Chapter 13
A Little Mischief
Alex
"Ay-yo!"
Jade's body shuddered in my arms, Andrei’s loud and obnoxious call murdering the bittersweet moment. "Let's all get in the fucking house!"
God fucking damn him.
I trailed behind Jade into the house, cursing myself for not blasting through Knox’s skull when I had the chance.
He fucking cut her open, and it all looked rough and recent. The dark images in my mind were overwhelming. What did he do? Held her down and tried to fillet the poor girl? Touched her? Hurt her.
He had balls to think he’d go unpunished. Big fucking King Kong balls to attack her like that and think he’d never face retribution. I’d test it—see how strong his balls were when I’d hang him up in one of our warehouses—by his balls.
It would give him all the time to think about his mistakes. Plenty of opportunity to beg Jade for forgiveness.
“So? You gonna tell me what you’re doing here?” Andrei stood in the kitchen, his arms crossed and his tone reprimanding. Jade slinked into the shower as soon as we made it into the house, and he finally caught me alone.
I chuckled, a dark irritation brewing inside me for the first time. Andrei and I had always been on the same page; we always saw eye to eye. But not now.
“What do you want me to say? I like her. I want to spend time with her. Happy?”
He nodded slowly, still leaning against the counter, but all I wanted was for him to disappear.
“You’ve chosen her over us.” He pointed between us, the accusation absolutely wild.
“You’re being dramatic like always, and I—”
“No, no, I’m not. We discussed this. We worked toward this. We’re on the brink of fucking prison, Alex—”
His phone rang loudly and he reached into his pocket as if on instinct, picking it up right away. I stood there and listened to the way he spoke to Olga—gentle, understanding, each word pronounced softly.
“I have to go.” He hung up the phone and headed for the door as if he wasn’t in the middle of a neurotic episode ten seconds ago.
“Olya says she has pains and I—” He suddenly turned to me, halfway across the house.
“I watched what happened here. The head massage, the cooking for her, the crying. The video was a good fucking idea; I’ll give her that. ”
He pointed toward the bedroom where Jade was in the shower, my blood warming at the thought of her in there. But the video he mentioned brought me right back to the tears Jade made herself cry last night.
How fragile she felt in my arms.
And for better or for worse…it worked. Moretti received the video and called an emergency meeting, and another press conference, the details of which Andrei and I were awaiting with anticipation.
“Did you fuck her?”
Andrei’s crude words cut through my thoughts like a hatchet. Jade and the word fucking didn’t exist in the same place in my head. Jade was meant to be loved. Caressed. Worshipped like the goddess that she was.
And only fucked if she wanted it.
“It’s none of your fucking business, Andr—”
“You made it my business, Sasha. The day you fucking laid eyes on her, I fucking knew—”
The shower turned off and we both whipped our heads in the direction of the bedroom. Andrei dropped his voice. “I had a damn premonition that this was going to be a probl—”
“Alex?” Jade’s voice sounded from behind the closed door, my reaction to her voice like that of Pavlov’s dog.
“What’s your plan? You’re going to drag me out of here?” I turned to Andrei, eager for him to get the fuck out.
He scoffed, putting his hands in his pockets. “You asked Maksim to go to your house and get your clothes. And your fucking toothbrush. Did you ask for your razor too? Your bodywash? You moving in with her? With Moretti’s daughter?”
She wasn’t just Moretti’s daughter. No.
She was Jade. Preziosa. Malyshka—my girl. The heathen who loved the beach and the ocean, who smelled like coconut and something else equally sweet, and whose words hit all the right notes inside my heart.
“You planning to take her as your plus one to Kirill’s wedding too?” Andrei added, full of vitriol, but my eyes lit up, and he noticed.
That was the most brilliant idea Andrei ever had! It wasn’t just a friend’s wedding—it was the top man’s wedding. The man who ruled it all. The Tsar. And he would have bulletproof security at his wedding, so it would be the safest place to go with her.
Andrei and I stared at each other, both of us knowing I wouldn’t leave, and there was no way to solve this disagreement without a fist fight.
