by Zoe Blake
Before, when I was so certain that he would come to my rescue, there hadn't been a doubt in my mind that he loved me and I loved him, but now that he was kneeling before me looking all big and dangerous and more than a little scary, I lost my nerve.
Doubt crashed in on me.
He was so much older.
His family was wealthy and powerful.
He and his brother were practically legends both here and in Russia.
He could have anyone he wanted. Including tall, leggy models named Fifi and Mimi.
All I was was the unwanted stepdaughter of a two-bit criminal.
My own mother hadn’t even wanted me enough to stay alive.
I was a racetrack railbird who made her money on betting schemes and nothing more.
I tried to lower my gaze.
He placed a finger under my chin and lifted my face to his. “I love you, too, my pretty padshiĭ angel.”
How the hell did this man always read my mind? Maybe he really did possess demon powers.
Just as I opened my mouth to respond, there was the slightest movement over his left shoulder.
“Damien!” I screamed.
Without thinking, I ducked under his shoulder and grabbed the Glock he had discarded near him. Raising my arm, I fired my gun just as Santiago was raising his.
My bullet hit him right between the eyes. A faint mist of blood splattered over my face, shoulders, and chest as Santiago’s body slumped lifeless to the side.
Damien stared at me with wide, shocked eyes.
A faint chuckle from the opening at the end of the stall made us both turn.
The large man I saw earlier was standing there surveying the bloody scene. “So I guess technically now we have to say that the damsel rescued you instead of the other way around.”
Damien rolled his eyes and groaned as he lowered his head into his hand. “Fuck off, Dimitri.”
Damien lifted me into his arms and carried me out of the musty stable into the waning sunshine. The sky was a fiery orange and purple as dusk approached. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I rested my head on his shoulder. “You’re not really mad that I shot him instead of you, are you?”
Judging by his friend Dimitri’s comments, I had a feeling he was going to take quite a bit of taunting from his big scary Russian buddies over my actions. I also knew that Scorpios could be very touchy about this sort of thing. They liked to be the ones in control, doing the rescuing.
The thing was, even though I may have fired the final shot, Damien did rescue me, and had been rescuing me for some time now. It had just taken me a little while to realize it. To others, his criminal activities may make him a bit tarnished but to me, he really was my knight in shining armor.
He kissed me on the forehead. “Baby, I’m just glad this time the gun was loaded… and for once, you weren’t pointing it at me.”
Chapter 33
Damien
If I lived to be a thousand, I would never get over the image of Yelena being forced to kneel in the dirt with a gun to her head.
I looked down at her sleeping form and kissed the top of her head. She was tucked in my lap in the backseat of the SUV as we drove into the city. Thank God there wasn’t a real mirror nearby because my little fashionista would faint if she saw herself right now. Her yoga pants were covered in mud and torn in at least three places. Her hoodie was so caked in filth I’d probably have to cut it off her. Her beautiful blonde hair was matted with dried blood from the cut above her forehead, and her neck and front were splattered with blood. I had done what I could with a wet bandana to at least get the blood off her face.
She never looked more beautiful.
I truly could not wait to spend the rest of my life staring down into her gorgeous face.
I knew some men would unselfishly let the woman they loved go after a day like today. They would think that their lives were too dangerous to keep them by their side. That the woman would be better off without them. Safer. They would spend the rest of their lives pining after what could never be but confident in their sacrifice, knowing it was for the best.
Not me.
Yelena was mine, and I was keeping her by my side.
Yes, my life was dangerous because of my criminal activities but so was life in general. So call me a selfish bastard. The devil incarnate. An absolute cad. But she was staying with me. Forever. I would keep her safe. And no one… no one… would love her more. Every day of her life, I was going to show her how much she was wanted and adored. She had spent enough time in her short life feeling unwanted and unloved. The last thing I was going to do was send her away “for her own good.” Fuck that.
I was what was good for Yelena.
I may have been stubborn and controlling and a pain in the ass, and I was absolutely certain that I hadn’t seen the last time she’d try to hit me with a brick or stab me with a knife, but I didn’t care. I was good for her, and she was everything for me. She was the fire and light in my life that chased away the unforgiving cold darkness. I wanted that light and craved her warmth.
No, I had made up my mind several years ago, and I had no intention of changing it.
She was mine.
And I was going to make it official — now — this very day.
Vaska looked over his shoulder from the front passenger seat. “You know, we’ve started a real mess with the Los Infieles.”
Dimitri met my gaze in the rearview mirror. “True. They’ll definitely seek revenge. We’re going to have a real war on our hands.”
All three of us burst out laughing.
I cringed and held my finger to my lips as Yelena stirred but then fell back to sleep. My poor baby was exhausted.
There was nothing a Russian liked more than a good fight. Today was just the start. In a week, we would have the Los Infieles wiped off the map. We would send a very clear message. Don’t fuck with us, and never under any circumstances do you fuck with our women.
