22. Nadia
22
NADIA
I slept most for most of the flight. Even though I had a full night of rest, I was still exhausted. The amount of panicking and running and hiding I’d done for years would take more time to fade.
With Maxim, I felt safe, but the residue of anxiety lingered.
I blinked then rubbed my eyes as we landed. Looking out the windows didn’t tell me much. Maxim told me we were going to Chicago, but I wasn’t able to tell from the view out the plane.
At the airport, it looked like anywhere else in the world, a takeoff plot of pavement that could be found at any airstrip in the world.
He was on the phone, speaking with someone named Yusef, but it might have been a speaker call on the other end because he referenced a Brandon, too. I didn’t interrupt, silently following him off the plane and holding his hand. Sluggish from the nap I hadn’t intended to take, I was drowsy and unhurried.
With him, I bet I wouldn’t have to stress about rushing away ever again.
He didn’t shy away from letting me listen to his call, and he didn’t seem bothered about speaking freely with these two men who I presumed were soldiers or workers within his Bratva.
Maxim told me that he had always been a man working “behind the scenes”, but I couldn’t tell. From the way he spoke to these guys, with firm authority and patience to listen as well, he gave the impression that he was a man with power, with importance.
Of course, he’s important in the Bratva. I tried my best to never pay attention to the Mafia world, but it was impossible not to know what was happening and who was who. My dad talked about the shakeup that the criminal world witnessed after Alek Valkov killed his uncle, Pavel, and took over the Bratva. I was limited in my knowledge because I wanted to remain as ignorant as possible. I wanted to live my life, independent of my heritage, but I still knew enough to respect that the sexy man holding my hand was one of Alek’s brothers. One of the Mafia’s feared killers.
But he’s not just a killer.
Unbidden flashbacks came to me of how he’d shot that thug in the jungle. Then how he’d twisted the other man’s neck to kill him. I wasn’t sheltered. I wasn’t na?ve. Seeing him so capable of inflicting violence—and being so skilled to do so—was frightening. I didn’t scare easily, but those memories would be burned into my mind for a long time.
I should’ve been scared. I should’ve been running away from Maxim. He was just another man in a criminal organization. In title and purpose, he was no different from Lev Avilov.
But he was. Maxim was nothing like that person I’d spent several years hiding from.
Maxim was charming. Generous. Protective. And he made my safety and satisfaction his priority even when other circumstances should’ve had him focusing on his duty and doing as his Pakhan ordered.
Once he was off the phone, I cleared my throat and got his attention. We’d entered yet another sleek, dark car with tinted windows. Even though I was full of questions and worries about my future, it didn’t escape my notice how damn rich and well-off the Valkovs were. This level of wealth and convenience was a luxury I’d need to adjust to.
He glanced at me as he buckled in. “What? Sorry I was on the phone so long.”
I smiled. See? He made my comfort and happiness such a high goal. “No worries. It’s fine. I know you’ve got a lot to handle.”
He shrugged. “Not usually, though. I’m not a micromanager. The men I trust to handle the IT things are skilled. But there are a lot of things going on right now.”
“Never feel like you have to excuse yourself,” I reassured him. “I won’t be a clingy girlfriend needing to hog you nonstop.”
“Girlfriend?” He grinned with that teasing question.
“Well, what should I call myself?” Nerves kicked in. Did he not see me as his girlfriend? Was I a mistress? Just a lover?
“ Girlfriend is fine for now.”
Now it was my turn to smile. For now? That sounded like he wanted to call me something more than just a girlfriend, and I wasn’t opposed to belonging to him in a different way.
A more permanent way.
I’d avoided the idea of a forced marriage with Lev forever. But with Maxim, oh, I’d be running into his arms if he proposed.
“The point is, don’t worry about me.”
He kissed my knuckles. “Too late.”
I smiled wider. “I’ll entertain myself.”
“With naps?”
I stretched as a yawn tugged at my lips. “I don’t think I’ve slept well for years. A tiny part of me was always on and anxious, even when I slept, that Lev would get me.”
“Not happening,” he vowed.
And that was what nagged me. “Alek is really okay with all this? Your stopping Lev from marrying me?”
He nodded. “It’s like I said before. He’s suspicious of the Avilovs.”
“You didn’t say much before.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t plan to keep things from you, but Alek asked for me to have faith in him. And I will. Investigations and covert operations take time and care.”
“I appreciate all the effort in getting me free.”
“But it’s not just that. Not anymore. I told Alek that I didn’t want you to marry Lev, and he would stand by me because he’s my brother. Because he’s suspicious of them, it’s a layered problem to attack.”
“How soon would he be able to…?” I furrowed my brow, not sure what I was asking. “Um, know how to handle the Avilovs?”
“He’ll let me know. He texted me after I spoke with him. He suggested coming here, actually, since it’s a property that we can trust is safe. Then it’s a waiting game of him updating me.”
“And all that time, your other brother is still missing.” I frowned at him, hating that he’d suffer.
“Dmitri will make it out. I’m sure of it,” he replied confidently.
Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the underground garage to a tall, commercial building that looked like it’d cost a fortune to build. Once more, as I saw more of Maxim’s world, I was slapped in the face by how much money they had.
All my life, my dad struggled with finances. He mishandled them and never knew how to hold on to any wealth. Mr. Avilov had always seemed like the big, bad rich guy at large, lurking out there on yachts and jet-setting around the world.
