by Leigh Lennon
“What?” I snap my head back, looking at Mack who now mimics my own scared shitless expression.
“Her brothers were talking. They knocked everyone out with ketamine. That is why they didn’t kill us. I just was knocked over the head, but the poor operative must have had a bad reaction to it,” he says, pointing to the dead man over in the bed.
Texting Sylvie, I share with her all Luchen has told me and add Morry is okay. Then I call 911 from the phone in the room, sharing an anonymous tip with the operator.
Before I can hang up, Mack shuffles back into the room, with his back against the wall, signaling us both to get against the wall as well. I hear a little bit of a conversation, just enough to understand it’s in Russian. Part of me now wants to kick myself for learning Chinese and not Russian. However, Luchen leans a little to listen to every word. Once the voices are too far down the hall to hear, Luchen shakes his head.
“Those fuckers are Sasha’s brothers. They secured a private plane to take Junior to Moscow tonight.”
“Over my fucking dead body,” I say.
Mack touches my shoulder, “Don’t worry, buddy, we will get them. All of them.”
Leaning down to grab my extra gun, I place it in Luchen’s hands and say, “Your sister warned us not to shoot her.”
I see a little smirk cross his face. In a split second, he’s all business when he begins, “Let’s go get your girls.”
“Copy that,” I reply.
Mack carefully enters the hallway and Luchen and I follow. Crossing to the room Sylvie is in, I tap so lightly on the glass of the room that no one could hear it unless they were expecting it. It is her clue to guard the door. Luchen stays at the doorway protecting the entrance to Sylvie’s area, and Mack and I start toward where Ginger and Junior are. I can’t wait to see them and make sure they are okay.
But this is too easy and for some reason, too easy doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence right now.
21
Sasha
After receiving Jake’s text, I wait on proverbial pins and needles of anticipation, expecting my knight in shining armor to come rescue me, but I’m also nervous as fuck that something will happen to Jake, who is Junior’s only hope.
As I settle in next to my girl, who is still sleeping, I hear the laughter of two familiar voices. After just one look at each of them, just like Papa, I know these are not the same brothers I once adored and loved beyond measure.
“Well look what the cat dragged in,” Lars says, laughing. His eyes have the same evil piercing look to them as our father.
“Sasha,” Demetri says, walking toward me as though he’s giving me a hug. In his deep embrace I hear a slight whisper in my ear and with my Russian rusty at best, I lean back, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. He’s trying to help me. I don’t see the same evil that laces his eyes as I do with Lars and Father. No, in Demetri’s eyes, I see Mama.
However, I’ve always known how to play the part and right now, I can play that part very well. “Why are you doing this?”
Lars begins, “You have always been a self-righteous bitch, and like Mama, it’s time you find your star ending, you fucking drama queen.” He looks at Junior and then begins, “And don’t worry about my precious niece, I’ll make sure she’s raised right. I’ll be her Papa.”
I want to explode. Hell, I want to rip my brother’s fucking eyes out of his sockets. But I don’t. And it’s a good thing because, in that moment, I see Mack with Jake on his hip. They pull their guns, one on my Papa and one on my brothers as Jake says, “You’ll touch my daughter over my dead body.”
Lars, along with two of my father’s men and the Amazon, Sarah, pull their guns. I see Demetri reaching for his, though he’s a lot slower. “You are outgunned,” Papa says.
In less than a second, I see Sylvie and Luchen enter from the other room, guns aimed now on my father’s henchmen. I grab Junior's little body and retreat into a corner, trying not to tangle the many iv’s that are in my daughter’s arm.
“Ah, the whole gang is here,” my father says. “But I have the upper hand, I have a bomb, and though it’s due to go off in an hour, I control it.”
It’s then I see my brother, Demetri, turn his gun to Lars when he responds, “Actually, about that, it never was armed. Oops.”
When Lars turns his head, seeing our brother with his gun aimed at his head, he starts to yell, “You fucking traitor!”
