Page 13

13

OLEKSI

Sabrina is curled into my side, her cheek resting on my bare chest, breathing softly and even. I watch her sleep like I’ve been doing for the last hour. She doesn’t stir, not even when I brush my fingers gently through her hair and move it off her neck.

And that’s when I see it.

A bruise. Faint, but clear in the pale early morning light that leaks through the slats of the wooden blinds.

Anger rolls through me so hard it makes my chest tighten. My fingers curl into fists as I stare at the growing mark where Mikhail fucking Ergorov had wrapped his hand around her throat. Syd had briefed me on what had happened. If the fucker weren’t already dead, I’d find him and kill him myself. Slowly. Piece by piece.

The only comfort I get is knowing it was Valeska—his own sister—and Nadia who put him down like the rabid fucking dog he was. There’s something brutally poetic about that. In Bratva tradition, the blood right belongs to the ones most wronged—and from what Syd told me, Valeska wasn’t the only one that bastard had raped and shattered. While I would’ve loved to be the one to end that fucker’s life, it was only fitting that it was them who did.

They may have done the world a favor but it has also ensured a shitstorm is headed our way.

Because we didn’t just kill a monster tonight, we declared war.

Ergorov’s daughter is gone. His son is dead. Sabrina—his leverage—is in my bed. And I’m holding her like she’s the last thing on earth worth saving because she is.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. The general wanted to use Sabrina to lure out Carla and Tara. He was already obsessed with reclaiming whatever twisted legacy he thinks belongs to him. Now? He’ll come at us with everything. The RMSAD will bleed us dry if we’re not careful.

And when Nadia and Valeska vanish later this morning, I know damn well what that means—Ruslan will break the Dragunov alliance. There goes my ports. But there is always a way around that. I’m not my grandfather, and with the help of my Uncle Dmitri, who would love to go to war with the Dragunovs, I’m confident we can take back control of that village.

I blow out a breath. But I was hoping to avoid a war with them and I most fucking definitely was not looking for a war with the Russian Government, because that’s what taking on the RMSAD means.

I press my lips to Sabrina’s forehead and close my eyes for a moment, steadying myself.

Nadia told me she had a plan. Said she’d make sure the alliance stood.

God, I hope she wasn’t bluffing. That village is teeming with innocent women and children. I think of the guards that had stopped us when we’d gone to meet Agafon and frown. Maybe Nikolas was right. Perhaps the Draganovs are looking to go solo and build their own empire. My jaw clenches, and I rub my chin. On top of everything else—that’s all I fucking need—another rival crime family to contend with.

A soft knock pulls me out of my spiral.

I ease out of bed, careful not to wake Sabrina. She murmurs something but doesn’t wake. I throw on jeans and a t-shirt and pad barefoot to the door. It’s Nikolas.

“It’s time,” he says, voice low. “I’m leaving with Nadia and Valeska in fifteen minutes.”

I nod, grab my boots, and follow him down the hallway to the kitchen, where Clyde, Syd, Ivan, and a few of Timofey’s men are already gathered. Nadia is there too, standing beside Valeska. And I have to blink when I see her.

Gone is the grungy goth chick with combat boots and black lipstick. Valeska is polished now. Elegant, almost, and poised. She still has the purple streaks in her hair, but otherwise, she looks like someone ready to vanish into a new life. My eyes fall on Nadia, and I know she’s more than ready to escape this old life and start again. Somewhere, she can be who she is and love who she chooses without judgment.

“Can we talk in private?” Nadia asks, glancing around.

Nodding, I turn and lead them into the small back room—an old den with a fireplace and leather chairs. As I close the door behind us, I turn to Valeska.

“We didn’t get a chance to meet properly,” I say. “Or for me to tell you how grateful and indebted to you I am for helping us get Sabrina back.” I swallow hard. “Thank you. For what you did. I owe you.”

Valeska shakes her head. “You don’t owe me anything. Sabrina is… she’s extraordinary. Watching her survive that place—it gave me the strength I didn’t know I had. I did what had to be done.”

“She is special,” Nadia agrees, eyeing me. “You’d be a fool to let her go or take her for granted.”

“I nearly lost her,” I admit. “I don’t intend to let that happen again.” I run a hand through my hair. “But now that the General’s lost his bait, and his golden boy, we’re staring down a war.”