My norm was the frugal life. I doubted Maxim would flaunt his wealth, and I was spared the weird lifestyle of being a kept woman of an oligarch. With Maxim, though…
How do I fit in?
Maxim was again stuck on a call as he guided me up into the building. I scanned the space, my eyes wide. I was stunned by the building, and I wondered when and if I’d acclimate.
Will I even have the chance to, though?
I didn’t doubt that Maxim and his Bratva would fight to keep me from Lev Avilov, but I held on to a stubborn fear that they could fail.
It seemed too good to be true that I’d have a way out of my arranged marriage.
And if I did, I wasn’t yet sure if I would be able to stay with Maxim for good. I’d never met Alek to know if I could trust him. What if after Lev Avilov was “taken care of”, he decided his brother should be with someone else? All these politics counted in ways they never should.
While Maxim spoke on the phone, I walked around the spacious penthouse.
Out the window, I took in the sights of skyscrapers and the other structures of the city.
From Jersey, to London, then Cozumel and Chicago.
Next would be New York. With Maxim.
I hugged myself, looking out at the city below.
Behind me, Maxim spoke about hiding the evidence of something, and I knew it had to be something grisly and dark, whatever his men needed advice on. Still, I wasn’t frightened. I’d never felt safer than when I was with Maxim.
Yet, I didn’t want to rely on him too much. I told him that I wouldn’t cling. That I could entertain myself. In this limbo of waiting for my fiancé to be dealt with, I didn’t know what to do. It was all happening so fast. My life was being shaken up so rapidly.
I guess it won’t matter if I don’t graduate now.
The thought depressed me. I would’ve been finishing up the last of exams by now with Zoe. Even though I didn’t know what my life would be like as Maxim’s girlfriend, I highly doubted that he’d want me to continue with school.
My studies would be a frivolous interest, nothing the lethal and all-important men in the Bratva would concern themselves with.
Will it really matter, though?
I focused on getting good grades in high school so I could get a scholarship. And I’d wanted that scholarship so I could move far from my dad’s house. It was all a means to get away from Lev Avilov.
Now that I would be free, I wondered if it even mattered. I considered the possibility that I might not have ever wanted my degree. I wanted independence, but I never truly enjoyed the university life.
All those years I’d been studying and refusing to reply to my dad’s messages, I’d been trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. The concept of my future was colored with the fear of being married to someone I didn’t want.
Now that I’d met Maxim and I had the blooming hope that I’d be rid of Mr. Avilov, I started to think that he was what I’d been waiting for without knowing it. That I was in a suspension of anticipation until I crossed paths with him.
“I’m going to speak with the drivers.” Maxim strode toward me, shoving his phone in his pocket.
I’d found the master bedroom, and as he entered the room, I fell back onto the king-size bed and sighed.
“I want to personally speak with the newest supervisor in the garage about the security concerns here.” He leaned down on one knee to kiss me. Pressed into the mattress, I smiled against his kiss.
“Security concern?” I asked as he stood.
“Yes.” He raked his gaze over me. “ You. You are my concern.”
God, this man… I’d be biting my lip to refrain from blurting out that I loved him if he kept this protectiveness up.
“You stay put.” He again looked me over like he was tempted to reconsider walking out of this room.
“Like this?” I leaned up on my elbows as I slid one foot flat to the bed. Raising my knee caused the dress to slide down my thigh, and with this position, I prompted him to focus right where I wanted him.
He growled, frowning. “Yes. Stay put. Just like that.”
“Not like this?” I teased, shifting my shoulder so the strap of my shirt fell down.
“No,” he ordered. “I want the pleasure of stripping you bare.”
I shivered under his smoldering gaze.
Nodding slowly, I grinned at the promise of what would come.
He turned and left, and as I fell back to the soft plushness of the bed, I sighed and wondered how I’d ever gotten this lucky. This fortunate.
Closing my eyes, I thought ahead to the pain and pleasure that would await me. I hoped he was in the mood to use his hands on me. His spanks. The hard, brutal thrusts. That man knew just how to overwhelm me, and I couldn’t wait.
The sound of a door opening reached me.
That quick? I didn’t know how he could’ve gone all the way downstairs and back up in that short amount of time. I opened my eyes and sat up to look through the open doorway at the entrance to the suite.
“No.” I whispered it to myself at the sight of the person entering and closing the door behind them.
It was him again.
The man from London. Disguised in a worker’s uniform, he snuck further into the suite and looked back and forth.
Erik Avilov was here, breaking in.
As soon as his dark gaze landed on me, he ran.
“Fuck!” I stood and darted toward the bathroom to hide. He was already barreling toward me, and there was nowhere else to hide.
Just when I was thinking I could hope to lower my guard…
He growled as he lunged for me, catching me around my waist.
“Get off! Let go of me!”
Picking me up, he turned to drag me out. With the force that I kicked and bucked, fighting to get loose, he tripped and fell onto the bed.
On my back, I used the flat surface to leverage more attacks. I hit and kicked, punched and twisted. It didn’t matter what I did, I couldn’t buck him off.
“Let me go!” I screamed it at him, hoping one of Maxim’s men would hear. Someone had to be near. A guard. Anyone.
Erik lifted his hand and struck me hard. The metallic tang of blood hit my tongue, and as I drew in a breath to scream again, he shoved a gag over my mouth.