“I suggest you lower your guns,” Sylvie says, approaching my father when he says something that catches us all by surprise, everyone but maybe Luchen.
“Irena? No, it can’t be you.” I can’t see my father’s face but I do hear anticipation with his tone cracking at the words. Who the hell is Irena?
Sylvie and all five-feet-two of her is suddenly in my father’s face and I see the same level of undone-ness as I did the night Jake mentioned her brothers could be moles.
“You may never speak her name, never, you fucking bastard.”
Looking at Jake, with his gun now on my dad, he looks as confused as I am.
“Ah, I understand now. You were not much older than my beautiful granddaughter when I first met you. You look so much like her.” Sylvie flinches at his words when Luchen approaches her.
“Sylvie, don’t let him get to you. We have what we need. He will pay for everything he has done.”
Luchen has her by her waist, pulling her back and I’m so transfixed by this, I can’t pull my eyes away, even to look at what Jake is doing.
“Ah, I remember you, boy! You look like your father, the spitting image. But now that I remember, there was a third one, not too bright and fat as fuck.” My father laughs. “So, what is this, your revenge for a woman known as the town whore?”
This time it’s Luchen who approaches him. “You know nothing about her. Don’t you dare call her a whore.”
Just then, one of my father’s men strolls in, unknowing that this little standoff is taking place. Before I know what is happening, shooting starts and I crouch in the corner, covering my daughter with my body as she wakes to the thunderous sounds of bullets whizzing all around us.
22
Jake
The second that fucker rounds the corner I’m ready for him. He really didn’t stand a chance, though he pulled his gun first. I just happened to already have mine out. I feel a bullet whiz right next to my head and I notice the brother Ginger calls Lars firing at me. Good for me, Lars has a fucking bad aim and bad for him, Mack does not. Lars falls at the feet of his brother, Demetri, as he shoots one of the armed guards, while Luchen has taken down the woman guard and the brute son of a bitch from the airport, all those years ago.
Before I can get to Ginger and Junior, her father turns to her and points a gun at her. I can’t get there fast enough to put myself between Sasha and that bastard, but Sylvie has.
I know something has happened but I run over to Ginger and Junior immediately, positioning myself in a way where I can take a look but my girls are protected from the carnage of the room. I wrap my arms around them both, inspecting Ginge for injuries while I try to shield my kid from the bloodshed in the room. Thank fuck Sasha is clear of bullet holes.
Before I can turn to see what has happened, I hear Mack call for me, “Jake, bud, we have one down.” I come face to face with Sylvie, sprawled out on the floor, with Stravos over her, grinning. I try to brace myself, Burbank walks into the room and shoots Stravos, dead.
Luchen, now on his knees, starts to attend to Sylvie but I have seen this before. A shot like this, you almost never walk away from.
23
Sasha
Two Weeks Later
Valentine’s Day
I’m holding Junior’s hand in recovery as her daddy’s eyes that they share stare back at me. Dr. Cullen and Luchen are in the room monitoring her vitals during the transfusion. Now, something tells me that Luchen insisted the doctor stay until Junior wakes up. As attached as Luchen is to Junior and myself, it doesn’t surprise me he
, too, is in the room.
“Mommy.” It’s all my little one can croak out to me, still very groggy from the anesthesia.
“I’m right here, sugar.” Shit, Jake is rubbing off on me and I can only smile because he’s everything I need with Junior recovering.
“Where Senior?” Her little eyes are so innocent and it cracks me up our girl calls her daddy Senior.
“He stepped out when you dozed off to talk to the gang, but I’ll go get him.”
Walking over to the door, I see Mack, Jake, Morry, Demetri, and Burbank are talking in muted tones. Then I am aware of a wheelchair in the midst of the group and I see Sylvie is part of this conversation. With my eyes baring in on her body, she turns her head to me when she says, “I’m fine to be out of bed, Nurse Nancy. I can’t fucking take it anymore.”
