Page 20

Carver had been in a great mood all week. Part of it was that we were moving my things to the house this weekend. But a more significant part was the confrontation with his dad. It had eased something inside of him. He mightn’t have been able to tell his dad everything, but he got out the crucial pieces.

After he left, Carver became all commanding with me, which I didn’t mind at all. Seeing him stand up to his dad and then protect me was a huge enticement. I was glad to let him take the lead. He made me beg at the end. It was because he made me so sensitive that I couldn’t stand it anymore.

Later, when we’d recovered, he called Cady, informed her and Hoss what had occurred, and told her about their mom, Andrea. When they were done, Cady reached out to their mom. Her report back to us was that it was true, and Andrea had promised to come see them and talk soon. She was getting settled. Help was offered, but she declined it.

We’d gotten up this morning to start packing at the apartment. We were about to leave when Carver got a call about a break-in at his office. He was needed there to talk to the police. He was upset and asked me to wait for him to return, but we had no idea how long that would take, and I was anxious to get started.

Cady, Hoss, Mikhail, and Tajah were coming over tomorrow to finish it off and help load the moving truck. With the amount I had, it wasn’t worth hiring movers. They offered to help out today, too, but I didn’t think they’d be needed. I had to do some sorting first. Anything I didn’t want would be given away.

I assured him that I was good to go alone. He could meet me there when he was finished. Carver wasn’t happy with the idea, but in the end, he agreed. That was over an hour ago. I’d made it to the apartment and was well into packing. I’d promised him that I’d keep the door locked and the alarm on. Even though there had been no sightings of Reef, Carver wasn’t ready to say the threat was past.

I was taping open a new box and reaching to put towels in it when my cell phone rang. Sighing at the interruption, I checked it anyway. The screen read Cady. Smiling, I answered.

“What’s the matter? You’re dying so much to pack and heft boxes around that you can’t wait until tomorrow. You have to come right now?” I joked.

She laughed. “Hell, no, that’s not it. I’m hoping you pack it all today, and tomorrow, I can sit around looking pretty while the guys muscle it all into the moving truck. I was thinking of bringing popcorn so the three of us could sit back and watch them all get sweaty. Yum. Would they do it if we asked them not to wear shirts and put on the shortest shorts they own? Of course, I’d have to ignore my brother because ick, but Hoss and Mikhail, yes,”

she rattled off, then giggled.

“You wait until I tell Tajah you’re checking out her man,”

I threatened.

“She knows he’s hot, and I can look like she can check out Hoss. You can drool over our men if you want. Unfortunately, you won’t have us doing it to yours. He’s a brother. Gross.”

I laughed. “Oh my God, you’re crazy. Cady.”

“I know, and fun. That’s what you’re getting for a sister-in-law. Lucky bitch.”

“Hey, I’m moving in with your brother, and I’m his girlfriend. That’s it.”

“Yeah, well, I doubt that’ll last long before he’ll have a ring on your finger, followed by a wedding and a baby in your belly. Although the order of that is up for debate.”

“Whoa, you’re moving too fast, girl.”

“Tell that to my brother. When they get an idea in their heads, these men run with it. I never saw Hoss coming, and Mikhail hit Tajah out of the blue. But enough about that, how’s it going? Carver texted that he had to go to the office and that you were there alone. Tajah and I can come over.”

“That’s sweet of you, but I’ll be fine. Carver will probably be done in no time. You’d waste a trip.”

“No, we won’t. And besides, we’re outside in the parking lot already, so you have to take us. We’ll be at your door when I get this one out of the car.”

“I’m tired of being a whale! Fine, help me get my fat ass out of this car of yours,”

I heard Taj grumble from the background.

“You’re both crazy. Knock when you get here. Tell Taj if she’s fast enough, I might have a donut with her name on it.”

Tajah heard me because I heard her shout, “Move your skinny ass, Cady! There are donuts!”

