Mr. Grekov bellowed something in a language I didn’t understand. With the knife held steady in my palm, I turned and slashed out almost blindly in Nate’s direction. He stumbled back, surprised, and his hand clutched at the blood that gushed from the deadly wound in his neck. Everything seemed to slow in that instant as I watched Nate garble rather than scream, his alarmed eyes focused on mine.
Firm hands grabbed me as chaos erupted around us. “You fucking whore!” roared Jonas in my ear.
I tried to swing the knife in his direction, but his strong hands grabbed my wrist as he pulled my back to his chest. He easily got the knife free and raised it to my neck. All around me the room had erupted into anarchy. Armed men moved so fast I barely had time to comprehend what was happening. It was only when the room had become silent that I looked up and realized what was going on around me. My dark and deadly warrior stood before me. Braiden was panting hard and blood was dripping down his arm, his gun aimed on Jonas’ head beside mine. His face was a mask of pain and fury as he watched Jonas. He didn’t need to say anything as his eyes spoke a thousand words, most of which were death.
Bomber and Gabbie had taken out Jonas’ men, while Mr. Grekov’s men held their own weapons steady, also trained on Jonas. What the hell just happened?
“Let her go, and I will make sure your death is quick,” Braiden said in a voice far too calm for the anger that was etched into his handsome features.
“If I’m going to die anyway, I might as well take her with me,” Jonas snarled.
“Not going to happen,” Braiden said with steely conviction.
Suddenly a large hand gripped Jonas’ wrist. It forced the knife away from my neck, and I was thrust forward into Braiden’s waiting arms. He seemed ready for whatever had happened and scooped me into his chest, while his hand still held a gun on Jonas.
“You’re fucking working with him?” Jonas yelled in outrage.
I chanced a glance at Mr. Grekov, who was standing behind Jonas with the now bloodied knife at Jonas’ neck.
“Actually, he worked for me for long time. Now, we are no more than father and son, even if he does not carry the Toporov name any longer,” Mr. Grekov said in a low husky voice, thick with a Russian accent.
I gasped at the revelation. Mr. Grekov was Alexander Toporov, the boogieman himself, Braiden’s stepfather.
“And you fuck with my family, you fuck with me.”
Jonas’ face paled, and I smiled. Braiden took my arms and raised them over my head, then a shirt was quickly pulled over my nude body. All the while I tried to keep my eyes on Jonas’.
“Son?” asked Alexander as he forced Jonas to his knees.
“He is Emily’s,” Braiden said, stepping forward between Jonas and me. “If she still wants him.”
It took everything I had to remove my manic gaze from Jonas. Braiden was watching me, and I knew he wanted to do this. He wanted to carry this burden, and I knew he wouldn’t lose a single night’s sleep over it. He wanted to kill Jonas just as badly as I did.
“There isn’t a chance in hell she has the stomach to kill me,” growled Jonas. “She is nothing but a useless, broken fucking whore who has been defiled in every possible way.” Jonas looked to Braiden. “I personally made sure of it. I am her master. I control her.”
Stepping forward I slid my hand down Braiden’s arm, my hand finding the gun in his. It took a strong tug to get him to release the weapon—he wanted Jonas’ death so bad. Eventually though, he allowed me to take the warm metal into my hand. The few steps between me and Jonas could have been a football field.
“Go ahead and kill me, Pet, I’ll still be with you though. I bet you still dream about me. Remembering all those times I fucked you—when I took your virginity, when I shared you for the first time and had my men fuck your cunt, your ass and your mouth. What about that time I whipped your beautiful skin until you bled a river? Do you dream about that, Pet? Or maybe you dream about the times you screamed with pleasure for my guests? You are just as depraved as me and my clients, Pet.”
Chilling calmness had descended on me, his words were not weapons, they were just noise, static. The harm had been done but it was in my past, and my future stood at my back. “No, I’m not. I don’t get off on forcing people, and I don’t need to be forced to have orgasms anymore either. When I’m with him,” I pointed at Braiden, my future, “I don’t think of you, ever, and I give myself to him freely.”
Jonas sneered at me. “You will always be a slave.”
