Dirty Kisses_Interracial Russian Mafia Romance

by Kenya Wright

  “Come on, Emily.” Kazimir tenderly grabbed my hand and guided me away.

  We left Luka in that part of the gallery and walked to the front.

  Outside, the sky darkened. The door had been closed and locked. The lights were off so no one walking by could see inside.

  I checked the door.

  The person had the key to lock up. Did they take it from Kennedy after they killed her or did the person already have it?

  Kazimir squeezed my hand. “What can I do?”

  “Why Kennedy?” I asked.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  I spat the words out. “Russians did this.”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t ask. It’s the same style of shot—clean and straight to the brain.” I moved my hand from his. “Do all of your men shoot that way or only a few?”

  “Only the ones that started off with me in the beginning.”

  “How many is that?”

  Kazimir frowned.

  My voice rose with pain. “My friend is dead. Please, answer my question.”

  Kazimir kept a blank expression on his face. “There are ten men that kill this way. It’s called a classic shot.”

  “Ten?”

  Kazimir lifted the side of his lip into a sneer. “Yes, ten men, but only three are here in New York right now.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Luka, me.” Kazimir clenched his teeth. “And my stepbrother, Sasha.”

  I backed up. “Your brother?”

  “I thought my brother may have had a hand in this, when we were at the building today. Only Luka and he knew we were going today.”

  “Did Sasha know Rumi?”

  “Of course. Sasha handled my business in New York from time to time. Although last night I’d realized that he’d been coming to New York more. That brothel was one of his new businesses.”

  “Very new. Probably two years old, but then it was so high-end it could just be out of my social circle’s ears.”

  “No, two years sounds right.”

  I hugged myself, trying to warm my body from this new cold reality. “Sasha knew you would come to New York, if Rumi was dead?”

  “Yes.”

  “And he had an easy way to kill the brothel madam because he owned the place and probably could get around without anyone noticing.”

  “Yes.”

  I sighed. “What I don’t understand is why Kennedy was killed.”

  “The lions.” He took both of my hands and pulled me into a hold. “I’m so sorry, but it was the paintings of the lions.”

  “The lions?” I struggled to get out of his grip. “I don’t understand and let me go.”

  “No. You need a minute.”

  I looked up at him as tears brimmed on my lids.

  “Take a minute to breathe, Emily. Just one. Maybe two.”

  Sighing, I buried myself into his chest and cried, showing my weakness, exposing it all. I had no idea it would come out like that. I’d held it in. I was doing a good job.

  Kazimir wrapped his arms around me. “Sasha commissioned you to do the lions. He knows me. He knows how I am about seeing things and looking at meaningful coincidences.”

  My words choked on my tears. “But, why?”

  “We’ll see.”

  I moved my head from his chest and wiped my face, refusing to break down in front of him anymore. “You can let me go now.”

  He did, but now concern covered his face.

  I turned away from him. “I’m fine.”

  “No, you’re not.”

  “I will be fine.”

  “I’ll have my men take care of your friend and handle everything.”

  “You’re not sure if you have any men right now. Your brother could’ve gotten to them.”

  “Sasha always has a good start with a plan, but he never thinks of the end game.” An evil smile appeared on his face. “For example, even if he did have my men here, even if he did control New York. . .” He pierced me with his gaze. “What is controlling New York to controlling the whole fucking world?”

  A shiver ran through me.

  “We’ll go somewhere safe,” he said. “I have calls to make. Reinforcements to come.”

  I backed away, needing to get space between him and me. I missed his arms and wanted more comfort. But there was no time for that. I had to figure out what was going on and survive.

  Without saying anything, I walked away.

  Kazimir must’ve understood my anxiousness.

  Silent and patient, he followed.

  “Your brother thinks you’re dead,” I said over my shoulder. “If I was him, I wouldn’t even tell your men the plan. Perhaps, I would blame it on the Shower Posse.”

