Vlad pulls the main door open and guides me inside. I look around, surprised to see a bar to my right. Two men and a woman are behind the bar, cleaning glasses and stocking the fridges. In front of me is the dance floor with pillars throughout where I’m sure people stand to dance. But what catches my eye are the cages hanging from the ceiling. There’s a total of five cages; I wonder if women or men dance in there.
I see to the far left an area with couches and tables. To the right of this area are steps to another floor, and from where I’m standing, I can see another bar to the right side. A few men and women bustle around, doing what they have to before they open for business, but I can’t see Alexey.
“Do you want to look around or come with me? I’m sure Alexey is in his office,” Vlad says, and only then do I realize that this must be their club.
“Can I look around? I’ve never been here before, but I’ve heard about it,” I say.
“Sure, I’ll just go tell Alexey you’re here, even though he’s probably already seen us arrive,” Vlad says as he starts to walk towards a door to the side of the bar that says “private staff only”. I make my way towards the steps to see what is upstairs. I encounter another smaller dance floor, but the interesting thing about this one is that the floor is on top of water with fish inside. This is so amazing.
I hear a noise to the right and see a curtained-off area. Pulling the curtain to the side, I see this is some kind of gaming area. There are three pool tables, two dart machines, what looks like two poker tables, and a small bar, I’m sure to cater to the clients in here. There is also a small stage, which makes me wonder if they have live music sometimes.
“Now, who might you be?” a voice says close to my ear, making me gasp and jump in surprise. I turn around hurriedly and bump into a wide chest. The man’s hands come up and hold me back by my arms as he looks down at me. For the first time, I see his face, and my stomach flutters in fear. He has a scar that runs from his right brow down to his cheek, but what scares me is his eyes. He has cold eyes, as if there is nothing he wouldn’t do. “Aren’t you a pretty thing.” He brings his right hand up to my hair and strokes a strand of hair back from my face. I try to step back, but he tightens his hold on my arm.
“Where do you think you’re going, sugar? I think I want to get to know you better,” he says in an annoying rasp.
“Let go of me,” I murmur, but he just smiles, and I notice that the smile doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Why would I do that when I find you spying?” he says.
“I wasn’t spying, I was just looking around.”
“Do you work here?” he asks quietly as he brings his hand that stroked my hair and trails it down my neck to the collar of my top.
“N . . . No, but I’m here to see Alexey,” I whisper. My knees feel as if they’re going to give way any minute now.
“Are you now? Well, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing.” With those words, he pulls me against the wall next to the curtain. My heart is racing in fear, my hands clammy as the hand that was holding my arm comes up and holds my neck, and then his head is lowering. That’s when I start to struggle; I swear if this man kisses me, I will get sick all over him. I start to push against his chest that is way too close, but he’s so big that he doesn’t budge.
“No . . . Let me go.” I gasp; I try to bring up my knee, but he’s standing in a position where I can’t get to him. His hand tightens around my throat, and I gasp, as it’s constricted. I hear a roar, but I’m sure it’s the blood in my head, but then I’m free and the man is being pushed away from me.
Blinking, I see Alexey punch the man. The man stumbles back with the force of the punch, and then Alexey has his hand around his neck as he had on me. I notice that they are both the same height, but Alexey seems so much bigger. I concentrate on his face, and my breath catches at the fury I see. “You think you can touch what is mine?” His voice is a low rasp but so much more threatening for it.
“Sorry, Boss,” the guy says, his eyes bulging as Alexey tightens his hand, and then he pulls back his fist and punches him in the stomach. As the man starts to double over, Alexey brings up the hand that was restricting his neck and punches him just under the chin. The man falls back onto his back.
Only then do I feel arms hugging me. Looking up, I see Vlad looking down at me. “Are you okay?” he asks in concern. Now that the guy has been pulled off me, I can feel myself shaking all over. I nod before I look back at Alexey, who is leaning over the guy. He says something in Russian, and then he stands. Looking around at Vlad and me, his eyes travel over my body and face, and I see his jaw tick.