“Not necessarily,” Nadia says, glancing at Valeska.

Valeska reaches into her coat pocket and steps closer. She takes my hand, presses something into my palm, and leans in like she’s going to kiss my cheek. Instead, she whispers, “Whatever you do, trust no one but Sabrina with what I’ve just given you.”

I frown, closing my hand around the objects. They feel like two small plastic disks—SD cards, I’m guessing.

“What is this?” I ask.

“Power. Leverage,” Nadia says softly, a smile lifting her beautiful lips.. “It’s also mine and Valeska’s insurance policy.”

My brows draw tight. “Insurance for what?”

“To ensure that the general stays away from all of us and that Ruslan will not pull out of the alliance with your family,” Valeska explains. Her eyes are steel now. “While Nikolas has moved Valeska’s brother’s body to the town he was last known to be at, and I’ve wiped all the footage of Mikhail being at the institution, there are still the guards that saw him.”

“But it still buys you time,” Nadia tells me. “Time for you to get what we’ve given you to where it needs to go in order for you to be in a position of power over Ruslan, the general, and…”

“Sabrina’s overly ambitious aunt,” Valeska tells me.

“Aunt?” I frown.

“Yelena Zorin,” Valeska replies. “Sabrina’s mother’s older sister. The woman is obsessed with her work and outshining her mother’s legacy.”

“Great!” I sigh. “Another enemy to add to the list.”

“Surely you’ve stopped counting your enemies, Oleksi,” Nadia drawls, smiling.

“I have.” I laugh. “But I always list the new ones.” I look at my closed fist. “Thank you for this.”

“I told you I had a plan,” Nadia reminds me. “You will find all you need on those, including the plan.”

“Just be careful with what’s on there,” Valeska warns. “There are people who would kill to have what you’ve got there.”

“Noted.” I nod, curious as to what precisely I’m holding here.

As if reading my thoughts, Nadia says, “You’re holding the fate of two dangerous organizations right there, in the palm of your hands.”

I look at my fist with raised brows. “Let’s hope I get to use it before these organizations get to me.”

“Don’t worry,” Valeska says, linking her hand with Nadia’s. “With the help of Nikolas, we’ve bought you time to get to where you’re going next and then take control of the situation.”

I nod, and another thought strikes me, and I look at Nadia questioningly, “You told me that you were sure the RMSAD doesn’t have Tara Craft?”

She glances at Valeska, who shakes her head. “No, I kept checking to ensure they would have no leverage to counter with.”

“They couldn’t be holding her somewhere you didn’t know about?”

“No.” Valeska shakes her head. “The RMSAD is still looking for her and her mother.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s not good news, but it’s not bad news either. Now all we have to do is figure out who the man was that was flagged with her at the Georgian and Russian border.

A knock at the door. “Come in,” I call.

The door opens, and Nikolas steps in. “We have to go.”

I turn to Nadia and Valeska. “So this is it?” I ask. “You disappear after this?”

“Yes,” Nadia says. “We start a new life.”

“No more hiding,” Valeska adds, squeezing Nadia’s hand.

“I’m happy for you,” I say honestly. “Whatever’s on these cards better be as good as you say.”

“It is,” Nadia promises, then steps forward and kisses my cheek. “And, thank you, Oleksi. For protecting our niece and for being good to my sister when she was alive.”

“I’ll keep her memory alive,” I say. “I’ll raise Elena to know who she came from.”

“Please,” Nadia says quietly, eyes wet. “I ask that you just promise me one thing?—”

I look at her questioningly. “And that is?”

“Don’t ever let Elena fall into Ruslan’s hands. That’s what he wants. A child who unites the bloodlines. He’ll only use her to further whatever cause he has.”

Her words send a chill down my spine, and I want to ask what cause Ruslan may have, but Nikolas shifts restlessly, so I promise, “I won’t let that happen.”

They nod once. Then they’re gone.

I’m left standing in the den, the two SD cards clutched in my fist.

Syd appears in the doorway. “So what now?”

Clyde and Ivan walk up behind her.

“We can’t go back to Moscow,” Syd says. “It’s not safe.”

