Chapter 26 – Luka
T hat was not how I wanted things to go. This woman brought out something I thought was dead. It was the challenge. I rose to it every time she dropped a tempting morsel. Her disdain and scorn were electric. Her chin lifts nearly sent me to my knees each time. Saints! If she was to smile, I would collapse. I would die happy.
In the small back kitchen of the club, used only to prepare garnishes for drinks and store employee meals, I finished wrapping my arm. The fluorescent light buzzed overhead, the only sound between us. Arms crossed, Vivian watched, careful not to come near. The pink, damp paper towels were in the garbage. It had taken more than a dozen to wipe up the mess we’d made. The beast inside liked to see her covered in my blood. That wasn’t normal. But ask me if I cared.
The desperate ache to touch her pulsed in my veins.
Every waking moment from here on out would be spent convincing her that our being together was a good thing. With me, she was safe. She could thrive here. Weston was moving heaven and earth to fix the mess with her and the State Bar Association. If she could practice law again, if she could be free and move as she pleased, she might start to see this place as a home and not a prison. I wouldn’t stop trying.
Putting the First Aid kit away and tossing my ruined shirt over my shoulder, I gestured to the door. “Shall we?”
One sharp brow arched. Vivian’s gaze trailed pointedly down my body. I could feel the heat of it lingering on the waistband of my jeans. Air caught in my lungs, and electricity crackled over my skin.
But then she turned away, going to the door.
I fisted my hand over the stainless-steel counter. Dammit!
By the time I followed her, Vivian was already at the back entrance, ready to open the door to the alley where my jeep was parked.
“Wait up!” I called out.
She shot me an annoyed glance.
I skidded to a fast stop beside her. The proximity sent her jumping back. I bit my lower lip to prevent myself from chuckling. This might be a new fun game. I’d given her space, but that hadn’t seemed to help. Maybe playing with her would loosen the tension between us.
“Need to check the coast is clear.” I popped the door open and peeked outside. There was no movement.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Vivian snapped. She pushed past me, careful not to touch, and stepped into the alley.
“Are you so eager to be shot?” At least my voice didn’t carry any weight from the emotions swirling in my chest.
One hand rubbing her head, Vivian stopped beside the passenger door. “Right now, I don’t really give a fuck, Luka.”
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s not a game, darlin.”
Those mocha eyes closed, and Vivian drew deep breaths into her lungs. My phone would have alerted me if the vehicle had been tampered with. Until we could install the technology from my cousin Kazimir’s company into the Nova, my only choice of vehicle was the Jeep.
My fingers brushed lovingly over the bright, sunny paint. It was cool, since the sun didn’t fill the alley at this time of day.
“Fall’s coming,” I quipped, sliding into the driver’s seat.
Vivian settled into the seat, head tipped back. “That’s why you’re running around shirtless?”
I chuckled. “It can be forty below with wind chill, and I’ll still go outside shirtless.”
She muttered something that sounded an awful lot like crazy freak.
“Look, part of our problem is that we don’t know one another well.” I took a left at the mouth of the alley. “You’ve got to have questions, so ask away.”
Her stilted breathing filled the interior. When I looked over, her eyes were closed again.
A frown pulled at the corners of my mouth.
“I don’t think it will help, Luka,” she said eventually. “You’ll always be the guy that kidnapped me.”
The steering wheel was in danger of cracking. Knuckles white, I darted across an intersection to beat the yellow light. “I’m trying, Vivian.”
When she didn’t respond, I looked over.
That bronzed skin was a shade paler. One hand fisted in her lap. The other gripped the door panel for dear life.
Her voice was strained. “Can we just go back to the house?”
“Sure thing, baby.” Whatever was going on with her was real. I didn’t know whether to assume it was emotional angst or physical pain. Neither was a better option. “Can I stop anywhere? We can get takeout or a fussy, crazy coffee?”
She rolled her head to the side, eyes opened into slits as she looked at me. “That’s nice of you, but no thanks.”
Each street stretched longer than the last. Worry began to knot in my chest. When we turned and a shaft of light came through the windshield, Vivian tensed and turned away.