I was still laughing when I hung up. I’d been so fortunate to gain them as friends. This move to Tennessee had been a blessing in so many ways. Humming, I finished filling the box with bath towels and washcloths. When it was full, I headed out to the living room. Those two crazy women should be knocking any second. I was almost there when the knock came. By the sound of it, Tajah must desperately need a donut. It sounded like she was about to beat the door down.

Turning off the alarm next to the door, I unlocked it and swung it open, grinning. Tajah and Cady were standing there, not smiling. The reason they weren’t grinning was that they weren’t alone. Standing behind them was Reef. The look on his face told me we were in trouble.

Knowing I had to get my friends to safety hit me immediately. That would take work, time, and help. I leaned toward them. My right hand was still braced on the wall inside the door, just below the alarm panel. By moving toward them, my slight hand adjustment wasn’t noticed. I felt for the silent alarm feature Sawyer had installed. It was a button with a raised surface, so it felt different from the others. I hit it three times. From what I was told, this would tell the alarm monitoring company that it was a 911 situation, not an accidental alarm trigger. The police would be alerted, and Carver and I would be alerted. Instantly, my cell phone buzzed.

“Don’t answer that. Back up, Venus, and allow us inside. You and I need to talk. If everyone behaves, you have nothing to fear,”

Reef said.

I did as he directed. I backed up to the kitchen counter. He slammed the door shut and locked it. I noted he was moving slowly, and the bruising on his face, while considerably faded, wasn’t gone. His speech was garbled due to his jaw clearly still being wired shut. Matvey’s guys did a good job on him. At the moment, I was regretting they hadn’t killed the fucker. I knew we were in a precarious position, but my first concern was protecting Tajah and her unborn baby, then Cady, and lastly, myself. I would fight to save them.

Knowing he was at a disadvantage in his physical state, Reef was carrying a handgun. He waved it in the air as he gave more orders. “You two, put your purses on the counter, then go sit your asses on the couch. Don’t make me tell you twice. Venus, put your cell phone with their purses. If either of you is carrying yours on you, place it there. You’ll regret it if I find any of you have one on you.”

Slowly, Taj and Cady put their purses down. Cady removed her cell from her shorts’

pocket. I slid mine out of my jean shorts and laid it next to their stuff. I prayed he wouldn’t check them and see I had an alarm notice. As it was, nothing indicated it had been tripped on the panel. That was Sawyer’s idea for a situation where you were in the home with the intruder. I’d have to thank him if I got out of this.

“Sit, you two. Venus, I want you in that chair,”

he mumbled.

It was hard to understand him. He pointed the gun at one of the two reclining chairs in the room. We hurried to do it. He sat in the other chair. He was staring intently at me. Not knowing if I should talk or not, I tentatively spoke.

“Reef, what are you doing here?”

“I told you. So we can talk. Everyone is trying to keep us apart, Venus. It’s not right. They made you say those mean things at your office. Then those men came and beat me. No one understands.”

“Understands what?” I asked.

“Understands that we’re meant to be together. I thought you knew at Lustz, but then you told me to go away, that there wasn’t anything between us. I was angry with you at first. Every time I tried to find a way to talk to you, I was blocked. However, I realized it wasn’t your fault.”

“You have my attention right now. We can talk. But why did you bring them here? This should be private.”

“It was, but when I found the door locked, I didn’t know how to get you to open it. I was afraid you’d refuse. Then they drove up, and I knew it was fate. They came right when I needed them, so I used them. I warned them that if they called out for help or warned you, I’d shoot them.”

“I’m glad you didn’t hurt them. They’re my friends. I could never be with someone who hurt my friends. They’re both pregnant, although you can’t tell with Cady yet. Surely, you wouldn’t hurt pregnant women. Only an animal would do that.”

I was trying to lower his guard by making him believe I was willing to listen and maybe even be with him, but it had to be without harming anyone. It was a fine line I was walking. The situation could turn on me any second. My inspiration was my past work with veterans who were having PTSD episodes or were agitated. God, I prayed my approach would work. Even if the police were on their way, it took time, and they had to be able to get inside.

