by Zoe Blake
Emma rolled her eyes. “You know that’s a pregnancy stereotype. I haven’t once craved anything so silly.”
Mary shrugged. “I know that, but he doesn’t.”
I gestured back to the guard. “Shouldn’t we tell him what’s going on? Maybe they can help?”
Emma and Mary exchanged a look, then both shook their heads. “You’ll learn. The boys’ business is strictly need to know. They only trust a handful of men with the location of their exchanges. We can’t be sure if this guard is in the inner circle yet.”
We got into her cherry red Mustang and pulled away from the curb.
“Aren’t they going to follow us? I just assumed you both were followed around by guards all the time.”
Mary smiled as she pulled on the gearshift. “They’ll try.”
The car was silent as we raced through the night. Each lost in our own thoughts. Mary and Emma worried about the men they loved, me wondering if I had ruined my only chance at love.
Ivan would never forgive me for this betrayal. Rule number one, never lie to him. I had looked him straight in the face and lied to him. I had placed him and his friends in danger because I’d selfishly wanted to save myself.
The moment I sent that text to my aunt, I regretted it.
All I could think about was Ivan and how disappointed he would be. Sure, he was overbearing, possessive, and definitely domineering, but he was also funny and sweet and generous. I couldn’t help but smile, thinking about his love of crappy McDonald’s cheeseburgers and the way his eyebrow quirked up whenever he was trying to make a point. I thought about how he stood up for me with Oliver. No one had ever done that before. And sure, it was insanely overstepping, but if I overlooked that part, him installing a better lock on my door was really endearing.
Emma’s words kept coming back to haunt me. From the moment Ivan met me, he kept insisting that him chasing after me had nothing to do with the money. I hadn’t believed him because it was just insane to think a guy would be more interested in me than half a million dollars in cash. Yet, taking a step back and really thinking about these last few days, I realized that all of his actions pointed to him caring more about me than the money or my family.
The pearls.
The crazy funny room service.
The clothes.
Him worrying about the safety of my apartment.
The undivided attention.
The mind-blowing sex.
The freaking nonstop oral sex, which was way more telling than the actual sex.
And hell… He actually flat out told me several times that he cared about me.
I buried my face in my hands. I mean, what the fuck, the guy killed my uncle for giving me a black eye. What more proof did a girl need that a guy cared about her? How could I have been so fucking stupid? I was like the chick in the horror movies who ran straight into the abandoned cabin in the woods.
Oh, God, I think I’m in love with Ivan… and I may have just gotten him killed.
The moment my aunt and cousin threatened me, I should have gone straight to Ivan and told him the whole story. He probably would have handled it for me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Sure, I wasn’t exactly used to asking anyone for help, but that was no excuse. If anyone got hurt tonight, it would be on my head.
Mary parked behind a car on a quiet block near the cemetery. “That’s Vaska’s car. They always park a block away.”
“How do you know all this stuff?” asked Emma.
Mary shrugged. “I’m nosy.”
“Dimitri never tells me any of this stuff.”
“That’s because you’re not as stubbornly annoying as I am.”
She nodded. “That’s true. I would never have the balls to replace all of our living room furniture with beanbags until he gave in on my stupid vampire theme park ideas.”
“Hey, gothic is a true aesthetic.” She unbuckled her seat belt. “Now stay here. Come on, Dylan.”
As we got closer to the warehouse, we circled around the back. There was a beam of light from the open loading dock door. Careful to avoid it, we crept up the cement stairs and strained to listen. There was the sound of several male voices lifted in anger. My stomach clenched.
“What are they saying?” whispered a disembodied voice.
Mary and I both jumped and turned around.
“Emma,” I rasped harshly, “you were supposed to stay in the car!”
Before she could give an explanation, the shouts inside the warehouse got louder.
I winced. “Fuck, I need to go in there. They’re my relatives. They’ll listen to me.”
Mary grabbed my upper arm and held me back. “You can’t just barge in there.”
I pulled free. “I don’t have a choice.”
Before she could stop me, I bolted for the loading dock entrance, stumbling into the warehouse.
I didn’t know what to say, so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Stop! Police!”
Chapter 27
Ivan
I watched the men we were meeting with turn as they reached into their jackets for their weapons.
In horror, I looked beyond them to see Dylan standing in the middle of the warehouse. A prime vulnerable target. There was no time to draw my weapon. With a roar, I lunged for the center man, who had the best aim at Dylan. Hitting him with full force, we both toppled to the ground. I rolled, pulled my gun, and fired at a second man. He dropped as I struck his kneecap. His gun fired several times as he fell.
By then Dimitri, Maxim, and Vaska were returning fire. I rose and ran for Dylan as if the hounds of hell were on my heels. She was still standing in petrified shock as bullets struck the wood crates behind her, covering her in a halo of dust and splinters. The moment I reached her, I wrapped her in my arms as we fell. I turned my shoulder, taking the full impact of the hard cement as we struck the floor. I rolled and covered her body with my own, shielding her from the flying bullets.
Keeping my back to the danger, I ordered, “Run!”
Dylan hesitated, turning frightened eyes up to me. “I’m not leaving you!”
