by Zoe Blake
I rolled my eyes. “You know what was me?”
“Frank. He said he had a big payday coming and last I heard from him he was headed to your apartment.”
I kept my face impassive. I would not admit anything to these two jackasses. “So?”
Aunt Susan jabbed me in the shoulder again. “Don’t pretend you didn’t see him.” She jutted her chin out. “I recognize his handiwork.”
My fingers touched the edge of my black eye. “I saw him. I didn’t have his money, and he left.”
She rubbed the back of her hand under her nose before asking, “You think we’re stupid?”
I couldn’t help but glance at Justin. I thought one of them was stupid, but I knew my aunt was not.
“We know he’s dead. Harold too. And we know it’s your new thug boyfriend who did it.”
“He’s not my boyfriend and I know nothing about it.”
How the fuck did they have so much information? I would have to warn Ivan someone in his operation had a big mouth. True to my family, neither of them was showing so much as an ounce of remorse at the death of their husband and father. In a way, it took a burden off me. It was hard to feel guilty about a man’s death when his own wife and son didn’t give a damn he was gone.
Justin took a step closer.
I backed up a step but could go no further. A small river of slime and garbage ran parallel to the wall. “Yeah, well, now you owe us. Big.”
“I don’t owe either of you shit.”
They had a lot of fucking nerve dragging me into this disgusting alley, talking about how I owed them. Two people who’d done nothing when my father was carted off to jail. Who’d done even less when my mother died and I was sent into the foster care system. Did they think I didn’t know child services approached them as the next of kin and they refused to take me in? Ivan was right. My uncles were trash who cared nothing for me, and my aunt and cousin were no better.
Aunt Susan cackled. “We thought you’d say that, so we brought a little insurance. Remember Englewood?”
She opened her worn leather handbag and pulled out a wrinkled Ziploc bag. Inside was a .38 special revolver.
I recognized it immediately. “You said you got rid of that.”
She lifted one shoulder. “I lied.”
Fuck.
I knew my past would come back to haunt me one day. I just fucking knew it. And there it was, the proof of the biggest mistake I ever made, locked in a stupid Ziploc bag. I should have known not to trust my aunt, but I’d been young and afraid, only sixteen and running with a dangerous crowd. One night, they knocked off a liquor store. I knew nothing about it. I was in the back seat of the car like an idiot, thinking they were just going to steal some beer and cigarettes. Unfortunately, the clerk was shot and killed. A so-called friend of mine at the time shoved the gun in my purse and told me to get rid of it. Scared and not knowing what to do, I went to my aunt’s house and begged for help.
After that incident, I’d straightened up my act. I started paying attention in school. Went to college and got my real estate license. It was the catalyst for me slamming the brakes on the rolling dumpster fire my life had been headed toward becoming.
Trying to play it cool, I said, “So what? I didn’t shoot the guy.”
“Yes, but you were dumb enough to touch the gun. Your prints are all over it. And when I tell the cops how you confessed to me…”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me, bitch.”
I narrowed my eyes. I knew my family too well to think she was going to go to the cops just to turn me in. “What do you want?”
She smiled. “That’s better. It’s real simple. Your new boyfriend is getting a shipment of guns in tonight. We want to know where and when.”
I knew about that shipment. That was the phone call Ivan was on this morning. “Look, I only just met the guy. He doesn’t talk about his business with me. I know nothing about it.”
Justin cracked his knuckles. “Hey, Mom, maybe I should give her another black eye. It’s the only way dumb bitches like this listen.”
My gaze shifted between the two of them, then glanced down at both ends of the alley. There was no one in sight.
Aunt Susan put a restraining hand on her son. “You don’t know? Fine. Then find out.”
“You can’t do this to me. What if he doesn’t tell me?”
“You better hope he does, or I drop this gun off to the cops with a note on where to find you. You think you’re so much better than us with your college degree and fancy clothes. Let me tell you something, the Prescott blood still runs in your veins, honey. You’re no better than us and you’ll spend the rest of your life in jail just like your pathetic father.”
I blinked back tears, not wanting to show them any weakness. I was completely fucked. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind she would fucking do it. She would turn in her only niece just out of pure spite.
My stomach twisted with disgust and loathing for the pair of them. “If I do this, you give me the gun and I never hear from either of you ever again.”
Aunt Susan raised her arm and crossed her heart. “You have my word. Get me the time and the place and we’re square.”
I rolled my eyes. Her word. Whatever that was worth.
Before I could respond, we all turned at the sound of screeching tires. A sleek Mercedes Benz jumped the curb at the end of the alley. Before the car had even come to a full stop, the driver emerged. It was Ivan. Even from this distance, I could see his face twisted in a mask of rage. His winter coat flapped around him as he stormed toward us, like a dark avenging demon—with his gun drawn.
My aunt and cousin booked it down the alley. I covered my head and crouched as several bullets pinged off the metal dumpsters.
By the time Ivan reached me, they had escaped. Ivan grabbed me by the shoulders. His eyes were chips of fiery ice as he glared down at me. “Baby, are you okay?”
