Chapter 38
KIR
“I don’t think this is the dolphin one.”
I chuckle softly as I glance at Brooklyn, then back to the gala we’ve just entered, then to her again. She’s far more interesting than…whatever this is for.
Interesting and gorgeous . The dress fits her perfectly and makes her look like a goddamn queen. It’s actually a shame to cover the top half of her beautiful face—especially her eyes—with the Venetian mask, even if it is part of the dress code for the evening.
I check out some of the displays up on the walls meant to encourage donations, and suddenly remember what tonight is in aid of.
“The Free Them Foundation,” Brooklyn reads. “ Not dolphins.”
“Yes. They work to stop child exploitation and trafficking.”
Her mouth twists as she glances up at me. “That’s awful. I mean, awful that organizations like this have to exist, obviously.”
I nod. “There are some real monsters in the world. But these people are doing a lot to stop them.” I lower my voice as I lean close to her ear.
“It’s heavily funded by the Kashenko Bratva.
And while they publicize the more above-board heroics to combat trafficking, there’s another arm of the organization that operates much more… off the radar.”
Viktor Komarov and his wife Fiona run the Free Them Foundation, with a lot of help from his son Lukas, and Lukas' wife, Lizbet.
And yes, while the organization does do a lot to help local law enforcement, pass legislation, and rescue children from horrific situations, the Kashenko Bratva takes care of a lot of the more…
unseen aspects of stopping the monsters who would harm children.
Such as hunting said monsters down like dogs and gutting them.
I make a note to have a very large check cut to the organization tomorrow.
“I wasn’t sure I’d see you here, old friend.”
I smile as I turn and lock eyes with Yuri Volkov, head of the Volkov Bratva, which sits at the Bratva High Council along with the Viktor.
The High Council is an underworld legislative body that works similarly to the Iron Table, at which I sit.
Yuri and I don’t currently do any business together, but we have, and we’ve always kept a good relationship.
“Yuri,” I smile, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. “It’s been a long time.”
“ Too long,” he chuckles, turning to the beautiful woman standing next to him, who doesn’t actually need an introduction given that her face is literally on a billboard in Times Square for Louis Vuitton at the moment.
“I’m sure you remember my wife?—”
“River Finn!” Brooklyn blurts out before her hand flies to her mouth. “Shit, I’m sorry, that was so rude of me.”
But River, Yuri’s wife, who is indeed a famous fashion model, just shakes her head. “Oh, please, not at all!” she laughs, before turning and giving me a quick hug. “Good to see you again, Kir.”
“And you.” I slide my arm around Brooklyn’s waist, eliciting what I am sure are arched brows behind masks from both Yuri and River.
“This is Brooklyn, my?—”
Fuck .
“Girlfriend” sounds odd. But “the woman I’m quickly losing my complete mind over, who I care for more than I’ve ever cared about anyone and would gladly kill for,” feels like a mouthful.
“My…date,” I smile, my fingers spreading over her hip as I tug her close.
“ You ?” Yuri chuckles as he turns to shake Brooklyn’s hand. “You must have drugged him. This man doesn’t date. Or go out and have any fun at all, ever. What’s your secret?”
Brooklyn shrugs. “Nailed it. Drugs.”
Yuri and River erupt in laughter before the latter turns and smiles as she takes Brooklyn’s hand. “Lovely to meet you. And…really, Kir? Your date ? You couldn’t come up with something better than that?”
I sigh.
Fuck it.
I turn and smile at Brooklyn as my hand tightens on her hip.
“My…girlfriend,” I growl, relishing the way her beautiful eyes twinkle under her mask as they lock with mine.
“ Much better,” Yuri chuckles, clapping me on the shoulder. He turns to grin at Brooklyn. “Make sure you keep a firm hand with this one. Otherwise he’ll disappear into his work and you’ll be bored to tears.”
“She’s more than adept at holding my attention,” I murmur, still looking into her eyes.
“So, Brooklyn, what do you do?”
“I’m a ballet dancer,” Brooklyn smiles. “At the Zakharova.”
“ Wow ,” River’s brows shoot up. “That’s incredible! I’ve seen your company perform a couple of times.” She beams at Brooklyn. “You must be an insanely good dancer.”
“She’s incredible,” I murmur. “Absolutely incredible.” I cough delicately as I glance back to them. “But we’re trying to keep a low profile, given, well?—”
“That you’re her boss?” Yuri smirks. “Trying to avoid scandal?”
“Perhaps,” I reply.
Yuri shrugs. “I say embrace it. I mean, I kidnapped this one.” He wraps an arm around his wife, grinning at Brooklyn.
River laughs. “He’s…not joking.”
“Still, your secret is safe with us,” Yuri chuckles. He turns to me. “Come on, I'm sure Viktor would love to know you’re here.”
