Tempting the Badman (Russian Bratva #5)

by Hayley Faiman

  True enough, I had her followed and watched before I made her mine, but not twenty-four-seven. I don’t think she was with anybody else, but how can I be certain? Inessa has always been independent, always off on her own and doing whatever she wishes with nobody to answer to. What if I missed something?

  “Do me a favor, take a test,” Pavlov urges before he digs into his bag and pulls out a box.

  “You keep these with you?” she asks with a smile and an arch to her brow.

  “You’d be surprised how often that’s what ails my female patients,” he chuckles.

  Inessa climbs out of bed. I watch her walk on shaky legs to the bathroom. She avoids looking at me as she closes and locks the door behind her.

  “You don’t look happy,” Pavlov points out as he starts gathering his things up.

  “How pregnant would she be if that comes back positive?” I ask.

  “I don’t think I like what you’re insinuating.”

  “Probably not, but humor me,” I all but demand.

  “Could be a month, could be two. I don’t know when her last period was, and I don’t have an ultrasound machine handy, so I can’t say for sure,” he says as his eyes narrow on me and his lip curls.

  “The reason she passed out?”

  “Sometimes an early sign of pregnancy, dizziness and fainting,” he explains.

  I don’t say anything else as the bathroom door opens and Inessa stands there, white stick in hand, her face pale and her eyes on me. Pregnant. She doesn’t have to say the words for me to realize them as fact.

  “You need to come to my office first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll take care of your ultrasound to see how far along you are and give you instructions,” Pavlov says gently.

  He doesn’t look back at me as he gathers his things. I watch as he walks over to Inessa and wraps his arms around her in a hug. He whispers something to her that makes her nod, and then he walks right by me and out the door.

  I turn around to follow him, locking the apartment door behind him before I walk over to my freezer. I take out a bottle of vodka and a glass, pouring myself a drink.

  “Dominik, say something,” Inessa whispers from somewhere behind me.

  I ignore her.

  She stands there and eventually sighs before she walks away from me. I drink. I continue to drink—glass after glass of vodka—wondering what the fuck happens next. I wanted this, at least I thought I did. Now that it’s real, now that it doesn’t need to happen to get Larisa’s contract broken—I’m not sure.

  I’m thinking of ways to claim the baby isn’t mine, ways that she possibly fucked around with other men while she was my fuck buddy. Even though I know—I fucking know that there was nobody else. This baby is mine. It’s exactly what I told her I wanted from her, and now it’s suffocating me.

  Fuck.

  I WAKE UP TO an empty bed. Looking over, I realize that Dominik never came to bed last night. It should surprise me, but it doesn’t. Finding out that I am indeed pregnant did not hold the appeal that I’m sure he thought it would.

  I should be angry with him. He should be over the fucking moon, since this is what he wanted—what he forced on me. I’m not angry with him at all, though. I’m past that. I’m just—disappointed.

  It seems Dominik doesn’t quite know what he wants out of life. He strung out his marriage contract to Larisa for as long as he possibly could. Then he did what he did to me, married me, and now he seems regretful to have done so.

  Dominik has issues. I understand that. His teenage years were spent in prison, so he undoubtedly has issues from that alone; not to mention, not once has he ever spoken of his family, so that makes me believe that there’s something there, too.

  I want to be patient with him; but on the other hand, I want to scream and wring his neck. I choose to shower and dress for the day instead. I have to see my uncle this morning, and then I have several meetings set up, and a few showings as well.

  I dress in a simple shift dress for the day, not feeling particularly sexy or even pretty. I’m just tired. The last thing I want is to be poked and prodded before I work for the rest of the day. Plus, I feel nauseous and hungry all at the same time.

  “Ready?” Konstantin asks from the living room.

  “I am,” I nod. “We need to go to Uncle Pavlov’s first, then I have some meetings in the office, and a few showings after that.”

  “Did you eat?” Stas barks. I jump, not used to his sharp tone.

  “No,” I say hesitantly. He stands and walks over to me before shoving a bag at my chest. I take it before it falls to the floor.

