Chapter 13 Nightmare
Chapter thirteen
Nightmare
It was Kira’s worst nightmare, something she knew could be possible but never allowed to come into existence, because she believed in the power of manifesting, which could be either negative or positive.
And manifesting her husband in love with someone else was something she refused to do, but that was it, wasn’t it?
It was what she was missing this whole time.
His anger. His attitude. His refusal to touch her. His distance.
He was in love with his brother’s wife.
The rabbit hole was deep, and Kira’s thoughts kept sinking.
Was Maxim sleeping with Trina even after they took marriage vows?
It wasn’t unheard of. Luerna’s husband was blatantly obvious when he slept with other women.
It was a lifestyle Kira never wanted for herself.
She had dodged one bullet years ago when she was engaged with a man who was in love with Luerna.
How could two men in her life pass her over for someone else?
I would pass me over, too.
Nausea rotated in her stomach. Kira journeyed to the buffet to grab a small slice of bread that she took into pieces, one small bite at a time.
When a servant walked over with a tray full of wine, she snatched it.
She was insanely parched now. The sip was heavy, and she could already feel the numbness in her toes.
Kira never drank. It was empty calories she didn’t want to give her body, and she put the glass down lest she get tipsy.
But why not get tipsy? Her whole world was crumbling, and nothing was going in the right direction.
“Good evening.” A young man greeted her in a fancy suit.
Every person here belonged to some kind of wealthy family, and this kid still believed that money mattered as he conveniently adjusted his diamond-studded cuffs to expose the Rolex beneath.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you before. I’m Alex Utkins. ”
The name-drop was predictable, and so was the hand he held out, exposing the family ring.
Kira gave a soft smile and shook it. “Kira.” He was at least nineteen with a fresh haircut and some hair gel.
She took up her wine glass again, specifically in her left hand, so he could see the massive ring on her finger, but it didn’t seem to matter.
“My uncle is Fedor Utkins. You heard of him?”
The Utkins were not fans of the Morozovs, but Kira nodded politely. She didn’t want to chase him away. She needed the distraction because the buffet table was now staring at her, and her stomach was clawing at the lining.
“I loath such parties as these. Full of pretentious wannabes.”
He said pretentiously, Kira mused.
“The topics are always so dull. I don’t care who is in office. None of them do anything worth a damn anyway. The poverty level hasn’t changed. The drug trade has only gotten better. Human trafficking continues to have the highest net worth.”
Kira was surprised he knew anything about it. Vapid teenagers were mostly all she ever came into contact with. No one had a voice. “I thought the Utkins would enjoy the lack of improvement.”
Alex smiled. “I’m not saying I don’t benefit. I’d benefit greatly if the Morozov family fell off the face of the earth, but I’m sure we all feel like that. Some bloodlines really should have limits.”
“Oh, I agree.” Kira pressed a smile. The Utkins should have died off a long time ago.
A hand touched her back, and Kira snapped her head to find Maxim now beside her. She stiffened, struck by the fact that he was touching her while in love with someone else. She pitied him while at the same time she was angry with him. How could he marry her?
Maxim grit his teeth as he eyed the young man taking up his wife’s time.
Seeing Kira talking to him sparked a possessiveness in Maxim that he despised.
He wanted her on leash, lest she get too far out of his reach.
His hand was distractingly low, at the very edge of her ass where her panties would have been if she were wearing any.
He cursed the thought of what it would be like to stick his hand under her dress to feel the bareness of her center.
Instead, Maxim stuck out his hand. “Alex Utkins.”
The boy was confused but shook it off. “Should I know you?”
“Maxim Morozov. I see you met my wife.”
Kira clenched her teeth. Another pretentious asshole. Maxim had no interest in her other than the power of her name.
Alex’s eyes doubled in size. He flicked his attention to Kira, taking in her appearance and her eyes.
Then a malicious smirk pressed on his lips, and all the immaturity drained out of him.
The college kid was replaced with a cold-hearted killer.
“Morozovs don’t have niggas in their family. You must be new.”
Maxim kept his muscles tight as he stared down at the boy. There was no doubt he would get in trouble if he were to punch the little brat, so Maxim instead remained silent, ready to pull Kira away.
Alex focused on Kira. “Slumming it, huh? How much he pay for you? Or he knock you up?”
Maxim faced him, but Kira had his arm. Once more, he talked himself down. He would not fall out of his social status for a mouthy teen.
“If you like black dick, baby, I got–”
Maxim swung hard, the whole front of his fist connecting with Alex’s temple, knocking him out in one hit.
His body was frozen like a statue as it fell and slammed into the floor.
For a moment, the whole world was still.
Kira stood next to him with a hand covering her mouth, and he stared at the teenager on the floor.
Then a wave of people rushed around them.
Servants twist between bodies to get to the victim.
It was a wild scene that embarrassed him, and Maxim cursed himself for it.
He knew this would only damage his position, and he looked for Lazar to see his brother’s gritted teeth even from a distance.
He took Kira’s hand and pushed out of the multiple onlookers, heading toward Lazar.
Kira stared at the back of Maxim’s head. Had he just defended her?
“What the fuck was that?” Lazar growled.
“He insulted my wife.” Maxim flexed his knuckles, shaking his fingers out.
Lazar glanced between the two of them, but Kira kept her head down as Maxim paced. He cursed and nodded. “Alright. Let’s stay ahead of this. Who do we use that’s connected to the Utkins?”