So, instead of pushing back, he turned on his heels and walked out the front door, letting me breathe easier and mentally plan mine and Jade’s outing together.
Jade squealed, pressing herself into my back. She said she’d never been on a motorcycle before, so I took the opportunity. The heavy leather jacket swallowed all of her, especially in that short little summer dress, and it took her a few seconds to get used to the helmet, but she was excited to go.
And I was excited too. For the first time in months—maybe years—I wasn’t on edge.
Jade requested we go out for tacos, and I knew just the place. Thirty minutes later, we sat at a tiny table in a small restaurant, the place filled with live music and plenty of privacy.
“Is this how you get dates? Kidnap women and then take them out for drinks?” Jade brought the margarita to her sweet cherry lips and took a tiny lick of the salty rim.
God, she was so beautiful. So light, so incredibly carefree and authentic to herself. But her pain and fear would flash in her eyes here and there. Still fresh. Like that scar.
“Not women. Just you. And who said this was a date?”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and I chuckled, loving all the sides of Jade. “I’ve never had a man undress me with his eyes the way you do. Are you still pretending you’re in the driver’s seat of this whole kidnapping plan?”
Jesus, Jade had no damn filter and it gave me a fucking hard-on.
I leaned on the table too, my lips three inches away from hers. She blinked at me, all the innocence of an angel reflected in her eyes, and it was her duality—her seemingly good girl act with an unhinged mouth that clouded my judgement.
I had a choice. I could take this further, escalate it, flirt harder, make it dirtier, and risk scaring her off.
I wanted to make the first move, damn it, but more than that, I wanted her to know that she was, in fact, in control.
That she would make the decision. That I would—we would—go at her pace.
Jade was in a metamorphosis, perhaps one she didn’t know about, and I wanted to just be there for her.
“I’m sorry I’ve been undressing you with my eyes.” I focused on her lips, and for the thousandth time, my mind tried to calculate what they would taste like. “It’s just that…I can’t help it.”
The bar was filling up with a crowd, and the loud music played, but there was nothing in my eyes except her.
“You’re lost, aren’t you?”
I was.
Absolutely disoriented. Off track. Adrift. Led astray.
"A little bit. I lost my way somewhere between that bite on my hand and your little horror story about Knox."
"That he sucked in bed?" I noticed she’d default to humor when it became too much. "That was indeed a horror story. Never judge a man’s bedroom abilities by the size of his wallet." She turned away for a second, a shy smile on her face.
"Yeah? What do you judge a man by?" I asked, doing my best not to grab her and start peppering her neck and chest with tiny kisses. Her little coy smile was destroying me.
"I don't know, to be honest. Clearly, I wasn't a very good judge. Not that I judged him by his wallet anyway. Maybe the size of a man's nose?" Her gaze dropped to my nose before trailing lower, settling on my hands. "Or...they also say his hands. And maybe…maybe feet.”
She sipped on her margarita again, her smile contagious.
“Wow. Those are very intricate ways to estimate dick size. Does it ever work?”
"Sure.” Jade nodded eagerly. “Same way you guys can guess if a woman is a whore by her outfit." Jade narrowed her eyes at me, referring to that night I called her a whore.
"Okay, that was my bad, but in my defense—" I cleared my throat and sat up, preparing my explanation. “First of all, it's a perfectly legitimate line of work, and second…you made the evening very difficult."
Jade’s shoulders shook with laughter, and she threw her head back, showing off her long neck. That tiny birthmark flashed at me again, my lips zinging at the possibility of kissing her there.
Happiness looked so good on her.
“Jade?” A dangerous and enticing idea flew through my mind when I thought about her happiness. “Do you ever want to get revenge on Knox?”
That bright smile was wiped off her face in half a second. She shook her head quickly, as if the suggestion was preposterous to her. "Revenge? Are you crazy? I don't have a death wish."
"What if you could do something to make it hurt, but he wouldn't have any idea it was you?" I probed deeper to gauge her risk tolerance.