  “Syrniki,” he grunts.

  I open the bag and, sure enough, there are several syrniki inside. I haven’t had them since I lived with Uncle Pavlov. They’re like cottage cheese dumplings, and one of my favorite breakfast foods. There’s also a little plastic container of fresh jam right next to it.

  “For the baby,” he explains. My eyes widen as I look up at him.

  “Konstantin has a big mouth,” I mutter.

  “Not me, kroshka,” he chuckles.

  “Dominik, then,” I say as I start to walk toward the apartment door to leave.

  “We have even more of a reason to watch you now. He just wants to ensure your safety. You can’t fault him for that,” he says gently.

  I almost roll my eyes. I don’t. Instead, I take a syrniki out of the bag and nibble on it.

  I eat all four of the breakfast treats before we arrive at Uncle Pavlov’s office, and, physically, it makes me feel much better. Emotionally, I’m still a mess. I try to hide it with each breath I take.

  Uncle Pavlov is all business as he directs his nurse to take all of my vitals and get a sample of urine. He then informs me to undress and wait for him in my room. Once I’ve done all but undress, the nurse hands me a gown and says she’ll be in the room in a few moments.

  I disrobe completely and hurry into the gown. The nurse and Uncle Pavlov appear shortly after, wheeling a machine with them. A few minutes later, I’m lying back, looking at the screen and seeing a little thing moving around, watching what Uncle Pavlov explains is a heartbeat.

  I measure at eight weeks pregnant, and when the whooshing sound of my baby’s heartbeat fills the room, my eyes fill with tears. I didn’t want this baby. I didn’t want to be forced into carrying it, but I wasn’t. I was already pregnant when Dominik took my choices away. I was pregnant and didn’t even know it yet.

  “Everything looks good,” he murmurs as he takes the ultrasound wand out of me. I sit up, still in awe as he hands me a strip of printed photos. “Show these to him. Make it real, and he’ll come around.”

  “Maybe,” I whisper with a shrug.

  I leave Uncle Pavlov’s office with instructions to buy prenatal vitamins, and a list of foods to avoid—like certain fishes and sushi.

  My Byki don’t say anything to me as we drive toward my office, and I’m grateful. I hope that today is swamped so that I don’t have to think about Dominik’s reaction, which seems to play on a loop in my head over and over again.

  “I have a few showings after lunch,” I mutter to Konstantin halfway into my work day.

  “Let’s go feed you then, yeah?” he says, standing up.

  I nod and follow him out of my office, where Matvey and Stas are standing guard. They’ve taken their places on either side of my door, making sure the entrance is never breeched.

  Together, the four of us make our way toward the elevators. I lead the group as we begin to walk toward the front door of the building, and Konstantin pushes the door open from behind me when, suddenly, a flash of fabric whirls in front of me as a man shouts.

  Konstantin grabs hold of me and shoves me to the side, where Matvey catches me by the waist before I hit the pavement and he pulls me into his strong body. Then, I watch in horror as Konstantin pulls out his gun before he fires his weapon.

  I hear gun shots and watch his big, strong body fall down. The gunman rushes us, and I hear Stas b
ehind me on the phone, screaming. Before the gunmen reaches me, Konstantin’s arm shoots up and I hear his weapon fire again before the gunman goes down. The whole scene feels like it’s lasted hours, but in reality, it’s all happened in seconds.

  I break away from Matvey and rush to Konstantin. I sink down next to him, and as my eyes scan his body, all I see is blood.

  “Konstantin,” I scream, wrapping my fingers in his shirt and griping it tightly.

  “Get inside,” he whispers with a cough.

  “No,” I cry as tears fall from my eyes.

  “There could be more,” he whispers.

  Matvey picks me up and carries me kicking and screaming inside of my office building. I hear sirens seconds later, and then watch as paramedics load Konstantin onto a stretcher and take him away. I watch as a coroner loads up the unknown gunman, taking him away as well.

