Chapter Eight
After enjoying some dancing and sitting in the booth, Jane excused herself to go to the bathroom. Alexey insisted on going with her, even though she was more than happy to go by herself. He waited outside.
She was in one of the stalls when a few women came inside.
“Did you see that hunk of man meat out there?” one of the women said.
The only man that had been waiting was Alexey.
“I bet he has a nice, big cock and knows exactly how to use it.”
“I would ride him for days.”
“Did you see the woman he was with?”
Jane tensed up. There were a few agreements, but a couple of resounding nos.
“Well, I’m pretty sure if you hurry up and get out there, you’d be able to swing his head. Plain girl. She must be his sister or something.”
“You don’t kiss your sister like that.”
There was a chorus of giggles, and Jane felt even more mortified. People who didn’t even know her, gossiping about how she was not right for Alexey.
She had known from the start when they had sex, that this would not go anywhere. For the last few weeks, she’d been living on cloud nine, and it made absolutely no sense that Alexey would even want her.
The women said a few more things, but Jane didn’t need to hear any more. She waited a few minutes, because the happiness she had moments ago evaporated.
Stepping out into the main bathroom, she avoided looking in the mirror. No one ever looked in her direction.
As she washed her hands, she tried to ignore the pain of a lifetime of rejection. She lifted her head and stared at her reflection. She was not a “looker,” not a keeper.
She thought about all the people that had come and gone throughout her life over the years.
Even Steve had told her that not many men would consider her a potential partner.
She was more a friend than a partner or lover.
He was doing her a favor by being her first. It had been the worst experience in the world.
“Tell me what is going on in your head right now.”
Jane gasped and looked at Alexey as he moved in to trap her against his rock-hard body and the sink.
“Alexey, what are you doing in here? When did you come in?”
“When those bitches came out and attempted to gain my attention. One of them said some nasty shit, and she’s had her ass dragged out of the club. I figured they had something to say, and that is why you’re still here and not coming back to me.”
“I’ll be out in a minute. I was just washing my hands.”
“And losing that smile you came in here with.”
She stared at him in the mirror. “I’m just washing my hands.”
Alexey put his hands on her waist and kissed her shoulder. “Then, while you’re washing your hands and doing a thorough job of it, you’re going to tell me what is going on inside that head of yours.”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me, Jane. We’re not like that, and you’re going to tell me the truth.”
“I was just thinking how those women—some of them, maybe all of them—should be the women at your side,” Jane said. “I’m plain. I’m boring. I’m not the one for you.”
“So, you’re willing to step aside for a nasty bitch, who faced with certain death would just let me get shot in the face?” Alexey asked.
“I’m not pretty.”
He spun her around and cupped her face. “And do you think I give a shit about that?”
“I’ve always wanted to be pretty,” she said. “I’ve not wanted to be beautiful, but at least pretty would have meant that someone wanted me, right?”
She hated feeling this way and had never spoken like this before to anyone.
Tears filled her eyes, and she didn’t want to cry in front of him.
This was awful. It had been a long time since she cried about herself.
Tears were useless. They were not going to change, and she had accepted what she was. She hated how weak this made her feel.
“Look at me,” he said.
She had been staring at his chest. This was mortifying. Jane forced herself to look at him, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. She hated feeling this vulnerable and lost.
“It’s not about what anyone else wants or says they want.
It’s about what I want, and I look at you, Jane, and it’s you I want.
I don’t give a fuck if you’re not the most beautiful woman in the world.
That night, you saved me. People can call it whatever they fucking want, but you are a fighter.
You didn’t look the other way. You killed for me, and that means more to me than anything else. I see beauty when I look at you.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“I do, because you’re never going to see what I see.
I see a fighter. I see a loyal woman, that up until me, kept a secret that saved children.
You’re everything I could ever want. You’re worth going to war for.
Those women out there turn their heads at a pretty face.
They want to fuck me, fine. There are a lot of guys they want to fuck.
You’re mine, Jane. You’re who I want, you’re who I’m with, and nothing is going to change that. ”
He took possession of her lips, and this was fire.
“And nothing is ever going to change that.”
He wiped under her eyes, wrapped an arm around her waist, pulled her in close, and without another word, they were out of the bathroom and onto the dance floor. There was no time to ask questions, or to second-guess what was going on.
Alexey had her in his arms, they danced, and it felt so magical. She didn’t want it to end. All the doubts from the women faded away, and all that mattered was the two of them. By the end of the night, Jane was more than ready to go home.
Rather than sit in her own seat, she moved to straddle Alexey’s lap, feeling the hard ridge of his cock as she thrust down against him.
“You’re like fucking fire, Jane,” he said.
His lips went to her neck, and she cried out. This was dangerous and scary, but it felt so good. Jane was happy to be where she was in this very moment, with Alexey. She would die for him, that she knew for certain. He was everything to her.
Jane knew she was falling for Alexey, and it was the scariest feeling in the world.
****
Alexey stepped out of his car and glanced across the parking lot of the abandoned diner. They were out in the middle of nowhere. He and Vincent Morello. A meeting Vincent had called.
