by Katee Robert
Mae sighed. “You have bigger things to worry about, Romanov.” She leaned down. “He was fun to play with. Beautiful skin and unique tattoos.” She sounded downright rapturous.
Still, he kept his attention on her mother. “I’m here. Let him go.”
Mae lashed out, hitting him in the stomach hard enough that he lost his ability to breathe. Stars danced across Dmitri’s vision, but he didn’t take his gaze from Alethea. There was no air for speaking, but she flinched beneath his censure all the same. She turned to the man at her side. “Clayton, see Mikhail dropped somewhere in Romanov territory.” She reached out and grabbed his wrist. “Alive, Clayton.”
At least I managed that much.
Mae hit him again, and sharp pain radiated up from his left side. Broken rib, maybe two. A glint at her fist told him all he needed to know—she wore brass knuckles. This wouldn’t be over quickly. Mae still had that look on her face that could only be described as lustful. He’d bet beating others got her off better than any sex. All well and good to know, but that doesn’t help me now.
Did it?
His breath felt like inhaling fire. “Mae,” he rasped.
“Shh.” She pressed a finger to his lips. “You’re prettier when you don’t talk.”
Alethea shoved to her feet. “Call me when you’re finished.”
“I always do, Mother.” Mae didn’t take her gaze from Dmitri, but he watched Alethea stride out of the room. She had the air of prey, and he couldn’t bring himself to feel sorry for her. If she’d let her daughter stay in jail, none of this would have happened. He would have looked for her, of course, but he wouldn’t have looked hard. If she’d left New York, he wouldn’t have hunted her down and brought her back. With Mae destined for prison, Alethea was just an old woman without an heir or a future.
“Did you like my present?”
Dmitri dragged his attention back to the woman in front of him. “We don’t kill innocents.”
“Wrong. You don’t kill innocents. Though that seems more than a little hypocritical since you seem to kill everybody else.” She tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “Of the two of us, I’m just more honest about what gets me off.”
“We’re nothing alike.”
Mae hammered another punch to his left side, and the entire room grayed out for one alarming moment. “You don’t get to take that judgmental tone with me, Romanov. Now answer the fucking question. Did you like my present?” She grinned. “Did it send you rushing to that bitch wife of yours to make sure she was okay? I bet it did.”
“If you touch Keira—”
“You’ll do nothing.” She dragged a finger down his chest. “You’re trussed up like a pig going to slaughter. I could play with you for hours and then call your little wife and offer to trade you for her. She’ll come. You know she will.”
She would. He coughed. “You misunderstand the situation. I forced her to marry me. She doesn’t love me. She’s probably already planning on how to spend the money she’ll inherit when my body is found.”
Far from looking convinced, Mae actually seemed amused. “She loves you. She wouldn’t have been ready to slit my throat for kissing you if she didn’t.” She pressed her palm hard against the spot where she’d hit him, grinding against his ribs. “She’ll come.”
He had to keep his jaw clenched to keep any sound of pain inside. It was only when she let off the pressure that he managed to bite out words. “She. Won’t.”
“Guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” Mae ran her hands up his thighs, expression contemplative. “Did you ever see that James Bond movie? The one with the knotted rope and him tied to the chair with a well-placed hole?”
He knew what she was talking about, and Dmitri’s skin tried to crawl right off his body in revulsion. “I always liked that movie.”
“Mmm. I bet you did.” She sat back on her heels. “I’m not particularly interested in your cock, Romanov, but I wonder how much of a beating your balls can take before you’re screaming for mercy? They’re so delicate.” She chuckled. “It’s not like you’re going to live past tonight to worry about having children.”
Strange, but he hadn’t put much thought into children, aside from in theory. A man in his position had certain things expected of him, and sons or daughters were one of those expectations.
That was before.
Now, he could perfectly visualize the pair of them. A boy and a girl. Dark hair and hazel eyes, and grins that promised mischief. They’d be wily and a little wild, and they’d fill the empty halls of his house with laughter.
