Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
KOSTYA
T he sound of laughter woke me.
Of course it was stupid to think Var would be discreet about my call for help.
The first time I woke up, it had been to the sound of Marina slamming her bedroom door.
I’d called out for her to get her ass back in the room and untie me, but of course, she didn’t.
No amount of threats brought her back.
A few seconds later, the front door slammed.
She was gone.
And I was still tied the fuck up.
I had to admit, I was impressed.
She had managed to knock me out cold long enough to completely incapacitate me.
I wasn’t sure how until I saw the lamp on the floor, my blood still drying on the ceramic.
She was going to pay for that.
The second I got my hands on her, I was going to take my leather belt to that perfectly round ass .
I had no way of knowing how long I’d been out.
It was dark outside, but it had been dark for a while.
I didn’t even know how long I had struggled to free myself.
That minx had used an extension cord, tying me with my own damn slipknots. The ones designed to tighten with every pull.
If she had done this to anyone else, I would have been so fucking proud.
That thought just pissed me off even more.
I twisted, fought, tested every angle. Nothing.
It wasn’t until I rolled off the bed onto the hardwood floor, slamming my head into the nightstand and landing on my shoulder with enough force that it was nearly dislocated, that I finally accepted it.
There was no way I was getting out of this by myself.
Fuck.
I was going to have to call for help.
It wasn’t easy, but I knocked my phone out of my suit coat pocket. What followed was no doubt an undignified symphony of squirming and grunting as I managed to get the phone in front of my face and unlock it with Face ID.
Thank fuck for Siri.
Once the phone was open, all it took was a few voice commands to call Var.
I let him know where I was and told him to get his ass over here and cut me loose.
It took him several minutes to stop laughing.
Then several more to find Anton and Mac, putting me on speaker so all three of them could enjoy my predicament .
Friends or not, I was going to kill them all.
After they cut me loose.
Once Var finally hung up, exhaustion hit me like a freight train.
And despite my fury, despite the vengeance I was already planning, I let my eyes close and gave in to it.
I drifted in and out of an uncomfortable sleep, one filled with her.
Marina.
I saw her in my bed, naked and panting beneath me as I claimed her.
Then, she was running.
Running from me.
I chased her, calling her name, pushing harder and harder, but no matter how fast I moved, she kept slipping further and further away.
Then she stopped.
The wind whipped her long blonde hair around her face as she turned, opened her mouth?—
And then Solovyov appeared behind her.
Gun raised.
One shot.
A sick, crimson heart formed over her chest.
No…not a heart…a bloodstain.
She fell.
Her lifeless body hit the ground, blood soaking the earth beneath her, then Solovyov turned to me with that fucking grin. His teeth bloody as he sneered, "You never deserved either of them. Anything you want, I'll take. Just because I can."
My eyes snapped open .
My pulse pounded against my skull, my breath ragged.
Laughter.
Behind me.
Mocking.
Fucking fantastic.
Var’s boot nudged me in the ribs before he crouched in front of me, grinning. “We have got to stop meeting like this.”
“Cut me loose.” My jaw clenched as I forced back the lingering terror of my dream.
I was going to need this rage.
“When you called, I thought you were just fucking with me.” Var smirked.
The laughter behind him doubled as Mac entered. “So I guess getting hit on the head by little girls runs in the Ivanov family?”
He’s referring to my cousin Damien’s early encounters with his now wife, Yelena. Cute.
I curled my fingers into fists, my muscles screaming from how long I’d been bound. The second I was free, I was punching someone in the face. “Fuck you, get me out of here.”
“So… how many were there?” asked Anton.
Was this night ever going to end?
“Just cut me free,” I ground out, ignoring the way my face burned from the humiliation.
Marina was going to pay for this.
She was going to fucking scream for this as I spanked her ass red. Then fucked her pussy raw.
Even if, deep down, buried beneath the frustration and bruised ego, a small, infuriating part of me felt proud. My girl was smart. She was tough. And in a pinch, she could handle herself.
Too bad she’d never get the chance to use those skills again.
She was mine now. Under my protection. And I would never underestimate her again.
