39
Revelations
I filled the glass and looked at my wife”s happy smile, she looked like a cat that had just eaten a mouse. In fact, I”m afraid that, when I wasn”t looking, she actually had.
The blackmail had a one hundred percent satisfactory outcome for me.
After the ”conversation” she had with Arasagasti in the lounge, it was as if she had been changed for another person. She was exuberant, smiling, and the poor director seemed to be suffering from a kidney stone attack.
As soon as they appeared, Karlos went to look for his wife and urged her to leave.
”So soon? The party has just started!”
”Something didn”t sit right with me, I think it was the gas in the champagne, I don”t know, but I”m doubled over in pain...” Nikita bit back a smile while poor Andrea insisted on asking for chamomile tea because she didn’t want to leave.
She ended up giving in under her husband”s insistence and said goodbye to my wife affectionately, promising to call her soon for a coffee or to go shopping together.
Arasagasti was on the verge of an apoplexy when Nikita rubbed salt into the wound even further by suggesting dinner for the four of us once Karlos was feeling better. Of course, she agreed enthusiastically, and he wished he had a piece of duct tape to shut his wife’s mouth.
As soon as they left, Nikita gave me the widest smile I had seen on her so far.
”We”ve got it,” she confessed excitedly.
She snatched the bourbon glass from my hand, took a long sip, set it on the table behind me, and hung from my neck. Some tension had dissolved in her body.
”Congratulations,” I congratulated her, and I meant it from the heart, as few people were so persistent.
”I couldn’t have done it without you, so you”re welcome, Mr. Capullet.”
I had gotten used to her using ”you”re welcome” as a way to thank me.
”You”re welcome, amore.”
My left hand covered her lower back to maintain contact. I liked having her like this, calm, serene.
”Do you want to dance?” she suggested. I looked around puzzled, and she smiled again. ”What are you doing?”
”Looking for the guy you were inviting to dance.”
”Well, if you want, I can ask him...”
Before she could say anything inappropriate again, I dragged her to the dance floor.
”I’ll dance.”
Several couples were already dancing, among them, my father with Jelena.
Nikita settled against my body. She rested her head on my chest as if it was the most natural thing in the world and let herself sway in my arms. It wasn’t a sexual dance, rather an intimate and trusting one.
Between the shootout and the issue with the Colombians” cargo, she was very worried; however, now she appeared pliable, almost lax.
”You”ve done well, very well,” I admitted into her ear, pressing my lips beneath her earlobe.
She sighed and snuggled even closer against my body, while ”All of Me” by John Legend carried our movements.
Intelligent mouth drawing me in,
and without you, I”m being kicked out.
My head is spinning,
no joke, I can”t tell
what”s going through that beautiful little head.
I”m on your mystery journey,
and I”m so dizzy, I don”t know what hit me,
but I will be okay.
My head is under water,
but I”m breathing fine,
you”re crazy and I”m out of my mind.
Because all of me
loves all of you.
Love your curves and your edges,
all your perfect imperfections,
give me all of you,
and I will give you all of me.
You are my end and my beginning,
even when I lose I”m winning,
because I give you all of mine,
and you give me all of yours.
The song seemed to be about us, except for the love part, though I was discovering that I liked my wife, despite her edges and mistrust, almost as much as Yuri had predicted.
Yuri, Yuri, Yuri… I wish he were here to clarify this whole situation.
To be fair, it was normal for Nikita not to believe me; all the references she received about me or my family were negative. What could she expect?
We barely knew each other; we had done nothing but work, and I hadn”t given her the chance to see beyond my facade of a neighborhood thug. I hadn’t even answered her question about the night of the shooting, the only one that could shed some light on all that darkness.
I wasn’t being fair; if I wanted to bridge gaps, she needed to know that part of the story.
I waited for the song to finish to ask her to come with me.
”Where are we going?”
”We need to talk.”
”That doesn”t sound very good...”
”We can”t continue like this; I want to clarify some things with you that are necessary.”
”If it”s about your cousin, Arasagasti, or...”
”It”s none of that, come with me, please.” She didn’t refuse.
We went to the adjoining lounge; the same place she had left minutes earlier.
A starry dome presided over the center, while the floor was dotted with sofas and tables of various sizes and dimensions.
We settled into one of them, and I pondered how to begin. I felt the pressure of her gaze on my face.
”So? Did you really bring me here to tell me something or to prevent me from doing anything inappropriate?”
If I wanted to bring up her brother, I had to be honest.
