Protecting Sasha

by Natasha L. Black

  "Promise me you won't kill him or hurt him," I said, trying to see something other than a soulless monster in his eyes. "Promise me."

  Aleksi let out another one of his mirthless laughs. "Do you want me to lie too? Fine, I can. Tell me where your husband is, I just want a word with him. Man-to-man, you know."

  I said nothing.

  Aleksi leaned in close, and I could feel his hot breath on my neck. "No? It’s only going to be worse for him the angrier I get."

  I choked back the sob in my throat. I wouldn't give Aleksi the satisfaction of seeing how much it was tearing me apart on the inside.

  51

  Pierce

  "No," Adrian said when I told him the news.

  He pounded his fist on his hospital bed, sending the machines attached to him into a flurry of beeps and shrills. "No!"

  His head rolled around uselessly. "I told her, I told her to be careful, to go nowhere without protection."

  "She had a security guard in your apartment with her," I said. "There must've been too many of them, Adrian."

  "No!" Adrian roared again, leaping out of the bed, cords, and tubes dangling.

  I eyed him uneasily. "Are you sure you should be out of bed?"

  "My little sister is in danger!" Adrian yelled in my face. He shoved me back with both hands. "Let's go!"

  After disconnecting himself from his IV and monitors, Adrian dressed and we hurried out of there. Some nurses tried approaching and stopping us, but there was no talking to Adrian.

  "I have a cop buddy I can call," I told him once we were in the car.

  Luckily, Ryan was at home, and we picked him up within minutes.

  "Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay, are the biggest areas for Russian settlement, am I right?" Adrian asked Ryan from the back.

  Ryan tore his eyes off his phone where he was furiously searching for information and nodded.

  "Good," I said, my foot jamming on the gas. "We will go there first."

  It was early morning, but people were still out and about on the streets and sidewalk. Although none of Ryan's contacts knew anything, some had seen Aleksi and the boys a few days back at some pool hall, but that was it.

  Once we got out of the car, Adrian roamed around like a madman, attracting plenty of stares from passersby.

  "New York City is the biggest city in the world," he said miserably, his head in his hands. "She could be anywhere, anywhere!"

  I put a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to find her. And we are going to make them pay."

  Of that, I was certain.

  By eight PM, after we had scoured every neighborhood and area we could think of, and Ryan had to go home. Adrian still wanted to keep on looking, but we had no leads, had scoured the most likely places, and, he looked like he was about to pass out.

  Finally, I bullied him into going into the Russian Tea Room. The maître d's gave us some odd looks, as Adrian’s face was alarming to look at. I told the staff that he’d been in a car accident and they seemed to relax a bit.

  As Adrian downed tea and little cakes while I went outside to get some air.

  Not that it had much fresh air out there. Smoke-filled, tinged with the slightest smell of hot dogs. I could almost taste them. Someone on another street was yelling, raving. Probably a crazy person.

  I looked up at the sky and wondered where on earth Sasha could be? Was she already on a plane back to Moscow?

  Adrian, swearing up and down that there would be hell to pay, was so sure that the mob didn't let people who mess with their plans go easily, which means that they were hanging around, determined to get revenge on us. But I wasn't so sure.

  The only thing I was sure of, was that I had to find her. There was no other option — no plan B.

  Once I got back into the Russian Tea Room, we sat there for a few minutes more, until Adrian got a call.

  When he picked it up, his face went beet red. "Yes," he said between gritted teeth. "Yes. We’ll be there."

  He looked at me. "They want to meet us at Brighton Bay, the West Pier. They want to make a trade. But I don't know if we should."

  "We'll do it," I said. "I don’t even care what they want. It's the only option."

  52

  Sasha

  "Just a few minutes before your sweetheart is here," Aleksi said with a smile.

  I stared back at him dully.