“Seriously,” continued Anton, his voice full of amusement. “I’m guessing ten? Maybe twenty trained fighters? Big guys. With guns. Because surely the infamous Konstantine Nikolai Ivanov wasn’t bested by a slip of a girl?”
I exhaled slowly through my nose, my grip tightening as I imagined every possible way to kill them when this was over.
“Cut me free now, or I will kill each of you slowly and drink the blood from your slit throats.”
Mac sucked in a breath, shaking his head, arms crossed over his chest. “Yeah…I don’t know how scared I am right now. I mean, if a girl could?—”
“Cut. Me. Free. Now. Fuckers.”
The laughter died down.
Var let out a dramatic sigh. “All right, stop struggling. You keep tightening those cords, and we’ll have to cut off a hand to get you loose.”
“I swear to fucking God?—”
The smooth swoosh and click of a butterfly knife opening cut me off.
Cool steel pressed against my skin, and a second later, relief. The knots loosened, blood rushed back into my fingers in a painful, tingling wave, and the fire in my shoulders slowly started to subside .
I stood to my full height, rolling my neck, cracking my spine as I stretched out the knots Marina had left in my back.
I was going to be sore.
My little rabbit had put me in one hell of a bind.
I looked forward to repaying the compliment by tying her to the first available bed the moment I got my hands on her.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder—fantasize, really—about what other hidden talents she had.
“So, really.” Var continued to push. “How did this happen?”
“It happened because I underestimated her.”
The words burned coming out of my mouth, but it was the truth.
She wasn’t the daughter of a bratva boss. She wasn’t an enforcer. But she had picked up a thing or two.
It didn’t help that I let the needs of my cock distract me.
It wouldn’t have worked if it wasn’t for that baton-happy cop earlier.
The sting in the back of my skull throbbed as a reminder of both of their hands in my humiliation.
I moved to the vanity, now missing her perfume and the other odds and ends that made it hers, and inspected the cut on my forehead in the mirror.
It needed stitches.
But I didn’t have time for that.
“I’ll grab a first aid kit,” Mac offered, and I swore he was trying not to laugh.
I ignored him, shuffling through Marina’s drawers until my fingers wrapped around the neck of a cheap fifth of vodka.
It would have to do.
I grabbed a T-shirt she had left lying around, soaked it in the alcohol, and pressed it against my skin.
First to my forehead. Then the base of my skull. The sting was immediate, cutting through the lingering fog of the fall, the bludgeonings, the jet lag.
And the ache she had left in my fucking cock.
She had made a mistake.
She didn’t even realize it.
By hitting me on the back of the head, she had given me something invaluable—a few minutes of sleep. Probably just enough for a single REM cycle, but that was all I needed.
And now?
Now, I was awake.
I was clear.
And I was coming for her.
This wasn’t just about saving her from Solovyov anymore.
This was about keeping her.
After I punished her for her insolence.
My fucking God, I was going to enjoy that punishment.
The belt might be too easy for her. Thoughts of forcing my cock inside her tight ass while I made her scream her apology crossed my mind.
“So did you need help with?—”
“No.” I cut Mac off, my voice sharp as I adjusted my trousers which had become uncomfortable with my growing cock. “I don’t need help. But I do need a gun.”
I held out my hand.
Var and Anton exchanged a look. Then, with a nod, Anton pulled a Glock from the holster hidden beneath his jacket and handed it to me.
I checked the magazine. It was fully loaded.
“Seriously, friend, it’s not a big deal if you want us to go pick her?—”
My head turned sharply. “No one else is going to touch her.”
Their amusement evaporated.
“She is mine.”
I let that sink in before continuing, my voice low, dangerous. “Get the word out. No one lays a single fucking finger on her. No one apprehends her. If they see her, they contact me. Immediately.”
I looked between them, my grip tightening on the gun.
“Anyone who disobeys that order answers to me.”
Silence.
Then, “What are you going to do with her?” Var asked carefully.
A slow, wicked smile spread across my lips.
I tucked the Glock into my waistband. “I’m going to remind her who the fuck she belongs to now.”