Page 25 of The Bratva’s Innocent Sold Bride (Fokin Bratva #9)

The unsatisfactory encounter with Anatoli was relegated to the back of my mind by the time I got home, eager to get back to the mood on the dance floor with CJ, and hopeful that she was still awake at that late hour.

The only one to greet me as I walked in the door was the dog, wagging his tail so hard his backside swayed from side to side. He led me to the living room where CJ sat alone, two bottles of wine beside her. She grinned blearily at me.

“Are you drunk?” I asked.

“Only a little.”

“You knocked back two bottles all by yourself? You should be hammered unless this is some secret talent of yours.”

She shook her head, rising, then thinking better of it, plopped back down, still with that silly, sappy grin that warmed my heart. “I wasn’t alone.” Looking around, she shrugged. “Masha was here a little bit ago, fast asleep. Maybe she wandered off and I didn’t notice.”

“She’s good at that. But why was she here at all?” I was mildly annoyed at my cousin since she was supposed to be keeping an eye on the storage area. We were receiving another shipment of weapons that I didn’t mean to lose this time.

CJ tried to give me a scowl, and with an eyeroll, I ran to the kitchen to get her a bottle of water. She’d thank me for it in the morning when her head wasn’t pounding so hard. She chugged it and told me Masha was sick of being on stakeouts.

“Your men stink,” she told me. “And there was probably more, but don’t worry, she didn’t share any of your big secrets. Except… maybe one.”

Curious, I put Masha out of my mind for the moment and sat down beside her with the dog lying down across our feet, giving up on either one of us throwing his toy.

I knew dogs probably didn’t have a sleep schedule, but why wasn’t he in his room by now?

My suspicions that CJ was sneaking him out in the middle of the night were confirmed.

She was such a softie. Before I could ask about any secrets, CJ asked me where I was and why I ran out the way I did.

“You know, I have business emergencies all the time.”

“Not even a word, though? Not even a kiss goodbye?”

I raised an eyebrow, leaning close. “How about a kiss hello?”

Our lips touched, and she tasted like the Chardonnay she’d been downing since I left.

For whatever reason, she still wore the green silk gown, but it was a bit worse for wear from sitting on the floor and letting the dog roll all over her.

I was sorry I missed her and Masha’s little party.

It had to be much more fun than finally meeting Anatoli.

“So, about the secrets Masha’s spilling,” I said.

She shook her head stubbornly, her graceful brows almost meeting in the middle. “Not until you tell me where you went. Why shouldn’t I know? How can just knowing be dangerous?”

“You need to go to bed, I think. No, I’m sure.”

She held out her arms for me to pick her up, a sure sign she was drunker than she believed. I pulled her close, and she locked her arms around my neck as I lifted her off the floor. Once I was on my feet, she rested her head against my shoulder.

“Mat?”

“Yes, little wino?”

Snickering, she seemed to lose her train of thought, looking up at me with big green eyes, the same color as the dress and the jade pendant on her necklace. “Oh, yeah.” She perked up, searching my face. “Is it true what Masha said, then?”

“Tell me what she said and I’ll tell you if it’s true,” I told her, starting carefully up the stairs.

The only detour I made was to get Artem in his room so he wouldn’t destroy the few pieces of furniture we had. A very expensive antique desk had arrived the day before, and I didn’t want to find its spindly legs covered in gnaw marks.

CJ shook her head, still refusing to tell me, as if I could read her mind or know what Masha had been telling her. The last thing I wanted to do was hunt down my cousin at that hour. She was probably passed out in her room since she wasn’t known to handle alcohol very well.

As I carried my tipsy wife into our bedroom, I asked her again what Masha had told her. What could she have said that would make CJ think it wasn’t true?

CJ’s grip was loosening from around my neck, her hands sliding down my chest. “Do you want me to be happy, Mat?”

The question stunned me into momentary silence. “More than anything in this world,” I admitted.

Her eyes were closed, she was limp in my arms, and a soft snore told me she didn’t hear a word of my reply. “Maybe that was for the best,” I told her, tucking her into bed and loosening the zipper to slide her dress down and off so she’d be more comfortable. “You wouldn’t remember anyway.”

I took an ice-cold shower and climbed in beside her.

She barely stirred, only turning to face me as I lay my head on my pillow.

There was nothing I wouldn’t do for this woman.

It probably really was for the best that she passed out before she heard my answer to her question.

It was too soon for her to know she had so much power over me, but I meant every word.

Only her safety was above her happiness on my list of priorities.

Her long lashes rested on cheeks that were rosy from too much wine, and her hair was half in and half out of the updo she had it in at the gala. Gently pulling out the rest of the pins, I arranged her hair behind her on her pillow and watched her sleep until I contentedly drifted off myself.

The next day, I was awakened by her groan. My eyes flew open to see her sitting up, but hunched over and holding her head. I reached out and smoothed my hand over her bare back, and she turned to look at me through bloodshot eyes.

“Tomato juice with a shot of vodka will fix you right up.”

She made a gagging noise. “Not in this lifetime.”

“For someone who wasn’t drunk, you sure seem like you’re awfully hungover.”

Her laugh was cut off by another groan. “Did I try to convince you I wasn’t drunk?”

“Well, if you don’t remember, I’ll spare you and tell you that you were completely dignified. Walked up here on your own and everything.”