  “Any of my men that made it out today will point to the Shower Posse, probably not Sasha. No one would ever think he had anything to do with it.”

  “Yes.” I walked to my office and entered. “I imagine you demand loyalty among your men.”

  “Yes, they’ve watched me kill many for lack of loyalty.”

  “So, it would’ve been difficult for Sasha to get your men to go against you?”

  “More than difficult. My men know that if I find out that they’ve been disloyal, not only will they die, but generations of their family will too. And I never waver on that promise.”

  “If I was Sasha, I would’ve maneuvered a plan behind your back to get you killed, yet without his hands touching it.” I tapped the edge of my desk. “And I would stay close to you the whole time. The closer I was, the less you would suspect.”

  Kazimir scowled. “That is what he’s done. The bomb was the only time he chose to stay in his room.”

  “Because he knew it would go off.”

  “Yes.”

  “Family sucks.”

  “Yes, it does.”

  Minutes later, Luka came into the office. “I’ve put the dead woman in the refrigerator. I removed all of the shelves.”

  I opened my mouth in shock.

  “It’s to keep the smell away.” Luka smiled as if he’d given me a present. That thick accent dotted each word. “This will make for a nice funeral. She has a very pretty face—”

  “Luka.” Kazimir placed his hands in his pockets and continued to monitor my actions, making me feel too exposed to him. Either way, just from saying Luka’s name, the guard went silent.

  “What’s on your mind, Emily?” Kazimir asked.

  “Something is off.” I walked over to my desk and sat down, suddenly feeling exhausted. “If this was all planned out by your brother, then why have me involved? I don’t get it.”

  “You were distracting me.”

  “But how could he plan months ago to make sure I distracted you?”

  “Your brother pointed me to you.”

  Darryl, you stupid fuck.

  And then I sighed. “Things are starting to make more sense now.”

  Kazimir sat down in the chair across from my desk.

  How insane that just a night ago, we’d been in my office, in the same chairs. But at that time, I’d been scared, and he was in control. Now we both sat in front of the other like equals, realizing that we’d both been played.

  “The only way Sasha would’ve guaranteed that my brother points you to me is. . .” I didn’t want to say it out loud.

  Kazimir finished, “If your brother was in on this with mine from the very beginning.”

  “I don’t want to think that way.” I shook my head as anger rose inside of me. “Then it would mean my brother was trying to kill me.”

  “Maybe Darryl didn’t know that Sasha would let you get caught in the bomb.”

  “Maybe.” I could see that more.

  Darryl was gullible and jumped the gun with half-brained ideas that always got him and I in trouble. He was always trying to get money fast, never thinking it all out for the best path to success. Always trying to show me that he could outdo me in the streets. He thought it was a competition between us whereas I was just tr
ying to survive.

  Darryl, did you have something to do with this?

  “Okay.” I leaned back in my chair. “If Darryl was in on this with Sasha from the beginning, then who killed Rumi?”

  “Your brother?” Kazimir shrugged. “Sasha was with me, and if we’re assuming that Sasha has kept this a secret from my men, then none of them would’ve done this.”

  “No, not Darryl.” I shook my head. “My brother would do a lot of things, but he doesn’t have the balls to kill.”

  “Then it wasn’t him. Whoever killed Rumi was a psychotic murderer. They sliced him and then they pulled his intestines out and drew smiley faces on his—”

  “What?” I sat up in my chair. “There were smiley faces on his body?”

  “Yes.”

  Letting out an exasperated breath, I stood up.

  Kazimir rose with me. “What?”

  “We should go talk to Maxwell. He didn’t do it, but he knows who did.” I went over to my closet. Clothes packed the space. Little mannequin heads were on the top shelf covered in various wigs. I pulled out a hanger with jeans and a shirt. “I need a minute to change. Could you leave the room?”

  “I trust you, Emily, but I’m not leaving you alone.” Kazimir gestured for Luka to go.