“I doubt we’ll even get out of Russia,” Clyde mutters.

“I have a plan,” I tell them. “And a place we can go to where we can lay low until we can leave here.”

“When are we going?” Ivan asks.

“We’ll leave in five hours,” I answer.

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait for nightfall?” Syd asks.

“That’s what they’ll expect,” I reply. “Besides, we’re not leaving through the front door.”

“How?” Ivan frowns.

“We hike through the forest. When we reach the edge of the village, there’s a system of tunnels that will take us to a small village. One of Nikolas’s contacts will meet us there and take us to the safe house.”

“And the others?” Ivan asks. “Galina, Carla, Elena, Lev, Mark?”

“They’ve been alerted. We’ll reconnect later. Right now, we move in silence.”

They nod and start to disperse.

I head back to the room, sliding the SD cards into a small pouch and tucking them into a secure part of my travel bag.

I strip out of my clothes and climb back into bed. Sabrina stirs.

She reaches out and presses her hand to my chest, her eyes cracking open. “Where did you go?” she whispers.

“I had to say goodbye to Nadia and Valeska,” I tell her.

Her eyes widen. “They’re gone?”

She sits up, and the sheet slips down her body, exposing her bare breasts.

And that’s when I see it. A bruise. Right on the curve of her left breast. Finger-shaped.

“What the fuck?” I breathe, voice low and lethal as I gently trace the marks.

Sabrina looks down, then back up. She tries to wave it off. “It’s nothing.”

“Sabrina…”

“No.” She moves toward me, placing her hand over my mouth. “No talking tonight, remember?”

I watch her ruby-red lips approach mine until they make contact, soft and insistent. I can taste the exhaustion mixed with desire in her kiss.

My cock is visibly hard beneath the sheets as she continues kissing me passionately while moving a delicate hand over my chest and down my abdomen until she reaches my pulsing erection.

Her fingertips press along its length before gripping it firmly at the base. “Are you sure you want to do this again?” I whisper between kisses. “You’re exhausted.”

“Oh, I want to.” She nods and stifles a yawn. “Sorry. I’ve been so tired lately.”

I place my hand gently over her stomach. “That’s because someone else is sharing your body’s resources now.”

I lean down, pressing tender kisses on her belly. Her breath hitches. As I move lower, I part her thighs to expose her glistening, swollen folds. I press my tongue against her clit, circling it slowly and deliberately.

She moans and arches into me, the sensations intensifying with each lick. I glance up at her face contorted in pleasure as I take her clit between my lips, softly sucking.

Sabrina grips the bedsheet tightly with one hand while her other reaches down to tangle in my hair, guiding me as I continue to pleasure her.

Eventually, her hips buckle, and she cries out, “Oh God, oh God—” She gasps for air, and her entire body is trembling. “Fuck, Oleksi, that...that was?—”

I rise above her, feeling her pulse quicken all over again as I push my cock against her slick entrance.

“Are you still tired?” I tease, positioning myself at her opening.

“Ask me again after you’ve fucked me,” she whispers.

I thrust into her hard and deep, claiming her. Her walls clench around me as I drive even deeper, my body murmuring with the need to make her mine in every way. The slap of skin on skin echoes off the walls, drowning us as I push her legs wider and take her harder. Sabrina claws at my back, urging me on, her breath ragged and desperate.

“Yes, fuck, yes,” she moans, her nails digging in as she loses herself completely.

I grip her hips and pull her into every thrust, filling her with each relentless stroke until we’re both on the brink of falling apart. The guttural sounds coming from her throat make me almost feral. My vision blurs as my orgasm barrels toward me.

“Come for me now, printzess,” I growl, and she loses it.

Her body tightens and shudders beneath me, her pussy pulsing around my cock as I spill inside her. My name falls from her lips like a prayer, over and over again.

We collapse together, breathing ragged, chests heaving.

I roll onto my back, pulling Sabrina with me, and she immediately wraps her arm around me.

“Don’t leave me alone,” she whispers.

“Never,” I promise, kissing her temple.

She falls asleep with her face tucked against my chest.

I don’t move.

I hold her there, my Sabrina, who is carrying our child.

And I wonder if I’ll ever sleep again, knowing just how much I have to lose if anything ever happens to them.