by Tillie Cole
My head lifted, and I caught the concern on his face. “She’s good,” I replied, leaving any mention of Zaal from the conversation.
He nodded. “Good. She needed this rest.”
With that he walked out the door, and out of my house. I sat on the floor, replaying the conversation, until a throat cleared behind me. I looked back and Mikhail, my personal byki, was behind me.
“You ready?” I asked. “Do we have a location for the cunt?”
Mikhail nodded. “He’s hiding out near the docks.”
I got off the floor, and walked past Mikhail. We got in the town car, the van filled with byki up ahead.
Twenty minutes later, we rolled up to the docks and the warehouse Jakhua was meant to be hiding in. I glanced around the dark and run-down area; the place was desolate.
Mikhail looked at me in the rearview mirror. I lifted my hand and Mikhail gave the order to send in the byki. They filed out of the van and into the warehouse.
I waited for the gunfire.
I waited for the screams, but there was only silence.
Something came through on Mikhail’s earpiece. His pale blue eyes met mine in the mirror. My blood ran cold.
“What?” I asked.
“There’s something inside.”
In seconds I was out of the car and striding across to the warehouse. I burst through the door, only to be met with a huge empty space.
My eyes drifted up to the rafters. Two bodies hung by their necks, their stomachs gutted and their throats slit. I walked closer, my feet walking straight through the pooling blood.
I looked at the men, trying to place them.
“Fuck!” Mikhail hissed from behind me.
I whipped my head around. “What?” I asked, my pulse beginning to slam in my neck.
Mikhail paled.
“What?” I thundered. Mikhail held his head high.
“These were two of my men.”
I frowned and walked toward him. “Why would Jakhua kill them? Why would he set us up just to see two fucking corpses?”
Mikhail shifted on his feet. “These two men were brought back to Brooklyn today. They switched protection detail. They had families, and they’d been away for weeks. I decided to bring them home and have them patrol on home turf.”
I shook my head and opened my mouth. Mikhail spoke before I could. “They were at the house in the Hamptons. They’ve been patrolling up there. They were assigned to the Kostava, to your sister.”
I tensed, every muscle in my body filling with scalding blood. I looked up at the corpses and my stomach instantly sank.
Talia.
Zaal.
“Who informed you of tonight? Who gave you the tip-off?” I asked Mikhail. He paled and looked up to one of the fucks swinging from the roof.
“Andrei,” he replied, and pointed to a corpse.
My hands shook with rage. It was a setup, a motherfucking setup! Ripping a knife from my jacket, I launched it into the heart of the betrayer hanging from the ceiling. The byki stepped back as I fumed with rage.
“Give me your phone!” I ordered Mikhail. He passed it over and I called the house in the Hamptons. All I got was a dead tone.
“The line’s dead,” I said. The byki shifted uncomfortably. Shaking with red-hot anger, I roared and threw the phone against the wall, smashing the fucking thing to pieces. I ran toward the door, the byki following behind.
“Get to the Hamptons! That motherfucker’s set us up. Fucking betrayed by one of our own. Jakhua’s gone back for Zaal! That bastard’s gone back for his man.”
As I ran out the door, fear, real fear, surged through my blood. Talia … that fucker was going to kill my sister.
My mind locked down. My blood ran cold. Only one thing ran through my mind.
Jakhua’s imminent death.
Chapter Seventeen
Talia
Waves crashed on the shore, the sound lulling me into half sleep. Zaal laid his head on my lap, and I stroked through his long hair with my fingers.
Zaal’s hand traced down my stomach, his beautiful jade eyes looking at me with complete adoration.
He was getting better. He looked better. Several days of rest, since finding out about his family, had brought the color back to his cheeks. And he was talking more, remembering more.
“Tell me about them, zolotse,” I said quietly, not wanting to disturb the heady peace we had found in this room.
Zaal glanced up at me, and swallowed. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to his head. “Tell me about your family.”