“Hey, Viv?” I asked quietly. “Is it another headache?”
She didn’t respond as we pulled under the heavy brick and wrought iron gate. Parking in the gravel spot before the vehicle bay, I turned to her. “What can I do?”
“I’m fine,” she clipped out.
I was far from convinced.
There was a knock on my window.
I rounded, glare in place, to bark at the person, but the harsh words died on my lips.
Kolya pulled open the door, arm braced against the top, and leaned forward. “Felicitations, baby brother.”
“When the hell did you get into town?” I boomed, launching out to wrap my big brother in a bear hug.
He smelled of pine trees and gasoline. Given the fact that he was in biking leathers and had a rucksack next to his Indian Scout, the cause was explainable.
“You going to introduce us?” He jerked his chin toward the passenger seat.
The empty passenger seat.
I bolted around the Jeep, but Kolya stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
“She’s inside,” he explained in that short, blunt way of his. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
I shrugged his touch off. “Yeah.”
“Luka!” Kolya shoved me into the side of the Wrangler. “You almost died last time.”
I should have!
Sardonic laughter filtered through my mind. “ I would have murdered you if you went through with your plan to join me, Cool Hand.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” Kolya snarled. “You have no business getting tangled up with a woman!”
The noise of another vehicle pulling onto the gravel didn’t earn more than a cursory glance from either of us.
“Quit trying to boss me. This was my decision,” I snapped, pushing at my brother’s chest.
“Not when you’re going to hurt yourself—and the rest of us.” Kolya slammed into me.
I twisted, escaping his grasp. “No one is getting hurt!”
A low whistle came from behind us. We ignored the others. While they were practically the siblings we never had, this wasn’t their fight. This was between two brothers who could only feel the bleeding ache of loss and the patchwork of helping each other time and time again.
Dimitri commented on my shiftlessness, while Kazimir responded with an observation about my bandaged arm.
“You need to let her go, before you make this situation worse,” Kolya snapped.
“Not happening.” I swung wide.
Kolya ducked—
Falling right into my jab.
The soft grunt of pain could just as easily have been a puff of wind. Kolya didn’t show pain.
His leg swept out. Gravel bit into my bare back. I snaked around his guard just in time. He wasn’t fighting to hurt, but to put me into submission.
That was unacceptable.
I drove my knee into his thigh as he twisted to pin me. He tried again. I scooped a handful of gravel, chucking it into his face.
Kolya balked, and I slipped out from underneath him.
“Saints, Luka! You’re such a dirty fighter,” Kazimir protested.
Dimitri only let out a short laugh.
“Come on, did you have more to say to me!” I flung my arms wide.
Kolya didn’t say anything—big surprise. The silent ones never did.
We circled one another. I caught the glint in his eye before he charged. There was only enough time to brace my boots against the ground as the brute made impact. This beast had fifty pounds of muscle on me.
“Enough! Basta, basta! ” The feminine command was accompanied by the slam of the side door.
I kicked out. The sweep failed and cost me my balance and Kolya rolled me over. This time the gravel bit harder.
My fist snaked out and made contact with his solar plexus. Kolya gasped, suddenly unable to breathe.
A sharp thwack cracked across my shoulder.
I spun around and met the fiery brown gaze of a pissed off mama bear.
“Luka Bogdan Vlasov, that is no way to treat your brother!” Chiara brought her broomstick across my shoulders a second time.
Kazimir was struggling to hide his smirk; Dimitri had already failed and was laughing, clutching his gut. For men who didn’t show emotions or experience humor, this must be pretty fucking funny.
I took a step back, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Bene, bene!”
Chiara began to shake her finger at Kolya. “And you! You sneak in here without a warning and start picking on your baby brother? I won’t have that.”
Kolya’s chin dropped to his chest. He let out a fluent string of Italian.
I cursed him for his military training. Not only was he a lethal killing machine, but he was honed to blend into his surroundings, which included being fluent in several languages.
“Allora,” Chiara sighed. “Va bene. Come, give me a hug. We’ve missed you.”