I gave her a hard kiss on the lips as I absorbed the impact of a bullet to my side. I ground out, “Please, baby. Run.”
I rose to my knees and turned, pulling the second handgun I had tucked into my back waistband. I fired using both hands, giving Dylan enough cover to dive behind an enormous pile of crates. Not wanting my friends to get caught in the crossfire, I called upon my sniper training in the military to choose my targets swiftly and strike with deadly accuracy. Head shots only.
It lasted for hours.
It lasted for seconds.
The air was heavy with the smell of smoke, blood, and dirt.
After all that chaos, an eerie calm settled over the warehouse.
I surveyed the carnage. Dimitri, Vaska, Maxim, and our two men who had been in another part of the warehouse when the shooting started were unharmed. Our clients were dead.
I ran around the crates and grabbed Dylan by the shoulders.
Tears streaked down her face. “I’m so sorry—”
I cut off her apology with my mouth. I gripped her head in my hands and held her tight as I captured her lips and sank my tongue in deep, needing to taste her. Needing to breathe her same air to reassure my racing heart that she was still alive. I crushed her body to mine, needing to feel her heartbeat. When I finally let her break away, again she tried to apologize.
“I’m so sorry. It was a trap. My aunt—”
“Hush, baby. I know everything.”
Her small hands grasped at my shirt. “No. No. You don’t. I betrayed you. I lied to you. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”
I pushed her head against my chest as I held her tight, trying to soothe her racking sobs.
She turned her head and gasped. “Are they dead?”
I shifted my body to shield her from the view of the bodies. “Shhh, don’t worry about that.”
“But they’re dead because of me. I didn’t
know what to do. I thought they were my aunt and cousin. I figured they’d run if I yelled police. I didn’t know they’d start shooting,” she rambled miserably.
I cupped her jaw and lifted her tearstained face to mine. I swiped at the tears with my thumbs. “Baby girl, why are you here?”
“I… I… needed to warn you. They’re dead and they almost killed you and the others. It’s all my fault.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
“How could I not worry about that?”
I shrugged. “They were bad men, someone would have killed them, eventually.”
“Is that the best you can do?”
I winked as I stroked her cheek. “I’ll try to think of something better later.”
Vaska called out to us, “Ivan, take your girl back to Dimitri’s. We’ll call in a clean-up crew to take out the trash.”
Before I could answer, we heard a cry for help.
Vaska turned. “What the fuck? That’s Mary.”
Dylan’s eyes widened as she bolted for the loading dock door. We followed.
Mary was next to Emma, who was on the ground, her clothes drenched.
Dimitri shoved past us. He fell to his knees and gathered her in his arms.
We all assumed the worst. A stray bullet must have hit her.
Dimitri threw his head back and let out a primal roar as he clutched her to his chest.
Mary grabbed his shoulder. “Dimitri, it’s okay! It’s okay! But we need to get her to the hospital.”
Tears streamed down his face as he reluctantly pulled back and surveyed the limp body of the woman he loved. I clutched Dylan’s sobbing body to my own. My heart seized. I couldn’t imagine Dimitri’s pain, especially knowing how close I came to losing Dylan just a few minutes earlier. She had only been in my life a short while and yet I already knew I wouldn’t be able to live without her. The moment I met her changed everything. Thinking of losing her was like imagining being cast back into the cold darkness after feeling the warmth of the sun.
With a jerk, Emma’s eyes flew open.
“Moya kroshka?” Dimitri rasped as he grabbed her shoulders and searched her pale face.
Mary spoke up. “She fainted when her water broke.”
We all stared at Emma’s supine form in stunned silence.
That news spurred Dimitri into action. He gathered Emma into his arms as he shouted orders for his car to be brought around. When the car was pulled up to the loading dock, Dimitri gingerly placed Emma in the back seat and then settled her on his lap. Vaska jumped behind the steering wheel as Mary got into the passenger seat. They raced off toward the nearest hospital.
I turned to Dylan, looking her up and down as I grabbed her hand. “Where’s your damn coat?”
“I didn’t have time to put it on. I was a little upset!” she grumbled.
I headed toward my car.
Dylan pulled back. “Oh, my God!”
I turned to see her covering her mouth as she stared at me.
She cried out, “You’re bleeding.”
I looked down to see my shirt soaked in blood. In my concern for Dylan and then Emma, I’d barely noticed the bullet wound.
Dylan started tearing at my shirt. Pulling it out of the waistband and lifting it up to survey the damage.
“Don’t worry, moy malen’kaya kukla. It is just a scratch. I’ve had far worse.”
She wasn’t listening to me. “We need to get you to a hospital. Quick, we’ll follow them.”
“No. No hospitals.”
“Are you crazy? You’re wounded.”
“Hospitals report bullet wounds. It’s a pain in the ass suppressing the report and tracking down all the staff to bribe or threaten them to keep their mouths shut.”
“You need medical attention.”
Maxim approached us. He nodded in my direction. “Scratch or worse?”
I shrugged. “A scratch.”
“Need supplies?”
I shook my head. “I have some at the hotel.”
He nodded. “You good then?”