I tilted my head much in the same way Braiden did when he was deep in thought. “No, not anymore because now I give myself willingly. My body, my heart and my soul are mine, but I share them with him.”
“You are one fucked up crazy, Pet.” Jonas laughed with evil malice.
“I am no one’s pet and the only thing I am crazy of is not doing this years ago.” I put the gun to his head, everything inside of me eerily calm as I did so. The look of disbelief on Jonas’ face filled me with a peace I never knew existed. He knew I was going to do it—he must have seen something in my eyes that scared him—and that knowledge caused me to smile as I pulled the trigger. Blood and brain matter splattered over me and the floor. Jonas slumped to nothingness at my feet. Just as I had intended, I watched the life drain from Jonas with a smile on my lips. Unable to move, Braiden carefully took the gun from my hand and pulled me into his arms.
“It’s done, Em. He’s gone now,” he whispered.
“Braiden!” screamed Gabbie from behind us. Braiden automatically spun around, forcing me behind him as another gun shot rang out. Braiden fell backwards into my arms, and I fell under his weight. Holding him to my body, I looked across the room to Bomber, who had fired point blank at Nate’s head, but not before he got a round off. Even with a gaping wound in his neck, face pale and death looming, Nate had managed to shoot Braiden.
“No, no, no, no,” I chanted as my hands clutched at the red spot spreading on Braiden’s chest.
The room exploded into action.
“Press down on the wound,” said Alexander, handing me a shirt.
Braiden’s eyes blinked open as I pushed the fabric down against his chest.
“Malen’kaya,” he whispered.
“Don’t you dare leave me. You promised you wouldn’t leave me,” I whimpered, sobbing in his ear.
“I love you, Emily Donovan,” Braiden murmured.
“Don’t say that to me now.” I cried harder in anger.
“I love you so much.” His eyes fluttered shut just as he was pulled away from me.
“Noooooo!” I screamed, scrambling to get back to him.
“Em, he needs a hospital. Come on, we’ll follow. We’ll be right there with him.”
Bomber tried to hold me as my legs refused to co-operate, then he simply scooped me up and carried me from the building. I was placed into a car and Braiden was laid down beside me. His head lolled to one side as it rested in my lap and my tears fell on his face as my hands brushed through his hair. Then I began to do something I hadn’t done in a long time. I prayed. I prayed for Braiden, I prayed for his life, I even offered mine in its place. I had lost so much, I refused to lose Braiden. Once we reached the hospital, Braiden was wheeled away from me, and I wasn’t allowed to follow. Sobbing hysterics finally stole me away from sanity. Bomber and Gabbie pulled me toward a curtained room where I sat on the side of a bed until I was finally able to calm down enough to have a nurse look me over. Dressed in hospital scrubs I eventually collapsed into a chair in the waiting room. Rebecca, Charlie and Larz arrived at some point, and I cried into Rebecca’s shoulder as Gabbie rubbed my back soothingly. Eventually I fell asleep on Larz’s chest. When I was gently nudged awake, a tired looking doctor stood in front of me and Larz. Dillon and Bomber jumped to attention, moving forward to hover over the doctor.
“He’s going to be fine. Bullet missed his heart by five millimeters. He should probably buy a lottery ticket when he gets out of here.”
Bomb
er snorted. “Rich bastard is ass-y enough he would probably win it.”
A tear slipped free as I stood and took a tentative step forward. “He’s okay?” I whispered.
The doctor’s kind eyes found mine and nodded. “If you are Emily, he’s been asking for you in recovery.”
On numb legs I followed the doctor down a hall and into a small room full of beeping machines, smelling strongly of disinfectant. Braiden was lying on a hospital bed in the middle of the room. His skin was pale, and his eyes were shut. The nurse at his side smiled at me as I approached. She moved away a little, offering us what privacy she could. Tentatively, I leaned over Braiden and kissed his cheek, my tears falling at the sight of my strong warrior hurt and weak. Braiden’s eyes opened and never had I seen a more beautiful sight. Staying close I held his face in my hands, feeling him beneath my touch, reassuring myself that he was here and alive.
“Are you okay?” he asked in a low husky voice.