  "What?" he said with more mock humor. "You wanted a happier reunion? Your noble man is offering himself up as a trade. Actually, I should give credit where credit is due. It takes some big balls to offer yourself up. He must think you’re worth it. Too bad I’ll have to tell him otherwise."

  I closed my eyes, letting out a breath and trying not to let him get to me. I knew he was just trying to rattle my cage, but if I were going to survive my ordeal, I would have to keep my wits about me.

  Behind me, my hands were tied, but the rope was loose. Maybe, if I keep working it….

  "You don’t need to do this Aleksi. I was the one who wronged you, not him. Can’t you just leave him out of this?" I asked.

  Aleksi pretended to consider this, tipping his head halfway left, then right. He rounded on me with a smile. "Nope."

  He walked off a bit, then paused. "You're just lucky I'm not going to kill your brother too, for this crackpot fake marriage idea of his."

  I stared into the metal grate of the structure I was on. A few minutes later, Aleksi clapped his hands and grinned like the deranged psychopath he’d clearly become.

  “It’s showtime.”

  53

  Pierce

  "What is this place?" I asked Adrian as we neared.

  "Used to be some pleasure boat pier," Adrian said. "It was abandoned for a while, but then got burned down. It looks like it could fall apart at any moment."

  Adrian put his hand on my shoulder. "Pierce, are you sure about this?"

  I shrugged. "I'm sure. I have to do this. You know I do."

  Adrian's brows lowered, and he slumped back on the boat we'd rented.

  It was funny, the last hour of getting there was a blur I could barely remember.

  "Almost there," Adrian said in a miserable voice.

  Not that I needed him to tell me. I could see the massive black metal structure hulking before us. Everything seemed broken or in the process of breaking. And then, near the front of it, with guns trained on me, were several built men wearing suits and scowls.

  Adrian let out a ragged breath. I held mine inside. I wouldn’t let them see my fear. I had to do whatever it took to save Sasha.

  When we reached the edge of the metal structure, they helped us out of the boat and shoved us to the ground.

  "Well, well, well," a heavily-accented voice said a second before a figure came into view.

  A tall man with light brown hair and a face that would've been handsome if not for the cruelty that glittered all over it.

  "Sasha's brother and her loving husband." He bowed his head Adrian’s way, then mine. "Come here to rescue her, how noble."

  Sasha’s voice burst out from close by. "Pierce, Adrian – run! It's a trap; they're not going to hand me over, Aleksi is going to-"

  “Shut up,” the man who had to be Aleksi snapped.

  "They knew what they were getting themselves into," he said striding back our way. He stopped in front of me, peering into my eyes imperiously. "Didn't you?"

  I spat at his feet. "You're scum. I swear if you’ve touched a hair on her head, I’ll fucking kill you myself."

  Aleksi lashed out a kick into my chest. As I buckled over, he said, “I don't believe we've met. I'm Aleksi. You took something that is mine."

  Pain arced through my chest but I didn't care. Hunched over, I growled, "Not anymore. She left you. Like she should have done years ago."

  His hand gripped me by the throat, and I gurgled. "What was that?" he sneered. "Couldn't hear you."

  As I struggled for air and Sasha wailed, Adrian was trying to reason with the other ones, saying, "You know, P
ierce has quite a lucrative business. If you let him go, he could give you quite the payout over the years."

  Suddenly, Aleksi let me drop. I lifted up my hand to throw a punch, but one of the other guys cocked his gun at Adrian.

  I lowered my fist, and Aleksi patted my head. "That's more like it. Now, the only question is whether I should make you suffer or kill you nice and quick."

  "Aleksi please," I could hear Sasha sobbing.

  And then I saw her, wriggling herself along the metal grate. Hands tied behind her back, and legs tied, eyes streaming.

  "It's going to be all right," I told her. "I promise everything is going to be okay."

  I heard the cock of the gun Aleksi was pointing straight at my head. "Don't lie to her. She's going to watch you die, and then she's going to come home to Moscow with me and regret the day she ever tried to leave."

