“Well, guess this will keep me busy for a while,” Ruby mutters as she looks around. “What were they really looking for?”
“Exactly what I said to the inspector,” I say as I stroke my finger over her soft cheek. “They’re trying to figure out what we do, trying to get information that will tell them what we are involved in.” Leaning down, I kiss her cheek and then whisper in her ear, as I’m not sure if they have placed any listening devices without our knowledge. “I’m going to have to swipe the apartment for listening bugs, sweetheart. They might have placed some to try to catch any information.” She pulls back and looks into my eyes. A few seconds later, she nods. Standing up straight, I look around. “Leave everything. I will get someone to come in and straighten up. I also don’t want you to wear any of your undergarments when those fuckers had their hands all over them. We will get new ones.” I can hear the anger in my voice.
“They went through my underwear?” she asks, her eyes wide, but then her lips kick up and she has a splitting smile on her face. “You know I can just wash everything.” By the time she finishes her sentence, I am already shaking my head.
“No, we will get new ones.” I know I’m sounding like a possessive caveman, but I don’t care. I don’t want my woman wearing anything another asshole has been touching. I’m surprised when Ruby suddenly lifts herself up on her tiptoes and kisses me passionately on my lips, which has me immediately hardening. Pulling my hands around her, I place them under her ass and lift her up against me, feeling her hotness scorching me.
Ruby has turned out to be so much more than I could ever envision. She has slowly opened like a flower does in the sun, revealing a facet at a time. I still see the anxiety, the unsureness in her sometimes, but it’s in passing and not as it was when I first met her. Kissing her until both of us are breathless, I slowly lift my head. Looking down into her passion-filled eyes, I realize how much I care for her. This isn’t just a case of trying to keep her safe anymore. This is wanting her all to myself, wanting her with all of me. This is the woman I want to have my children with. Just the thought has me wanting to run, but I know that even though she has been through what she has, there is no woman who will make me feel this completeness like I do when I’m with her.
“All I want is to take you right now like this,” I murmur.
“What’s stopping you?” she says, her cheeks filling with colour. Even after these last couple days that I have come to know her body as well as I know mine, she still blushes in embarrassment, which has me wanting her even more.
“I might be needed at any time as they go through the other apartments, but as soon as they’re gone, you’re mine.”
She smiles and then looks around, her face falling when she sees the mess that our apartment was left in. “How about we go away for a few days after they leave?” I haven’t even thought about this, but the more I think, the more I like the idea. Her eyes snap back to mine, a smile lifting her lips once again.
“Oh, this is going to be so great!” she states excitedly, which has me shaking my head in amusement at how easy it is to please my woman.
RUBY 14
This is terrible. I was so excited about going away with Dimitri, but it is turning out to be the holiday from hell. I have hardly seen him since we came away. Instead of going where we were supposed to go, we had to change our plans and join Alexei and Jade at their beach house. I thought it would be nice, but no, as soon as we arrived, Alexei and Dimitri disappeared into the office, only to come out hours later and disappear again.
It’s nice to hang out with Jade, but there are men all over the house. She says that it usually isn’t like this and that the security arrived just before we did, but it is nerve-wracking for me. Then a few minutes ago, Vlad came charging in here like a wrecking ball, clearly angry about something, as I could hear him arguing with one of his men.
“Maybe we should leave all of them here and go back to the city,” Jade says playfully as she bounces her boy on her lap. It is uncanny how alike he is to his father. He’s lucky, as he’s going to be one handsome man when he grows up.
“Don’t tempt me,” I mutter as I look again at the man standing at the door to the lounge where we are sitting now. “Why are there so many of them?” I ask as I see a man walking past the open patio doors. I understand they are here for our protection, but protection from what? I’m sure if it was the police, there wouldn’t be so many of them. There must be something else going on. “Have there been any problems lately?”
Jade frowns at my question and then shakes her head. “Nothing that would warrant all this security, but trust me, as soon as I have a moment with Alexei, I will ask him.”
Just then, Nik walks in, his normally stoic face in place.
“What! You too?” Jade says as she looks over at Nik as he approaches.
“What do you mean?” he asks with a raised brow.
“Don’t act dumb with me, Nik. This place is crawling with men, and then he calls you to come babysit me?” Jade says sarcastically.
“You know your husband by now. He’s just being cautious,” Nik answers with a shrug.
“Give me some credit. Are there problems? Ruby said that the police visited the apartment,” Jade says. I’m still surprised by the way Jade talks to this man, and her husband, for that matter. She’s not scared of their reaction, but from what I can see, they treat her with kid gloves, and the respect and love they have for her is evident when they’re close to her.
Even before what happened to me, I would not think of questioning my father. He would not allow any kind of questioning when it came to the Bratva. He always said that his work was out of bounds to my mother and me. He should have told that to the assholes who killed my mother.
“Ruby?” My attention comes back to Jade, and I realize she must have called me before.
“Sorry, my mind was far away,” I say when I see her concerned look.
“Don’t worry. Alexei is a bit over the top, but he means well,” Jade says. I’m about to answer just as Raven walks in. By the way she glares at Nik, I would say she’s not too impressed with being here either.
