by Khloe Wren
Soon after pulling up, they found Viktor, unconscious with a bullet wound in his shoulder, and it looked like he’d been hit over the side of the head with something heavy. The bullet wound looked a little high to have hit his heart, but the man had lost a lot of blood and didn't look good. Daniil lowered down to check for a pulse, relieved to find one. It was faint, but there.
"Yury, I need you to get Viktor loaded up into the van. Then, come find me. We'll get Julietta, then get out of here. We'll call the doc once we're on our way."
With a nod, Yury went to his cousin as Daniil headed toward a path that led through a thin line of bush. The coastline must be right on the other side, and at this height, he guessed it was a cliff rather than a beach that he'd find himself on. As he moved, he checked his gun and flicked off the safety. No need for a silencer out here, thank fuck. When he broke through the bush to the clearing on the cliff edge, a growl rumbled up his throat.
Juiletta’s top had been pulled down to reveal her breasts, and he’d arrived just in time to see her ex, Rodger, land a hard punch to her stomach, while another bastard he knew all too well was holding her by her hair. Tony had Julietta's head arched back, far enough it had to be hurting her neck. They hadn't seen, or heard, him yet, so he made the most of it and lined up a shot. Julietta was too close to Tony, so he couldn't risk shooting that asshole without risking hurting his girl. Taking a moment, he lined up the side Rodger's torso. He'd have loved to have put a bullet in his skull, but the reality was he was too far away to risk aiming at that small a target. Nope, a torso shot would get him away from her, stop him hurting her.
Daniil's hands were rock steady as half a second before he pulled the trigger, Rodger turned toward him, opening up a bigger target. It also meant Rodger saw him, but it was too late. Daniil fired, then was on the move, running over to finish off the situation. The bullet took Rodger in the upper chest, sending him crashing to the ground away from Julietta.
Tony saw him coming and roughly threw Julietta to the ground before he reached under his arm, no doubt for his gun. Fuck that. Daniil didn't care why these two had teamed up to take his girl. He just wanted her safe. Lifting his gun, he quickly lined up his shot. He wanted his bullet to land right between Tony's eyes. Daniil was about to squeeze the trigger when he saw Yury come up on the other side of Tony. He held his gun steady, but waited to see what his friend was up to.
“You cock-sucking asshole.”
At the sound of Yury’s voice, Tony stopped trying to get his gun and spun with his fists raised. Stupid bastard didn’t even get one hit in before Yury slammed his fist into his already fucked up nose and Tony dropped like the sack of shit he was, out cold. Stowing his gun, Daniil rushed over to Julietta. Knowing Yury would be watching his back, he focused solely on his girl. She was barely conscious, and as he carefully lifted her from the ground, he pressed a kiss to her temple.
"I've got you, krasivaya. You're safe now."
She shuddered for a moment before she relaxed against him. Trusting him.
If she wasn’t currently injured, he would have been overjoyed. He glanced over at Yury before he headed toward their vehicle. He grinned as he watched Yury knock out the whimpering Rodger with a hard hit to the face, similar to what he’d delivered to Tony.
"Let me get Julietta settled, and then I'll come help you load these two. We need to do this shit fast. Viktor needs a doctor sooner rather than later."
"I've bandaged the wound, tried to slow the blood loss, but yeah. We don't have much time."
He moved as fast as he could back to their SUV and settled Julietta in the front seat.
"Krasivaya, I need to leave you for a few minutes, okay? Stay right here and I'll be back before you know it."
She didn't open her eyes as she curled up into a ball against the seat. He wasn't sure if she was conscious enough to hear him. But Viktor didn’t have time for him to muck around. He sprinted back to the clearing and eyed off the two men, then the cliff. Maybe they could toss the pair of them over the edge?
"Not a good idea, boss. You put a bullet in Rodger. Forensics can find that shit. And they are both alive, so we need to find out what they were planning to do."