Jade stared at me for a good minute, but then leaned across the table, the curiosity in her voice adorable. "What do you have in mind?"
Perfect answer.
I promised her I’d explain it all once we got there; the drive was about an hour south. Somewhere mid-way, we stopped at an unmarked car repair shop to switch to a car, Jade looking mightily uncomfortable.
"Is this...is this the real kidnapping now?" she asked, both joking and serious, stealing glances at the dim corners of the bare space.
"No. That part’s over." I chuckled. "Can you throw a football or would you rather I do it?" The secrecy was driving her insane, I could practically see the gears grinding in her head.
Stunned, she stuttered, “You can-you can do it."
"Great, then you’ll shoot."
I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want to tell her the plan. Maybe because her fear would kick in again and she’d try to put a stop to it, but if we were already there…she’d take the shot.
We parked a few streets away and I turned to Jade, passing her a black hoodie. “Put this on, please.”
She withdrew it from my hands and looked it over, cautiously complying.
Three minutes later, I pulled her into the bushes right outside the building.
This location was perfect and Xavier’s security was lacking.
The bushes were in a blind spot for one of the cameras, while the others faced in opposite directions.
"Here's what's going to happen.” I stepped behind Jade and spoke into her ear. “You're going to shoot through that large window, preferably somewhere in the middle, and then I’ll do the rest, okay?" I whispered, passing her the handgun, the silencer already in place.
"Sure. And then we’ll go to jail together?" Jade craned her neck to look back at me, and the scent of her skin made me weak in the knees.
"Not unless you want to,” I assured her quietly. “Do you trust me?" I didn't know why I asked that; she really had no reason to.
"Pfft, I don't know, should I?!" Her loud whisper rustled the leaves around us as we stood inside the big bush together, this whole situation becoming comical with every ticking second. "Let's see, here's what I know about you: your first name and that you can cook!”
I opened my mouth to say something, but she held up a finger. “Wait! I also know that you have very poor sleep hygiene and your ex-girlfriend is potentially a stalker. Not much to go off here, to be honest!" She held back her laugh, momentarily forgetting where we were.
I smiled for a second too before breaking the news to her. "This is Xavier’s dealership.”
Jade’s jaw dropped before I could finish the sentence.
“Are you insane?!”
“Completely,” I confirmed as we stared at each other, Jade looking both petrified and amused.
“This is one of his smaller dealerships. We can start here.” I kept talking, helping her feel more at ease. “You’ll shoot and I’ll throw the Molotov cocktail. Then we’ll go home and have some wine. Any questions?”
Jade blinked, trying to find her voice. “But he’ll just claim insurance?”
“Not on this one.”
Her eyes widened again, like she wasn’t expecting such a quick answer. “How do you know that?!”
“Because he cuts corners.” I’d already done the preliminary research. Xavier thought he was untouchable, specifically declining arson coverage on his insurance policy to save money.
“He’ll murder us, Alex!”
Jade’s panic was palpable. While Knox may have been a monumental abusive dickhead, he didn't actually kill anyone. I did.
“He doesn’t kill people. He hurts them. There’s a big difference.” We both knew the meaning of my words. He hurt her. "If you want him dead, just say the word, Jade.”
“I-I…don’t,” she responded, but…she hesitated.
We’d work up to it.
“Then hit him where it hurts, Malyshka. Make his wallet bleed.”
The seconds stretched while Jade mulled it over, and right when I thought this whole thing was a mistake, she acted. Slowly, she turned in my arms and melted back into me, gifting me her softness and the divine scent of her hair.
“Okay. Where do you want the shot again?”
That’s my girl.
I pressed her to me, and she guided my hand onto her stomach, locking us together in this little mischief.
What a great evening—Jade was in my embrace, and we were about to fuck shit up.
"On three," I whispered in her ear. Determined this time, Jade stilled and raised the gun while I adjusted her aim. “One...two...three.”
We did it together.
The bullet smashed through the window, cracking it like thick ice.
"Now, let's make it hurt for him."