The sound that came out of my mouth was caught somewhere between a sob and laughter. “You didn’t leave me,” I whispered, my lips so close to his I could feel his breath tangle with mine.
Braiden grinned that lopsided cocky grin I adored. “I promised you, didn’t I?” His gaze suddenly turned serious. “I’m going to spank your ass ten shades of red when I get you home. If you ever run off like that again, I’m going to chain you to my bed. No safe silk ties either, Em, I swear it. It’ll be chains and handcuffs for you.”
Smiling, I pressed my lips that were wet with my tears to his. There was a time the thought of chains and handcuffs would have sent me into hysterics. Knowing Braiden was alive and the threat of being chained to his bed was pretty much a turn on right now.
“Yes, Mой,” I whispered. “My ass is yours for the spanking.”
“Damn straight,” Braiden murmured.
Chapter 26
BRAIDEN
Waking in a dark unfamiliar room had me jolting, my hand instinctively searching for my gun. The only thing that stopped me from moving further was the inconceivable burn in my chest and the head of hair under my hand. Somehow I managed to stop myself from crying out in pain, and I glanced down to find Em. She was sitting in a chair by my side, her head on the bed, fast asleep. My body relaxed and unfortunately the pain didn’t subside, but it became slightly more manageable. Careful not to wake her, my fingers slipped through her hair, rejoicing in the fact she was safe and sound at my side. God, if she thought I was an arrogant, dominant, overbearing male before, she was in for it now. There was no way I could let her out of my sight again, ever. The door to my room quietly opened and a familiar figure stepped through.
“Privet moy syn.”
“Hello, Alexander.”
He hadn’t changed a day since I’d last seen him, five long years ago. So tall, wide and foreboding, I probably should have been afraid of him, but I knew better. Alexander Toporov was a killer, he commanded an empire of men and women who killed, and yet with his family he was a giant, yet ferociously protective, teddy bear. I’d once been privy to that protection and though my desertion of his business would be perceived as a slap in the face my some, Alexander never took it that way. He knew I wasn’t meant for that world, and he’d allowed me to walk away from it. Walking away was supposed to mean leaving my family, forever, but with his involvement in getting Emily back it made me wonder if I had truly lost anything.
He moved to stand next to me, watching Em through eyes filled with humor.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I wondered out loud.
I had no idea exactly what had happened between Alexander and Jonas, or how he came to be here, in Claymont. Finding Em in that big house on the outskirts of town had been a fluke. Mercy remembered she had her cell phone on her when Jonas’ men snatched her off the street from the back of the shelter. We took a gamble and followed the GPS signal on the device, which led us to the large property. The RFID tracker under Emily’s skin had confirmed she was in that house. Bursting through those doors and finding my stepfather in that room had come as a complete shock.
Alexander shrugged. “It happened last minute. I made inquiries, told people I wanted woman. Levier was desperate for den'gi.” Money. “If he research properly, he would know who I am.” Alexander tore his gaze from Emily to me. “She has suffered,” he whispered.
“More than anyone should ever,” I admitted.
Alexander nodded and gave me his best impression of a smile. It was stiff and awkward, but it was a gesture saved only for family. “You good boy, you be good for her. Be well, son.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned for the door.
“Father?” I rarely called him father, not since I had all but abandoned him and my family. “Thank you.”
Alexander nodded once more. “Vy dolzhny mne.” You owe me. A small grin tugged at my lips. I expected no less. What Alexander did for me this time was big, and he wouldn’t let me forget it. “Come for dinner. Mama needs to meet her, and I would like to meet her under different circumstances.”
I was shocked speechless. Alexander was handing me a peace offering. He was allowing me back into the family.
“I can’t come back to work for you.”
Alexander sighed and nodded. “You call and tell me when you both come, da?”
“Da,” I agreed. And with that he left. Emily moved under my hand at the sound of the door closing. She turned her face towards mine and seemed surprised to find me awake.
“Are you okay? Do you need more pain medication?”
The pain was pretty fucking intense, but I knew the medication would put me to sleep and consequently take me away from this beautiful woman, so I shook my head, no. I refused to be taken away from her again.
“No, Malen’kaya, I’m fine.”
“Who was that?” She nodded to the door as she reached for my hand.