Vaska held up his phone showing me a text. “The judge just confirmed. He’ll meet us at Dimitri’s.”
I nodded.
“Should we get the girls for the ceremony?” asked Dimitri.
They had taken Emma and Mary to a safe house that was more fortified than Fort Knox somewhere outside of Chicago. It was the primary reason why it was only the three of us that went after Santiago. We knew we could handle the bastard and his men alone, and we wanted every available man in our combined crews guarding the girls. After what had happened to Samara last night and now Yelena today, we weren’t taking any more chances with our women’s safety.
Vaska shook his head and shuddered. “I’m going to need to get my hands on some police riot gear before even considering approaching Mary after what I pulled this afternoon.”
Dimitri rolled his eyes. “You’re getting off easy. I had to promise Emma I’d take her to D.C. for a Shakespeare lecture series on the conflicts between platonic love and carnal desire in his sonnets.”
Vaska raised an eyebrow. “You don’t suppose they have any lectures on that weird vampire show Mary likes?”
Dimitri shook his head. “Doubt it.”
We pulled into Dimitri’s underground parking garage. I carried Yelena up to Dimitri’s master bedroom. I would have liked to have brought her to my own home, but that would have to wait till later today when I took her to Washington, D.C. The Ivanov plane was arriving at Midway in the next twenty minutes.
I stood for a moment in indecision. Dimitri’s entire bedroom was in pale creams and golds including the bed covering. Both Yelena and I were covered in dirt, mud, and blood. With a shrug, I placed her in the center of the bed. I would just have to pay him back for any damage. She curled up in a small ball just like a little chipmunk.
I headed into the bathroom and started the shower. It was a large chamber with multiple shower heads. Waiting till the water was nice and hot, and there was a pleasant steam rising inside the glassed-in chamber, I went to awaken Yelena.
“Baby?
Sweetheart, wake up.”
She opened her eyes and groaned, closing them instantly.
I stroked her cheek. She opened her eyes again. I was pleased to see none of the horror or fear inside the crystal blue depths this time. She rose up and stretched out her arms. My jaw tightened when I saw the harsh red mark which encircled her right wrist from where she had been handcuffed in the stall. If I could, I’d kill Santiago all over again. I would just have to be alright with wiping his entire organization and any family members I found off the map, but that was a plan for later. Right now, my focus was Yelena.
All traces of fatigue gone, she jumped up. “Oh my God!”
I clenched my fists.
Here it comes. The anger. The recriminations. The blame. It was my fault. All of it. Sure, she had annoyed the Columbians with her racetrack scheme, but the real reason why they decided to finally come after her was me. I was the liability, not her. I was blaming her actions when really it was me and my business which had actually put her in danger. Now that the shock of what had happened was wearing off, she was probably realizing just that. She would blame me, and she had every right to. She would probably demand to be set free…
Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that. I would never do that. She was mine. I would just have to figure out a way to convince her of that fact.
She looked down at her hoodie and cried out in dismay. “I’m covered in mud!”
“Wait… what?”
She picked at the soiled fabric which was stiff with dried mud and blood. “Look at me! This is disgusting!”
With a shout of joy, I snatched her to me and kissed her. I hope my angel never changed.
She pulled away, straining her head to the left. “Stop! I’m gross!”
“No, you’re not. You’re the most beautiful, sexiest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on!” I picked her up and carried her into the bathroom.
The moment I set her down, she yanked on the zipper to her hoodie. It was so caked in dried mud it was stuck. Pushing her hands away, I unzipped it for her and pulled it off her shoulders. The t-shirt underneath had sagged around the V-neck showing a glimpse of her white lace bra. My cock surged to life, but I ignored the urge to strip her bare and carry her into the shower. I may have acted like a Neanderthal around her sometimes, but this wouldn’t be one of those times.
“Take your time in the shower. When you’re done, there is a closet just to the left in the bedroom full of Emma’s clothes. She said to help yourself to whatever you need.”
“Thank you,” she said shyly.
“Meet me downstairs when you’re done.”
She nodded.
I turned to leave but not without glancing over my shoulder to see her start to undress. Resisting the urge once more to join her, I forced myself to keep walking. I needed to talk to the judge and sign off on the marriage certificate, so he could marry us the moment she was done getting dressed.
I had almost lost her. I wasn’t taking any more chances.
She would be my wife in less than an hour.
Chapter 34
Yelena
The shower felt heavenly. I twisted and turned, letting the shower heads massage my aching body. The water was hotter than I usually liked it, but this time I relished in the heat and steam as it washed away the nightmare I had just endured.
It was probably the shock but it really did feel like just that… a nightmare. A horrible dream. Like it didn’t really happen. Probably because Damien had rescued me so quickly that the terror of my situation didn’t have time to truly sink in.
He really was magnificent. The way he'd kicked in that stable door. Guns at the ready. He was like an action movie star. I'd known the moment I heard the first exchange of gunfire that it was Damien coming for me. Strangely, even as Santiago had come in and put a gun to my head, I knew, deep down to my bones, I knew Damien would get to me in time. There was just something about him.