Reef was watching me. He didn’t respond for a few seconds, then shook his head. “Of course, I’m not an animal. I had to tell them something.”

“They’re afraid, and so am I. I don’t like guns, Reef. They make me nervous. What if it accidentally goes off? Will you please put that away?”

I pleaded. I fought to make my body language emit fear and my voice quiver. It didn’t take much.

“No, it won’t go off unless I pull the trigger. I know what I’m doing,”

he said decisively.

“Okay. You said you want to talk. So let’s talk. Although I’d prefer if we were alone.”

“No! If I let them go, they’ll call those men. They stay here. Don’t ask again,”

he snapped.

Knowing not to push, I switched to the talk topic. “Then tell me what you’ve been wanting to tell me. I was told you’ve spent hours watching my work, here, and Lustz. Why?”

“I told you because we’re supposed to be together. But they got to you and brainwashed you to believe you wanted her brother, Servass. But I know that’s not true. I felt our connection before you and I ever did a scene. It was so strong. I knew that you could be the Dom I was looking for. And I would be the perfect sub for you. I didn’t know they were working in the background, turning you against me. The night you told me we wouldn’t play again or be a couple, I knew what happened when I saw you with them. I didn’t know that Servass was the one they wanted you with. That came later.”

He was adamant that we should be together. I knew if I argued with him, he’d likely become violent. Hoping Cady and Taj wouldn’t say anything, I decided to play into his delusion. It had been ten minutes or so. Help should be arriving soon.

“Reef, I had no idea that was happening. Do you think they did that? But why?”

I asked, pouring confusion into my tone.

“Because they were jealous and didn’t want others messing up what they had. That one is married to the owner. They determine who gets the good partners and who doesn’t. Their friends are the ones who have the best ones, and they get special treatment and themed rooms whenever they want and for as long as they want. And this one, she married one of the guys who used to work for Mikhail Ivanova. He was a doorman, for God’s sake, and then one day, poof, he was no longer there, had her, and he’s running a huge company. How would someone like that be qualified to do that?” he asked.

When I saw Cady’s mouth move, I shook my head barely, praying she saw it and stayed quiet. She subsided.

“Okay, but why bring me into it? I’ve known them for a few months. They have plenty of people they’ve been friends with longer than me.”

“Because they wanted to find someone for her brother. He must’ve seen you and told them he wanted you. I only want to protect you and spend my life with you, Venus. They’re taking that away from both of us!”

He was becoming agitated, and that was the last thing we needed.

“Tell me. When we’re together, where would we live? What do you do for work?”

I tried to divert his thoughts. My anxiety was rising. He was waving the hand with the gun in it around again.

These questions made him stop scowling. A spark of certainty entered his eyes. He leaned forward in his chair. His gun hand relaxed at his side. “I work for a mortgage lender. I’m changing jobs, but I assure you, I can take care of you. I have a place. It’s in a different part of Nashville. We can live there. Or if you want someplace new, we can find one. Yeah, that’s better. We should find a house. We’ll need more room when the kids start coming. How many do you want?”

he asked eagerly.

The thought of him touching me made my stomach roll. None of our scenes had been about sex, thankfully. However, to keep him occupied, I played along.

“I’ve always wanted to live in a house where kids could run and play. I hadn’t thought about having kids soon. I’ve been focusing on my career. As far as how many I want, I don’t know. Do you have an idea how many you want?”

Panic was building. Where the fuck were the cops? Carver? Anyone?

“I thought three or four would be good, so we’ll have to get a large house. It’ll be bigger than what Servass is living in. What’re we going to do about him and the others?”

“What do you mean, do about them?”

“We can’t just tell them we’re together and expect them to leave us alone. They sent men from the Bratva after me. Surely, you don’t believe they’ll let us be. They’ll have to be taken care of first.”

