Chapter 27
NIKOLAI
I’m afraid of very little in this world.
Living for so long with nothing left to lose has a way of desensitising you to menace.
But the idea of losing her? That was enough to rattle me to my bones.
“Over my dead fucking body.”
“Listen to me, Nik.” Nik. She’d noticed what that did to me, and now she was using it against me. “They made a deal with your father. They think you were the one behind my kidnapping.”
“Because I fucking was!” I shouted.
“Yes, but there’s more to the story, and they don’t know about it. All I’m asking from you is to give them the benefit of the doubt. Let me talk to them and explain.”
“Explain what, Addy?” I stopped pacing, turning toward her now. “That you’re fucking the man who stole you from them? That my cum is leaking out of your freshly fucked pussy as you try to convince them not to take you from me? How you think that will be a peaceful chat is beyond me.”
“Well, if I use those terms, I’m sure it will be hard to get through to them.” She smiled at me, standing and taking my hand in hers. Just like that, that light of hers pierced my chest like the sun in the peak of summer. How does she do it?
“Your brothers. Italian mobsters are here. In my house. At my fucking ball, after making a deal with my father. I know exactly what those terms were, Adrianne, and I’m sorry to disappoint you, but talking was never one of them.”
“They’ll listen to me. I know they will.”
“There is no way.” I pulled my hand free, moving to the window, watching the snow fall steadily, the courtyard festively illuminated but quiet.
The peaceful pace contrasted with the laughter and vicious scheming in the ballroom downstairs.
All of them so oblivious to the grenade about to explode.
“Your brothers want me dead. Vladimir wants everyone dead. And I have a ballroom full of Russia’s elite who are about to become collateral damage. ”
“They came for me, Nikolai. Don’t you think that keeping me alive is part of their mission?
And right now, keeping me alive means not killing you.
” She came to stand beside me. “What’s the worst that could happen?
They don’t believe me? We’re already at that point.
But maybe, just maybe, they’ll listen. Maybe we can turn this into an advantage instead of a bloodbath. ”
“Vladimir gave them access. He has an army at the border.” I moved away from her, my mind already calculating my next move, exit points, the quickest way to eliminate five trained criminals.
I needed that space between us because whenever I stood too close to Moya Babochka, my reasoning faltered, and I was almost convinced that her brothers could be an asset.
“This is a trap, Adrianne. Your brothers are the distraction while he positions his men and prepares his attack.”
“All the more reason to turn them into allies.”
I looked at her, this woman who’d somehow become everything despite starting as nothing. As a mistake. She was right. We were already fucked. What harm could it do to let her try?
“Fine.” The word came out rough just because it was reluctant. “But not yet. First, I need to make something very clear to everyone in that ballroom. Including the uninvited Italian scum.”
“And what is that?”
Instead of answering, I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door, all the way back to the ballroom.
She looked flushed and content, despite the worry that marred her features.
Pride made my chest swell knowing that she was as beautiful as ever.
Not because of the makeup or the dress, but because this was how she looked after having me inside of her.
Glowing.
Satisfied.
Owned by a monster.
“Nikolai, what are you doing?”
“Making sure everyone knows exactly who you belong to.”
I pulled her through the corridors, my grip on her hand like an iron clasp. I’d never let her go, and everyone was about to be informed.
Adrianne stumbled slightly, her legs still unsteady from how thoroughly I’d fucked her minutes ago, and satisfaction curled through me at the evidence of my claim.
“Nikolai, slow down.” I couldn’t. Instead, I turned around and picked her up like the precious little thing she was.
Without missing a step, I carried her all the way back, until we were parting the crowd as if it were the Red Sea, walking straight to the middle of the ballroom.
The effect was immediate and intoxicating. Conversations died mid-sentence. The music faltered, instruments trailing into confused silence. Every eye in that ballroom turned toward us, toward me, claiming what was mine in front of God and the fucking country.
When we finally reached that perfect spot where everyone could see, I gently placed her feet back on the ground before pulling her against me. One hand on her waist, the other still gripping hers like she might disappear if I let go.
“What are you doing?” Her whisper was breathless and confused.
“Claiming what’s mine.”
Then I kissed her.