“Who don’t we? Everyone is connected to the fucking Utkins.
” Maxim scratched the top of his head, barely looking over his shoulder.
He screwed them in so many ways. He embarrassed his wife.
He embarrassed himself. All because of that stupid possessiveness that’s only grown with time.
He was weakening against the Morozov bloodline, and it was sickening to realize.
Maxim turned to Kira, if only to chastise her for talking to Alex in the first place, but stalled when he saw a smile on her lips.
“What’s funny?” Maxim asked through gritted teeth.
Kira shrugged and said nothing.
“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Her smile fell. “Are you serious?”
Maxim ignored her and went back to the conversation with Lazar.
Kira scoffed. Their panic was what amused her.
They didn’t know how many fights her brothers had gotten into and gotten away with.
They didn’t know how many times Gil had made out with someone’s wife and was let go.
They didn’t realize how Adrik would talk so much shit that Alexei would have to come to his defense. They never got in trouble.
When Alex woke, the crowd cheered, and it slowly broke apart. So many looks were directed at them, but Lazar and Maxim stood like proud villains waiting for the police to come and arrest them for their work. But minute after minute, no one approached or said anything. It was odd.
Kira sat next to Maxim at their table, and to appease him, she ate a big bite of steak. But he was too busy looking around the room, waiting for judgment to come.
“Why did you do that?” Kira wondered.
Maxim snapped his head toward her. “Why?” he questioned with knit brows.
“You’ve said worse.”
“Have I?”
“Said I was used to being on my knees.”
“You’re paraphrasing.”
“Doesn’t make it less true.”
Maxim leaned in till his lips were at her ear.
“I can say whatever I want to you, Morozov. I can tell you your tits look like fresh plums I want to suck the juices from.” His eyes dipped down to her heaving cleavage, and a flush of red danced across the tops of her breasts.
“I can tell you the fact that you aren’t wearing any panties has given me a hard-on for the last hour and a half.
” He wanted to reach for her hand, to make her feel it.
“And I can tell you, I have your panties in my pocket. Do you know why I can say all this?” He paused, waiting for an answer, but she was breathless, and it only spurred him further.
He gripped the back of her neck, squeezing. “Because you’re mine.”
Kira panted heavily through her nose, feeling the weight of his words like an anvil on her stomach.
She wanted to soak in them, to hear them over and over again.
This was the attention she was craving, and it wasn’t hitting the mark because he didn’t really want her.
He was pretending, because that’s what they did now.
They made shit up constantly, so all their truths and lies were mixed into a giant pile. “Is that how you talk to your whores?”
“Perhaps.”
Kira fingered her fork. “How many do you have?”
He pulled back, and the look on his face made her regret it. “Unlike most women I’ve met, I obey my vows.”
The attack unnerved her. “How can you talk to me about vows when you are in love with your brother’s wife?”
A soft chuckle came out of him before he took a sip of his drink.
Kira waited for a response, but he wouldn’t look at her.
He was too stubborn to admit it, or maybe he lied so much and often that he didn’t know what to do when his secrets were exposed.
She wanted him to feel like how she felt this morning: like a shivering bunny stuck in a corner as a wolf approached.
“Excuse me.” They both turned to face Alex Utkins, who approached with his father right behind him.
He had his head down and an ice pack pressed against the swelling of his eye.
Mr. Utkins was a beefy white man with a thick beard.
“Mr. and Mrs. Morozov.” His voice was deep and heavy.
“I want to apologize for my son’s behavior.
He doesn’t understand the implications of his actions.
But he will. Please.” He bowed his head to Kira.
“Let your father know we will punish him in what way fits the crime.”
Maxim tapped the table as he chewed on those words.
The fact that this wasn’t a big deal annoyed him.
The fact that the Utkins were apologizing to him was another nail in his head.
And then to top it off, they were afraid of Yakov Morozov, who was thousands of miles away on an entirely different continent.
Lazar came over, cautiously watching the exchange.
Mr. Utkins shoved his son, and Alex cleared his throat. “Yeah, sorry.”
Alex’s father dug his nails into his son’s arm. “I wish to offer some services to you in the coming weeks. If you’ll give me a call.” He handed the card to Maxim and Lazar. “Thank you for teaching my son the value of words.”
Maxim stood, slipping his hands in his pockets so he didn’t put his hands on the boy again.
“Next time–” he leaned in to whisper. “What I would do to you would scare even my father-in-law. Do you understand? I’m talking weeks of pain, body parts, begging, pissing yourself, all that.
” He put a hand on Alex’s shoulder. “Never speak to my wife again.”
Alex clenched his teeth and straightened his head, looking Maxim right in the eyes. But before he could say a word, his father yanked him onward.
Lazar shook his head as he gripped the chair. “Why are you trying to make shit worse with the Utkins?”
Maxim took a bite of steak. “I’m not.”
“Fedor’s brother just apologized, and then you go and threaten his son!
After you punched him in the face. We can’t survive an attack by the Utkins.
They know that, and still, he came over, like the bigger person, and apologized.
Do you know how lucky we are right now? We could have been thrown out!
My connections could have been severed!” Trina put a hand on his arm, and Lazar clamped his lips.
It was a warning that he was getting too loud, and he took a breath before he ducked his head and hissed, “Do not risk everything I’ve done for your fucking ego.
Get over yourself, Max.” Lazar grabbed Trina’s hand, and though she looked back and caught Kira’s gaze, she hurried behind.