  Luka left and shut the door.

  Kazimir turned back to me. “You can change in front of me.”

  I frowned. “I won’t slip away.”

  Kazimir studied all the other clothes in the closet and then stared at the mannequins’ heads covered in wigs. “But you could slip away, if I left the office.”

  “I could, but—”

  “Change.”

  I frowned, placed my back to him, and tried to unzip the back of my dress.

  “I must be careful.” His hands appeared on my back, moving mine out of the way and held the zipper. “You’ve become very special to me. You’ve saved my life and helped me figure out what’s going on.”

  It was hard to think with him so close to me. “I like my privacy.”

  Slowly, he slipped the zipper down. With each inch, the dress opened. He let the zipper go and the material flapped to the sides, ready to fall off my arms. “You’ll get your privacy back, when our brothers stop killing people.”

  “Good point.”

  He brushed his fingers along the length of my spine. “I’m sorry about your friend.”

  For some reason, I closed my eyes, not even wanting to change my clothes or go pursue these questions that had filled my minds.

  Kazimir walked around me. “I’ll keep you safe and help her family. My men will take care of everything—her body, the funeral—everything.”

  I opened my eyes. “Thank you.”

  And then my damn eyes watered again. I’d thought I had the whole thing under control. At least, if Kazimir had left the office, I would’ve had enough time to cry.

  “You two were very close?” he asked.

  “I considered her my sister.” A tear fell. I hurried and wiped it away. I was shattered and feeling helpless. It wasn’t a sensation I enjoyed at all, especially in front of him.

  “Come here,” Kazimir said.

  Shocked, I looked up and wiped my eyes. “What? I’m fine. I just needed a minute.”

  “Perhaps, you need more than a few minutes.” He wrapped his arms around me. Hard muscle caged me in, and instead of feeling trapped, I felt protected and no longer alone in this shitty world.

  For seconds, maybe more, I buried my face into his chest and breathed him in. When the time hit close to a minute, I backed away. “I’m good.”

  Concern decorated his face, but he said nothing.

  I had to get Kennedy’s death off my mind, if only for a few minutes. “So, you’re going to watch me change?”

  The question caught him off guard as he blinked and then shifted his expression back to neutral.

  “I can turn around,” he said.

  But then where would the fun be in that?

  I swallowed down my sadness and let the drug of sex lure me in. That was what I needed. I’d been full of anxiety since Kazimir walked this problem into my life. I’d had no one to relieve me, no one to help me forget about the pain.

  And now with everything going on, I tiptoed on the edge.

  I won’t fuck him. I’ll just. . .

  Done with thinking it through, I pulled the dress off my shoulders.

  Shock and exhaustion mingled inside of my chest. I’d just escaped out of danger earlier, traveled with Russians through one of my tunnels, just to find my best friend dead in my own gallery. All I wanted to do now was lie in bed.

  And with how I tended to mourn, I wouldn’t have minded lying in bed with Kazimir, fucking the pain away, getting Kennedy’s memories out of my head so I wouldn’t hurt any more.

  The dress slipped down my body and dropped to the floor.

  Kazimir grunted and kept his eyes on my face. He didn’t even sneak a look at my body as he handed me the jeans off the hanger. “Why are you changing?”

  “Because we should go back through the tunnels.” I stepped into my jeans one leg at a time. “I like that everyone thinks that we’re dead. Now, they’ll chill out and stop trying to kill us.”

  “I agree.” He stepped closer to me.

  I grabbed the jean’s zipper to finish putting on my jeans.

  Blocking my actions, Kazimir placed his hands on the top of mine and zipped my pants up, buttoning them at the top. “Do you always have a change of clothes in your office?”

  “Tons of them.” I grabbed my shirt.

  His fingers still lingered at the top of my jeans. They never moved. Hot sex radiated off him. So close, I found it difficult to put on my shirt.

  “Are you okay?” he whispered.