“I only remember some things,” he replied, his accent becoming thicker as emotion took hold. “I remember only certain things about each one of them, about me as a child.”
“Tell me,” I pushed again, and linked my hand through his for comfort.
Zaal closed his eyes. I could see them moving behind his eyelids. His hand tightened in mine and I knew he was pulling images, fractured memories, from his mind. He’d told me he saw only pictures. Only felt certain feelings when remembering them.
But it was something. I feared with the drugs he’d been subjected to for years that he’d have no memories at all. We still weren’t sure about the damage to his body, his mind, but just having something to hold on to, it was a blessing straight from God.
Zaal’s eyes opened. He fixed his gaze on mine. “I remember I liked to lie in the sun,” he rasped, a small curl of his lip gracing his mouth. “I remember my brother coming to sit beside me.” His hand suddenly squeezed mine and his brow furrowed. “I remember us always being together. He was always at my side, I think. Papa’s two boys.”
I fought back the lump chasing up my throat. This man. This six foot six, 250-pound man spoke with such reverie about his lost brother. With such softness and affection in his husky deep voice.
“What else, baby?” I asked, still stroking through his hair.
His eyes crinkled at the corners as he pushed himself to remember. “I had a sister Zoya.” He sucked in a deep breath and his body tensed. “She … she followed me everywhere, called me her sykhaara.”
“What does that mean?” I asked soothingly.
Zaal’s lip lifted in a fond smile. “My sweetness.”
Adoration filled his eyes when he said, “She was five. She had long black hair, and such dark eyes they almost matched. A brown so dark it looked like coal. She would always be with me. Told me I would protect her when she was older, when me and my brother led the family.”
My soul splintered when the tiniest tear slipped from the corner of his left eye. His haunted stare searched for mine, and when it connected, he said, “They ripped her from my arms, Talia. The guards, our own traitor guard, ripped her from my neck.” He took a shuddering breath. “She cried my name, her hand reached out for me to save her.” More tears fell, and his hand trembled. “And when they fired their guns, and Jakhua forced me to watch, Zoya’s dark eyes were still watching me, like … like she expected me to save her.”
His voice broke. I shuffled down the sofa to take his face in my hands. “You were eight, Zaal. A child.”
He tried to breathe, his chest rapidly rising and falling. Then he added, “When their bodies were piled up, they were like slaughtered cattle. When they had all been killed and left outside to rot in the hot sun, I saw her arm on the ground. Zoya was trapped under my grandmama, her little dead body was hiding from view. But her hand was still reaching out for me. She’d wanted me to save her, expected me to, right until the end.”
Tears tumbled down his cheeks, but his face was unchanged. He looked up at me and the devastated expression in his eyes destroyed me. “I let her down,” he whispered. “I couldn’t save her. And I have to live with that forever.”
I wrapped my arms around his chest, squeezing him tightly. Zaal held on tight. He always held on tight. Like he was the Earth, and I was his sun.
“He killed them all, Talia. Killed them like they were pigs. My family.”
“I know, Zaal,
” I soothed, and just held him in my arms.
A few minutes later, with Zaal’s fingers wrapped in my hair, I felt his chest move. I looked up to see a whisper of a smile on his lips.
I melted.
I stared at him waiting for him to speak, when he murmured, “Sykhaara.”
“My sweetness,” I said, remembering the translation.
“She did not even understand what it meant.”
“Then why did she call you it?” I questioned.
“My grandmama called me and Anri it. We were her favorites. Her Georgian princes, she would say.”
It made me smile. Zaal noticed. He tipped his head to the side in question. “Like I was close to my babushka, you were close to yours.”
“How did she die?” he asked.
I inhaled and explained, “Heart attack. We found her one day in her chair, it was the anniversary of my dedushka’s death.” I shook my head, the pain of that day still strong. “My mama always said she died of a broken heart.”