Kolya shot me a narrowed glare. The message was loud and clear: This wasn’t finished.
I flicked him the bird, turned on my heel, and strode into the house. Ignoring the calls that followed me through the door, I took the front stairs two at a time. My suite was in a wing of the house far away from the main living quarters. Not passing my bride on the way, I was certain I would find her already there.
But I was not prepared for the ball I found curled on the bed.
My steps slowed. She was in pain, terrible pain. The wash of her helplessness threatened to choke me.
I leaned over her but snatched my hand back at the last second. “Another migraine?”
“Yeah,” she croaked.
A terrible ache pinched my chest. “What can I do? Do you want those prescription meds?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I took one.”
I nodded. One of the first things I did when we got back into town was place an order with our family doctor. Sidorov was a good man, always taking care of our injured. The meds came within four hours. Vivian had her choice of migraine medication. The saddest part was that she knew what so many were.
Taking a deep breath, Vivian lifted her hand. “This might be the misery talking—or maybe the sleepy meds. But either way, would you….”
“Yes?” I held my own breath.
“Hold me?” After she asked, she pushed herself up on an elbow and gave me a narrowed glance. “Go ahead, tease me. How this no touching rule is giving you the power, and—”
“Shut up, beautiful,” I rasped, sliding onto the bed beside her.
My arm crooked around her, and only after I pulled the other side of the quilt up to wrap around her did I settle in. Not even ninety minutes ago we were fucking like animals in the club, and now she was this completely changed being. This was horrible! One minute she was fine and challenging me, measure for measure. And then, like a switch, this malady struck out of nowhere. I pulled her close and let time do its magic.
Vivian dozed.
I counted the freckles on her nose—twenty-seven. When I was done with that, I simply laid there and watched her breathe. The shadows in the room lengthened, and then the dark crack in the curtain told me it was night. When my phone buzzed, I shut the damn thing off.
This thing with Vivian already was forming a mark on my heart. She meant something to me. She gave me purpose—a reason to pause and quit asking death to waltz. It wasn’t something as trivial as infatuation. She was the sole focus of my attention.
At last, Vivian stirred. “What time is it?” she murmured.
“Don’t know,” I breathed.
She groaned. “You can go. The edge is gone, but I’m just going to sleep.”
I don’t have anywhere else to be except with you. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m just going to use the bathroom and take another pill so long as it’s been two or more hours.”
I lay in bed, arm propped behind my head, watching her. Yeah, she’d stolen a piece of me, and I didn’t even realize she’d done it. But that was the mark of the best thieves; we distracted, snuck in, and got out before anyone realized what was happening.
“She’s carving her name inside me, and I can’t escape her blade,” I breathed.
The door to the bathroom opened, and Vivian trudged back to bed.
“You sure I can’t get you anything?” I pressed.
She shook her head and winced. “I took another pill, so I won’t wake until morning. Not even if you mobsters start shooting one another.”
A laugh warmed my chest.
This time, Vivian climbed under the covers. When she didn’t scoot into me, I let out a low growl. “None of that, darlin.”
I scooped her into my side, tucking her close. “Tonight, let me hold you.”
“Okay, mister monster,” she yawned.
“That makes you missus monster,” I teased.
But she was already drifting away.
I pulled her left hand into mine. The fingers were long and slender. Because I wasn’t remotely tired, I imagined the sort of ring that would look best on her. The ruby tennis bracelet was stripped, but I still hadn’t found a stone for the center of the wedding band.
“Anything I give you, you’ll just take off and throw in my face,” I muttered.
No, until she realized she was staying, I needed something more permanent. The idea of piercing and damaging the flesh of those beautiful digits sent a wave of disgust curling on my face. Even with her casual grunge style, she wasn’t the sort to wear edgy gems, bars, or other body jewelry. I would find her the perfect ring.
But until then….
My heart jumped in my chest, suddenly beating rapidly as excitement coursed through me. If she could leave a permanent, albeit internal, reminder of our time together, I could too. Pushing myself away, I rushed from the room. She was asleep, but for how long? I needed to hurry.