“I’m… I’m fine.”
He pulled me into his embrace, enveloping me inside his warm coat. I pressed my ear to his chest. His heart was pounding as he wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. It was as if all the cold and filth and fear just disappeared.
His hand cupped the back of my skull as he pressed me even closer. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head and murmured, “Iisus Khristos, detka, ty do smerti napugal menya.”
I didn’t have to ask him what he said. I knew just from his hard embrace.
He picked me up and carried me back to his car. After placing me in the passenger seat, he leaned over and buckled the seat belt as if securing a child. When he got in the car, we didn’t pull away at first. He just sat there, staring straight ahead. His fingers grabbed the steering wheel as he took deep, controlled breaths.
I reached for a curl and twisted it around my finger, uncertain of what to do. Finally, I whispered, “Ivan, I—”
A tic appeared above his right cheek as he ground out, “Don’t. Not one fucking word, Dylan.”
I swallowed and sank deeper into my seat.
He threw the car into reverse and slammed on the gas. The car revved to life and careened backward onto the asphalt. The tires again screeched as he threw it into drive and raced down the street.
We drove for several more minutes before I dared to ask, “How did you find me?”
“How the fuck do you think? I tracked your phone.”
He couldn’t possibly know why I had left or what my aunt’s intentions were, which meant he was angry only that I left without his permission. Now that the danger had passed, my anger was boiling to the surface. “You tracked me? Why don’t you just put an ankle monitor on me or better yet stick a microchip in me?”
His face was a mask of fury as he turned to me and growled, “Don’t think I won’t.”
“You say you want to be with me, but you don’t trust me. You want to keep me caged up like some pet bird.”
His fingers flexed, then gripped the steering wheel harder. “You’re
damn right I do.”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Yeah, well, you can’t watch me twenty-four/seven. The first chance I get, I’m fucking gone.”
I didn’t even know why I was saying these things. I was worked up and angry and scared and confused about what I was going to do about my aunt and taking it all out on Ivan. After all, he had a pretty damn good reason to be mad. He had found me backed up against some dumpsters in some shady-as-fuck back alley in a bad part of town.
Without saying another word, Ivan took a sharp right off the main road. After several more lefts and rights, we were in the affluent Lincoln Park neighborhood. He turned onto Burling Street and pulled into the driveway of a large sandstone mansion. He hit a button and the garage door went up. He pulled forward.
“Where the hell are we?”
He refused to answer as he got out of the car and circled around to my side. He opened my door. “Get out.”
“Not until you tell me where we are.”
“We are at Dimitri and Emma’s house, now get out.”
“Why are we here?”
“Dylan, I’m not going to play twenty questions with you. Get out of the fucking car.”
I slinked out, slipping under his arm as I stepped away from the car, placing some distance between us. He slammed the door shut.
Keeping his heated gaze trained on me, he shrugged out of his coat, then his suit jacket.
I backed a few steps away. “What are you doing?”
He methodically rolled up one shirtsleeve, then the other. “Why were you meeting with your aunt?”
My mouth dropped open. “How did you know she was my aunt?”
“It’s my business to know everything about you. Now answer my question.”
I fidgeted with the belt of my coat. “She wanted to ask me if I had seen my uncle Frank.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not!”
“Yes, you are. Have you forgotten rule number one?”
Never lie to him. “No.”
He took several steps toward me. “Then I’ll ask you again. Why were you meeting with your aunt?”
I circled around the car. “She wanted to know about Frank. I didn’t tell her anything.”
He slowly shook his head. “I have already warned you how much I hate having to repeat myself. I have now asked you twice and twice you have lied to me.”
He reached down and unbuckled his belt. I watched in horror as he slid it through the belt loops and stretched it out between his fists before folding it in half.
I held up my hand, palm out. “Okay, fine. She wanted to know where the money was. She thought I still had it stashed somewhere. She said I owed her a cut.”
His gaze scanned my face. I held my breath. Finally, he spoke. “And what did you tell her?”
I swallowed. I could do this. “I… I told her the truth. That some Russians had taken the money. That Uncle Frank hit me when he found out and that I hadn’t seen him since.”
“How would she know he’s dead? There’s no way they found the body.”
I looked down at my fidgeting hands. “She assumes he is. He and my other uncle. She knew they were up to no good and that they had crossed you… crossed some powerful Russians, I mean.”
The lies were coming easier now.
He tapped the belt against his thigh. “Take off your coat.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Take. Off. Your. Coat.”
“Why?”
His eyes narrowed. “Go ahead, Dylan. Keep asking questions instead of obeying me and find out what happens.”
Seeing no other option, I took off my coat. He stepped toward me. It took all I had to stand my ground. He wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled me close. “You were a very bad girl. You disobeyed me. Again.”
“I’m sorry.”
“How can I protect you? How can I keep you safe if you don’t listen to me?”
“I promise. I won’t do it again.”
He kissed me on the forehead. “I’m going to make sure of that.” With that, he applied pressure to my neck, bending me in half over the still-warm hood of his car.
“Wait! Please!”