Glad to know that even when she had been so close to death’s door, Sylvie still has a filthy mouth on her. Before I can say anything, Luchen is at my side, “Well if you won’t listen to Nurse Nancy, you better fucking listen to your doctor and brother.”
She flips him off, turning to her husband and Mack. I poke my man’s back with my finger, “Your little one is awake and asking for you.”
Turning to me, he smiles but I don’t miss the sternness in his voice when he plainly states to the rest of them, “I don’t care the hassle, the cost or the headache, make it happen.”
Whispering in his ear, I ask, “What is this about?”
Smiling his little devil of a smirk, he continues, “All things will be revealed in time, my redheaded seductress.”
Before retreating back in the room, Demetri gives me a hug. Come to find out, he’s been working with the FBI for three years, trying to bring Papa down from the inside. Now that he’s back in my life, I don’t plan to let him go.
Junior gives her daddy a weak smile. “Senior and Sylvie fighting again?” she asks, now her little eyes hinting her concern over two people she loves without measure, mad at one another.
I have to laugh. She’s so funny and I remind myself like I do every time she opens her mouth that she’s not even three yet.
Looking over at her dad who is just smiling at our girl, I begin by saying, “No, I don’t think they were this time, sugar.”
“Good, I don’t like they fighting.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Curling up on the huge bed that envelopes Junior’s small body, I giggle when he snuggles up to our girl and I have never felt more at home than I do now.
Junior has to stay in the hospital for the next six days, but both Sylvie and Mack talk us into taking a break from everything. Even though Sylvie is supposed to be on bed rest, she’ll still put herself between Junior and any dangers. As we get back to the suite that everyone seems to have inhabited, at least we are alone in our room for the first time since the shit hit the fan with my dad.
Watching Jake sit on the bed, I come behind and start massaging his shoulders. “Fuck, Ginger, that feels wonderful but if I had my way, your fingers would be put to better use on other parts of my body.”
Though I need to know what the “Secret Meeting” in the hallway had been all about, I need Jake inside me more. With his lean body on the edge of the bed, I straddle his legs, biting his ear when I say, “So, why aren’t your hands shredding my panties?”
With a smirk, he only answers, “Excellent fucking question, Ginger.”
Lifting me up, he swings me around and places me on the bed. “Ginge, I’m going to fuck you like a madman, restraining you and smacking your ass if your smart little mouth gets out of hand. And before you say that fucking tagline ‘I’m not anyone’s sub,’” he says, trying to talk like me but he butchers his impersonation, it’s still adorable. “Just know that that will earn you a spanking, too.”
He may think I’ll challenge him but I only put my hands together when I lower my voice to a seductive drawl, “What are you waiting for, big guy? Think you can tame me, come get me.”
Pulling his belt off, tossing it on the bed and dragging his pants from his muscular legs, I anticipate his approach as the wetness inside me grows. “You and your tough words, Ginge.”
“I’m all yours, Davis. And you have permission to fuck me any way you want.”
I know my words are on the edge of earning me a spanking and the thought makes me almost too slick near my women bits, but I don’t fucking care. I love it rough. Hell, I love it any way with my guy.
“Fuck, Ginge, that mouth of yours will get you in trouble, girl! By the way, you are mine, so I never need your permission to take what’s mine.”
“I’m yours, for fucking ever, Davis.”
Smiling, he leans down, “Now, rules, Ginger. Not a word. You must have permission to speak. You understand? Just nod if you do.”
I want to defy him so much but I don’t and he leans down, taking one finger to my clit. “Good girl, now I may let you come.”
I want this, no, I need it so much right now.
Taking his belt, he wraps it around my wrists loosely, for my man would never hurt me. “Scoot up, sugar. We are going old-school here.” Though I’m not sure what the reference is about, I know he loves to take my ass and I love it as much as he does. Moaning, I make my way up the bed as I see him out of the corner of my eye, rummaging through my bag. He starts to laugh as I see him with something pink in his hand. “I see you went from purple to pink,” he chimes and sure enough, he has my pink vibrator. I don’t say that the other one was so old the motor died. I don’t defy him, though it’d be fun to do so.