“Raven!” Jade says in surprise. “I see you were dragged on a holiday too. Where are the kids?”
“I’ve just settled them down for a nap,” she says as she lifts the monitor in her hand. “I don’t know how long they will be down, though, with all these people parading up and down like they are.” Nik frowns at her comment and then steps towards the door and lifts his phone to his ear.
“You tell him,” Jade quips with a smile.
“What is going on, anyway? I have never seen so many men together before,” she mumbles as she comes to sit next to me. “Is this because of the police?”
“I don’t think so. Why would they confront the police? It doesn’t make sense,” I state, which has both women nodding in agreement.
“Are they at war with anyone?” Raven asks.
“Not that I know of, and I’m sure I would have heard something by now if they were.”
Nik walks back in, his expression as blank as always, but I notice that the guy who was standing by the door is now gone, and the one walking up and down outside the patio windows has also left.
“Come on, Nik, tell us what is going on,” Jade says as he walks past her to go stand by the patio doors.
He looks over his shoulder at her and shrugs. “Be patient,” he says.
“Yes, Jade, patience is a virtue,” Alexei says as he walks in. I can see the love on his face as he smiles at her. Behind him, Dimitri walks in, with Vlad like a dark cloud beside him.
Dimitri’s eyes are on me as he approaches. By the scowl on his face, I can tell he’s in a foul mood. Whatever is happening, he isn’t happy about it. He comes to stand before me. Without a word, he takes my hand and pulls me up, then takes the seat where I was sitting. He then places his hands on my hips and sits me in his lap. I can feel my face flaming as everyone looks at the two of us with amusement
on their faces. Huffing in annoyance at his underhandedness, I look over my shoulder and glare at him, which has him raising a brow in fake innocence.
“Good thing you don’t love me for my virtue,” Jade says as Alexei bends over to pick up their son. Standing up straight once again, he tweaks his cheek, making him smile at his father in happiness. Alexei then moves towards Jade, where he sits down on the armrest of the couch where Jade is sitting. Bending over, he kisses her forehead.
“I love everything about you,” he murmurs, which has me forgetting about Dimitri’s show of possessiveness and leaning back against him. I feel his arms tighten slightly around my waist, and then his lips are on the side of my neck as he kisses it gently.
“Don’t distract me with your sweet talking. I know your techniques,” Jade huffs, but I can see the smile that she’s battling to hold back.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” Alexei says, which has Vlad grunting. I see the glare Alexei shoots at him before he looks back at his wife. “It has come to our attention that there is an assassin in town that has his sights on us.”
The colour drains from Jade’s face, and I’m sure that mine is pretty much the same. “Who is he after?” Raven asks as she stands and walks towards Nik, who opens his arms to enfold her in them.
“We don’t know yet,” Dimitri replies.
“But we’re going to find him and stop him before he does whatever he was paid to do,” Vlad says angrily.
“Won’t that just make another come in his place? If he’s an assassin, we need to find out who is paying him,” I say.
“We will get the information from him. Don’t you worry,” Vlad says. I can tell by the way his muscles are tensed that he is furious that someone would dare threaten one of us. From what Dimitri has said about Vlad, he has a temper on him, and we can all see how close he is to exploding.
“That is why we have so many men here. I’m sorry it’s uncomfortable for a while with so many eyes all the time, but it’s for everyone’s protection,” Alexei states as he looks around at everyone.
“Maybe they know where I am and are after me,” I say, which has Dimitri’s arms tightening, and I can feel his body tensing.
“Well, he’s not going to get anywhere near you,” he grates out in anger.
“We don’t know yet who he’s here for, but as Dimitri said, we will make sure that he doesn’t come near any of you,” Alexei says.
“That is why we need you to listen to instruction. We can’t catch this guy and be worried that you will be putting yourselves in harm’s way,” Vlad says just as we hear a baby gurgling coming from Raven’s monitor.
“Well, that was a quick nap,” she huffs. “Maybe you could ask your men to be quieter or the assassin will know they are coming.” With that, she shakes her head and then makes her way towards the door. Nik starts by following her, but Alexei raises his hand to stop him, inclining his head towards Vlad to follow her instead. Nik frowns but follows Alexei’s instruction.
“The baby is teething and isn’t sleeping much,” Nik says in his wife’s defence.
“It’s a tiring time,” Jade says as she strokes her still-flat stomach.
“I need you to go with Dimitri, but before you two leave, I want you both to make sure that everyone is safe and we have no gaps where anyone can get in.” Nik looks over at Dimitri. I don’t know what he sees there, but he nods.
“I’ll phone Andrei, and we can meet him outside in half an hour,” Dimitri says. Nik nods again before he looks back at Alexei and then turns and leaves the room. From my guess, I would say he has gone to look in on his wife and kids.
“Come with me,” Dimitri murmurs in my ear, and then kisses my neck again before he helps me stand. “I’ll keep you updated,” he says to Alexei.
“Dimitri, don’t forget Vlad has a fight coming up,” Alexei says as he lifts his son’s T-shirt and tickles his stomach, which makes the little boy laugh in merriment.