  “Yakov will be at the coroner’s office before he arrives to find out who this fuck is,” Stas murmurs.

  I sigh, rubbing my fingers against my temples, wondering what the fuck is wrong with me. Inside my head, I’ve decided that there’s no way that I can be one hundred percent certain that this baby is mine. In my heart, that’s where the struggle is. In my heart, I’m sure that it’s mine.

  Inessa always did her own thing, never asking me for more than I was willing to give her, and yet there was a shift that happened between us. I don’t know the moment it happened, but it did. Somewhere along the way, I became exclusive to her. Deep inside, I know that she’s always been to me.

  It’s easier to question her, to wonder, because if I let myself believe that it’s been real, that it’s always been real, then I’ll feel even more guilt and remorse for the way I’ve been with her—for the shit I’ve put her through, and undoubtedly the more shit that’s to come.

  Fuck.

  I hear my phone going off and I look down. It’s Stas, claiming an emergency. Everything inside of me goes still as my stomach lurches and twists.

  An emergency.

  Inessa.

  The baby.

  My mind is spinning as I stare at the device. I’m scared, for the first time in my life, I’m truly fucking terrified. So scared, in fact, that I don’t even hear my office door open and close.

  “Dominik,” a husky voice whispers. I immediately jump to my feet before I take in the figure in front of me.

  Alla is standing almost completely nude, save for a small scrap of fabric that just covers her pussy lips. She grins as she walks over to me, sliding up and pressing her tits to my chest.

  “You need to go, Alla,” I rumble.

  “You’ve changed, Dominik. You’re not the man you once were. I miss you. I miss who you used to be. You let a woman change you, and it’s pretty sad,” she says, keeping her voice purposely low and husky.

  “What I do, how I do it, and who I do it with, is absolutely none of your fucking concern,” I rumble.

  “How about I make you feel good? Take whatever is bothering you off of your mind?” she asks.

  I grunt, unsure of how to respond. I feel like grabbing her by the throat and throwing her across the room, or I could just backhand her and put her out on the street. She may be one of the best whores here, but she’s still a whore.

  I’m sitting on a sofa in the waiting area of my building. People are all around me, but I don’t really know any of them. Thankfully, Stas and Matvey keep them all away from me. I have no desire to talk to anybody but Dominik about what’s just happened.

  “Has he called back yet?” I ask, looking up to Stas.

  Stas only shakes his head and looks away from me, a grimace on his face.

  “He said there was a code, so he’d know if it was an emergency,” I explain. Stas nods, his eyes not meeting mine.

  “I did that, Inessa,” he murmurs.

  “Can you call his office?” I all but beg.

  “I did that, too.”

  I close my eyes tightly and try not to cry again.

  “Is he okay? Maybe they came after him, too,” I say, trying to rationalize why Dominik isn’t calling Stas back, why he is unavailable.

  “I talked to a couple different Byki. They said he’s in his office, not to be disturbed. He’s not hurt,” Stas says gently, as if his gentled voice will soften the blow.

  “Take me to Konstantin, then,” I demand.

  “Your uncle will call when there’s an update. We’re taking you home,” Matvey announces.

  “No, Matty, take me to Konstantin,” I demand.

  “Nyet,” he barks harshly.

  “Then take me to Dominik,” I counter.

  “I don’t—” Stas starts to speak, but is quickly silenced when Matvey interrupts him.

  “She wants to be taken to Dominik when he can’t be bothered to return our calls in an emergency, then fine—we take her,” Matvey announces.

  “Matvey,” Stas hisses. His eyes dart from my face to Matvey’s. Some kind of pleading is apparent in them, but I don’t know why.

  “We leave now,” he grunts.

  Stas shakes his head in disagreement and disapproval, but he doesn’t argue again. He wraps his hand loosely around my bicep and guides me beside him toward the door. My knees weaken when we walk past the puddle of Konstantin’s blood.

  There are a few police officers standing around, and they each lift their chins to my guards. I don’t question why none of them talked to me, asked me anything, or made any reports. They’re on the payroll. They looked the other way, and I’m sure they will all be compensated nicely for it.

