressed all the men in the room. “Thank you all for responding to my request to come together today. Today is the beginning of a new enterprise and partnership. Not with me, but with Nadia Barinov.”

  She dropped Russo and took on her grandfather’s sur name.

  An old man sat at the end of the table next to Osamu. He was a big man as he stood up and walked toward Nadia. He knelt down on one knee and looked into her eyes, “Ms. Barinov, my name is Maxim Volkov. I was a loyal friend to your grandfather, Alik Barinov, since I was a young man back in Saint Petersburg many years ago. I loved him as I would a brother, and I loved Felix like a son. I come here now to pledge my loyalty to his granddaughter.”

  Nadia placed her hand to her chest, “Thank you Mr. Volkov. I’m very honored and grateful.”

  He smiled then, “Please, call me Max. Alik was right. You truly are a beautiful girl - I mean, woman.”

  Nadia smiled back. “Thank you, Max. And please, call me Nadia. Will you tell me about my father and my grandfather?”

  “Yes I will, Nadia. But there are some things your grandfather and I did together that may not be appropriate to tell you.”

  “No Max. My eyes are open and there will be nothing you tell me that will make me cringe or yelp like some ignorant weak bimbo. I want to know everything.”

  The next day I drove alone to meet Connor in Quantico, Virginia at the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services. I sat in a small office with him as he handed me a sealed envelope, “Examination report of the skeletal remains in that Cadillac are in there. Both bodies were male.”

  “That’s interesting…it opens up a good possibility that Nadia’s mother may still be alive.”

  I reached over and shook Connor’s hand, “Thanks again, my friend. You and your team always come through with answers that I need.”

  “That’s what we do here at the bureau. And you pay us very well for it, Push. “

  As I pulled up to the Mansion, two young men dressed in moving company logo shirts walked out,
carrying dismantled pieces of the pool table from the parlor. Nadia walked out and stood in the doorway, her arms folded in front of her.

  I climbed the steps, passing the young men. “Where are they taking it?”

  Nadia’s lips were set in a straight line, her jaw clenched, “They can burn it for all I care. I cannot look at it anymore. I keep seeing those Monsters hurting me.”

  I pulled her to me, kissing the top of her head., “Then I will tell them to burn it.” I lifted her chin, “I have some good news to share with you. Let’s go inside.”

  I followed her into the office and held out the sealed envelope from Connor. She looked puzzled “What is it?”

  “The examination report on the two skeletal remains in your father Felix’s Cadillac. They are both male.”

  Her brows lifted, and her beautiful smile returned. She took the envelope, ripping it open. “If one of them was my father, that can only mean that my mother may still be alive!”

  “Yes, Nadia. And we will find her. I guarantee it.”

  Tears sprung from her eyes and I pulled her into my arms to let her cry.

  CHAPTER 21

  NADIA

  Watching Lucas die right before my eyes was a satisfying justice. Evil men in this city had always preyed on the innocent and weak. I was no longer the naïve, lonely girl I once was. I had become resilient and full of tenacity. I swore to never run or hide in fear, to face my monsters head on and eliminate them no matter how violent. I belonged to Push and he mentored me in all ways of the sinister corrupt underworld of politics, greed and violence.

  The one true thing that most people hold on to is hope. Every single day, since I learned that the bodies in my father’s car were male, I clung on to the small hope that I would someday find my mother. Push reassured me time and again that he had hired the best investigative men within the intelligence and technology industries; both within the US and overseas. These men would find all the answers that I so desperately wanted.

  We lived lavishly through the winter months. My hand draped over Push’s forearm, as we attended a gala at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, only blocks away from the White House. I was dressed in a long form-fitting shimmery gold dress. The plunging neckline hung very low in a deep V-shape, revealing the cleavage of my breasts.

  As we climbed out of Push’s Bentley, he handed the keys to a young valet attendant and grumbled next to my ear, “You look so decadent in that dress, Nadi. I’m going to fuck you in it before this night is over.” He nipped my earlobe, sending a thrilling flutter in my belly, which made me breathless all at the same time.

  It was food, drinks, and music galore throughout the night. The guests attending the gala were men and women of politics: congressmen and congresswomen, company executives and some men I recognized from the illegal underground business of money, power and prestige. I became tipsy early in the night from several glasses of champagne. Nolan arrived an hour later with a pretty redhead; her long form-fitting velvet gown the color of emerald green shimmered and hugged her voluptuous curves. Nolan was dressed just as handsome as Push, in a tailor-made formal suit and black bowtie. He raked a hand through his unruly dark hair, that always seemed messy, and smiled a devilish grin at his date.

  Push chuckled. He seemed more at ease lately and grinned more often. “Fashionably late as always, Nolan.”

  Nolan tore his eyes away from the redhead and laughed “Yes, well I couldn’t keep my hands, or my….uh…other parts of myself off my sexy date here. This is Natalie Bernhardt. She’s one of my trusted paralegals.”

  We made our introductions to Natalie, shaking her hand that wore expensive ruby and emerald rings. The music was loud and thumping as people drifted onto the dance floor. I finished another glass of champagne when I felt Push’s warm hand glide down my back and squeeze my rear. I yelped and looked up into his eyes that were full of hungry desire.

  He suddenly took a hold of my hand, “Let’s go.”