He reached for the hem of my skirt and flipped it up. “No. I’m angry. I’ve already told you what happens when I get angry.”
Either someone gets killed or fucked.
I was fairly certain he wasn’t going to kill me.
My thighs clenched.
His finger played with the strap of my hot pink thong. “I’m going to whip this ass until it’s brighter than your panties.”
I swallowed a sob.
He took a step back.
I braced myself.
My body rocked forward with the first strike. “Oh, God! Oh, God! Ow! Ow!”
It stung so badly, partially from the strike of his belt and partially from it being the first hit. He struck me again and again. My skin was on fire. I danced on my toes as my fingers clawed at the smooth metal surface of the hood.
“Please stop! I learned my lesson.”
His large hand pushed up my turtleneck and rubbed my lower back before caressing my punished ass cheeks. “Not yet, you haven’t.”
I endured several more swats from his leather belt. The garage echoed with the crack of each strike on my skin. After what seemed an eternity, he stopped. He lowered the zipper on his pants and stepped up behind me. His thighs pressed into mine as his hand gripped my hair.
“What do you say?”
I sobbed. “I don’t know.”
“Beg me to fuck you. Tell me what a bad little doll you were today.”
I hesitated, and he pulled on my hair. Sniffing, I whimpered, “I was bad, please fuck me.”
He kicked my legs open wider. A tremor of twisted excitement raced over my body. It was so wrong and yet I couldn’t help it. There was just something so dirty, so primal about the way he punished me and then fucked me. My mind screamed no, while my body screamed yes. He was just so big and powerful and masterful. I couldn’t help but submit to him.
His cock pushed at my entrance. Like a wanton, I thrust my hips back.
He moved his hands to my hips and thrust in. Deep.
I cried out as my body struggled to adjust to his size.
Not giving me even a moment, he pulled free and thrust again and again. This wasn’t sex. It was punishment. A punishment I fully deserved.
His hand moved to my ass, squeezing the already sore flesh. The spike of pain and show of dominance sent me over the edge. I banged my fist on the car as I pushed my hips back in a steady rhythm with his thrusts as wave after wave hit me. He thrust several more times and then came with a roar.
His large body collapsed forward. With his forearms on either side of my head, he leaned down to rasp in my ear, “Don’t you ever… ever… scare me like that again.”
“I won’t,” I breathed.
I was lying.
Chapter 25
Ivan
She came downstairs in an oversized hoodie and leggings. She looked adorable. “Mary and Emma are going to think I have no clothes of my own if I keep borrowing theirs.”
I lifted the McDonald’s bag. “You need to eat.”
She sighed. “You and McDonald’s again. You know Chicago is known for its pretty amazing restaurants.”
I shrugged as I pulled the food out of the bag and put it on the kitchen table. “I like the nuggets.”
She grabbed a fry. “Where are Emma and Dimitri? Aren’t they going to mind us crashing in their house?”
“They are at a doctor’s appointment. They’ll be back soon.”
“Why are we here?”
“Because this place has better security and more guards than the hotel.”
She unwrapped a straw and drove it through the plastic lid of one of the Cokes. “So, if I was to stay with you, would this be my life now? Locked doors, tracked phones, and guards?”
I placed a box of chicken nuggets in front of her and o
pened each of the sauce packets before placing them within reach. “There is no ‘if’ about it, and yes, if you don’t learn to behave.”
I was being hard on her, but I didn’t care. She’d put herself in danger by slipping her guard today. When I realized what part of town she was in and then pulled up to find her in a fucking alley being confronted by her relatives, I damn near lost my mind. She had looked so small and vulnerable in that moment.
I frowned. “How old are you, anyway?”
Without missing a beat, she responded, “If you have to ask, you’re too old for me.”
I grasped her chin with my hand. “I’m serious.”
“I’m twenty-five. I’m also a Sagittarius and hate long walks on the beach. How old are you?”
“Thirty-five.”
“See, way too old.”
“Shut up before I spank your bare ass again.”
She dipped a nugget in mustard sauce. “We’re doing it again.”
“What?”
“Being all boyfriend and girlfriend-like as if any of this was normal. As if we didn’t just fuck on the hood of a freaking car less than an hour ago.”
I unwrapped my quarter pounder with cheese. “Has it occurred to you we are well-suited for one another? And that we get along in these unguarded moments because you actually like me.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Nope.”
I gave her hair a playful tug. “Brat.”
We ate in silence for a few moments.
Finally, she asked, “You really believe that?”
I winked. “I do.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“The truth?”
She leaned back and stared at me for a moment, her dark brown eyes unreadable. “I’m probably going to regret this, but yes.”
I pushed the food aside and pulled her onto my lap. I pushed her hair back off her shoulder and stroked the edge of her jaw. I then stroked her bottom lip with my thumb. “Sometimes sex is just sex. In fact, most of the time it’s just sex. And then you meet this feisty little ball of fire and suddenly sex becomes this religious experience.”
“Stop.”
“I’m serious. There’s a raw honesty in fucking. The moment I sank my cock deep in that sweet pussy of yours, I knew.”