“I have men on it,” Dimitri replies before he starts making his way out of the room through the patio doors, my hand securely in his. We walk around the swimming pool towards a bench situated under a beautiful willow tree, its leaves nearly touching the ground, secluding us in its folds.
“It’s beautiful here,” I say in a sigh as I lean back on the bench.
“Not as beautiful as you.” I feel my cheeks flush as my eyes turn towards his. “Ruby, I don’t want you to worry about this whole assassin issue,” he says as he sits next to me and places his arm around my shoulders.
“You are worried about it; I can see you are. If he is here for me, he might hurt someone else to get to me,” I say, which has him shaking his head. Before he can say anything, I continue. “Dimitri, I don’t want that to happen. If it’s me he wants, if you see that someone else is going to get hurt, you must let me go.”
Dimitri is instantly on his feet, his head just a hair’s breadth from touching one of the branches. “Don’t even think that, you hear me, Ruby? He isn’t going to get near anyone, especially you.” He lifts his hand, pointing a finger at me. “Don’t test me on this. I don’t want to hear you talk like that. You are not indispensable, do you understand?” He has never been this upset with me before. A vein is ticking on the side of his neck. What I realize, though, is that I’m not scared of him. I know that no matter how upset he is with me, he won’t ever hurt me.
These men in the Bratva Fury here are nothing like the men I have always been around. These men are dangerous, but they are not barbarians. They are passionate in their beliefs, but they are also just. They don’t hurt women just because they can; instead, they protect them with their lives.
“Yes,” I answer.
“I mean it, Ruby; I can’t be worried that you’re going to do something silly if I’m not here.”
My heart starts to race at his show of caring. I don’t want to worry him, especially if he’s going out into danger. “I’m not going to do anything silly, Dimitri. Besides what could I possibly do with this place crawling with men everywhere we look?” I hear him grunt as one of the men walk past the tree and down the steps to the lawn.
“But it’s nice to know you worry about me,” I say, and his body tenses.
“You’re my wife. It’s my responsibility to keep you safe,” he grumbles.
“So, I’m a responsibility,” I state.
“No, sweetheart, you are not just a responsibility.” He squats before me and takes my hands in his, his eyes level with mine. “Our relationship didn’t start in the normal conventional ways, but I’m glad you were put in my life. You are my wife, Ruby, the most important person in my life and, one day, the mother of our children. You are beautiful inside and out, and I’m proud to be your husband in every sense of the word.” I can’t hold the tears back at his words. I wonder if he will still think like that when he knows.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart,” he murmurs as he leans forward and kisses a tear away. This only makes me want to cry more at his gentleness. I must tell him, but how am I going to tell him that he will never be a father?
DIMITRI 15
I don’t understand this woman! I thought she would be pleased with my words, but no, she bursts out crying and then insists on going inside without saying anything else. What the fuck!
“If you continue glaring like that, the men are all going to turn and run crying,” Nik states with a bland expression. Which has me turning my glare on him. He clearly saw Ruby walking inside the house and me behind her.
“I don’t understand it. I said all the right things, and she bursts out crying and walks away,” I say. Nik raises his eyebrows. I think I surprised him, as I’m not much for sharing my problems, but I know that if anyone can give me sound advice, he can.
“Maybe the right things for you aren’t the right things for her,” Nik says, which has my head snapping towards him again in confusion. How can what I said not be the right thing for her?
“Women all like the lovey dovey, sharing your fe
elings shit,” I mutter, which has Nik suddenly grinning.
“You want to repeat to me what you said to her? Maybe I’ll be more impressed than she was,” Nik quips, which has me grunting at his amusement.
“I got the feeling she’s hiding something, but I know everything about her, so it can’t be that,” I state, trying to figure out this mess.
“You know, I was teasing, but maybe if you do repeat all the things you said to her, it will help you figure out what it was that spooked her,” Nik says just as Andrei joins us. He has a good point. Maybe if I go through everything that we talked about, I will understand what got her into that state, but one way or another, I’m going to have to talk to her, because between us, there will be communication and no hiding away.
“Let’s go through the layout and see where all the men are situated,” Nik says, which brings me back to the business at hand. I listen to Andrei as he explains where everyone is positioned. Andrei has been with Alexei and Vlad for a long time now, and he’s one of Vlad’s trusted men.
“I think that instead of having so many men walking around all over the place, we place them in pairs. They will cross each other every few minutes, and their paths change continuously so that no one can program how to get in.” Andrei nods.
“We have a big area to cover and a few gaps coming in from the beach,” Nik says as he looks at the layout Andrei is holding up for us.
“Who’s keeping an eye on the water?” I ask, as anyone can swim in and come in through there.
“I have one man sitting on the veranda as lookout,” Andrei confirms.
“I think we should have two men, one on the veranda and another one on another area. Remember, we are dealing with an assassin. He could very well shoot the lookout before he can raise an alarm. It will be more difficult with two in different areas.” We continue strategizing for a while until we’re all happy with the security and safety of everyone here. When Andrei leaves to go call some of the men we want to talk to, Nik and I make our way towards the cars.
Mayhem: Bratva Fury (book 3) Page 11