“He’d love to know my checkbook is here,” I grumble.
Yuri bursts out laughing. “You owe him quite the favor, don’t you?”
I snort. “And then some. I haven’t forgotten, just as I’m sure Viktor hasn’t. But I brought something extra special for him tonight—something I’m sure a man of his particular tastes will appreciate.”
Yuri smiles as he glances back at Brooklyn. “Are you part of this special surprise?”
“Oh,” I chuckle, “ very much so .”
River loops her arm through her husband’s as they walk ahead. I hang back, sliding my arm around Brooklyn’s waist before I lean down to brush my lips over her ear.
“Before I introduce you around,” I growl, “I need you to do something for me.”
She’s got a strange expression on her face as she lifts her eyes to mine. “Oh?”
My cock stirs in my trousers. “Go to the ladies room, take off your panties, and bring them to me.”
Just as I’m preparing to lean down and kiss her mouth or perhaps nuzzle the spot on her neck that I know drives her crazy, her expression changes.
It goes from unreadable to fearful , her face paling and drawing tight.
“ What ?” she chokes.
My brow furrows. “I said, go to the ladies room, take your?—”
“ Please don’t ,” she whispers in a cold, panicked little voice. “Kir, please ?—”
“Hang on.” I stop and turn toward her, scowling as I put my hands on her arms. “What?—”
“ Please don’t make me do that .”
“I—”
When it clicks into place, I’m not sure which emotion I feel most: horror and sadness, or pure fury.
Maybe both.
“ Come with me ,” I rumble, grabbing her hand and marching us through the ballroom.
Brooklyn stumbles after me, her hand cold in my palm as I lead her through a myriad of hallways. Finally, I open a door and peer inside to find a darkened library. I pull her into it and slam the door shut.
Brooklyn cowers, crumpling under my gaze as she looks down at her hands.
“What did you think I meant back there, babygirl?”
She shakes her head miserably. Fuck me, it breaks my heart.
“Do you honestly think I’m the sort of man who would give you to another man, like some sort of fucking I.O.U. repayment?”
When her eyes lock with mine, I know that’s exactly what she thought.
You owe him quite the favor, don’t you?
And then some. But I brought something extra special for him tonight—something I’m sure a man of his particular tastes will appreciate.
Christ. And then I told Yuri that Brooklyn was “very much” a part of the surprise, right before I turned to her and told her to go take her fucking panties off before I introduced her to Viktor?—
“ Babygirl… ”
She flinches when I storm toward her. Then I’m wrapping her in my arms and pushing her back until she bumps into a bookcase behind her.
“Is that what you thought? Truly?”
Her mouth twists as she looks up at me pitifully. “I—I just?—”
There’s my fury again. I start to think about her life, and the lowlifes she’s known—the kind who would offer her up like some sort of fucking goody bag, or who viewed her as a possession to be “loaned out”.
It makes me want to burn the entire world down, as vengeance for what it’s put her through.
“First, I need to make one thing perfectly fucking clear,” I breathe, my hands curling to fists against the bookshelf to either side of her head. “You. Are. Mine . No one else’s. Not now…not ever.”
I reach out, cupping her jaw and looking deep in her eyes.
“Second, Viktor is the same way with his wife ,” I growl. “And third, you have a lot to do with his special surprise because his gift from me is season tickets to the Zakharova for him and Fiona. They’re both huge ballet fans.”
Her mouth makes a small “O” shape, her eyes widening as she looks at me in the darkness of the library.
“And last,” I murmur, pinning her to the books at her back, “I told you to go take your panties off for me. ” My eyes blaze. “I’ve been dreaming about your perfect cunt since I feasted on it this morning.”
She winces, deflating in front of my eyes. “ Fuck , what is wrong with me? Why did I immediately jump to something so…so… vile ?”
“Because the men that the world has thrown at you throughout your life were vile men ,” I hiss. She shivers, gasping as my hand slowly wraps around her throat.
Her lower lip sucks between her teeth. “Y-you’re not a vile man,” she whispers.
“No, I'm not.” I shake my head. “I’m just your man.”
When my lips meet hers, fire ignites in both of us. I growl into her mouth, claiming it with my tongue as I pin her to the bookcase. Brooklyn clutches my tuxedo shirt, clinging to me as she moans into my mouth and kisses me fiercely.
“You’re fucking mine , babygirl,” I growl into her mouth. “Never anyone else’s.” I pull back just enough to lock my eyes with hers, cupping her jaw as I slowly drag my thumb across her full lips. “But perhaps I haven’t been clear enough on that.”
She whimpers as I lean close, pushing my thumb between her lips.
“Allow me to rectify that .”
Brooklyn gasps quietly as my mouth dips to her ear, my teeth nipping at the shell as I breathe into her neck.