”Yuri and I were very good friends,” I started. She immediately fell silent. ”And we never stopped being friends, even though we made our families believe otherwise.”
”That”s not possible...”
”It is, of course it is. Damn, your brother was my best friend, I never knew anyone with whom I got along so well, who understood me to the extent that it made me doubt whether my soulmate was a guy.” She widened her eyes in shock. ”Don”t be scared, I realized that right away.”
”It can”t be, my brother would have told me,” she reiterated.
”I guess it”s hard to believe that someone could keep such a secret for years. It wasn”t easy for either of us, but we managed to keep our friendship separate from the enmity our families professed.” I knew Nikita was pondering and trying to connect the dots. ”It”s not a rumor. I can show you hundreds of messages, photos, and videos that I kept, despite him repeatedly asking me to delete them for our safety. I refused to do it and now I”m thankful to heaven that I did.”
”Do you have that material?”
”Yes, at home, kept in a box with his name on it. I”m not making this up, I”m telling you that I can show it to you anytime you want, even tonight after the party.” She nodded. ”If I”m telling you this, it”s because I want to explain what happened the night of his death. I was there, with him.”
”Wait, this is a confession. Did you kill him?”
”No! Damn it, Nikita! You”re obsessed with the idea that I wanted to harm you, and that”s impossible. I”m telling you I would have given my life for his, Yuri was the brother I never had. I would have been incapable of laying a finger on him or doing something that harmed you. It was that fucking Cheng who ambushed us. And then he went back to his country for a long time.”
”Cheng?”
”Yes!”
”And why didn”t you say anything? Why haven”t you killed him?”
”It”s not that easy. If I had spoken up, it would have revealed my friendship with your brother, and Yuri didn”t want that to be known. Cheng is very well protected, hides like a damn eel, doesn”t spend too much time in the same place, and his army of men is getting bigger. Your brother and I wanted to join forces against him to kick him out, but we weren’t allowed and decided to do it behind everyone”s back.”
”Go on.”
”That night, we met with him. Initially, it was supposed to be peaceful, we wanted to talk and reach an agreement. We were naive and sensed that things couldn”t be that easy. It was a fucking ambush. They shot us full of bullets.” I took off my jacket, tie, and shirt to show her the mark I received that night. ”They didn”t just shoot Yuri.”
Nikita extended her arm and traced with her fingertip that perfect scar hidden under the ink of my tattoos.
”Did you get shot too?”
”Yes, though I was luckier than your brother. You don’t know how many times I”ve replayed that damn night, thinking I could have acted differently, that I shouldn’t have left him wounded and alone to face those bastards. It was a terrible decision that I will never forgive myself for.”
”Did you make that decision alone?”
”No! I wanted to stay, but he insisted that if I stayed, we would have no chance. But I keep thinking that if I had bunkered down there, he would be alive.”
”Or you both could have died. Yuri wouldn’t have told you to leave if he hadn’t seen it clearly, he was one to analyze every situation down to the minutest detail,” she murmured thoughtfully.
”Be that as it may, I was drowning in guilt for months. I would go out and get drunk every day, I used drugs, searching for a relief that I never found. I ended up a total wreck. It was very hard and fucked up. I got stuck in a loop that was hard to break out of. Even today, I feel the weight of his death on my chest.” I focused my regretful gaze on hers. ”You once asked me why I agreed to marry you, why I didn’t oppose it, and I’m going to tell you now. I promised it to your brother.”
”What do you mean? After he died? Did he appear to you or something?”
”No, it was the night of the shooting.”
”I can”t believe that! Yuri would never have made you promise such a thing; he knew well enough that my father would never have allowed it. A Koroleva with a Capulet? He wouldn’t even let you be friends!”
”I said the same thing to him. But he insisted, asked me to take care of you. He sensed he was passing away and told me you were likely to take his place in the organization, but he was afraid they wouldn’t give you the position because you”re a woman. He knew they’d force you to marry someone, and he wanted it to be me.”
”This is crazy.”
My wife bit her lip, nervous.
”Is it? I”ve asked myself the same question these days,” I muttered, looking into her eyes. ”I know you don”t know me, that you don”t believe me, and I”d like you to give me a chance to show you why your brother made that request. Every day I spend by your side, I understand it more. Your brother knew me better than anyone, and you too, and he believed, without a doubt, that we were made for each other.”
My wife stood up and ran her hands through her taut hair.
”Don’t mess with me, Romeo! If you start talking about love...!”
I also stood up and positioned myself in front of her.