He wouldn’t give up the idea of them any more than he’d give up his future with Keira.
Dmitri shifted in his chair, judging the distance between him and Mae. “I’m remarkably attached to both my cock and balls.”
“Not for—”
He kicked her in the face. She hit the ground with a muffled cry, and he shoved to his feet. Dmitri kicked her once more to ensure she stayed down, and then he walked unsteadily to the array of instruments she’d set up on the table. It took two tries to grab the knife and saw his way through the zip tie, but he managed in a short time. He cracked his neck and rubbed his wrists.
On the floor, the first flicker of fear appeared in Mae’s dark eyes.
Dmitri permitted himself a smile. “Now, I think it’s time you and I had a real chat.”
* * *
“Drive faster.” Keira stared at the GPS on her phone, as if that blinking dot was her last link to Dmitri and if she blinked, she’d lose him.
Alexei didn’t tear his gaze from the road. “I drive any faster, and I’m going to draw attention. We’re almost there. Hold on.” He ran a yellow light and took a hard right, throwing Keira against the middle console. She steadied herself on the driver’s seat and looked up.
We’re here.
As much as she wanted into the building, she didn’t have a death wish—for either herself or her husband. Alexei double-parked and glanced over his should. “Vlad, you’re on Mrs. Romanov. She comes up with so much as a scratch, you’ll be the one paying the price. Sava, take the van around the block and wait for my call. Move.”
They moved. Within seconds Keira was encircled by Russians, and the van had pulled back into traffic. That’s right. Nothing to see here. She followed Alexei to the door and up the stairs. The walls were too narrow for more than walking single file, so she ended up between him and Vlad. She tried not to take it too personally that Vlad was looking at her like he expected her to be shot at any moment, his brown eyes jumping around with each step he took. Focus, Keira.
They stopped at the door at the top of the stairs. Alexei gave her a questioning look, and she nodded. She’d gotten them here. She wasn’t trained in this kind of thing, and was more than willing to take the lead if it meant retrieving Dmitri safely. Or as close to safely as he can be.
Alexei held up three fingers, and dropped them one at a time.
Three. Two. One. Go!
They poured into the room. Keira couldn’t see shit, and she ran into Alexei’s back when he stopped short. He didn’t immediately move and her heart stopped. Oh God, Dmitri’s dead. She shoved past him, needing to see for herself, because surely the world wouldn’t have kept on turning if Dmitri was no longer in it.
The sight that greeted her stopped her cold. Mae sat slumped over in a chair, her dark hair hiding her face. And, across from her, a gun in his hands and looking a little too pale, sat Dmitri.
“How?” breathed Keira. She immediately shook her head. Mae might be secured, but that didn’t mean they were out of danger. “Alexei, find Alethea and sweep the building. Vlad, with me.”
He didn’t so much as hesitate. He barked orders in Russian, and the men split into two groups. One went back the way they’d come, and the other headed out a door on the other side of the room. In the space of ten seconds, the room was empty but for the four of them. “Vlad, guard the door.” She didn’t wait to see if he’d obey.
&nb
sp; Keira skirted around Mae and crouched next to Dmitri. The gun he held was steady, but he had a strange look in his eyes. “You came for me.”
“Of course I came for you, you idiot.” She lowered her voice. “How hurt are you?”
“Several broken ribs. I don’t believe they’ve punctured anything.”
Even if they had, he wouldn’t tell her now. She shot a glance at Vlad. “Can you stand without help?”
Dmitri gave her a severe look. “Da.”
He had to be more hurt than he was saying, but the hastily buttoned shirt covered up any evidence of it. Fine. If he wasn’t in danger of dying right this moment, it could wait until they got back to safety. “We’ll find Alethea.” And then…She didn’t want to think about that. Keira might want Mae dead for what she did to Charlie—what she wanted to do to Dmitri—but it was one thing to think about how much better the world would be without Mae in it. It was entirely another to shoot her in cold blood.