Alexey had been tempted to miss it, but Vincent wanted to call a truce. Vincent was not only leaking wealth, his allies were fleeing from him. He was only as powerful as his connections.
Alexey was more than happy to keep this war between them. The damaged casinos could be fixed. The women that had been killed were easily replaced. Nothing had been hit too hard.
“You’re a fool,” Vincent said.
Alexey laughed. “You don’t start negotiations by calling your enemy a fool.”
Vincent didn’t look too great. They had enjoyed many meetings over the years. He never liked the man opposite him and often felt like he was a fucking snake, waiting to strike. He fucking hated him. But taking out Morello was not the most ideal situation at the time.
“You called this meeting, Morello, I suggest you start talking.”
“I want the girl,” Vincent said. “The girl, and everything goes away.”
Alexey shook his head. “You want everything to go away. The girl lives, she stays with me, and you remove the price you have on her head.”
“Not going to happen. That bitch killed my son.”
Alexey smiled. “That bitch saved my fucking life.”
He saw Vincent’s hands clench into fists.
“I wonder if you have told the rest of your crew that you’re choosing a war your son started. I mean, Frank, was he really a good boy? Last I heard, your little clan was getting tired of all the bullshit and trouble he had breathing down his neck.”
Alexey watched Vincent, and it was then he realized that Frank was acting on his own once again. Vincent was treating this as an attack.
Alexey laughed. “They don’t know, do they? They don’t know that the girl you seek to kill helped them all. Killing Frank stopped them from killing me. It was an attack on the Baranov Bratva and nearly destroyed our very unstable alliance.”
“It was not her place.”
“But you didn’t give the order, and it was not Frank’s place to be there,” Alexey said. “There is only one way this will go, you back off and leave the girl alone. You keep coming, and you’re going to regret it.”
“I could just kill you now,” Vincent said, but his hands were still at his sides.
Alexey smiled and took one step in front of another, then another, until he was toe-to-toe with the man in front of him.
“Go ahead, do it. Do you think that will end well for you? If you kill me, you think my boys will let it go unpunished? I’m not my father, Morello. I’m no coward. You’ve got too much political bullshit to make that call.”
He stared at Morello, and he didn’t back away.
Alexey never thought it was going to happen, but he watched as Morello finally looked away. Vincent Morello was a coward. He was happy to play the big man when he thought he was the only big man around, but he was nothing.
Alexey stood his ground and watched as Vincent Morello went back to his car, climbed in, and then pulled away.
It was not a very promising meeting, and it pissed him off that Vincent had wasted his time.
Less than ten minutes later, Alexey caught sight of Makar’s car coming toward him. His friends arrived, and from the look on their faces, they were not happy. They looked pissed off, as they all climbed out of the car, including Nikolai.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Igor asked.
“Do you think you can do this on your own?” Nikolai asked.
“Nothing happened.”
“You’re lucky nothing happened.” Makar glared at him. “If he had killed you, then what?”
“He wasn’t going to kill me,” Alexey said. “He wanted to make a deal.”
“We all know what kind of deal he wants to make, and it’s not the good kind.” Nikolai shook his head. “I didn’t think you were this much of a fucking idiot.”
“Easy,” he said. He was not going to allow his friends to call him names.
“You could have died. He could have killed you.”
“He wants Jane,” Alexey said.
“We all know he wants Jane. She had the balls to do what no one else ever has. She fucking killed him, and it was fucking beautiful,” Makar said.
Alexey laughed. His friends adored Jane. There was no way they were going to let her go.
“He will always try and get Jane,” Nikolai said. “It doesn’t matter what happens.”
Alexey looked between his friends. “I could marry her.”
Everyone looked at him, and Alexey waited for them to weigh in on his decision.
“Don’t you think that is a little extreme?” Makar asked.
“No. if I marry Jane, that makes her Bratva property. We all know Vincent has to go through the proper protocols with his little fucking clan. They must agree on everything, and right now, no one would agree to put a hit out on a Bratva bride.” It also meant he could marry Jane, which is exactly what he wanted.
“Dude, marriage is, like, real,” Makar said. “It’s not a game.”
“He’s not playing a game,” Igor said. “He’s not making this suggestion to help Jane. He’s making it because he wants to marry her, don’t you?”
Alexey looked between his friends, and at first, he didn’t say a word, then he nodded. “Yes, I want to marry Jane.”
“Marriage is permanent,” Nikolai said.
“Well, is it really? He could get divorced,” Makar said.
“No, if he marries Jane, he sticks with her. We all know this,” Nikolai said. “I guess what we need to know is what do you want to do?”
“I want to marry Jane,” Alexey said. “She’s mine. I’m not giving her back. Without even knowing me, she killed for me, and you can’t buy that kind of loyalty. No one can.”
Jane was one of a kind. He wanted to make memories with her.
“Then it’s agreed. You marry Jane, and when that happens, we take care of Morello once and for all,” Nikolai said.