“Alexander. He invited us to have dinner with the family.” Emily’s eyes widened. “No strings attached. He doesn’t expect me to come back to work for him; he just wants the family to meet you.” I rubbed a thumb over the blush that stained her cheeks. “What’s that for?”
“He saw me...like that...”
I lifted her chin. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Alexander moved himself into a position to help you. What he saw, what he heard, it will never go beyond him.”
She nodded, leaning her cheek into my palm. “Why didn’t you tell me what he was doing?” she asked.
“Because I had no idea. That’s how Alexander works sometimes. He is a powerful man with endless connections. He saw an opportunity to get at Jonas, and he took it.”
Emily’s eyes lingered on the window across the room. “He’s really gone isn’t he?”
She knew he was. She had been the one to put the bullet in his head, yet after fearing one man for such a long time made it hard to believe it was truly over.
“Yes, Malen’kaya, he’s really gone, and your life is truly yours again.”
She pressed a kiss to my palm and nuzzled in closer to me, her face right by mine. “And I have you to thank for that, my hero.” She ran a hand down my cheek. “You own my heart.” A small bark of laughter escaped my mouth followed by a groan as my chest burned at the movement.
“I’m no hero Em, and your heart is yours, but for some absurd reason you allow me to live in it, and for that I am grateful.”
“I love you, Braiden.”
I breathed her words in, allowing them to settle into my heart where I would keep them forever.
“I love you, too, Em.”
EMILY
SIX WEEKS LATER
Braiden was in his office, again. He had been in there a lot this past week. Montgomery Security had been busy before he was shot, and now it bordered on the absurd. Apparently Alexander Toporov had begun sending a few jobs there way, and since word had spread, they were very much in demand. Pushing open the door, I peaked in. For a while I refused to simply charge on in without knocking first, but then Braiden exp
lained he refused to have me knocking on doors in my own home. I was slowly getting used to thinking of this place as ‘ours’. Upon Braiden’s discharge from hospital, I immediately moved in with him. It worked well for everyone, Rebecca and Charlie needed their space, the moaning and groaning into the late hours of the night was getting old real fast. Braiden couldn’t stand to be apart from me, and I didn’t feel a true measure of safety unless I was with him. So, I had a home, a new home, a fresh start.
Rebecca and Charlie had just dropped me off after a visit to Mercy’s Shelter. As of next Monday, I would start working at the shelter again. It would only be two days a week to begin with, as I would need time to study. Graduating high school had never even been a dream, because I refused to plan for a future that didn’t exist, now though, I had big dreams and an entire future to prepare for. I planned to go to college. Becoming a social worker was something Mercy had suggested, and I knew as soon as the words left her lips that that’s what I wanted to be. I wanted to help other girls just like me. Braiden supported my plans one-hundred percent, though insisted I do as many classes as possible via correspondence from home. He said his heart couldn’t handle being away from me right now, and, to be honest, I wasn’t ready to be away from him either. Following Mercy’s abduction I’d been filled with incredible guilt, but today she shushed my tears and told me if I really felt the need to make it up to her, I would join her at her belly dancing lessons. Although not entirely sold on the idea of belly dancing, I would be joining her one evening a week.
Braiden was sitting at his desk, his fingers dancing over the keyboard of his computer. The house was blessedly quiet. Dillon was on another date with his real estate lady friend, Bomber had moved into his bachelor pad with Parker a week ago, Gabbie was working with Drew on a missing persons job in Philadelphia, and Larz was at the shelter helping Dave unload a truck of furniture and donations. It was nice to have the house to ourselves. Feeling daring, I was wearing one of Braiden’s button down silk shirts and around the neck was draped one very particular red silk tie. We hadn’t pushed the boundaries of sex since the night Braiden had loosely restrained me with this tie. We indulged in sex every spare moment we got, but it had been “safe”. Braiden was worried I wasn’t ready for anything more just yet, but I was quickly becoming restless and in need of something a little more dominant and aggressive. I went into our room looking for something enticing to wear and spotted the tie; the powerful desire to reach for it was all-consuming. When Braiden glanced up, he did a double take, slowly sitting back and allowing his dark gaze to peruse me from head to toe.
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