  He swung the gun to face Sasha. "Aren't you, my little mysh’?"

  "I'll never be with you," Sasha cried. "I'll die first."

  "No," Aleksi said in a voice devoid of emotion, swinging the gun around pointed it at my forehead. "He will."

  A shot rang out, and everything went silent.

  54

  Sasha

  He fell to the ground and tears streamed from my eyes. Thank God.

  Aleksi's face was twisted with hatred even in death.

  All around us, the sound of shots and running rang out as I ducked to the ground.

  Pierce lunged over and covered me with his body. All the while, he kept saying, "It's going to be all right. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. It's going to be all right."

  Only when the gunfire had subsided, and we heard the sound of a boat motor, did Pierce get off me.

  I looked around. A few more of Aleksi's boys were lying dead on the pier, while there seemed to be two boats in the distance, one chasing the other.

  "What happened?" I asked.

  "We got the police involved," Pierce said. "It was the only way to get you back. They laid low until Adrian gave the signal. And then they struck. Not a second too soon either," he added, rubbing his forehead.

  "You," I said, excepting his offered arm and tottering to my feet. I couldn't tell whether I wanted to hit him or kiss him or hug him. Probably everything at once. "You shouldn't have risked it."

  Pierce tapped my nose. “I didn’t have any other choice. I couldn't live without you. That's what this has taught me. All the craziness of the past few weeks has taught me one thing. Living without you isn’t living at all.”

  I was speechless. I could just stare at him as tears streamed down my face. Pierce wiped one off with a stroke of his thumb. "I know we’re married and all, but would you like to go out on a date with me sometime?"

  A half-giggle, half-sob bubbled out of my lips. "Of course."

  As I let him draw me into his arms, he added, "You don't even need to think about it."

  "It doesn't matter," I said, sinking my head into the rocky sturdiness of his chest.

  “You’re right, it doesn’t, does it? As long as we’re together, it can’t be wrong.”

  Pierce tipped my chin up and put his lips to mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and sank into the kiss. The noise and commotion of the crime scene around us slipped away and all there was, was Pierce and me.

  “Ahem.” The sound of someone clearing their throat noisily close by interrupted our kiss.

  I looked over to see my brother staring at us with an expression of mock disgust.

  "Is no one going to mention what a great job I did alerting the police?"

  I raced over to throw my arms around him into a hug. "Thank you so much. For everything."

  "Oh, you mean, getting you and all of us in a situation where all of our lives were at risk?" His eyebrows wiggled. "Don't mention it."

  He waved me away. "And go kiss your boyfriend."

  I grinned, I couldn't help it. There was just so much to grin about. "You sure?"

  Adrian turned his back on us. "I'm sure now."

  Pierce and I got back to business.

  55

  Pierce

  As soon as we got there, Sasha’s draw dropped. There were umbrellas dangling from the trees, and lights on every bough and branch. And then the people, all decked out, colorful and smiling, waving and chatting easily to each other. We made a few friends on the way to our tent.

  When Sasha came out of the tent, it was my turn for my jaw to drop.

  "You made this?"

  She had on a teal, tie-up, crop-top that showed off her cleavage beautifully. Paired with the purple flowy skirt, a teal anklet, and purple pom-pom hair ties, I wanted to shove her back in the tent and leave the festival for later.

  But I could see Sasha’s face glimmering with excitement. It was for her after all.

  “I’ve always wanted to come to one of these,” she said, looking around at all of the people.

  I gestured out to the festival grounds where we could already see the sun setting as electronic music echoed over. "You ready?"

  Her hand closed over mine. "Hell yeah."

  56

  Sasha

  There weren’t any words for it. The techno rhythms bumped through my body.

  The decorations, so colorful and bright that it brought tears to my eyes. And how Pierce, through it all, his hand in mine, looked almost as delighted as I felt. When I couldn't see the stage, he lifted me onto his shoulders.