“Take him,” Alexey says. His voice is still scary, but his eyes are a smouldering green that for some reason start to calm me. Vlad lets go of me and moves towards the man who is slowly trying to get to his feet. Alexey ignores them and approaches me. When he’s standing before me, his finger strokes my cheek gently as he looks deep into my eyes. “Did he hurt you?” He’s being so gentle, a contradiction to the tense muscles and rigid jaw. The violence this man radiated just a few minutes ago compared to the gentleness he’s showing now confuses me.
“I’m okay.” My voice is wobbly in fright, and I’m still shaking, but otherwise, I’m fine.
“I’m sorry about what happened, malysh. He will be dealt with.” At his hard words, my heart stutters. What does he mean he will be dealt with? I’m about to ask, but then I decide not to. These are Alexey’s men and his world, and he will know better than me how to handle this. He places his hand behind my neck and then pulls me against his chest. At first, I tense in surprise, but then I relax and let my body mould to his. His clean scent with a light aroma of some spice calms me. His warmth draws me in.
“This will never happen again, I promise,” he says against my hair, and I nod against his chest. His arm is around my back, and his hand is stroking my back gently. We stand like that for a few minutes, not saying anything, just feeling each other, before he pulls back gently. “Come, I will get my car keys and we can go.” He takes hold of my hand and pulls me behind him. We walk back down the stairs and through the door that said private. Alexey guides me down a lit corridor until we reach the last door. He punches in a code and then opens the door to a big office.
Looking around, I see a wide desk standing in the middle of the room. There is a bookshelf running the back wall. On the wall to my right are various screens showing the whole area of the club. On the other side is a door leading somewhere. This door also has a keypad. Behind the desk beside the bookshelf is a slightly open door. I think this might be a bathroom by what I can see through the opening. There is a couch on one of the sides and two chairs before the desk.
Alexey is shutting down his laptop as I look around and see that his desk is pristine—there is no clutter. He picks up his phone from the desk and slips it into the pocket of his dark-grey suite. Walking towards the door with the keypad, he punches in a number and opens the door. From where I’m standing, I can see it’s another office.
“I’m leaving now. Make sure to have that contract for me to see tomorrow,” he calls out from the doorway. I hear a woman’s voice but can’t tell what she says before Alexey is closing the door and turning to me.
“Are you ready to leave?” he asks, looking over my body as if to see if there is anything he missed. I nod, and then he’s gently taking my hand and guiding me back out of the office. When we get to the parking lot, I see that Andrei and another man I saw yesterday are standing by the car. He helps me in, and then we’re off.
“Where are we going?” I ask, looking around as we drive through the city.
“You will see,” he says quietly. A few minutes later, we pull into an underground car park. He cuts the engine and looks around. I see the other Mustang pull up close to the lifts, and then Andrei steps out and waits. “Let’s go,” Alexey says. Getting out of the car, he comes around and helps me out. When we reach the lifts, Andrei already has the doors to one of the lifts open an
d is waiting for us. Stepping in, we make our way up to the third floor. The doors open, and I see that we are in some kind of boutique.
“Alexey,” a stunning blonde woman calls as she walks towards us, a simpering smile on her face. “It has been too long.” I feel Alexey’s hand on my lower back as he moves us forward.
“Margo, nice to see you again,” he says coolly. “I believe my secretary made a booking?”
“Yes, yes, she did.” I don’t think she’s even glanced at me. “What would you like?” she murmurs with a suggestive smile. Bitch, can’t she see me here? All I want to do is turn and walk away. Why the hell would he bring me here?
“It’s not what I would like, but what Jade here wants. You will show her your lingerie collection and give her everything she desires.” At his words, I gasp. What the hell? He told me he was getting me new stuff, but I didn’t think it would be so soon or from a boutique. All my under things had always been bought at Walmart. I’ve never had lingerie, just simple cotton panties and bras. I see Margo look over my body.