Zaal was quiet as he contemplated my words, no doubt thinking about who was responsible for my dedushka’s death. With a sigh, Zaal said quietly, “I do not remember my papa well, Talia. I wear the name Kostava, though I find, apart from a few strong memories that seem set on repeat, I do not know the man at all.” Zaal patted his chest. “But know that I am not my papa. I am not vengeful toward your family.”
I held Zaal tighter. My affection for this man swelled to fill my every cell. He was perfect for me. In every single way.
“She would make me dance,” Zaal suddenly rasped, breaking the heavy silence, and turning the direction of the tense topic.
I lifted my head and asked, “Who?”
His eyes narrowed as he thought something over in his head and he answered, “My grandmama.” His eyes then widened. “She is how I know English. She had lived in America before she married my grandpapa.”
A smile broke on my face. “I always wondered how you knew English.”
“It was her. She said to lead the family we should know English. And Russian.”
My chin rested on Zaal’s packed stomach, and I asked, “She taught you to dance?”
I could see Zaal searching his mind for more memories, when he said, “Yes. She said we needed to be real gentlemen.” He exhaled like the memory took effort to remember. “We would dance to her favorite song, a song she heard in America.”
“What was it? The song?” I pushed eagerly.
He racked his brain and said, “I’ll Walk … I’ll Walk…” His lips pursed and his forehead creased as he pushed the memory. Then his beautiful green eyes lit up. “Alone,” he said. “‘I’ll Walk … Alone.’”
My breathing paused in disbelief.
“What?” Zaal asked, my face obviously showing my surprise.
“It was one of my babushka’s favorites. It’s by Dinah Shore.”
I lifted myself from Zaal’s arms and reached for my phone on the coffee table. I scrolled to my music and found the track. Zaal sat up in interest, and as I turned my head, I just had to pause.
He was so damn beautiful.
My heart raced as he sat there in black sweats and a white T-shirt. His olive-skinned muscles stood out against the paleness of the white and his long hair hung in front of his face. I loved his hair, I really did, but I loved his face more.
Zaal was staring at me. “What?” he asked.
“You’re so handsome,” I said quietly, and felt the blush build on my cheeks. “Takoy krasivyy.”
Zaal regarded me strangely, as if he had no idea why another person would ever regard someone as handsome. I sat with that thought for a second, and realized, he probably didn’t.
Getting to my feet, I walked toward him. Zaal sat up looking at me. His sitting down was almost the same height as me standing.
Reaching up to my hair, I pulled on the band keeping it in a ponytail. My long hair fell down over my shoulders and I held it in my hand.
Zaal frowned. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Can I do something?” I asked. Zaal regarded me warily. I leaned down and ran the back of my hand across his face. “I love your long hair, Zaal, but I want to see your face.”
The frown never moved, but when I raked my hands through his hair, his hands laid on my thighs, his eyes closed, and a low hum sounded in his chest.
I smiled at him and gathered his hair to a knot at the top of his skull. Finished, and wanting to survey my work, I stepped back, and all the air escaped my lungs.
Zaal was looking up at me, and I felt like I was seeing him for the first time. With his long black hair brushed off his face, his regally beautiful face—high cheekbones, dark eyebrows, full lips—staring up at me like I was the most beautiful girl in the world, a stark reality hit home.
I’d more than fallen for Zaal. He now completely owned me. In every possible way. He was in my every cell, my every breath, my every heartbeat.
Zaal rose to his feet, and with his newly visible face, I stared up at him, struck mute and lost for words.
Zaal leaned down, and giving me exactly what I needed, met my lips with his. It was soft, gentle, and more meaningful than any rushed, passionate embrace could be; it told me everything I needed to know. I owned him, too.
Zaal pulled back, and sliding my hand down to his, I asked, “Would you dance with me?”
Zaal stilled. His perfectly framed eyebrows pulled down. “There is no music,” he rasped out.
Moving to the sofa, without breaking his hold, I pressed play on my phone, the device connecting to the house’s speakers.
In seconds the crackling sounds from the 1940s old recording drifted through the speakers. Zaal sucked in a quick gulp of breath, his eyes fluttering closed. I laid my hands on his broad chest, the beat of his heart hammering underneath. At my touch, Zaal opened his eyes, his gaze glossy.