"They’re both nothing but scum. Doubt anyone will miss either of them, but I hear you. Let’s load them up and get them locked up before they wake up. I don’t feel like dealing with either one of them until after I’m sure both Julietta and Viktor will be fine."
He didn’t say it, but he didn’t intend on letting either of these assholes walk free. They were dead men walking for touching what was his. Yury would want them dead for what they’d done to his cousin, so Daniil didn’t bother saying anything to him about his plans.
Chapter Ten
Juli couldn’t break past this fog. Her body felt numb, and her mind was curiously blank. She was vaguely aware of being lifted, then being surrounded by warmth and a scent that wormed past the fog and had her relaxing as the sounds of a car starting filled her ears.
The next time her mind floated to the surface, she was standing in a dimly lit room. Her eyes wouldn’t focus, and by the tugs at her body she guessed someone was stripping her. Each breath she took in brought more of that calming scent with it, and she sighed.
“C’mon, krasivaya, we need to get you cleaned up, and then the doc will check you over.”
She frowned. She knew that voice. Who was it? Why couldn’t she remember? Large, warm hands ran over her body, and then she was being lifted. Her skin came up against a naked chest, and she pressed her palm over one of his pecs. The thud of his heart reverberated through her palm, and with another sigh, she dropped her head against his shoulder letting the fog in her mind thicken as it wanted to. She was vaguely aware when it started raining, warm, soft rain, before the fog completely sole her thoughts.
****
With a groan, Juli slowly woke. This was the worst hangover she'd ever had. Why had she gotten so drunk? She frowned. She didn't actually recall drinking anything at all. Fingers stroked through her hair, pulling it away from her face.
"Solnyshka moto, you ready to wake up for me yet?"
Daniil? What was he doing here? She rolled over, and pain lit up her stomach and head enough to have bile rising up her throat. She gagged, and a moment later, she was dragged to the edge of the bed and he held her head gently, keeping her hair out of the way as she threw up. While her stomached emptied out, memories flashed through her mind. Rodger and that other man, what they'd done to her. When she was done, her body went limp, and Daniil moved her back onto the mattress before he left her. He returned a moment later and wiped her face over with a cold washcloth. It felt so good she groaned in bliss.
She blinked her eyes open to watch as he moved around the room, taking the bucket into the bathroom and returning with it freshly rinsed out. He was beautiful, and so sweet. She frowned. But he wasn't always sweet, nope. This was the man who'd taken a video of her without her knowledge. And she hadn’t forgotten what Rodger had told her. Having seen him in action, she suspected her ex hadn’t been lying to her. How was she meant to deal with any of this? Especially when her brain was more than a touch foggy.
He climbed on the bed next to her before he reached over her to the bedside table. He came back with two pills, which he put in her palm, before grabbing a glass of water.
"Here, Julietta, take these. They'll help take some of the pain."
"Why…" She struggled to word what she wanted to ask. She wanted to know why he’d taken that video? Had Rodger told the truth? Was he planning to prostitute her? Why had he been there at the cliff in the first place? Why she was now in his bed? And what had he done to save her this time? Also, was Viktor really dead?
He nudged her hand. He stayed silent, just looking at the pills until with a sigh she took them. Probably should have asked what they were, but the fog still floating around her mind had her thoughts tripping all over the place. And honestly, the longer she was awake, the more her body hurt, so as long as
the meds took her pain away, she was good with it.
Daniil took the glass and set it back on the table before he helped her to lie back down. She kept her gaze on his face, trying to find answers to all the questions she had floating around her head.
“I had a doctor come and check you over yesterday. Nothing is broken, but you’re going to be sore for a while. He gave you something to help you sleep, which you’ve done for the past—” he looked at his watch, “fourteen hours. Doc said that was normal, that your body and mind needed time to rest and heal.”
“Why didn’t you take me to the hospital? If I’m that hurt.”
“You got banged up, but nothing serious enough to need hospitalization. And I have a few of my men already at the hospital keeping Viktor safe. I don’t have enough men I fully trust to have you both guarded in such a public place as a hospital, even a private one. You’re safer here.”
