21. Maxim
21
MAXIM
G etting ready to leave Cozumel didn’t take us long. That was why I didn’t feel guilty to fuck her before breakfast. The food and coffee did get cold, but Nadia wasn’t the kind of person to complain. A complaint was the last thing on her mind with that self-satisfied smile on her sexy face.
She’d come so hard, I swore she’d pass out. I wasn’t in much better condition, my breaths ragged as we came down from the high.
It was fitting, though. Telling her that I chose her over fulfilling this job called for a celebration. And we’d accomplished that.
“Is that everything?” she asked me as I packed my things into my bag. I hadn’t brought much with me, and she’d had all her things stolen.
“Yes.” I took her hand as we exited the room. I didn’t reach out for her like I used to. I didn’t have to worry about her running. Unless it was to me. Like the way she’d jumped into my lap earlier.
I threaded my fingers with hers because I enjoyed her touch. It was a physical reminder that she was with me. And it would stay like that between us for good now.
“We’ll order you things once we’re in the air,” I told her. Instead of dealing with a commercial flight, I arranged for one of the Bratva’s private planes to accommodate us.
“Well, I’m sure I could ask Zoe to forward them somewhere…”
See? No worries about her complaining about cold food. Nadia was easy to please and down to earth. Frugal, too, which meant I’d have a lot of fun spoiling her.
“Or,” I argued lightly as I led her into my rental while I kept an eye out for another spying on us, “we can order you new things once we’re in the air.”
She smirked at me after I closed her door and got in the driver’s seat. “If you insist.” She rolled her eyes, and I laughed.
“I’m never going to tire of spanking my bad girl.”
She smiled as I lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. “I’m not bad to not want to make you spend money on me.”
“That sass.” I mocked rolling my eyes, and she laughed.
“And if I want to spend money on you, I will.” I drove us to the airport, glad that she didn’t argue with me on that point any further. She was quiet on the way to catch our flight, and even more so once we were seated and waiting to take off.
“Maxim?”
I rolled my head on the headrest and looked at her. “Hmm?”
“Where are we going?”
“Where do you want to go?”
She gawked at me. “We’re already on the plane!”
I shrugged. “It’s our plane.”
Narrowing her eyes, she seemed to fight a smile. “Are you telling me that if I picked a random location, right now, you’d tell the pilot to change the plans?”
I stole a quick kiss, just because I could. And because it was too much fun.
“No.”
She rolled her eyes again.
“Not right now. Any other time, sure.”
“Then… where are we going?”
“To a building the Bratva owns.”
She pulled her lips in. “Okay. You know, you can just say that you can’t tell me some things instead of making me guess and all.”
“Chicago,” I replied. “I wanted to go somewhere the Bratva owned property, but not too close to New York.” I gave her a look. “Or Jersey.”
She nodded. “I’ve never been.”
I kissed her again. “We’re not going to sightsee, sweetheart.”
“I know.” She shrugged. “We’re just going to hide. Same old, same old. Story of my life.”
“Not anymore. Once Lev is handled, there will be no more hiding. Not for you.” I studied her as I got my phone out to start buying her a new wardrobe. “Is that really how you’ve lived your whole life? Hiding and afraid?”
“After I hit puberty, yeah. Because I knew some man was out there to ‘claim’ me.”
I shook my head. “Well, too bad. I beat him to it.”
She cozied up against my side, browsing at the options on my phone. I bought more than what she wanted. She opted for the simplest things to be frugal. I hadn’t considered how much we were opposites sticking together, and I was curious about her past.
I had a lot to learn about her, and I couldn’t wait to do so.
Starting now.
“Why did Lev and your father enter that agreement about you?”
She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. Our hands remained united, lying on my thigh. “My father wanted to marry my mother, and she was already promised to Lev.”
“Did your father know? When he pursued her?”
“He claimed he didn’t, but I think she had to have told him something. She didn’t want to marry Lev. She was all wrapped up in falling in love with my dad. He’s the sort of person to really sell himself when there’s nothing to love.”
I laughed once. “Yeah.”
“You met him?” She glanced up at me.
“I paid him a visit when I started looking for you. He told me where your former apartment was.”
She nodded. “Well, anyway, you met him, so you know what I mean. He seduced her and promised her some grand future. Over the years, I realized that he’d just wanted to get her to work for him. His big plans were to open a strip club, and he was convinced she’d pull in a lot of money for him.”
“What happened?” I knew damn well that Gregory Petrov managed a convenience store, not a strip club.
