12. Ready
Chapter twelve
Ready
L uerna stepped into the salon with a nervousness she didn’t know how to smother. Her guards stood at the doorway, glancing around but otherwise uninterested. “Hi, I have an appointment. Sunshine Sally.” The nickname sounded stupid, but the old woman said nothing as she waved her along. They moved to the back and her guard moved to follow her, but Luerna quickly waved a hand. “Unless you want to explain to my husband why you saw my naked ass, I’d stay out here.” The spark of fear made her giggle as she passed through the curtains.
In the third room on the right, Luerna entered the medical room to find two gurneys and a cosmetic stand before she found Levka, leaning against the counter. He wore a gray tank top that molded into every dip of his muscle. Her gaze traveled down his beautifully shaped pectorals and over his rippled abs. He had on workout shorts and sneakers.
It took the door closing to snap her out of her stupor, and she nervously shifted on her heels.
“Hey, sunshine.”
The term of endearment would have melted her, if she wasn’t steel. Luerna had given herself a pep talk and was firm on her resolution. His showing up like this meant nothing.
“I snuck out of the gym.” He gestured to his outfit. “Plus, I wanted to show off a little.” He glanced at his bicep, which was as big as her thigh.
His charm was doing nothing for her. “Why am I here?”
Levka crossed his arms, studying her. But whatever he was looking for, he wasn’t going to find. Luerna turned for the door.
“I’m sorry.”
It was the last thing she wanted to hear and the only thing. It was a stab to the heart that nearly crumbled her resolve, but she didn’t want to cave so quickly. Three years she spent hating him. He wasn’t allowed to fix it in three seconds. “You’re sorry?” Luerna twisted her lips as the words fell out. She turned to him. He was unreadable, guarded, unsure where he stood in her life, which should be obvious. He was nowhere. “You came into my life, made me think I was fucking special. Made me think there was someone out there that loved me. You gave me hope. You gave me something to look forward to every day. You became–” She cut herself off because she didn’t want to give him anymore power. She didn’t want to be weakened any further. “And you just walked out. Left me like I was so easily forgotten.”
“I never forgot you. Not one fucking day.”
“I don’t want to hear it.”
Her anger triggered him, and Levka broke. “I don’t know what kind of man you think I am if you think I can ignore your bruises, ignore your tears, ignore every time you got on the phone and I knew he had just got done fucking you. I had to leave, Luerna, or I would have burned your fucking house to the ground to get to you. I would have killed us.”
“You have killed us. There’s nothing here anymore. I came for closure. And I got it. Goodbye, Levka.”
Luerna pulled the door open, but Levka came from over her shoulder and slammed it shut. She looked up at him to find him an inch from her. “I was a stupid boy thinking I could have you. Twice I attempted, and twice I was knocked down. But I won’t be knocked down again, Luerna. I have built up my family better than it was before. I can finally fight against your father and Rurik on even ground.”
A smug little chuckle broke her lips. “No, you can’t.”
Her lack of confidence in him was a slap in the face. Anger flashed in his gaze, and he dropped his hand. He stepped back, silent in his stare. She tried not to care about hurting him, but guilt crept up inside her anyway. “I’m sorry,” she amended. “But they’re never going to be beaten, Levka. And I never expected you to try.”
Confusion swept over his face. “What did you expect, then? That we would carry on in secret?”
“Yes, actually.”
Levka huffed with a laugh, turning away from her. He stared at the wall, all the muscles in his back were tense. There was a giant tribal tattoo on his shoulder blade. Despite him being upset with her, she admired his beauty. He was a gorgeous man meant for someone else.
Levka turned to her. “Just so we are clear, what you wanted was to remain in your house with your husband. Let him beat you when he wants. Let him fuck you when he wants. Let him talk down to you, control you, destroy you. And I’m at your beck and call, loving you when you get a chance to sneak away.”
His naivete pissed her off. “Of course, it’s not what I want. But we’ve had this discussion before. It doesn’t matter what I want. I’m at the mercy of my family. I did what was expected of me. This is what real power looks like, Levka. The power over others, to determine their fate, to control what they do and how they think. I never wanted you to risk your life for mine. That was never my intention, and if that’s what you thought I wanted, I’m sorry you misread me.”
It was another slap, and Levka approached. “Do you know what I’ve done to get here? Do you know the people I’ve hurt? The people I’ve killed? The debts I owe, and the sacrifices I’ve made? And you have the audacity to tell me I ‘misread’ you?”
Luerna bowed her head to hide her tears. Three years ago, Levka provoked a dumb dream in her. She almost thought she could escape her life, and go off with him to some exotic land, and forget whose blood ran through her veins. She could be a normal woman with a picket fence and no guns under the bed. He brought dreams that stupid young girls want for their future. But then he left, it shattered those fantasies.
She should be grateful. He saved her from her delusions.
No one was going to save her.
No one loved her enough to try.
And she didn’t love herself enough to let them.