Dinah Shore began to sing about her love, who was at war, and her promise that she would wait for him, that she would never love anyone else, never give up her heart. As those words filled up the room, Zaal reached for my hands, laying one on his shoulder, and clasped the other one on my hand.
Zaal began to lead, his feet moving slowly and unsurely at first, but as the song played on, he became more steady and self-assured.
Zaal’s eyes never left mine, something indescribable passing through them as he moved me around the room.
I lay my cheek to his chest, lost in this moment of simplicity and joy, a rare occurrence in our complicated life.
“I remember this,” he said quietly, and my eyes drifted to a close. “I remember being good at this,” he continued, and huffed a single laugh. “And I remember Anri was not. He would always step on Grandmama’s toes.”
I listened to every word he spoke, relishing the happiness in his voice in this moment of pain-free joy. Zaal’s arm around my waist squeezed me tighter and I could hear his heart hammering.
Zaal’s breathing increased, and his stilled feet brought us to a stop. Opening my eyes, the final notes of the song coming to an end, I lifted my eyes. Zaal was staring down at me, and the look on his face made my stomach flip.
I watched him silently as he brought my hand to his chest. His long lashes blinked. Then blinked again. And with the slight parting of his lips, he said, “My heart, it is full, Talia. It is full, for you.” My throat closed as those heavenly words slipped from his soul. “It used to be empty and weak, now, now it beats strong again.”
Zaal leaned down. With the gentlest, most feather-light of touches, his soft lips brushed against mine. And I savored his taste. I savored his hands on my back. I savored it all. I wanted time to stop. I wanted time to freeze, to hold us captive in this moment, in this very moment.
I never wanted it to end.
The ambient sound of the speaker hissed in the background. Drawing back from Zaal, I pressed my hand to his cheek, and said, “I want to make love to you.”
Zaal’s forehead creased with confusion, but standing on my toe
s, I kissed those creases away, and whispered, “Come with me.”
Linking his hand in mine, I led him out of the living room and up the stairs. No words were exchanged as we approached my bedroom. Not one sentence uttered as we entered the door. I locked us inside.
Walking to the bed, Zaal followed behind. I turned, and I trembled. Everything about tonight felt bigger somehow. More important. The air around us had thickened, making it impossible to breathe. I knew, I just knew that it was because I was in love.
I was in love with Zaal Kostava.
We’d bared our pasts, we’d fought our fates. And at the end, left over was only the purest form of love. Of need. Of us.
Like Zaal had said, our empty hearts were now full.
Zaal’s hands were fisted at his sides. His eyes were luminescent with need. As he watched me, I lifted my shirt over my head. Reaching behind me, I unclasped my bra. The material fell away. Zaal’s eyes focused on my heavy, bare breasts.
The tension thickened, pulsed, clogged our very air.
Inhaling a long breath, I snapped the buttons on my jeans and rolled them down my legs. A hiss tore from Zaal when my panties came down, too.
A growl sounded in Zaal’s chest. I stepped toward him, until I was flush against his chest. Zaal watched me, never taking his eyes from mine.
Laying my hands on his waist, I lifted his shirt over his head. Once removed, Zaal’s thick muscled body met my eyes. I felt my pussy clench and wetness spread between my thighs.
Yet Zaal stood still. Stood still and let me take the lead, let me undress him, let me love him like he deserved to be loved.
My hands drifted to the waist of his pants, and I pulled them down, Zaal’s hard long cock springing into view. He kicked his pants off his feet.
Now both naked, I lifted my hand and ran it down his chest. As my fingers lingered on his toned and defined V, I continued until his hand wrapped around mine.
Walking backward, my legs hit the bed. I climbed on, Zaal’s huge frame following me. Lying down on my back, Zaal’s nostrils flared as he crawled over me. His body heat melted against mine and I held out my hands, welcoming him into my arms.