He glared at my friends. Tajah was pale. Cady was biting her tongue, I had no doubt.

“I don’t want anyone to get hurt. It’s bad enough you did. I’m sorry they did that. Reef, I can’t live with hurting them. I’m a nurse. I help people. Wait, I have the solution. We’ll have to leave Tennessee. Find a place where they won’t know where we are. We can find a house. I can always find a job, and I bet you can, too. That’s it. How does that sound?”

I asked eagerly.

As he mulled it over, movement caught my eye. I had to fight not to look. But on the other side of the blind, which covered the window next to the door on my small landing, was a person-shaped shadow. I jumped when there was a loud knock at the front door.

“Open up, this is the Nashville PD,”

a man shouted.

Reef bounded to his feet. He swung his head from side to side like he was checking for a way to escape. I had news for him. Unless he scaled down three stories from the balcony, the only way was out the door and past the cops.

“Come here,”

he hissed at me, gesturing frantically. As I stood, I walked between him and the girls. If bullets started flying, I wanted them to be protected.

“Careful,”

Cady said in the barest whisper. I felt one of their hands touch my arm.

If this was about to be the last moments of my life, I wasn’t cowering. If the police couldn’t convince him to surrender, I’d try to disarm him myself.

“Marvin Attleborough, we know you’re in there. Come out with your hands up. No one needs to get hurt. There’s no escape,”

the officer yelled.

I was edging closer to Reef when there was a crashing sound. The window in the front shattered, and then a large form hurtled through it. All three of us women screamed. I was turning to rush back to cover Cady and Taj, but I wasn’t fast enough. Reef snagged my hair and yanked me toward him. The burn of my scalp made me scream.

Fury flowed through me. I twisted so I could see him and then charged him despite his hold on my hair. I headbutted him in the stomach. I heard gasps of surprise, I think, but I was too busy to check. My hand came up, and I latched onto Reef’s balls. I squeezed and twisted them as hard as I could. If possible, I intended to tear the whole fucking trio off. His blood-curdling scream hurt my ears.

Suddenly, there was a babble of voices. The door came crashing open, and bodies poured inside. I heard crying, but my focus was on Reef. He dropped the gun and was trying to cup himself, but I wouldn’t let him.

“Mother fucker! You come in here and threaten me and my friends. I’ll tear this pathetic excuse for a cock off and shove it so far up your ass it’ll come out your mouth!”

I shouted.

The outburst of laughter made me focus on who else was in the room. When I did, I had to blink to be sure I wasn’t seeing shit. Issak and Rurik were standing in front of me. With them was Carver. He was coming toward me. Mikhail and Hoss were here, too. But they swept by me to go to their wives. Standing there with his arms crossed between the two women and the rest of the room was Sawyer.

“Babe, you can let go now,”

Carver said when he reached me.

I shook my head. “No. Not until I rip this thing off. Maybe I should make him eat it,”

I snarled.

“Dorogoy, we won’t stop you if you want to do it. But then it would leave your man and these others without anything to do,”

an amused voice answered. I knew that voice. I peeked around Carver to find Matvey standing there. He was dressed in a suit as if coming from his office. He was calmly surveying the room.

“What did you call me?” I asked.

“Sweetheart,”

he replied.

Slowly, it was sinking in that it was safe to let go. When I did, Reef fell into a heap on the floor. For good measure, to be sure he didn’t try anything, I kicked his cupped hands. He cried out in pain. Then, I was engulfed in Carver’s strong arms. He kissed me. The kiss was tinged with desperation. As we frantically devoured each other, I heard grumbling. It was in Russian.

“Bozhe, gde ya mogu nayti takuyu zhe?”

When Carver let go of me, I was ready to cry in relief.

“What did you say, Rurik?”

Carver asked.

“I said, God, where can I find one like her?”

Rurik told him.

“I’d be careful what you wish for. These women aren’t for the faint of heart,”

Mikhail said, chuckling.