She took my teasing with good grace, telling me proudly that she didn’t have her first sip of alcohol until her twenty-first birthday.

“That’s impossible,” I said, amazed. “But surely you traveled to Europe? Not even a taste of their famous wines?”

“I thought it was hypocritical that it was okay over there when I was eighteen or nineteen, and not here, so I just decided since I was an American, I’d go by our rules.”

“But why follow the rules at all? I was… You don’t want to know how old I was when I had my first drink of vodka.”

“I thought they put it in the baby bottles over there,” she sassed, looking healthier as she moved around the room, hanging up her dress and wrapping her lush body in my robe. “I guess I should move in more permanently,” she said shyly.

“Definitely. But let one of the maids do it. Let’s go out and do something fun today.”

Her eyes widened. “You don’t have any work to do?”

Quickly checking my phone, I found that there were no new emergencies, and the shipment had gone down without a hitch. Masha, despite her bender the night before, was on scene and keeping me updated. “I don’t have any work to do,” I answered.

She asked if there was anything I especially wanted to do, and I assured her I hadn’t seen anything of interest except the insides of my companies.

“You pick. Be my tour guide.”

She mentioned a rose garden, a couple of museums, and a cathedral, quickly dismissing that one, saying I had to have seen more impressive ones in Moscow. “Do you like hiking? There are some nice trails in Mountain View.”

“You up to a hike in your condition?”

She swore she’d be as good as new after eating something and chugging more water, already excited and talking about bringing the dog. Of course, I couldn’t say no when she was smiling so brightly.

While she went to get some food in her to sop up the leftover alcohol, I did a search on the trail she mentioned, deeming it safe enough if my driver, who doubled as a guard, tagged along.

I didn’t like that Anatoli had brought CJ up at all, and would have to double down on security for the foreseeable future.

There was no way he was getting anywhere near my wife.

The weather was perfect, sunny and cool.

We headed out, laden down with snacks and drinks and all of the dog’s gear.

I always thought dogs were supposed to be simple, laid-back pets, but Artem had a harness, a leash that attached to the seatbelt, a leash for walking, a collapsible water bowl, his own bag of snacks, and a blanket to cover the car seat.

After a short discussion that was on the verge of getting heated, I managed to convince CJ he’d be perfectly fine riding up front with the driver.

She treated that dog like a baby, but under my feigned annoyance, I wondered if I was getting a glimpse of how she’d be with our children. That wasn’t a subject I’d be bringing up any time soon, though. All in good time.

We chatted about everything and nothing, as easily as if we’d been together for years instead of weeks, and as if we’d fallen in love the old-fashioned way instead of CJ being payment for her father’s debt.

Once we were there, we’d barely been walking along the shady, wooded path for twenty minutes when my phone buzzed relentlessly. As much as I wished I could turn the damn thing off completely, it wasn’t possible in the current circumstances. Too many things could go wrong, and fast.

It was Garik, telling me he just got word that one of CJ’s father’s charity offices had been ransacked within the last hour.

So far, no one at the agency was aware their office had been broken into, and the attackers had bypassed the security systems, so the police hadn’t been alerted yet either. I put him on hold to speak to CJ.

“Isn’t the Taurus Welcome Center the charity you chaired?”

She nodded. “They help immigrant kids learn English.”

I’d already learned in my research into her father that all his charities were little more than money laundering schemes, but they did end up doing some good, and they kept a low profile.

There was no reason for a raid on a place like that, and so seemingly out of the blue.

Only I knew it was no coincidence when Anatoli had mockingly spoken about CJ the night before.

His people had not only chosen one of her family’s charities, but the one that CJ was most closely affiliated with.

I let Garik know that I’d personally go check out the damage, then turned and growled for the guard to take CJ and the dog home in a hired car.

“What?” she yelped. “What’s happening? Is it something with the charity?”

“I don’t have time to explain,” I said, already moving back up the path and toward where we’d parked the car.

“Stop,” she said, running to catch up. Grabbing my arm, she stared up at me with confusion and a simmering anger in her eyes.

Trying to shake her off, she clung on tighter. “You’re not part of this,” I snapped.

“It’s my charity,” she snapped right back. “I am part of it. I have a right to know what’s going on. Were any of the staff or volunteers hurt? Oh my God, the kids?”

I softened at her fearful concern and shook my head. “It was something at their offices, not the welcome center itself.”

With a sigh of relief, she kept up with me as I continued my quick pace, the guard holding Artem’s leash only a few yards behind us. “You’re not keeping me out of this,” she said, a ring of steel in her voice I’d never heard before.

Was I considering taking my wife and dog to check out a raid? It seemed that I was. All Garik’s intel believed the damage was done, the offices left in shambles, but really no more danger. As we walked, I called him back, asking him to tell me exactly what he knew.

His information came from security cameras we’d hacked into to monitor all of CJ’s father’s buildings.

It looked like it had been a smash-and-grab, and as far as he could tell, a group of six men entered and six men left.

There shouldn’t be any danger, especially if she stayed outside while I surveyed the damage.

At the car, CJ jumped in, staring me down, all but daring me to lift her bodily out of the car and race away without her again.

“If you promise to do exactly as I say when we get there, you can go.”

She visibly relaxed, agreeing without hesitating for once. So, yes, I was taking my wife and dog to the aftermath of a raid.