by Kimber Chin
"She got lucky, Boss. It happens."
"Lucky? She's the unluckiest person who ever lived." Did she still live? Nik entered the restaurant, moving toward the private rooms. The hostess took one look at his face and allowed him by. She had to be alive. She had to.
"At cards. She evaded a professional killer for decades, Boss."
She had. That luck better hold or he would kill someone. Nik swung the door open, furious.
"You!" This was all Grandfather's fault.
"Relax, Nikolay." The others hurried from the room. "We know who took her." Smoke swirled around them.
She was taken? Boris had said... "Who?" His fists clenched.
"Your new friend, Joey Chan."
That was no comfort. "My new friend has a hard on for my fiancee," Nik ground out. "Where is she?" Last he heard, Chan was recovering at his bullet-riddled home.
"I suspected." A touch of humor in Grandfather's voice. Why? There was nothing remotely funny about any of this. "I neglected this part of your education, didn't I?" He puffed on his cigar. "But then, how would I know you'd find a woman like your grandmother? Didn't think another one existed."
He wanted to talk about grandmother, now? "Where? Is? She?" Nik was seconds away from strangling the old man.
"If you want her, truly want her, you're going to have to fight for her, Nikolay."
"I'll kill for her. Where is she?"
Grandfather nodded. "I almost killed Igroek for your grandmother." Nik stared at him.
Igroek? "She was his fiancee first, lucky bastard."
Oh, shit. Grandmother was the reason for the partnership falling apart. Nik would worry about that later. "If you don't tell me where she isȄ"
"She's at his house." Nik turned. "Bring her back, Nikolay. If you love her, give her a choice."
She regained consciousness, confused, with a killer headache.
"My apologies, Miss Tatyana." The voice was familiar. Not Nikky's, but familiar. Her forehead was stroked with cold fingers. "I told my man to pick you up. I should have clarified I didn't want you drugged."
Drugged. Chan. She stilled in horror. The wife killer. That was his breath on her cheek.
"Nikky?" Her fiance would keep her safe.
"Will be here any minute, I suspect." A warm chuckle. "My men have been told to let him in.
Not that bodyguards could stop him. He is very protective of you. As he should be. He knows I want you."
Fear trickled down her spine. She inched away from Chan's pockmarked face. "I love Nikky."
"My man said it looked like you were leaving him."
She had been. "I needed space to think."
"Ahhh..." A smug smile. "You're having second thoughts about your Nikky. I understand. He is only second in command. I can give you more." He waved his hands. "Much more."
Had Chan been talking to Stepan? Those were the cousin's exact thoughts. "Nikky has enough. More than enough. Too much. He chose the family over me."
"No." Chan shook his head. "He chose the family knowing you'd understand why he had to.
He's responsible, Miss Tatyana. Him and I, we both have to be that way. We love." Chan winced. "But the family must come first. Always. IȄ"
"If your family comes first, you shouldn't have taken me." Nikky would kill him.
"I want you, Miss Tatyana," Chan stated bluntly. "I take what I want."
She wasn't some object to be acquired. "You can't have me. I'm engaged to Nikky."
"Engagements end." He shrugged. "Marriages end."
Her mouth dropped. The man was insane. "You'd never give me up?"
"Until there's a baby in your belly, I won't." Chan grinned proudly.
She didn't like the way his gaze lowered. She had to leave. "I should get up." Tatyana pushed off of the mattress, her head spinning, her stomach heaving. She flopped down again. "Maybe in a few minutes."
"He used too much. You're so tiny." Chan peered down at her, concern on his face. Not for her, Tatyana knew. For his object. "I shouldn't haveȄ"
"I agree." There was a loud click. "You shouldn't have."
"Nikky." She propped herself up by her elbows. He stood in the doorway, face dark, his gun pointed at Chan. "Nothing happened."
"You're on his bed, Brat." Nikky's voice was tight with fury. He looked ready to pull the trigger.
"Safest room in the house." Chan had no fear. "And no, Kaerta, nothing happened. Not yet."
"If nothing happened, why is she so pale?" Nikky motioned with the gun. "If youȄ"
"She is so pale..." Tatyana willed Chan to remain silent. "... because she inhaled something she shouldn't have."