She eyed the woman. “What are we going to do with her?”
Mae jerked like a puppet coming to life. She lifted her head slowly, narrowing her eyes at the sight of Dmitri and Keira. “Told you so.” She smiled through bloody lips.
It happened in the space of a moment. Mae shot to her feet and launched herself at them. Dmitri moved to intercept her, but he swayed, and his hold on the gun faltered. The weapon hit the floor. Keira was already in motion as she registered the flash of a blade in the woman’s hand, drawing her gun and firing three shots in quick succession. Each one took Mae in the chest, stopping her forward motion.
The woman hit her knees, a look of stunned surprise on her face. “Well, fuck.” She slumped over to the floor.
“I just…” Oh God.
“Did what was necessary.” Dmitri took a gasping breath. “I might have underestimated my injuries.” His eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp.
Keira barely caught him before he slid out of his chair, and even then, his weight pushed her to the floor. Vlad was there in an instant, helping her move her husband away from the dying woman. She waited to make sure he was still breathing, and then she forced herself to walk back to Mae.
This was what it meant to be Keira Romanov.
She felt sick to her stomach, but relief overpowered her nausea. This wasn’t like Devlin. Mae was as far from an innocent as a person could get. If she’d played by the rules, it wouldn’t have come to this. Keira crouched next to her, watching her struggle to breathe. “Charlie sends her regards.”
“Bitch…” Mae took one last rattling breath and stilled, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
Dead.
I just killed a woman.
No, I just killed a monster.
She pushed to her feet, and Alexei and his half of the men came back through the door. One look at his face told her all she needed to know. “You couldn’t find Alethea.”
“There’s no trace of her.”
A worry for another day. Right now, dealing with the dead body and getting Dmitri medical aid was more important than the missing woman. She waved a hand at Mae. “Get rid of her.” It would have been nice to give Charlie some kind of official closure, but Mae was already a bail jumper. She would just have to be one of those unsolved cases. Charlie and Aiden would know the truth—that would have to be enough.
She turned back to find Dmitri awake. He pushed Vlad back, and Keira went to him. “On your feet, husband.” She knew him well enough to know there wasn’t a chance in hell of him letting his men carry him out of there. Keira helped him up, not liking the faint wheezing of his breath. “Come on, Dima. Let’s go home.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The next hour passed in a blur. Dmitri was likely in shock from his wounds, but he managed to keep it together on the ride back to the house and then listened to Alexei’s report. Mae’s body had been disposed of, along with Keira’s gun, and Alethea was missing. “Don’t worry about Alethea.”
“Sir?”
“We won’t be seeing her again.” He’d send someone after her to deliver his last message—to come back to New York was to sign her death warrant. She’d lost her heir and lost her territory. There was nothing for her in the city but a funeral. He took a shallow breath and tried to cover up how much it hurt. “They’re dropping Mikhail somewhere, but they might not have left yet. Find him.”
“Yes, sir.” Alexei jumped to his feet and strode out of the room.
“Come on. I think that’s enough for tonight.” Keira stayed under his arm and guided him to the master bedroom, and then to the stool he’d occupied just twenty-four short hours ago. She stripped him carefully out of his shirt and hissed out a breath. “Looks bad.”
“Looks worse than it is.”
“You’d say that even if you were bleeding internally.” Keira shook her head. “Don’t play the hero with me—you were unconscious an hour ago. Do you have a doctor on staff?”
“Da.” He didn’t want to deal with that right now. He was alive and Keira was alive, and Dmitri needed a few quiet moments to process the beauty of that. “I want a real ceremony, Keira. I want to marry you again.”
She crouched in front of him and began cleaning the blood from his skin. “I’d like that—but maybe we can try to get through the entire event without one of us being kidnapped?”
