Chapter 13 – Emika
Was he avoiding me because he’d found out that I was a virgin?
Last night, he seemed rather intrigued by the revelation—at least the grin on his face said so. He looked at me with a hint of amusement and something a bit darker. Hunger.
I was certain that whatever sexual emotions he had for me before had now heightened. Deep down, I felt some sort of relief. And because of that, I stayed up all night, creating fake scenarios of us together in my head.
Only for me to wake up this morning and find him detached. He seemed cold toward me when I first ran into him in the hallway. Usually, he’d tease me or simply flash that smarmy grin of his.
Not this time.
Adrik’s expression was blank when we locked eyes, and that single gesture weakened my knees. I felt like I’d been stabbed in the heart.
It fuckin’ hurt that he saw me and didn’t acknowledge my presence. He just turned around and walked away, pretending like we didn’t lock eyes seconds earlier.
I couldn’t understand what had happened or why he ignored me the way he did. However, I told myself that I wasn’t going to think much of it. It wasn’t until I reached his office and realized he wasn’t there that I began suspecting something was up.
When I asked one of the guards where he was, I was told that he was working in his study upstairs. According to them, he said he wanted to be alone. That was when it dawned on me that he might’ve been avoiding me.
But why?
What did I do?
While I sat on the couch in his office, I wondered what had caused him to change his attitude overnight. I thought of the possibility that he might be dealing with something and just needed some time to set things straight.
It didn’t make any sense to me that I was the reason for his sudden withdrawal. He couldn’t have been acting strange simply because he found out that I was a virgin.
Right?
Or was he mad at me for spilling the beans to his mistress? He hadn’t been yesterday, so why would he be today?
Nothing made sense to me. At all.
I was so distracted that I couldn’t even focus on the files stacked in front of me.
Just when I thought Adrik couldn’t hurt me any further today, his lieutenant came with the news. He told me that Adrik needed me to handle a deal that he was supposed to attend himself, but couldn’t.
According to him, Adrik had put me in charge and ordered him to follow my lead. When I asked, “Why me?” Sergei simply replied that it was because his boss thought I was qualified for the job.
Me? A twenty-three-year-old female with no experience in gang-related matters?
I didn’t know how to feel about this: honored or afraid. The best person to replace him in cases like this was the man who’d stood by him all these years.
Sergei knew the game better than anyone else, making him the perfect candidate for the job.
However, since Adrik put me in charge, I had no choice but to comply. Besides, he wasn’t just my husband; he was also my boss.
The convoy was heavily guarded with armored vehicles in front and behind our black SUV. Sergei was seated beside me in the back of the car, his watchful eyes scanning the streets outside.
Every now and then, he’d check on the others through his walkie-talkie thingy, ensuring that everyone was in line.
I sat with my spine straight and my head upright. A pair of dark shades concealed the anxiety in my eyes as the vehicle drove on. On the outside, it seemed like I was in control of the situation: composed, calm, and collected.
However, in reality, it was chaotic within me. My thoughts were going haywire, and my emotions were all over the place. I’d never done this before—whatever this was. I had no idea where we were going or what was expected of me.
I was expecting Sergei to fill me in on the details, but he hadn’t said a word. I was confused. Was he expecting me to ask first before he told me what the hell this deal was all about?
What if it was something I couldn’t handle? Why did Adrik even think to put me in charge when he knew he wasn’t going to be there to supervise me?
I clenched my jaw and curled my fingers into fists in an attempt to hide my nervousness. My heart was pounding like a drum, almost threatening to explode out of my chest.
This silence was killing me. And that’s because all the emotions bottled up inside me needed some sort of expression. If I didn’t at least start a conversation to distract myself, I just might end up peeing my pants.
I drew a breath, making sure my voice was as steady as possible. “So tell me, Sergei,” I began without looking at him. “How long have you been working with my husband?”
He hesitated before responding with his deep voice, “A little over two decades.”
“Two decades? That’s a really long time.” I glanced at him. “It means you’re experienced on the job, correct?”
He gave a quiet nod.
“So in all your years working as my husband’s right-hand man, you’ve never had to debrief a newbie on a mission. Is that it?” I looked right into his eyes.