It wasn’t chaste or cautious. It was pure fire and passion. I made a point for everyone to see the spectacle of my tongue claiming hers.
Unforgiving.
Ravenous.
My kiss was a brand burned into her skin for every person in this room to witness.
I devoured her mouth with a hunger that bordered on violence, my hand fisting in her hair to angle her exactly where I wanted. My other arm wrapped around her waist, crushing her against me until there was no space left, until anyone watching would know exactly how thoroughly she belonged to me.
The whole fucking ballroom held its breath. I could feel their shock, their disapproval, their judgment.
I fed on it.
When I finally pulled back, her lips were swollen, her eyes dazed.
Perfect. Exactly how I wanted her.
“Mine,” I said, against her mouth, “Now everyone knows it. Including you.”
Her gaze swept the room, and I followed it, catching sight of the men near the back.
One stood frozen, fury written in every line of his body. Another looked ready to charge. The third had his hand inside his jacket, undoubtedly on a weapon. While the other two flanked them with hard jaws that told me I’d hit a nerve they weren’t expecting.
Let them try to take her from me now. I’d paint these floors with their blood before I let them near.
Drea stood at the edge of the dance floor, her expression cold and calculating, the shock clear in the wide eyes behind her mask. She understood exactly what I’d just done.
Never had a “fuck you” rang so loud and clear in her ears, despite the pin-drop silence that infested the room.
To my right, Viktor was moving toward us like a freight train, his face stained red with rage. How nice of him to match the theme.
“VOLKOV!” His voice boomed across the ballroom. “WHAT’S THE MEANING OF THIS?”
I turned slowly, deliberately keeping Adrianne slightly behind me. “The meaning of what, Viktor?”
“This.” He gestured at Adrianne with disgust, and I felt the urge to cut off his hand at that very moment. “This display. With her. After everything we discussed.”
“I made no promises to you.”
“You danced with my daughter. You led me to believe–”
“I led you to believe what you wanted to believe.” I kept my voice calm and deadly. Let him be the one to lose control. “One dance. That was the agreement. Nothing more.”
Viktor’s face darkened, his whole demeanor shifting. “Then our agreement is void. I hope you’re prepared for the consequences.”
“What consequences?”
“I’ve given the order.” His smile was vicious. “My men are releasing Vladimir’s forces as we speak. They’ll be inside these walls before you can blink. And when they come, when they slaughter everyone here, know that it’s because you chose a whore over your future.”
Whore.
Every muscle in my body tightened, ready to spring.
“What did you just call her?”
“A whore. Which is clearly what she is, wearing that red ribbon, letting every man here touch her. You think I didn’t see?”
I saw the way those five men closed in, taking the attack as personally as I did. Gaining points, pasta boys.
“Choose your next words carefully, Viktor.” My voice dropped to daringly lethal. “Very carefully.”
He fucking laughed. “Or what? You’ll kill me?
Go ahead. It won’t stop what’s coming. My men have their orders.
Vladimir’s army is already moving. And when they’re done with you, when they’re done with everyone here,” He pointed at Adrianne with a disdain that made my vision tunnel, “I hope she screams as loud as your mother did.”
Time stopped right there.
The ballroom, the people around us, the light gossip, and the gasps of their reactions, all of it faded into white noise.
All I could hear was my mother’s voice. Never red, Anya. Promise me never red.
All I could see was her broken body at the bottom of those stairs, that red dress soaked with blood.
All I could feel was rage so pure it burned up my throat.
“What did you just say?” My words were barely above a whisper.
“You heard me.” Viktor’s smile turned cruel and victorious.
Like he’d been waiting years to say this.
“Your mother. So beautiful in that red dress. So accommodating when your father offered her around. I was one of the lucky ones who got to taste. Multiple tastes, actually. And the sounds she made?”
The gun was in my hand before I knew it, the sound of the shot echoing off the walls.
Viktor’s head snapped back, a neat hole appearing in his forehead. Blood and brain matter sprayed across the marble behind him, staining a couple of guests in the process. His expression froze in shock, in disbelief that I’d actually done it, before his body crumpled like a puppet with cut strings.
I stood there, gun still raised, the kick of the blow shooting up my arm and satisfying my soul.
The ballroom exploded into screams.