  The drive to Dominik is in silence. I look around for large business buildings and the high rises, but they’re nowhere around us anymore. We’ve gone to a residential area. I’m a little surprised and confused when we pull up to a house, and not an office, before the car stops.

  “Where are we?” I ask in confusion.

  “Dominik’s office,” Matvey explains as he steps out of the car.

  Stas curses as he does the same, and then waits by the curb for Matvey to let me out of the car. Together, the three of us walk up to the front door. Stas doesn’t bother knocking as he opens the door. As soon as I walk inside of the home, I notice it smells heavily of perfume. It’s obviously a female’s home, and my spine straightens.

  The further we walk into the house, I see a couple women hanging around. They’re wearing nothing, only bras and thong panties, while lounging on the sofa in the sitting room. My eyes widen and then panic fills me.

  “What on earth,” I whisper.

  Stas grunts but doesn’t speak. When we arrive at Dominik’s office door, I reach for the handle, not bothering to knock, and open it wide.

  There, in the middle of the room, is a gorgeous dark wooden desk, but that’s not what my eyes are focused on.

  My eyes are glued to the man who is my husband, a man I had been falling in love with, the man who is the father of my unborn child with his hands wrapped around a woman’s waist. He’s standing, her body pressed close to his, her arms looped around his neck, her fingers in his hair.

  It looks as though they’re kissing, but I honestly can’t look at their heads to try and figure it out, because I’m too busy looking at his hands on her waist and her body. She’s bare assed, wearing a G-string, and braless. I can tell by her bare back and her short black hair.

  My heart hurts—it aches. Somebody tried to kill me today, Konstantin could be dead, and my husband has ignored all contact to get a piece of ass.

  He is the man I thought him to be. He is a man who expects me to give him all of me and in return gives me nothing while he gives other women his body. He’s everything I feared he would be, and everything I dreamed and hoped he wouldn’t be.

  “This is why you couldn’t be bothered to answer Stas’ urgent calls?” I ask, my voice low and husky.

  Dominik at least has the decency to push the naked woman to the side. Her eyes scan my body and she smirks. I ignore her, because she’s not my concern, not really. Dominik is
why I’m here, not whoever this woman is, and I refuse to catfight over a man.

  “Inessa,” he murmurs. “It’s not—.”

  “Save it,” I interrupt. “It’s exactly what it looks like, and don’t try to play me for a bigger fool.”

  “Inessa, quiet,” he growls.

  “I’m going to the hospital and you’re going to allow it,” I announce.

  “Alla, leave and close the door on your way out,” he barks.

  Alla smirks at me and then slowly saunters through the office, shifting her hips and making sure not only Dominik, but also I see every single body part bounce with each step. Then she brushes past me, making sure her bare breasts brush against my arm before she closes the office door behind her.

  Dominik stands expressionless across from me. As soon as the door is closed, he begins to walk toward me.

  “You touch me right now, and I’ll knee you in the balls,” I grind out.

  “Inessa,” he murmurs as his eyes gentle on me. “What’s this talk of the hospital, and whose blood is that on you?”

  “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to see a friend there,” I say.

  “Why would I stop you from seeing a friend?” he asks, confused, “and why is that such an emergency?”

  If I tell him the truth, he’ll refuse to allow me to leave. I know he’ll find out eventually, but I don’t want him to yet. Honestly, my heart aches right now, to a point where I need to get away from him or I’ll cry.

  He’s betrayed me, in a way that I knew was possible. Stupid me, I’d hoped that he wouldn’t ever do that. I was foolish and irrational to want him all to myself. He can do whatever he wants. He’s a man, and I’m to accept whatever he gives me—whether it be his time, his affections, his money, or himself.

  “I’ll see you later,” I murmur, turning to walk away from him.

  “Inessa,” he barks harshly. I ignore him.

  He won’t follow me out of this office. He won’t have a scene with me in front of his men and whoever these naked women are.