"She shouldn't have been playing with fire." As she hoped, Nikky assumed she meant smoke. He really would kill Chan if he found out she'd been drugged. "You gave me your word you wouldn't leave me, Tatyana." His hurt thickened his voice.
"No, I said I'd stay as long as you wanted me."
"Damn it, Brat." He tucked his gun behind his back. "Didn't I show you I wanted you? Two fuckin' times."
"Whoa, whoa. More information than I need to hear." Chan raised his hands as he moved toward the door. "You'll want to talk to me before you leave, Kaerta."
They both ignored him.
The two times was sex. She was talking about love. "Then you left me. I slept alone. I don't like sleeping alone, Nikky."
"And you think I do, Brat?" A deep sigh as he took Chan's place on the bed. "Us sleeping apart doesn't mean I don't want you." He touched her face.
Want, not love. "It's a sign." A first sign. If he didn't love her by now, he never would.
"I'll always want you." He kissed her forehead.
Want was not enough. She needed a love like her parent's had. Only that would last. "You think that butȄ"
"I know that." He spooned against her. "But if the day ever comes that I don't, I'll be honest with you. I'll look you in the eyes and say, 'Tatyana, I don't want you.' There'll be no confusion. I give you my word."
That day would hurt. She should end it now before that pain increased. She couldn't. She loved him too much. "Kiss me, Nikky." She didn't want to think anymore.
An hour passed before Nik calmed down enough to talk to Chan without emptying a clip into that thick head. He found him in the back yard, on a lounge chair, looking almost as pale as Tatyana had been. "You need your medical team?"
"Fuck off, Kaerta." Although Chan's face was hard, it was challenging to look tough with a multicolored afghan draped around his shoulders and a dainty cup in his fingers. "This is all your fault. My lady doc said no excitement."
"Then why did you involve yourself?" Nik sat in the chair next to him. Why would he? They weren't friends. No matter what happened between them.
"You'd rather I let her walk?" Chan sipped his tea.
"No." Nik shifted, uncomfortable with the thought of owing Chan. "I guess I should thank you."
Chan grinned. "I guess you should. This time. We're even, Kaerta. Next time she runs, something will happen."
He'd ensure she didn't run again. He wouldn't allow Chan to touch her. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?" This threat?
"No." The man's chuckle was weak. Why was Chan so bad off? It was a clean hit to the shoulder. "As I was cleaning house, we checked the call history on the phone the assassin had on him. Public phones in New York City."
New York City. Igroek. "Shit."
"Should I be concerned, Kaerta?" Chan's hands trembled as he set his cup down.
Paranoid bastard. "It is nothing to do with you, Chan." It was all about Tatyana. Fuck. Igroek was supposed to be the solution, not the problem.
"Good." Coughing. "My situation is messy as it is." Chan doubled up, his lungs sounding congested.
Nik slapped his back as he stood. "Should I call your woman to look after you?"
"Wei?" A flash of pain. "Only if you truly want me dead. Turns out she went to college with my wife. They were sorority sisters."
He had a right to be worried. "I'
ll send one of your men in." One of the few men Chan deemed loyal to him, his staff uncharacteristically lean. "Don't die, Chan. The pleasure of killing you is mine." But before that happened, he had to clean up his own mess.
Igroek. Fuck . Igroek. That was a mess. Would he have to protect Tatyana from her own grandfather, one of the most powerful men on the east coast?
"Interesting outfit, Brat." Nikky wrapped his arm around her.
She smiled. She knew he'd appreciate it. She was clad from head to toe in a white Victorian-style gown, the picture of innocence. "I'd rather be naked."
He chuckled, low and deep. "That would make for an interesting dinner."
"We could skip it." This dinner scared her. Nikky was nervous about it, wearing his best suit, and she had a feeling that this guest of his grandfather's brought change with him. She didn't want change. She wanted Nikky.
"Courage, Tatyana. I'll be by your side." He walked with her into the restaurant.