Putting it on the nightstand near me, Jake continues, “So, we will replay that scene of you and me with the vibrator, later. One of my favorite scenes ever but for now, I know you’ll have lube in your suitcase.”
If I really want to test the waters, I could have said, I never leave home without it, but I don’t say a word and I see a little warning or almost a tease behind my man’s eyes.
Bridging the gap between us, he slides in next to me, announcing in a muted tone, “This is hard for you, cupcake. I can see it but good girls get a reward.” I only moan because I need him in me. I don’t plan to sleep, not tonight, not when Jake and I have three years of making up for. And certainly not when today is Valentine’s Day.
With the lube in his hands, he massages my butt cheeks with one and probes his talented fingers into my ass with the other. As I relax, he moves his massaging hand to my clit and it’s then that I understand what I have missed in the last three years. It’s not the sex because sex with Jake and me is effortless, it makes sense and it feels good as fuck. No, what I have missed is the oneness and how I have no problem submitting in this way to the man who gets me.
“Sugar, you and I may not sleep tonight.” And although we’ve been together, all the stress of my father and Junior’s sickness has made it truly difficult to relax but tonight, the threat of my dad and brother is gone and Junior is on the road to recovery.
Feeling the bulb of his cock working its way into my ass, I relax as he pushes in, still working my clit. Oh, I want to scream his name but submitting in the bedroom is the way to show Jake I trust him without question. Though I have been known to have a mind of my own, I do trust this man with not just my life, but the life of the most treasured possession in this world, our daughter.
Pumping in and out of me, my mind and body are whirling at the effect this man has. Cataclysmic shocks reign through me with an orgasm that can rank in the legends category. As it builds from my head to my toes, I’m riding high with Jake increasing his pace until I feel him coming inside of me.
As he pulls out, somehow, he flips me over with ease, descending to my pussy, eating me out like he’s starving. His aggressive pace picks up with one finger against my g-spot and the other twisting my nipples. I’m all about some pain with my pleasure. Going to town on me still, my body is shaking from every sensation that he awakens within me.
Rocking through another mind-numbing orgasm, he falls beside me face first,
his arm still around my waist. “Fuck, Ginge.”
“I know.” It’s all I can say, still panting, “I know.”
Once we have regained a little composure, he lays on his back, pulling me into the fold of his side. “You know, Davis, you better spill the beans of what you were so stern about with the ninja bodyguard squad earlier.”
“Just making plans for the rest of our life.”
Laughing, I begin, “I remember back on the island you loved to go all caveman on me and I let you take the reins, though I’m still no one’s sub.”
Taking his strong hands, he maneuvers me around now, sitting me on top of him. “You are right, Ginge, I don’t ever want to tame you, but take care of you? I’ll do that and never apologize!”
If I want to, I can dig my heels in like the best divas can but I don’t. Right now, after the shit of the last couple weeks, I need his care and comfort like the crops need the rain.
Acting as if I’m giving in to him and not surrendering to him, though I am, I casually ask, “What is the plan?”
Stroking my face with his callused hands, he gives me his cocky smirk when he replies, “Only after you admit you love this, me taking care of you.”
“Okay, you cocky bastard, you found me out! Now, continue!” I demand.
“I love my place in Washington state and I’m close to talking Hannah into moving to Spokane, but you love LA, too.”
“Jake, Washington state is fine, as long as we can take some vacations in the warmth of the California sun when it gets icy. All I want is to be with you. And you being near your sister for the first time in years means Junior has an aunt that can watch her so we can have some alone time.” My wink makes him groan and I can’t help but chuckle.
“Well, good to know you are on board with this. I was going to suggest we keep both places, that way we can visit.”