He laughed and winced when it pulled at something in his side. Definitely dislocated that rib. “I think we could manage that.”
“I would have thought so, too, but with our track record, I’m not optimistic.” She dabbed further up his chest. “We won today, but there was some time after she took you…” She shuddered. “I didn’t know if I’d see you again. It scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry.” He let his head rest against the cool tile of the wall. “I didn’t know about Pavel. I was so sure he was trustworthy, I delivered you directly to the enemy.”
“Stop that.” She cupped his jaw with one hand, waiting until he met her gaze to continue. “He’s dead?”
No use hiding it from her. She’d always seen the truth of him—both the light and darkness. “Da. I shot him, and I expect my men will find his body stashed somewhere in that building.”
“Good.” Keira nodded as if to herself. “One less loose end to tie up.”
“Bloodthirsty woman.” He loved it. He loved her.
“Da,” she mimicked, and urged him forward so she could slide his ruined shirt off his shoulders. “I don’t care what his reasons were for betraying us. All the matters is that he did. He paid the price for that, and the others will remember that if they’re tempted to follow in his footsteps.”
“I love you.”
“I know.” She finally smiled, though her hazel eyes still held shadows.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“God forbid.”
Another laugh, though he regretted this one as much as the first. “You can choose Keira Romanov-O’Malley if that’s what you want. I won’t hold you to our earlier arrangement.”
“That’s sweet.” Keira sat back on her heels and dropped the washcloth. “You know, I was thinking, too.” She grinned, the last of the shadows fleeing her eyes. “Keira Romanov sounds pretty damn badass.”
His breath stilled in his lungs. “You’re sure?”
“I was an O’Malley—I’ll always be one in some ways—but I’m a Romanov now, of my own choice.” She ran her hands up his thighs and leaned forward to press a quick kiss to his mouth. “I choose the name. I choose you.”
* * *
The timer went off, jarring Keira back to the present. She blinked, noting the way the light had changed in her studio, and set down her brush. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that it had, in fact, been three hours. The painting in front of her had started to take form, the curve of the grays playing against the stark white and black. Tomorrow, she’d come back in with purple to accent in a few places.
Today was the first time in a week that she’d had the opportunity to chec
k out the room on the second floor that Dmitri had ordered converted into a studio for her to paint in, and she’d instantly fallen in love.
Too in love. She’d lost track of time.
She grabbed her phone and typed out a quick text. Where are you? She was going to be late for dinner, but knowing Dmitri, he’d taken the opportunity to get a bit more work done.
The reply came back almost instantly. Office.
She grinned and stood, stretching her arms over her head and going up on her toes. Keira turned to the camera situated in the corner and slowly unbuttoned the oversized shirt she’d thrown on before starting to paint. Her phone trilled as a text came through, but she ignored it, arching a brow at the camera. Come and get me, Dima. She shrugged and the shirt hit the floor.
Less than thirty seconds later, footsteps pounded down the hallway to her room.
Gotcha. She turned as Dmitri stormed into the room. He kicked it shut behind him. “What did I tell you about playing these games?”
“Not sure. Guess you’ll have to refresh my memory.”
His gray eyes glinted with amusement and desire. “Gladly.” He stalked toward her.
She met him halfway, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist. It was only then that she realized she should probably be gentle with him. “Shit, I’m sorry. Your ribs.”
“I can handle it.” He laid her down on the couch situated under the window. The weight of his body against hers was the most intoxicating thing in the world. It buoyed her and steadied her at the same time. “I like seeing you in here,” he rasped in her ear. “You look happy. At peace.”
“I am.” It was the truth. Some days she still craved vodka so badly her hands shook, but she no longer wanted the numbness. Keira was living her life in vivid color, and it was in large part because of the man currently looking at her like she was a priceless treasure he was about to plunder. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, moya koroleva.” He stroked a hand down her body and kissed her. “Let me show you how much. It may take a few decades, but you’ll begin to get the idea.”