8. Gift
Chapter eight
Gift
L evka paced his room. He threw off his jacket and unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. It was stifling in here all of a sudden. He cursed himself, cursed this moment, cursed every fucking thing that existed because here he was two years later, stuck right back where he was. He thought he was over her. He wanted to be over her. He’s slept with dozens of women to erase Luerna from his soul. He’s kept his mind on the business alone, never allowing even a second to think about her. And yet a single picture of her in a magazine or in the news would shove him down and hold him hostage till he was strong enough to forget her again. He didn’t want to feel this anymore. It was too much torture.
So what did he have to do? Levka looked around the room hoping something would have the answer.
A phone call pulled him out of his fall, and Levka rushed out of the room. Apparently, Luerna had done her research on this hotel. He joined the Bac Family fourteen months ago under a fake name. There wasn’t a choice, really. He was going to die if he didn’t find protection. Too many clans had heard about his fall from grace, and they either wanted vengeance or whatever power Levka hid from them.
The Bac Family owned a series of hotels that catered to the high elite who lived in secrecy. Dozens of tunnels were built through the place for private liaisons or to run from the police.
After proving himself for the last year, doing the worst any human being can do, he earned his place as the general manager. It was pennies compared to the money he used to have, low six figures, but it got his father out of the shabby apartment and into a real house. By this time next year, if the stock market did what he needed, he could move his father back into a penthouse in the city.
It was not making up for the destruction he caused, but hopefully, down the line, he’d earn his father’s respect back.
Levka found them in the hallway, cursing at the locked door. Luerna was dressed in a sparkling blue jumpsuit that fit tight on her ass and hugged her breasts like a second skin. Her hair was in a long ponytail with long earrings that shook with every movement of her head.
She turned her wide blue eyes to him, and he smiled forcefully. “Can I escort you back to your room?”
“No,” Luerna bit back. “We want to go out.”
“I can prepare your car.”
“No. We want to go out by ourselves .”
Levka felt the crispness of her voice and knew he was walking on a thin line, but she was far from intimidating. “You know how dangerous that could be. There aren’t many bars around here that wouldn’t identify you immediately. You risk your husband’s reputation and mine.”
Luerna growled and stomped her foot. “You men and your reputation. I swear to God.”
Kira touched her sister’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Luerna. Let’s just take the car.”
“No. I’m sick of Rurik’s pigs following me everywhere. If I don’t get out, I’m gonna scream.”
Levka thought the excuse was odd. “You have been followed your whole life. You should know better than to try to escape.”
“Don’t talk to me like you know me. If I want to get out, I’m going to get out. You can either help me and keep your fucking reputation. Or I can do it myself and hope I’m successful. Wouldn’t want my husband to know how I managed to sneak out of your hands.”
Levka stepped up to her. “I am well versed in your family’s threats, Mrs. Chesky . There isn’t much left you or your husband can do to me.”
Luerna clamped her mouth shut at that point.
“Now, please, go back to your room.”
Luerna hadn’t been prepared with how he spoke to her. He was ten years younger than her, and yet, for a moment, she felt–not in charge.
Her stomach knotted, and a heat crawled up her cheeks. When Kira grabbed her arm, she blindly followed. But the movement sparked a response, and she turned back to him.
“Come on, Levka. It’s my sister’s bachelorette weekend. Don’t you want her to have fun? We can’t do that with the thugs. They keep every person at a ten-foot distance.” Still sensing his hesitation, Luerna put a hand on his shoulder, pulling him in till her lips were at his ear. It was a strategic move because it put her breasts inches from his chest. “I’m trying to get her laid before she’s stuck with the same dick for the rest of her life.”
Her passionate plea didn’t move him, nor did her ridiculous flirtation. He was almost insulted by it. She probably still believed he was a pubescent teenager, turned on by the slightest gesture. It aggravated him more than he wanted to admit. Levka stepped back, out of her reach. “I can’t let you go out on your own.”
“Then be our guide.”
For five seconds, he thought about it. Going out with her, spending even an hour with her, would do extraordinary damage. He would have new memories for the carousel in his head. New fantasies he could create to get him riled enough to fuck a stranger.
But it would also restart the same addiction.
“No.” He gestured down the hall and waited for her to move.
There was fire in her eyes, but she obeyed, walking down the hallway. Levka didn’t believe for a minute that she had given up. But this was his building. There was nowhere she could go without him knowing. He could stop her before she escaped her floor if there were any further attempts.