He was dangerous and stubborn and way too controlling, but all those same attributes made me trust him with my life.
After I washed the last of the dirt and mud out of my hair, I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a soft, fluffy oversized towel. Walking over to the mirror, I combed my fingers through my hair to get rid of the tangles. I found a hair dryer under the sink, dried my hair, and was finally feeling close to human again.
Remembering what Damien had said about Emma’s closet, I wandered back into the bedroom, cringing at the smears of mud on their nice bed coverlet. Leave it to a man to not care about such things.
When I reached the closet, I laughed at the framed poster of a book cover titled The Nympho Librarian that was hanging to the right of the door. Flicking on the light, I ran my fingers over the various clothes which hung in neat rows. It was clear Emma didn’t care about designer labels, but she did have really cute taste. Taking down one of the plaid pleated skirts, I held it up to my hips and cringed. We looked to be the same size, but I was an inch or two taller which would make her already short skirts scandalously short on me.
I decided on a pretty floral maxi dress. I had to add a pale pink cardigan because of the way the tops of my breasts spilled out of the low neckline. Thankfully we wore the same size shoes. I selected a simple black ballet flat.
Finding a notepad and pen on top of the inlaid bureau at the other end of the closet, I wrote her a note thanking her and promising to pay her back. I hadn’t met her, but from the snippets I had heard from her husband, Dimitri, I was sure I’d like her. Thinking of Emma made me think of Samara and Nadia. I missed them both terribly. I couldn’t wait to be reunited with them.
Exiting the bedroom, I walked down the stairs and followed the muted sound of conversation till I found them in a beautiful study. Every wall was covered in bookshelves which were filled with richly bound books in blue, green, and maroon leather with gold imprints. There was a large marble fireplace which had a roaring fire already going to chase away the winter chill that had started to set in now that the sun had gone down.
Standing in front of the fire was Damien, Dimitri, and Vaska. I was struck by how handsome the three were. Although not related, they all shared that same dangerous mystique which came with the territory when you were over six feet tall, heavily muscled, and covered in tattoos. In short, they all looked like crazy badasses.
Unlike me, none of them had showered or changed yet. They stood casually chatting in their mud-caked black fatigues with drinks in their hands as if they were in designer suits at a party.
“This must be the bride.”
I turned at the sound of the voice. An elderly gentleman I hadn’t noticed dressed in a terribly misfitting brown suit approached me. He snatched up my hand and enclosed it with both of his, pumping mine up and down vigorously.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?”
Damien rushed over.
Pointing to the elderly man, I asked, “What did he just call me?”
The elderly man continued to talk over me. “Damien, your bride is a beauty. No wonder you are in such a rush to marry her.” He laughed giving Damien an exaggerated conspirator wink.
My eyes widened in shock. “Marry? Marry!”
Damien placed restraining hands on my shoulders. “Yelena, we’ve already talked about this.”
I shook my head. “No. You. You talked about it. I never agreed to it.”
Sure, I loved him, but what did that mean? We had barely been together for twenty-four hours, and he expected me to marry him? This was insane. Besides, this was hardly the wedding of my little girl dreams. There was no church draped in sweet smelling flowers, or Vera Wang dress with a long train or even champagne and dancing. Technically, he hadn’t even proposed! It’s not like I needed a big expensive ring, but didn’t I at least deserve a traditional proposal?
His voice had lowered an octave, a sure sign he was getting angry. “This is for your own good.”
I didn’t care. I broke free of his grasp. “I’m standing here in ill-fitting bor
rowed clothes.” I gestured wildly in his direction. “You are covered in mud and the blood of the lunatic who just kidnapped me!”
Damien ran a hand through his hair. “Exactly! You were fucking kidnapped! Jesus Christ, Yelena, I almost lost you. I’m not going to take that chance again. The Ivanov name brings protection. No one would dare harm my wife.”
He just didn’t get it.
I didn’t want him to marry me to protect me.
I wanted him to marry me because he loved me!
I wanted a pretty wedding not for the sake of having a pretty wedding but to finally feel like I belonged and was worth something. My real father didn’t want me. My mother left me, and my stepfather never let a day go past without telling me I was an unwanted burden. Was it asking too much to have something real that was just for me? This half-assed, slapped together shotgun wedding wasn’t it.
Angrily swiping at the tears which began to fall, I backed away from him. “Sometimes, I really hate you, Damien Ivanov.”
I stormed out of the room.
Chapter 35
Yelena
Rushing past several doors, I opened the set of double doors at the end of the hall.
The floor of the large square room was covered wall to wall with padded mats. Even the walls were padded. In the corner was a canvas cart on wheels filled with sparring gloves, helmets, and pugil sticks. In the far corner was a punching bag and a pommel horse. It looked to be a private fighting gym.
The double doors banged open. Damien crossed the threshold. With a pointed look at me, he slammed the doors shut and locked them.