  “I will be.” I pulled the shirt over my head and put it on.

  Still, his hands remained on the top of my jeans, even as the bottom of the shirt touched his palms. “Whatever you need, I will give you. Did Kennedy have—”

  “I don’t want to talk about Kennedy anymore.” I sighed.

  “Okay.”

  “And. . .I will need. . .something.”

  “Tell me and I will give it to you, Emily.”

  Should I? Do I even have the time? Is this crazy?

  Studying his handsome face, I placed my hands on his as he still touched my jean’s button. My world was spinning and somehow, I hoped his hands could anchor me.

  “Once we get answers,” I said, “I want you to take care of me. . .”

  Kazimir’s thick accent lowered to a soft groan. “Take care of you?”

  It was hard to ask. Especially since I was feeling crazy and sad at the same time. “Sex is like a drug for me. It makes me high. It helps me forget things that I don’t want to remember.”

  Gripping the top of my jeans harder, he slowly pulled me to him. “I’ll do that and more, Emily. Whatever you need. Let’s get your answers and then I’ll take care of you. Later, we’ll get my answers, and pray that Harlem survives.”

  He licked his lips. “And whether Harlem makes it or not, I’ll take care of you again.”

  And I realized that for these few moments, I didn’t have to change into new clothes. I didn’t have to outthink or outsmart anyone. I could simply shed my clothes and leave this reality. Run away from these problems and sad thoughts.

  For these few moments, I could just get lost in him.

  Chapter 14

  Kazimir

  Standing just inches from her, I touched her bottom lip with my thumb, thinking about how sweet her kisses were and what they did to me.

  Her office’s soft, muted light graced the contours of her cheekbones and full lips.

  “That sounds good.” Emily didn’t move my hands from her jeans, and her face didn’t show relief after what I’d said. She was in pain, suffering from the mourning of her friend and the possible deceit of her brother.

  And how am I, knowing that my stepbrother tried to kill me? I’m not happy at al
l. I need to fuck my anger away.

  Tears collected along the rims of her eyes. She turned away as if hiding her pain.

  Don’t hide it from me, mysh.

  I stroked her cheek, forcing her to look at me. “It will be okay, Emily.”

  “Is it ever okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then, you’ve been luckier than me.”

  “Good. Then, I can show you the way.” Something hot and heavy collected in my gut. I got an urge to protect her from anything and everything. Due to today’s events, I was too edgy, too anxious, and too ready to fuck all the craziness away.

  And I had to fuck Emily.

  It was the only way to clear my head and get me back to where I needed to be.

  And she craved it just as much as me. I could see it in her eyes and the way she arched her back, pushing those full breasts in the air. Then, she changed in front of me. I hadn’t looked, but it was enough to drive me off the ledge. My balls were heavy and hungry for release. My cock wanted to be deep inside of her.

  She inched closer to me. “Thank you.”

  I hated how sad and weak she sounded. Her friend had been killed. Her brother possibly deceived her. Death and betrayal, those were things I understood.

  Oh, mysh. Don’t worry. I’ll show you how to navigate through pain.

  Not thinking, I kissed her, trying to suck all her hurt away. I moved my hands from the front of her jeans and slipped along her hips, cupping her fat ass in my hands.

  “I could take care of you now, if you need it.” I squeezed the softness of her ass. “I damn sure need it.”

  A moan was her only response.

  I was sure Luka heard it outside of the office door. How he must’ve thought I was a mad man.

  After everything that occurred, the last thing I needed to be doing was fucking. But sex would happen, because my body ached just like hers, and my heart ached too. And the only thing that could stop the pain in my chest was filling Emily with my cock, going deep inside of her and getting lost.

  I glared at the door, wishing I could lock it with my mind. I didn’t want to let go of her to shut it, but I didn’t want Luka to walk in on me fucking Emily. Because she would be spread out on that desk, naked and taking all of me. And no one should see that beautiful vision but me.