The soldiers were in disarray when he brought them to the door, and before it shut, Levka held a hand against it. “You risk the lives of your guards. I know they don’t mean anything to you, but try to think of someone other than yourself.” A slight guilty gaze flickered across her face before she slammed the door, making sure the lock sounded loud in the quiet hallway.
After the third failed attempt, Luerna collapsed in a chair with defeat. She didn’t know what she expected, but being denied hadn’t been one of them. She thought Levka might look at her the same way he had two years ago. Back then, it spurred desires in her that she had denied herself, still trying to be the good daughter and wife she was taught to be. But her father had lied.
There was nothing to gain living this life. And now she was ready to try something different—anything different to fix what was broken inside her.
“I don’t like what you’re doing,” Kira’s voice broke into the silence.
Luerna knit her brows. “What am I doing?”
“You’re trying to manipulate him. I should have never told you he was in love with you.”
“Was seems to be the keyword. He doesn’t care now.” Luerna sighed.
Kira glared at her. “You’re just like dad sometimes.”
“Oh, shut up. So I thought I could use him to give YOU a good time. Excuse me for caring.”
“No, don’t act like this was about me. This was about you.”
“How?”
Kira clenched her lips and shook her head.
“No, don’t hold back now. How is this about me?”
Kira struggled with indecision. Some things were better left unsaid. But Luerna stared at her in wait. Honesty was a family trait, and she didn’t know how to stop it. “You hate your life–”
“I don’t hate my life.”
“You want to escape. You want to find meaning. You want to feel alive. There’s nothing wrong with any of that. But this isn’t a good way to go about it."
Luerna bit the inside of her cheek as she studied her sister. There was a plethora of words running in her head. Kira was acting ridiculous just as much as Luerna was, and to call her out on it was hypocritical. Kira was Luerna, just six years younger and more naive. Maybe if Luerna hadn’t been sold off as soon as she turned eighteen, she could be just as self-righteous.
But this was bitterness that Kira didn’t deserve.
“Rurik wants another baby.”
Kira’s brows knit, and she reached for the bed as if the news weakened her knees. “After what you went through with the twins?”
She nodded. The tears were pushing behind her eyes, and she swallowed tight, all the emotion clogging her throat.
“Oh, Luerna, I’m so sorry.”
Luerna shrugged, shaking her head. She quickly wiped away the tear that fell and prayed Kira hadn’t noticed. The fear of postpartum coming back was enough to keep her celibate for the rest of her life. Would she become one of those women on the news that ended up killing all her children in a mental break? The terrible thoughts she had during those months were frightening and followed her around like a ghost. She didn’t want to go back to that. But there wasn’t much of a choice.
There was never any choice.
Which is what brought her here in a terribly selfish act. She wanted to use Levka in more ways than Kira suggested. How he looked at her outside the bathroom the night of the dinner had lived in her dreams. It was the only thing that could help her during Rurik’s drunken touches.
In a selfish desperation, she sought out Levka for the last six months. It took her a long time to find him, but when she did, she was thankful for an excuse to see him.
But it was for nothing, apparently.
A knock on the door got her up, exasperated, fearing it was Levka there to yell at her. But instead, she was surprised by a band. They held random instruments in their arms, and the lead vocalist was a female smiling politely. “Mr. Harold sent us up for your entertainment, ma’am.”
Kira jumped excitedly and pushed Luerna out of the way to let them through. A guitarist, two men carrying drum equipment, and a violinist came in and set up right in the living room.
Luerna sat on the couch beside her sister, semi-interested in the music. This, in no way, made up for the lack of going out.
But then, to her surprise, instead of a guitar being pulled out of a guitar case, it was a speaker. They set it up right in front of the door and then triple-locked it. The lights shut off, and a strobe light came on.
Instead of setting up their instruments, the band stood in a V, waiting silently for the music to start. The woman in charge began to unbutton her top. “Who’s getting married?”
Kira nervously raised her hand.
“Well, we hope you enjoy the show.”
Luerna knit her brow. “I’m sorry, what is this?”
The woman continued to unbutton her blouse until she reached the bottom, and then the music snapped on, and her shirt exposed her breasts in a tight lace white bra. The men behind her began to dance, and only then did Luerna acknowledge their extensive muscle and incredible good looks.
“Oh my god,” Luerna whispered. “It’s a strip show.”
Kira was giggling up a storm, leaning into her side. “Oh yeah. He’s still in love with you.”