“He never got the money to start up any such business. His father gave him the convenience store, and that’s where he’s ‘worked’ his whole life.”
“What happened to your mother?”
“Over time, she fell out of love with him. He kept telling her not to get too fat because she’d be his star stripper. He controlled what she wore, who she talked to. And when it looked like he’d never be able to open up any strip club, he stopped caring about her. She danced at other places, just to bring more money home, but I think she only did it to be out of the house and away from him.”
“What a life,” I muttered.
“Yeah. She got weak and was eventually diagnosed with cancer. It was an aggressive form, and she didn’t live for long.”
“How old were you when she passed?”
“Seven.”
Something nagged me about this. “Did she know that you were promised to Lev?”
Her sigh broke my heart. “She did. My dad was never afraid to remind me that I had to be a good girl for my future husband.”
That was sick.
She kissed my cheek. “Maybe that’s why I like it when you call me a bad girl.”
“I’ll call you whatever you want.”
She kissed me longer, on the lips. “ Sweetheart is nice.”
“When you behave,” I joked.
“My mom was aware that I was in an arranged marriage before she gave birth to me. I liked to think that she planned to hide me and get me out of it, but she also said things that made me think she was depressed. That because she screwed up the arrangement of her marrying Lev, her daughter had to be the price to pay. I don’t know. I didn’t have great parents. That’s an easier way to sum it up.”
What she shared strengthened my view that she was just a victim in all of this, and it convinced me even more that I was right to step in and save her from ending up with Lev.
None of this was ever her fault. She hadn’t asked for this life, and I felt like a king to be able to get her out of the fate Gregory Petrov swore she’d one day face.
It still bothered me, just a bit, that I’d failed my first job for Alek. That was nothing but my pride speaking, and I wasn’t an idiot to let it rule me for good. I would make it up to Alek somehow. I would show him how right it was for me and Nadia to stay together. We just clicked. And as soon as we set it up so Lev wouldn’t be an issue anymore, I would devote myself to finding Dmitri. That would be my next job, and I would not fail at it.
Knowing Nadia would be waiting for me at home, I wouldn’t suffer the distraction of worrying about her or wanting her constantly. We’d adjust to this relationship, I was sure of it. No matter what, I vowed to stand by my choices. I chose her, and I wouldn’t ever backtrack on that decision.
She dozed after a while, and I took the peace and quiet to really think ahead. I wouldn’t make any plans for her. She’d dealt with a lifetime of others controlling her. Everything we did would be a joint decision, but we couldn’t wait too long to start planning our lives together.
Watching her sleep, I slipped into a daydreaming mode. It was all too easy to envision what my life would be like with her.
I lived at the Bratva’s headquarters, the mansion where my brothers lived. Already, they were branching out. Alek and Mila found a home but they still spent most of their time at the mansion. Nik and Amy just bought a place, too, but it needed significant renovations so they’d likely be at home yet. And Becca and Ivan, they were still house-hunting.
My brothers were settling with their wives and starting the next generation of the Bratva family. Soon, I wondered if I would be doing the same with Nadia. If she wanted to wait to have kids, that was fine with me. We’d be surrounded by infants and toddlers for a while.
Yet, the mere thought of this loving woman pregnant with my child filled me with excitement. I could see it now, her belly swollen with our baby. Her tits even bigger. If what my brothers joked about of their wives was true, claiming their hormones turned them into sex-obsessed women, then I would really look forward to Nadia being constantly aroused and needy for me. It would be a perk I wouldn’t slack off in enjoying.
We would discuss it. I was open to compromise. We’d need to marry, too, clearly, but that step would need to be handled with care. I didn’t want to risk a repeat of what Alek did with Mila, just eloping with Nadia to steal her from Lev. It sounded like that was what Nadia’s parents had done too. It was what started the whole issue with the old Avilov.
As soon as we could, we’d make it official. I wasn’t particular about the wedding itself.
I held back a laugh. Just as long as it’s not like Alek and Mila’s wedding. I was shot and wounded that day, when I’d brought the priest to officiate the wedding.
Nadia seemed more antisocial than outgoing, and I speculated that she’d probably prefer something small and intimate. Which would be perfect. Whatever she wanted. The only thing I really cared about was making her my bride.
The concept was still so surreal.
Days ago, I’d never known she existed.
Now, she was my life. My calling.
And I vowed to never fail in keeping her safe and happy.
She deserved happiness and peace now, and I was just the person to make it happen.
First, hiding in Chicago and lying low.
But soon, hopefully, we’d fly home where we could start the rest of our lives together.