It only took him a second to understand that I was telling him to work me through the plan.
“My apologies, Madam, I didn’t think that….” His voice trailed off mid-sentence.
I watched his expression darken and his eyes narrow like he could sense something I couldn’t. Sergei’s gaze roamed the streets outside, as if searching for something in particular.
The alert on his face made my blood run cold. “What is it?” I asked him, stealing nervous glances all around me.
“Get down,” he said, his voice calm but urgent.
“What?”
“Get down, now!” he yelled, reaching to grab me by the hand.
The second my face hit the cushion, rapid gunfire filled the air. My heart sank into my stomach, and my hands reflexively covered my ears. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that we’d been ambushed.
“Stay down!” Sergei barked, his voice dripping with urgency. “No matter what, do not get out of the car!”
I lay on the seat, shaking like a fuckin’ leaf. My lips were trembling. My hands were shuddering. And even with my ears covered, the gunshots were still loud.
The fight went on for minutes.
Adrik’s men fought back with all they had, protecting me at all costs. Sergei and a few others stood their ground around my vehicle, shooting relentlessly.
However, they were soon outnumbered. And one by one, the men positioned outside my car were gunned down.
I thought it was the end; I thought this was how I was going to die. When I managed to raise my head, the first thing I saw was Sergei getting shot in the arm.
Like that wasn’t bad enough, they shot him again. In the leg this time. He dropped to the ground, groaning. One of the men beside him took a bullet to the head, his blood splashing over the glass in front of me.
My eyes widened in horror, and I covered my mouth, then lowered my head again. I was terrified that I thought I was going to die of fear.
The gunshots stopped, and in my mind, all of Adrik’s men were dead. Sweat dampened my skin as I hid in the backseat of the car, hoping for some sort of miracle.
I could hear the raucous voices of the enemies outside, their heavy footsteps approaching. They were speaking in accented English.
Italian.
They were Italian.
Intermittently, single shots rang out, as though they were shooting to finish off the injured Russians.
This happened on a lonely street, and the chances of help arriving before those monsters found me were very slim. As their footsteps approached—heavy, slow, and menacing—I thought I might as well just start saying final prayers.
They were going to find me. And since my husband had killed the first assassin, my head would definitely be delivered to him in a box.
Before that thought would even settle, one of them yanked the back door open. I raised my hands in the air, my breath hitched in my throat.
“Found her!” he bellowed, his rifle aimed at me.
I closed my eyes, waiting for the cold hands of death to snatch me. Then I heard it—the gunshot.
Bang!
My body flinched when blood splashed over my face—warm and sticky. I froze, unsure of what had just happened.
Was I dead?
I managed to open my eyes, and that’s when I saw my attacker lying dead outside the car. There was a bullet hole in his head, and blood was pooling beneath him.
That was when it hit me: He hadn’t fired that shot. Someone else had. And that someone had just saved my life.
Directly across from me, a familiar figure emerged from a spinning vehicle, firing precise shots that gunned down the enemies. Time seemed to slow down as this man marched forward with two pistols in his hands.
It was him. It was Adrik Tarasov. And he wasn’t alone. He’d brought backup. Guns blazing, they dominated the street, moving like commandos in a Hollywood action movie.
Adrik led the way, emptying his magazines on the enemies. He signaled some of his men to check for survivors while the others chased after the fleeing Italians.
He spotted me in the vehicle and dashed forward amid the chaos.
Tears of joy and relief streamed down my cheeks because I knew I’d just escaped death. He rushed into the backseat and took my hand. I could see his mouth moving, but couldn’t hear a thing he was saying.
It wasn’t until after he tapped my face a few times that I got a grip of myself.
“Emi!” he called, his voice laced with concern.
I blinked back to reality.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asked.
Too anxious to speak, I nodded in response to his first question, my lips quivering.
He exhaled sharply and wiped the blood on my face, then embraced me tightly. “I’m here now. I’m here.”
I wrapped my arms around him and let my tears flow like a river.
***
Back at the mansion, he carried me in his arms through the hallways, barking orders to his men to double security. The smell of sweat and gunpowder clung to his suit as he headed to my bedroom.