“Of course, please follow me,” Margo says as she turns.
“Alexey?” I whisper as she starts to walk away. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
He looks down at me and shrugs. “You need new things, so go ahead and get everything you need. I’ve got a few calls to make, so go on.”
“Not likely. Why can’t we just buy something at Walmart or something?”
At my words, he takes hold of my arm and pulls me towards him. “You belong to me now. You will only get the best,” he states with a serious look. “If you don’t go and get all the things you might need, I will choose for you. Do you want that?” I wish I could tell him to go to hell, but I know he will follow through with his threat. Huffing, I turn and follow Margo. Wait until we get back to the apartment. How he can say I belong to him is beyond me. Darn, what did I get myself into?
ALEXEY 7
After waiting for an hour and a half for Jade to finish purchasing all the items she may need, we finally leave. I know she dragged it out to spite me, but I let her. When she argued with me about buying her new lingerie, I was shocked. Usually all women want to be pampered, but then she suggested buying the things at Walmart. I was stunned that she would even consider that I would buy her such things. Jade will only have the best. I know she’s been through some hard times, but those times are now over.
I’m still waiting for the file on her background, but I’m sure there will be nothing for me to worry about. When I found her against the wall today at the club with that son of a bitch forcing her, I lost my shit. How dare he touch her? Not only because she’s mine, but I’ll not condone the actions of any of my men forcing themselves on a woman.
Vlad has him in the cell at the club. Tomorrow, I will deal with him. After arriving at the apartment, Jade disappeared to her room. The whole way home, she didn’t say a word, but I let her sulk, as I have a lot of shit going on at the moment that I need to think about. I get a message from Nik as I walk into my office. Looking at my phone, I frown.
My men know not to talk about anything on the phone that might be used against us. Therefore, his message simply says, Have more info you will want to know.
I’m at home. Meet me here. I send the text and know that soon I will know what info Nik managed to get out of Sloan. A few minutes later, there’s a knock at the office door.
“Come in.” I know it’s Nik. Andrei would have let him in.
“Boss,” he says as he walks in.
“Take a seat, Nik.” Nik is about my age, but he had a tough life on the streets in Russia before my father took him in to be part of the Bratva. I don’t know all that happened to him, but whatever it was, it destroyed his soul. “What else did he say?”
“I thought you would want to know that your new woman has become a target.” At his words, my muscles tense. Fuck. I suspected that they might want to grab her, but I was hoping that Sloan didn’t have time to tell Salazar. My hands fist in anger. If they think they will get anywhere near Jade, they can think again.
“Was there anything else?” I ask.
“The group Salazar got close to is a motorcycle club that has connections,” he says, making my anger rise.
“Is it the Elementals’ MC?” I never thought they would betray me, but if they have, I will burn their fucking clubs down.
“No, they’re called Keres MC,” he states, looking at me unflinchingly.
“I want to know everything about the club. Salazar has become very cocky lately, and I want to know why,” I order. Nik nods and starts to rise.
“Wait,” I call, and see him tense before he lowers himself to the chair again. “I want you to guard Jade every time she goes out.”
“Are you sure I’m the right person for that?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.
“You’re the toughest guy I have. I know you will lay down your life to keep her safe.” He nods in confirmation. “She’s my woman, and therefore, everyone is to respect her. Do you understand me?”
“No one will mess with your woman,” he grunts.
“Good, I’ll introduce you.” I send a text to Andrei, asking him to accompany Jade to my office. I know if I text her, she might not come, as she’s still upset with me. Nik and I continue to talk about the interrogation, until a few minutes later, there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in,” I call, and see Andrei open the door for Jade to walk in. As soon as she enters, he leaves, closing the door behind her.