His fingertips touched her chin. She swatted it away, repulsed by his attempt. But he tried again, cupping her cheek, and she foolheartedly let him. She didn’t want to feel his hands or the reality that after three years he came back, admitted that he still thought of her everyday. With such cliche declarations, she was falling for it.
Was she that desperate?
“I’m coming for you, Luerna–”
“Don’t say that.”
“I’m coming for you and your kids.”
“No,” she whimpered as the tears broke over and split down her cheeks. “I’m not worth it.”
Levka leaned down. His lips lined up with hers. So close to her face she could see his lashes, watched as his gaze drifted around her face, taking in every inch of her. “You are a ray of sunshine, Mrs. Morozov.” He kissed her, softly, hesitantly, barely a whisper. He waited for her, waited for her to close the gap between them, giving her the control she had with nothing else.
Luerna fell into him, her lips pressed harshly to his as her arms slipped around his neck. He embraced her, pulling her to him, and there was a breath of relief between the two of them as their walls crumbled and their defenses failed.
Kissing him sparked life into her chest. It brought joy. If either of them was a ‘ray of sunshine’ it was him. He was the first sign of life in a desolate world. He was the sound of a heartbeat after an accident. She clung to him like he was breathing for her.
Levka pulled apart, holding her face as they panted against each other. “I love you, Luerna. I love all of you. There’s no stopping it or changing it. It’s you or nothing.”
She smiled and cried and rested her head against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as if she would float away. A simple hug, and she never felt such peace. His arms were massive and though it reminded her of her brother, it brought with it so many more emotions than she knew how to handle. Luerna clung to him, something she’s never done with anyone in her life. She was at peace. She was safe.
“I have a plan,” he began, combing a hand through her long tresses. “But it might take a few months. I was going to wait till I set everything up and come ready to take you, but seeing you again, I couldn’t live another day with you hating me.”
Luerna squeezed him, adoring him. All this time she thought he had forgotten her, and he hadn’t. He was instead planning a life with her.
“What about your girlfriend?”
“I’m using her,” he admitted. “We’re using each other, I should say, to keep our parents off our backs. Our parents want us to marry, but I’m in love with you, and she’s in love with a girl down the street.” He chuckled into her. “Luerna.” He pulled her back and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “Listen closely. There are things we have to go over so we don’t get caught. By the time we get out, we’ll be halfway around the world before they even notice we’re gone. But it only works if we follow everything the way I’ve set it up. And it will only work if you want it to.”
“I do,” she shouted so quickly that she laughed against him, and he smiled wide. “I do. I’ll go anywhere with you.”
Levka rested his forehead on hers. “I’ve been dying to hear you say that.” Holding onto him, she had no walls to protect her. Nothing to stop any of her vulnerabilities from escaping. “I’m scared.” The words were so odd to hear out loud. She had never said them to anyone.
“If you follow everything I say, he’ll never suspect a thing. But we have to work together.”
A beep on his watch took his attention. Levka clenched his teeth. “We’re out of time here. I’ll text you again with another address in a week. Remember to delete everything I send you right after you read it. Does he go through your phone?”
“No. Rurik thinks I’m too depressed to cheat on him.”
Levka nodded, but the answer didn’t sit well with him. “Are you taking medications?”
She scoffed. “I tell him I am.”
“Why aren’t you?”
Luerna caught his gaze with a bit of defiance in her face. “Because I’m fine.”
His look of doubt annoyed her. But before she could pull away, Levka gripped her arms. “Hey, don’t push me away. I don’t know how you are. Be real with me, Luerna. You’re a grown woman, you know yourself. Are you fine?”
It was the first time someone truly asked her that. Everyone else just believed her.
She struggled to answer honestly, but she didn’t think she could get away with lying. Levka would see it when no one else would. “I’ll take the fucking medicine,” she bit bitterly, hating how he smiled and chuckled.
With a knock on the door, Levka opened it, allowing in the old woman who worked there and a second co-worker. “We’re ready,” he said and pointed to the curtain in the corner. “Go undress.”
Luerna didn’t question it. She came back here for a bikini wax, it would be too obvious if she came out without one. After dressing in a medical gown, she pulled the curtain back to find Levka lying on the gurney with a sheet over him. “What are you doing?”
“My balls were overdo.”
A silly smile spread on her lips. “You wax your balls?”
His brows knit confused. “You think I’m a Ken doll? I grow hair like everybody else.”
“Everybody else leaves it alone.”
Disgust twisted his face, and she laughed at him as she lay on the table. The old woman maneuvered a screen around her, covering her from the waist down. Levka got one as well, denying her the ability to actually see his privates. Perhaps it was a good thing. She still wasn’t sure what she felt down there so many years ago. It came up in her dreams in the middle of the night, leaving her hot and bothered in the morning.
Levka reached out his hand, and she gripped it. She stared at him as he stared at her. Then he smirked. “This isn’t exactly what I thought about when I imagined spreading your legs for the first time.”
She slapped a hand over her face as she giggled.