  Which was where I was now, swaying to the music. I didn't even need any alcohol or anything. The music was my drug.

  As I looked around me, I thought about it all. About how I had already handed out my business card to twenty or so people who’d loved my shirt. About how so many things I had thought impossible, I’d now done. I’d gotten away from Aleksi. I’d gotten away from Moscow. I was making my business work. And Pierce… Wasn’t he the most impossible part of it all?

  When Pierce lowered me down, he asked, "What's wrong?"

  I wiped away a tear with the back of my hand. "What's right, is more like it. You are my impossible. You've made everything I thought I could never have possible. Thank you."

  Pierce enclosed me in his arms, and in my ear, he said, "No – thank you. I didn't think this kind of love existed. I thought it was some kind of Disney lie, some kind of thing we trick ourselves into." He peeled back to look me in the eye. He pressed a finger onto my nose, then into his chest. "But this. This. It's real. You are my impossible, Sasha."

  And then we kissed.

  I don't know how much longer we danced from one stage to the next. It was love, all of it. Beautiful. The lights, the music. It was everything I could've hoped for and even more.

  And when I was so tired that I started nodding off, Pierce picked me up and carried me all the way back to the tent. It was lit up with so many lights I had to blink and laugh.

  Pierce paused at the entrance. “What do you say?”

  My lips mashing into his was the answer. The rest after that was just more magic.

  The way our bodies grooved together – so slowly and so right. I felt every inch of his muscles, and he stroked my whole body so expertly that I almost came just from his touch.

  By the time Pierce entered me, I cried out into his shoulder and shook in his arms.

  Slow and deep and perfect, he plunged into me.

  He murmured something. My eyes snapped open.

  “I love you,” he said, looking me straight in the eye.

  “I love you,” I murmured back.

  Epilogue

  Sasha - One Year Later

  As I looked out at the crowd, my heart skipped a beat.

  Who would’ve thought after only one year, how completely my life would have transformed?

  My business had taken off. I had to hire two assistants to keep up.

  My parents were doing great too. They loved Pierce.

  And then NYC, with its fast pace and diverse boroughs, felt like more of my home than Moscow ever did. I even had time t
o volunteer to help at-risk girls. No way did I want any other girl stumbling into the life I almost had.

  And now, there I was, waiting behind a big elm tree while the man of my dreams waited at the altar.

  When we’d told Adrian a few months back that we were getting married soon, he’d laughed. Then I cried. Then laughed some more. Then threatened to marry Tatiana on the spot. As it stood, they were waiting there at the front too, our best man and maid of honor.

  The wedding march began, and I started my walk.

  Don’t cry; I scolded myself as I glided across the grass. Pierce and I had agreed we’d wanted our wedding in the same park we’d gone to for our first picnic. It was, after all, the place where we’d decided to give us a real shot. It couldn’t be a more perfect place to make our vows.

  I could see Mom and Dad, looking thrilled; a few cousins smiling.

  And then, there he was.

  My Pierce. My impossible. My everything.

  When I got there, I stood in front of him with his handsome tux and red-brown hair. I had to stop myself from touching him to make sure he was real.

  The minister began saying the words, but all I knew at that moment was him.

  He was looking at me, at the dress that I’d designed myself like he couldn’t believe how beautiful I was.

  “I do,” Pierce said suddenly.

  As he and the minister looked to me, I knew. It was time.

  Everything surged in me, all the emotion of surprise and joy.

  “Of course I do,” I said.

  As he pronounced us man and wife, I knew without a doubt that it meant forever.

  Saving Sky (Sample)

  1

  Jack

  “You have to go! It’s for the Captain!” Welsh said as he clapped me on the back.

  “I know, but strip clubs aren’t really my cup of tea,” I said. “I’d rather not.”

  “Okay, it’s not a strip club, it’s a gentleman’s club,” Welsh said, emphasizing the word.

  “You realize those are the same thing, right?” I asked.