“All set.”
Dylan looked between the two of us, incredulous. “How can you be so casual about this?”
I kissed her forehead. “Hazard of the job. Come on.”
Dylan insisted on driving us back to the hotel. Even though I was perfectly capable of driving, I gave in since it seemed to calm her. We entered the suite, and I crossed through the bedroom to the bathroom with her close on my heels. I pulled out the medical kit I always carried. Normal medical kits weren’t really equipped with enough gauze and other supplies for bullet wounds.
I turned to Dylan as I unbuttoned my bloodied shirt and shrugged it off. “Care to play doctor?”
Her face was pale, and her lips pinched. “This isn’t funny.”
I lifted her chin with my finger. “I’m sorry, baby. You’re right.”
She sniffed. “I’ll help bandage you up and then leave you alone.”
My brow furrowed. My voice was harsher and louder than I intended when I shouted, “What?”
She jumped. “I lied to you. I broke rule number one in the biggest way possible. I got you shot, and your friends almost killed. Emma’s in fucking labor, probably because of me.”
“And?”
“And? What do you mean, and? I’m a terror. A menace. From the moment you met me I’ve been nothing but trouble.”
“So? I happen to like trouble. It makes life interesting. Besides, I’ve already made it clear. You’re mine and you’re not fucking leaving me.”
Her eyes widened. “You still want to be with me?”
“Fuck, yeah, I do. Jesus, woman, how many times do I have to make it clear to you that you’re not going anywhere?”
Her lower lip trembled. “I thought you’d be mad.”
I pulled her closer, not giving a damn I was getting blood on her. I stroked her hair as I whispered gently in her ear, “Oh, baby girl, I’m beyond furious, and when this is all over, I’m going to punish that ass so hard with my belt you won’t sit for a week.”
She gasped and tried to pull away, but I tightened my grasp and continued, “You’ve made me angry today, and you’ll probably piss me off again tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I’m never leaving you. And you’re sure as fuck never leaving me. I won’t let you. This is forever.”
I pulled back to stare into her beautiful brown eyes. “I don’t expect you to love me yet, but I know I’m the right man for you, and I’ll fight to keep you by my side until you know it too.”
She leaned up and gently kissed me. It was all I needed. I knew she couldn’t say the words yet. It was too soon. Her family’s cruelty and neglect had scarred her. She was my fragile little doll. I had to handle her carefully, but one day I’d hear the words. For now, her kiss was more than enough.
Hours later, we arrived at the hospital in time to see Dimitri emerge from the maternity ward with a tiny bundle cradled in his arms. “I’d like everyone to meet Elizabeth Katerina, my daughter.”
Epilogue
Dylan
Moscow, Russia, three months later
I chose my words carefully. “Spasibo za koz’yu krov’.”
Ivan burst out laughing at the server’s confused frown.
I gave Ivan a playful punch on the shoulder. “What did I say?”
He waved me off as he kept laughing.
I turned to the server and repeated in English, “What did I say?”
The server cast a nervous glance at Ivan without responding. One thing I’d noticed since coming to Moscow was people gave Ivan as many scared looks here as they did in America. For some reason, I thought he’d look less scary among his own countrymen, but nope. He was still a super tall, tattooed wall of muscle that people crossed the street to avoid. If only they knew what a cute teddy bear he really was on the inside, at least with me.
Ivan nodded his permission to the server, who smiled sheepishly then responded in heavily accented English, “You th
anked me for the goat’s blood.”
“Crap,” I pouted. “What’s red wine again?”
Ivan leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Krasnoye vino.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
Damn, I loved when he rasped in my ear with that sexy AF growl of his.
We had been in Moscow for a few months now. He thought he was very close to convincing me to move here full-time. Of course, I thought I was just as close to convincing him to move to America full-time. He was at least helping me get my CIPS license, which would allow me to become a certified international property specialist, which was way cooler than just a real estate broker. Once I got certified, I could sell real estate anywhere in the world.
Ivan still wasn’t keen on me working, but we compromised. All my clients would be friends or business associates of his. Since most of his friends were filthy rich like him, and didn’t mind dropping a kajillion dollars on a house, I thought I’d made out better on that deal.
After the server poured our wine and left, Ivan slid a small red Cartier box across the table.
I looked down at it but didn’t open it. “What’s that?”
He raised an eyebrow. “You know damn well what that is.”
Still, I didn’t reach for the box. I mean, I loved him. Of course I loved him. I’d even learned to say it in Russian after he whispered it to me over and over again.
Ya lyublyu tebya. Ya lyublyu tebya. Ya lyublyu tebya.
He was the most amazing, exciting, funny, intelligent, sexy man I’d ever known, and I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life by his side.
Ivan reached over and opened the box. It was a massive princess-cut diamond with an eternity band of sapphires that matched his eyes. “YA lyublyu vas. YA ne mogu bez tebya zhit. Vykhodi za menya.” Then, as always, he repeated in English, “I love you. I cannot live without you. Marry me.”
I carefully picked up the ring and slipped it onto my finger. My lips quirked up in a teasing smile. “If I accept, what will you want in return?”