  I followed him down a long dark hall. He easily opened a door to a private VIP lounge with black and gold furniture and décor. Push spun me around, pulling me hard against his hard chest, “I’m going to fuck you now as I said I would.” His mouth crashed down over mine, and our tongues collided. I was breathless when he released me, and nodded towards the black velvet couch, “Go to the couch and bend over for me, Nadi.”

  I sauntered to the couch seductively, placing my hands on the armrest and bent over. I arched my back, and swayed my hips back and forth. I turned my head to look at him, “Come and get me, you untamed beast.”

  He moved toward me, unzipping his black slacks and bent down to hike up my dress. He suddenly discovered that I was not wearing panties. His warm hand came down with a hard smack across my ass.

  “Naughty girl…” He groaned, grabbing a hold of my hips and thrusting hard and deep into me. I cried out, panting as he drove his solid thickness in and out, pumping relentlessly. He was brutal as his hips slapped against my ass and growled when his warm male juice shot deep against my core.

  He leaned over me, his warm breath brushing across my earlobe as we steadied our rapid beating hearts. My womanhood molded to him so perfectly, like a broadsword fits nicely into its tight sheath.

  “You are my most precious treasure, Nadia. My Queen.”

  It was early spring and three thousand pink cherry blossom trees (a gift to Washington from Japan back in 1912) were in full bloom on the bank of the Tidal Basin along the Potomac River. The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival lasted four days and people in the thousands traveled to the city to view the beautiful scenery.

  Push made sure I was bundled warm enough and took me for my very first ride on his eye-catching motorcycle. I sat on a black cushioned pad on the back fender and hugged his hips with my thighs, holding onto him tight. The sights of the city were a blur before my eyes as Push twisted the throttle. We sped down the George Washington Memorial Parkway as the cold wind pressed against us both, and my heart raced at the new exhilarating experience.

  Max Volkov came to pay frequent visits to my home. We sat together in the parlor as Kumiko poured him a glass of expensive Russian vodka. He shared stories about my grandfather so many years ago when they lived in Saint Petersburg. Alik and Max were notorious in their hometown, and were part of an old dynasty of the Russian Mafia, or what was also called the Bratva, going back even before the former Soviet Union. Hardened criminals were sent to Soviet labor camps called ‘gulags’ and worked their way through the malicious world of thieving, killing and illegal activities. There were intricate symbols and designs tattooed on Max’s skin that expressed each man’s status and rank in their lawless underworld. Wars between families broke out that were violent and bloody. And women were not safe from the vicious cruelty either.

  “You look just like your mother Nadia, except your eyes. Those are Barinov eyes.”

  I felt a blush and had to steer my eyes away from Max, as his were a rich color of hazel brown. I looked down at my lap. “I have only one photo of my parents that Alik, I mean, my grandfather gave to me just before he was killed.”

  “The pain in my gut over Alik’s death will never go away. Your friend, Nolan killed one of the two men who hacked your grandfather to pieces, putting a bullet into his neck when they took Lucas that night at the casino. I know the name of the second man. And he will be dead by the end of the week.”

  I placed my hand over his that was scarred and tattooed. “Please be careful, Max. Even though Gabe and Lucas are dead, there is still a threat of hostility and fighting among some men in this city.”

  He chuckled, looking down at my hand so small in contrast to his own. “Do not worry about this old Russian. I’ve been doing this way before your father was even born. I want to honor you by wiping this man off the face of the earth in retribution for the death of a Barinov.”

  It was Mardi Gras Day and there was a big parade on Wharf Street, along the city’s waterfront. Crowds of people lined the stre
ets as giant floats drove slowly by, decorated with flowers and other pretty things. People in glitzy and sexy costumes rode on the floats or paraded down the street and threw colorful beads to the cheerful crowd. Confetti drifted in the air around us along with mouthwatering smells of food from the vendors. Hooting and clapping, mingled with the loud music from marching bands and made me feel like a giddy young girl again.

  Nolan came along with the nice beautiful redhead, Natalie. Push didn’t want Christina’s betrayal to ruin my outlook on female friendship and insisted that I should branch out, and meet other women my age. Natalie seemed like a kind and free-spirited woman and I felt a bit more comfortable as we walked together along the wharf.

  I didn’t really know what to talk about, so Natalie opened up our conversation about the Ball at the International Spy Gala, “You looked stunning in that shimmering gold gown, Nadia. Several men at the Ball noticed you too.”

  “Well you caught the eye of several men yourself, Natalie! You filled out that green velvet gown like a goddess.”

  I turned my head to see Push and Nolan walking side by side, only a few feet behind us. They both wore dark wool coats and dark shades, resembling a pair of Secret Service agents. I giggled when the corners of Push’s mouth lifted, showing me his devilishly handsome grin.

  Then it happened in a matter of seconds, but it felt like slow motion. As we walked through the crowd, bumping into shoulders of other people, a man’s hand darted out, clasping my wrist. “Nadia.” His voice a hushed whisper. He was as tall as Push, his hair a sandy blond and wore shades preventing me from looking at his eyes.

  I froze, “You know me?”

  But before he could respond, Push was there, and barreled into him. A woman screamed as his hand slipped from my wrist and he fell hard on the sidewalk with Push on top of him.