”I don’t love you, but I like everything I see in you.” My hand reached her cheek and I caressed it. ”And I want you all to myself.”
”What?!”
She exclaimed, her voice cracking.
”I just told you, every day I like you more, you’re not perfect, but something tells me you’re the right partner for me, and if we really get to know each other, maybe a miracle will happen and we can share a life together.”
”Just a moment ago you wanted to sleep with that woman with the silicone breasts!”
”I did that to upset you. I haven’t felt like sleeping with anyone else since the day at the warehouse. When I was with Irene, I thought of you and that mysterious woman from La Marca. And I admit, it pissed me off to see you with the masseuse, and it makes me sick to think that another could have what is mine by doing nothing about it.”
”I’ve told you more than once that I don”t belong to anyone, I...”
The words died in her mouth when it was crushed by mine.
I kissed her, of course, I kissed her. With the contained desire of someone who knows he is not lying. With the need of the condemned who needs to be absolved. With the vision of the blind who does not see but feels.
Nikita jerked back and looked at me, piercing me with those green cannons.
”Are you asking for exclusivity?”
”Yes. At least, I want to try, and if not, we can talk about it again.”
”I don”t know, I”ve never...”
”I didn”t take you for a coward. What can you lose?”
”Myself.”
”By sleeping with your husband until death do you part?”
”That sounds like a long time.”
”Not if you kill me first.”
Nikita licked her lips.
”What if I regret it?”
”I”ve already told you everything is negotiable. What do you say? Deal?”
She turned around slowly.
”Unzip me.”
My clumsy fingers slid it down until the fuchsia fabric was just a puddle molded at her feet.
I swallowed as I contemplated the splendor of her nudity.
She turned and traced the outline of the goddess Kali tattooed on my abdomen with the edge of a nail.
”Who is this?”
”The goddess of death and destruction. Though, knowing you, it should be you.”
She offered a pleased smile.
”I like that title.”
She unbuckled my belt, yanked it off with force and passed it around my neck, her gaze laden with lust, pulling hard and devouring me with her hungry tongue.
I grabbed her ass and kneaded it. Her flat abdomen met the drive of my hardness. She let the belt drop to scratch my back, slipped her fingers into the back of my pants, and groped me as I had done to her.
Nikita was too fuckable for my sanity.
Her lips moved across my chest, and she nibbled at my collarbone area. I groaned as she left my behind and proceeded to strip me as naked as she was.
”Take it all off,” she requested, stepping back.
In an instant, there was nothing left on my body, only her gaze remained. I grabbed her by the waist and set her on one of the tables, to worship her with my tongue.
Nikita howled; two or three licks were not enough for me. I wanted to relish her, enjoy her, make her swoon. Her arousal was evident, and my fingers probed to make space for an easy entry.
The gasps were a symphony of surrender. She was open, exposed, eager, and I wanted to give her everything.
She pushed her hips in rhythm with my licks, clutching tightly to the polished wood.
I sucked the tense knot that stood proudly, and she rose on her elbows to watch my face buried in her essence.
”Look at me,” she pleaded proudly.
I looked up and short-circuited. She was so beautiful, so perfect, so damn made for me.
”Come...” she moaned with my last pass of the tongue.
I moved closer to her, and she sought my mouth to kiss me and taste herself on me. I grabbed her by the waist and entered her with a deep thrust that made her legs clamp around my waist like a vise. Her scream filled my soul with joy. I lifted her and continued as I walked to press her against the wall.
Rough, dry, and excited thrusts turned her into the finest piece of art decorating the room.
Nikita was hot, thrilling, mobile, sweet, salty, and with a bitter edge that drove me crazy.
I pushed as if I could prop her up, leave her suspended in me forever. With her long legs as the only anchor point and those lacerating nails tattooing themselves into my skin.
”Come,” she gasped into my mouth.
”I”m not wearing a condom.”
”I”m on the pill, come,” she insisted. ”Today I want to feel you inside, very deep, do it.”
”First, agree.”
”To what?”
”Exclusivity,” I admitted without stopping.
”Romeo...”
”Agree, and I will be yours too.”
Our flesh continued to clash.
”Oh, fuck! I can”t take it anymore! Can”t we discuss this later?”
”Agree, or I stop right now.”
”You wouldn”t dare.”
”Test me.”
I stopped moving and she roared in frustration.
”Fine, damn it! I agree, I agree, I a...”
She couldn”t finish because I was pushing again and the orgasm swept us away in a superhuman way.