Everyone turned as they entered, including the two elderly men standing next to Nikky's grandfather. Tatyana plastered a welcoming smile on her face. One of them must be Igroek, judging by the security around them. She'd guess the shorter one. He oozed power, holding himself with stiff-spined pride, even while he looked like a wizened gnome.
"Grandfather," she addressed Nikky's grandfather, looking for an introduction.
None came. The room fell quiet.
"My God." The shorter man backed up, hands raised, palms facing her. "No." He shook his head. "She's dead. You're not her." Was he talking to her? Tatyana frowned. "You're a fraud." A fraud? She glared at this so-called guest of honor. "Kaerta, you bastard." He turned to Nikky's grandfather, accusations in his eyes. "My brother said you might pull something like this, but I thought even you wouldn't sink so low. To use my dead daughter against me."
Dead daughter? This was the man they were trying to impress? He was a fruit loop.
"I had to be sure, Igroek," Nikky's grandfather rumbled. "BeforeȄ"
"Before what?" A sharp question from the stranger.
The two old men faced off against each other. Tatyana's money was on Nikky's grandfather.
He loomed head and shoulders over the gnome.
"Before I married Tatyana." Nikky stepped forward. He knew? He knew the man would have this strange reaction? "Are you okay?" Nikky examined her, his eyes soft.
Had everyone lost their damn minds? "Why wouldn't I be okay?" What the hell was going on? "I'm not the person mumbling fucked up nonsense."
"Language, Brat." If Nikky told her that one more time... "Since we're now sure, let's do it."
He raised her hand and kissed her ring, her engagement ring.
Now sure? "Do what?" Go back to his room and have sex? She was game. That, at least, made sense.
"Get married."
What the hell? Tatyana stared at Nikky. "Married? For real? Tonight?"
"Married, for real and why not?" He shrugged nonchalantly as though he got married every damn day. "I want to marry you. You want to marry me. You're in a white dress and it'd solve the room problem. You don't like sleeping alone."
"I don't." Married. This wasn't exactly the declaration of undying love she dreamed of, but who knew if she'd ever get that from the ass. "Why not? I've got nothing better to do." She forced her casual tone. They were getting married. They'd no longer be alone. They'd have each other. The two of them against the world.
"Good." Some of the severity eased out of his profile. "If anyone wants to attend, Tatyana and I will be getting married in the casino chapel in..." Nikky checked his watch. "Half an hour. I reserved it for then." This was said to her.
Reserved. He planned this ahead of time. He really did want to get married tonight. "You're a sneaky ass, you know that?"
"Nikolay."
And judging from Nikky's grandfather's face, he hadn't known. Nikky had done this on his own, because it was what he wanted, not the family.
If he could do that, she could make it right with his family. Tatyana took his grandfather's ringed hand, not making eye contact with the red-faced stranger standing beside him. It was best not to look crazy people in the eyes, she knew that from experience. "Grandfather, I'd love it if you'd stand up with me." She could think of no one else, other than Nikky, she'd like by her side.
"What game are you playing, Kaerta?" Igroek demanded.
Tatyana dropped Nikky's grandfather's hand. She'd had enough from the gnome. "Look. I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, I really am, death is hard to deal with, but this is a happy day." She returned to Nikky's side, needing his reassurance. "Our wedding day. We'd appreciate your well wishes."
"You're a fraud."
What the hell? Tatyana stiffened.
Before she could respond, Nikky stepped between them. "She's a fraud. Yes, we hear you.
So tell your friends in New York City there's no need to send any more men."
Any more men? To do what? Damn it. "You killed my parents?" This crazy old man was responsible? She'd kill him. "You damn..."
Nikky held her back. "A happy day, Brat," he reminded her.
Later. She'd kill him later. She narrowed her eyes at the man. "I ought to..." Take her gun and...
"Tatyana."
"A happy day." She forced herself to calm down. "Our wedding day."
"Wait!" Igroek's voice rang with authority. "What's this about killing?"
"Someone has been trying to kill her since birth," Nikky shared.
"He doesn't need to know our business." Not until she was ready to put a bullet in him.
Then she'd tell him what she thought of him killing her parents and Ivan and... No, it was a happy day, her wedding day. Revenge could wait. She had other things to do. "We have a half-hour and I want to fix my hair."