A wave of relief that Viktor wasn’t dead had her eyes stinging. His world was crazy and violent, and she really wanted out of it before it was too late.
“I want to go home.”
He cupped her jaw in his palm, rubbing his thumb over her lower lip. “I’m sorry, krasivaya, but I can’t allow that. It’s not safe for you there right now.”
“What about Jess? And the others?”
He gave her a small smile. “They’ll be fine. They’re not connected to me enough for someone to go after them.”
The drugs were making her sleepy, and she didn’t have the energy to fight them off.
“I really don’t like your world, Daniil. I want out.”
She caught a flash of pain cross his face before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Eleven
After her eyes closed and her body relaxed against his bed, he stayed by her side. The last twenty-four hours had been beyond stressful and he’d not gotten much sleep. He had no idea when he would get a chance to sleep again. He wasn’t sure how long these pain meds would keep her asleep, but he guessed if she woke up to find him asleep, she’d sneak off on him. And with no Yury or Viktor here to keep an eye out, she would be able to easily escape. No, he had to stay awake and alert.
At least this morning she seemed to actually be awake. Yesterday, she’d been in this strange awake-but-not-awake state that freaked him right out. The doc had said it was shock, that she just needed time and rest. But it was scary seeing her staring out vacantly and not tracking anything at all. He’d stripped her and showered her before he got the doc up to look at her. The bruising showed that Rodger had caught her ribs when he’d punched her in the stomach, and he knew they’d ache for a while. Her elbow was also badly bruised. The doc was fairly certain it wasn’t broken, but it needed watching once the swelling went down.
With a groan, he forced himself to roll over and leave her to sleep in peace. He made his way down to the ground level of his home and stopped short when he found Yury in the kitchen, drinking a beer. And looking more worn out that Daniil felt, which was saying something.
“What’cha got for me?”
While he’d been babysitting Julietta, Yury had been down in the basement taking care of their newest guests. His friend stretched his neck out then took another long drink of his beer before he looked over at Daniil.
“Rodger’s a fuckwit. After you cut him off, he went to Tony.”
Yeah, because Tony was one of a very few who’d dare to refuse Daniil’s little announcement about doing business with Rodger. “Predictably, he lost the money, and Tony offered him a deal to pay it back.”
“Let me guess? He needed to deliver Julietta to him?”
Yury tilted his beer toward him as he nodded. “You got it. Tony told him once they had her, he’d let Rodger fuck her as much as he wanted, so long as he was rough and let Tony film it. Bastards were planning on sending you some new viewing material.”
Anger heated his blood, but he kept it under wraps at this point. “And what did Tony have to add to that little story?”
“Mainly he confirmed what Rodger had said, but also threw in a few other details. Like the fact Rodger told your girl about what you really do for a living. Stupid fucker couldn’t wait to tell me how you’d never get near her again after what they told her about what you do. Not sure what kinda damage they’ve done inside her head, D. Especially considering what you pulled before this shit went down, you might be best to cut her loose.”
The very thought of losing Julietta had his gut twisting in knots. With a growl, he spun and picking up a chair, and threw it against the wall, shattering the thing.
“She’s mine. I’m not losing her over this shit. No way.”
Yury was nodding at him, in that slow way people did when they thought a person was crazy.
“Okay, so you’re not cutting her loose. In that case, you better start thinking of ways to suck up to her, because if those two told her all you’re capable of, she’s gonna look at you like you’re a monster now.”
He winced. He’d thought she was still in shock earlier, but maybe it wasn’t anything medical. It was simply she was overloaded and not sure what to think about him. How the fuck was he going to fix this shit?
“I’ll work out something. You heading over to the hospital now? Or you still working?”