I glanced around to find him with Tajah wrapped snugly in his arms. Hoss had Cady so cuddled close that all I could see was her hair peeking out. He was still frowning.

“Are you alright, Tajah? The baby? What about you, Cady?”

“I’m good, just scared. The baby is fine,”

Taj answered.

“I’m fine,”

Cady muffled.

“Hoss, you may want to let her breathe. She’s smothering,”

Mikhail told him, amused.

“That’s it, you can never leave the house,”

Hoss muttered, but he did ease his grip so Cady could move her head.

“Would you mind letting me hug my sister? I want to be sure she’s alright, and the same goes for Taj,”

Carver requested.

Slowly, Hoss released Cady, and she moved into her brother’s arms. As I stood watching, Hoss surprised me by bear-hugging me. It was a few rounds of hugs, with the last being Sawyer. His presence raised questions and shook off the haze I was in.

“Where are the police? And how are all of you here, plus Matvey, his men, and Sawyer?”

“There were no police. We were distracting Reef, so Isaak could bust through the window while Sawyer entered through your slider in the bedroom. We hoped it would be enough to get him to focus on us and give you a chance to shield yourselves,”

Carver explained. He was back to holding me.

“But why aren’t the police here, and how are all of you? The alert was to notify the cops, Carver, and me.”

“That’s my doing, Alex. When I upgraded what I could, I changed the protocol that the police would be called if you, Carver, or I didn’t respond. When it alerted me, I called Carver to see where the two of you were. That’s how I found out you were here, and he was at his office. Immediately, we suspected it was Reef and came to sort it out. It happened that Mikhail was with Matvey and his men with Hoss. Carver reached out to tell them. Cady and Tajah had told their men they’d be here with you. It was one huge coincidence that so many people were together at the time,”

Sawyer explained.

“No, it wasn’t. That was sud’ba, fate,”

Rurik uttered.

“Whatever it was, I’ve never been so happy to see you. However, the noise probably alerted a neighbor. You need to scram before they get here,”

I advised them.

“We will, but there is one thing we must resolve. Do we allow the police to have him? Or do we solve this once and for all?”

Matvey asked. There was no softness in him. He was speaking as a Bratva pahkan.

Reef had quieted down, though he was still curled up on the floor, cupping himself. He was listening and watching all of us. I saw the cunning look he quickly hid when they said to allow the police to deal with him. That decided me.

“Get him out of here. You decide what to do. Don’t do anything until I’ve dealt with the cops, and I can join you.”

I more or less ordered.

Matvey’s lips twitched. I noted the other men exchanging glances. If they thought I’d miss Reef’s punishment, then they didn’t know me. The Domme Venus pushed aside the nurse Alexandra. I wasn’t into punishing for the sake of being sadistic, but in his case, I’d make an exception. All I could think of was what could’ve happened to my friends. It wasn’t about me anymore. Reef was a threat to everyone close to me. He saw them as brainwashing me.

“I’ll explain later why, but trust me. Go. We’ll meet later,” I added.

Like magic, everyone was moving and talking. Isaak carried Reef out after Rurik gagged him. Sawyer, Matvey, Mikhail, Tajah, Hoss, and Cady all evaporated after saying goodbye. It left me and Carver. I was looking at the mess of glass on the floor.

“What do you want to tell them?”

Carver asked.

I thought, and then I knew. I went to the closet and brought out a softball bat. It was one from my days of playing in high school. I’d kept it around for sentimental reasons and for home protection. I held it up.

“We’ll tell them someone threw this through the window. It has my prints, so I’ll say it was left on my porch. We didn’t see anyone. We were here packing up my bathroom.”

“Simple, yet it might work. Let me do the talking. If they start asking anything I don’t like, I’ll invoke my status as your lawyer. They should love that,”

he winked.

Despite the tension and fear of the last hour, he made me smile. We waited less than five minutes before there was a loud knock and someone calling out that they were the police. It was time to enact a scene, just not the kind we usually were involved in.