That snagged Nikky's full attention. "A half-hour isn't enough time to do that, Brat." He curled a lock around his finger and pulled.
"You're a funny man, ass." She smiled in appreciation. She enjoyed his dry sense of humor.
"Why I'm marryingȄ"
"No one is getting married," Another declaration from this so-called guest. "I want a DNA test done first."
"I don't know who you think you are," Tatyana turned on this Igroek person, irritated and hostile. "But this doesn't concern you, so please shut the hell up."
"Language, Brat." Nik said more from habit than dismay. He smoothed back her frizzy hair.
He admired her passion. Tonight, he would coax a more pleasing passion from his wife.
"Nikky."
"There is no reason to wait," he reassured her. No longer a reason. Igroek had rejected Tatyana, eliminating any complications. The old man was an idiot. It was clear to everyone in the room the two were family. They were alike, right down to that hair trigger temper.
Nik was not an idiot. As long as Igroek denied his connection with Tatyana, he could have no say about whom she married. Nik would take advantage of this temporary reprieve to secure her. "We marry tonight." She'd be his wife. He'd deal with the consequences tomorrow.
"Not tonight, Nikolay," Grandfather advised. "You'll have a proper wedding."
"I don't need a proper wedding, Grandfather," Tatyana piped up, never shy about offering her opinion. "As they say 'Love and bread are best when they are fresh.'"
"Eggs, the proverb is love and eggs," Igroek amended. The way he stared at Tatyana, doubt etched on his face, made Nik nervous. "My daughter always got that wrong."
Tatyana frowned. "No, she had it right. My mom said bread, too."
"If you flatter the mother, you will hug the daughter," Igroek said quietly.
That wasn't a random comment. Igroek was fishing. Nik squeezed her hand, warning her to stay quiet. It was a trap.
Tatyana didn't heed the warning. "Kiss the daughter." She never followed instructions. The brat.
She turned to Nik, puckering, tilting her chin up. He sighed and obliged her with a kiss. He couldn't stay upset with her. She didn't know the game they pla
yed.
"I get my own kisses." She smiled, appearing quite pleased with herself. "I need to fix my hair before we go down to the chapel, Nikky. Time's ticking."
"Nikolay." Grandfather shook his head.
Grandfather wanted them to wait. Nik glanced at Igroek. The old man's eyes were glassy as he watched Tatyana as though she might disappear. Nik didn't want to wait. If he waited, he could lose her.
But what was best for Tatyana? She frowned, her hands running over the hideous white lace concoction, trying to smooth out the flounces. She planned to fix her hair. She asked Grandfather to stand up with her. She wanted to be a proper bride.
Nik inhaled until his lungs were full, counted to ten, then released his breath. He'd do it.
He'd give her a day to get ready, risking it all to make her happy. "Grandfather is right, Brat.
We should have a proper wedding."
Eleven
"A man who betrays family will betray anyone."ȄSergei Kaerta
"What are you thinking about for flowers?" Nikky's mom quietly asked.
She wasn't thinking about flowers at all. She was thinking about Nikky and the wedding night. Tatyana's face heated. "I was hoping you'd help me with that. Since my own momȄ"
"Your mother knew a lot about flowers?" Mrs. Kaerta's eyes glowed.
"Well, no." She had to be honest. "My dad used to say she could kill plastic plants." It was just as well. They moved too often to keep a garden.
Igroek snorted. Tatyana did not appreciate his listening in, and narrowed her eyes at him.
He narrowed his right back and her hands balled into fists. She was trying to be civil to the old geezer. The only way to do that was to ignore him, but he made it difficult.
She leaned closer to Nikky. "Your grandfather's friend is staring at me." He had watched her all through dinner as though waiting for her to mess up. "It's freaking me out."
"Does he look familiar?" her fiance murmured back.
Not Nikky, too. Did everyone think they were related? They weren't. Tatyana didn't believe in those types of coincidences. She tilted her head, studying the man. "He does look a little like Yoda, doesn't he?" Pointed ears, bald, wrinkled head. "A fraud, you are." She did her best impression. "Crazy, I am."