“Yeah, I was going to go check in with Viktor, see if he’s woken up yet.” He paused to drink the last of his beer. “They’re still breathing, if you want to go down there and work out some tension on them. Figure they can wait a few days before we finalize things. Bastards deserve to suffer, and if for some reason Viktor doesn’t make it, I want to be able to take my time pulling those fuckers apart.”
He shook his head on a chuckle. This was why he, Viktor, and Yury had bonded so well. They were made from the same cloth. Before he could respond, his phone rang. He pulled it out and when it saw it was a local number he didn’t know, he answered it. He didn’t normally, but with Viktor in the hospital and shit going down all over the damn place, he didn’t want to risk not taking the call.
“Mikhailov.”
“Um, hi. Is this Daniil?”
The female voice was familiar, but he couldn’t place it. “Yes, that’s me. Who is this?”
“This is Jess, Juli’s friend. She didn’t come home last night. You know anything about that?”
He huffed out a breath, wondering how to respond to her. Played correctly, Jess could help him get back into Julietta’s good graces. He decided some truth wouldn’t hurt. Julietta’s injuries meant she’d have to tell people something when they saw the bruising. No way would she be able to surf for who knew how long. He needed to call them after he finished speaking with Jess to make sure she didn’t lose her job for not turning up.
“She was attacked up the coast while she was taking photos. I arrived in time to stop them from taking her, and she’s here at my home recovering.”
The string of curses that blasted back at him through the phone was not ladylike in the least, and he grinned. Girl had some fire in her.
“I thought you had a bodyguard on her all the time? Where the fuck was he when this happened?”
“I don’t know what happened exactly, but when I arrived my man had been shot and was unconscious. He’s still in the hospital.”
That left her groaning. “Can I come see her? Or is your place some super-secret location I’m not allowed to know?”
Apparently, she was a brave little thing as well as having some fire. That was a good thing. He was grateful his Julietta had someone like Jess standing beside her.
“I’m sure she’d love you to visit. Maybe you could bring her a few changes of clothes? I would like her to stay here until she is fully healed.”
He gave her his address and hung up, before turning to find Yury still there.
“Weren’t you going to the hospital?”
Yury shrugged, a little too casually. “I’ll wait until Jess gets here. Make sure no one else sneaks in the gates when she comes through. Then I’ll
go.”
He frowned at his friend, but when the man stayed silent, he didn’t push things. Time would tell if Yury’s reason for hanging around was to protect his boss and friend, or to check out Julietta’s friend.
Things could get interesting.
****
Julietta’s body stiffened, and she held her breath when fingers stroked over her cheek and tucked her hair behind her ear. Had Daniil returned? What would he want from her now? Rodger’s words played through her mind. Was he really after her only to put her to work on her back?
“Oh, babe, what the fuck happened this time?”
Her breath whooshed out of her at the sound of Jess’s voice. She blinked open her eyes to find her friend lying beside her on the mattress, head on the pillow close in front of her. Tears pricked her eyes, and when the first one leaked out, Jess shuffled closer and wrapped her arm around her to hug her. Juli rested her forehead against her friend’s as she shuddered with her sobs.
“Shhh, you’re okay. It’s all over, and you’re safe now.”
She shook her head, and after a few minutes she managed to contain her crying enough to pull back a little and speak.
“No, it’s not. Nothing is okay. Not even a little bit.”
Jess pulled a tissue from somewhere and wiped her face clean.
“Tell me all that happened, and let’s see if we can work out a way to make it all right. Sound good?”
With a huff, she looked into her best friend’s eyes. Where to start? It was like this latest crap was just the icing on the cake of her shitty life.
“You know, I’ve often wondered if there was something wrong with me. Like, maybe if I was better, more lovable, Mum wouldn’t have killed herself like she did.”
Shock rippled over Jess’s face. “Oh, sweetheart, I had no idea you were still struggling with your mum’s death. It wasn’t your fault at all. It was all her. She’s the one who couldn’t love. You’re totally lovable. Not only are you beautiful and have great tits, but you’re funny as hell and always smiling. Everyone you meet loves you.”