“Jade, I want you to meet Nik. Nik is going to be your bodyguard; wherever you go, Nik will accompany, same as Andrei and Ivan do with me.”
Her eyes widen, and then she looks over at Nik. “Does that mean I can go out?” she asks suspiciously.
“Of course, but remember, you’re in danger, so don’t go to places that will be difficult for Nik to keep you safe. Nik has the last say. If he says a specific place is not safe, then you listen to him.” She bites her bottom lip, and then she smiles.
“Hi, Nik,” she says. “I hope you don’t mind being bored, because I have a very boring life,” she quips, but he just stares at her. “Okay, then.” She looks back at me. “Is that all? I was about to start on dinner.” I nod, and she starts to retreat until her hand is on the door. “Is Vlad coming for dinner?” she asks without turning.
“I’m sure he will,” I answer, and then she leaves.
“You may go,” I say to Nik. He nods and then rises and leaves without another word. Knowing that Nik will protect Jade calms my rage a little. How dare those fuckers place a target on her head. I will still prefer that she only go out when I’m around, but in case she needs to go somewhere, at least she will have Nik.
I don’t know what this girl has done to me, but the thought of something happening to her drives me crazy. “Fuck.” I know I won’t be able to do anything else today knowing that she’s in the kitchen cooking.
When I open the door to my office, I can hear Jade humming in the kitchen. Looking over at Andrei, who is sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper, I incline my head to the door, letting him know that he can leave. As soon as he leaves, I take off my jacket and roll up my sleeves. As I enter the kitchen, I see Jade half in the oven with her perfect ass in the air. All I want to do is grab that ass and show her how much she is mine; she wouldn’t have any doubts then.
As I’m about to go to her, she stands up and closes the oven. When she turns and sees me leaning against the doorframe, she jumps, startled. “Don’t do that!”
“It’s smelling good,” I say. I can see I’m flustering her as she starts to fidget.
“It’s roasted leg of lamb,” she mumbles as she picks up a tomato.
“Here, let me help you.” I take the tomato from her hand and the knife that she has in the other. “Is this for a salad?” I ask, and see her nod from the corner of my eye. While I cut the tomato, she washes the lettuce and places it in a bowl.
“You can put it in here,” she say
s, and then she’s breaking off pieces of feta and throwing it in, her eyes lowered as she works.
“Are you still angry with me?”
Her head snaps up, and then she sighs. “No,” she whispers. “Thank you for buying me all those things; I’ve never had anything like it before.”
“You deserve to have beautiful things,” I state, and see a light blush warm her cheeks. When I’m finished cutting the tomato, I wash my hands and then approach her. “Jade.” She looks over her shoulder at me. I’m a step behind her when I take hold of her shoulders and turn her around to face me. “Don’t fight me, malysh, I always win.” Then I lower my head and take her lips in a possessive kiss.
She gasps in surprise, allowing me to deepen the kiss; I take her hair in my fist and pull her head back gently so I can devour this woman who is driving me crazy. My other arm circles around her waist, and I pull her flush against me so she can feel what she is doing to me. When she starts to move her lower body against me, I lose my battle of going slow. Picking her up under her arms, I lift her onto the counter next to the bowl of salad. I place her legs around my waist as I continue to show her who she belongs to.
I break the kiss but continue down her neck until my lips can feel her pulse. My hand lifts from her thigh, and I stroke just under her luscious breasts. She will be mine tonight. Just as I’m about to stroke her nipple through her top, I hear the door open. “Mmm, it smells good in here,” Vlad says, his footsteps drawing closer.
“Fuck,” I grunt as I pull her off the counter. She’s still dazed from our kiss and just stands there staring up at me. I lower my lips until they’re next to her ear. “If you don’t want us to give my brat a show, I suggest you stop looking at me like that.” I feel her tense under my hand, and then she gasps, but before she can move away, Vlad appears at the door to the kitchen.
TORMENTED: Bratva Fury (book 1) Page 5