Chapter Ten
Jane stared at the coffee and wondered how she was going to make her escape from the apartment.
She didn’t want to come right out and tell Alexey she needed to get a pregnancy test. He might freak out and that was the last thing she wanted.
It wouldn’t be ideal to freak out her groom.
This was slowly turning into a nightmare.
She didn’t know if she was pregnant. She had done the research, and so far, she didn’t have morning sickness. The scent of coffee was amazing, and other smells were not affecting her. She did have tenderness around her breasts, but Alexey wasn’t exactly gentle when he attacked her breasts.
“How are you feeling?” Alexey asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” she asked. “You and Nikolai were in a car accident last night.”
She spun around, wrapping her hands around his neck.
“We’re good.”
She couldn’t help but look at him shocked. “You’re crazy. Anyone in their right mind would be freaking out from being in a car accident, instead, you brush it off like it is nothing.”
He chuckled. “Babe, it is nothing. We took care of it.”
Jane frowned. “You took care of it?”
He nodded and kissed her lips, running his hands down to her ass.
“That means there was something to take care of.”
“There was,” he said.
“What was it?”
Alexey looked at her.
She refused to back down. “You might as well tell me, because I am not just going to let this go.”
“Morello had sent some guys. He’d paid them a couple of grand to do the hit. They were kids that had just gotten out of prison.”
“Kids?”
“A couple of guys, early twenties, that attempted to steal by running cars off the road. They were trying to take me out last night.”
She cupped his face. “And you and Nikolai are all right? I mean, seriously all right?”
“Yes, we’re fine. We came home, had an amazing pot roast and that chocolate mousse, complete with your favorite homemade ice cream,” Alexey said. “Stop worrying. There is nothing to worry about.”
“He’s never going to stop, is he?”
“He will.”
“When? When he kills you?”
“Vincent is not going to kill me. Running me off the road was not going to kill me.”
“Did he just run you off the road?” Jane asked.
He stared at her.
“I’d like some coffee.”
“What else did he do?” she asked.
“Jane, I took care of it.” He cupped her face.
“Trust me, you do not need to know the rest, and if you think any of this shit is different because I’m with you, then you’re mistaken.
This is exactly what this kind of shit is like.
It doesn’t matter if you’re in my life or not.
There are always men and women out there that want to fucking kill me. ”
“He’s right,” Nikolai said. “Yeah, Morello has a hard-on for you right now, but this is not the first nor the last time this shit will happen. There are gaps between people wanting to kill us, but it’s like a regular soap opera, just different times.”
Jane looked from Nikolai to Alexey.
“And you’re both okay with that?”
Nikolai shrugged. “It’s not stopped us from living our lives, and trust me, it was even worse in the early days when Alexey took over from his dad.
Everyone thought we were all fucking pushovers.
We had to teach them we were not going to be told our place.
” Nikolai took a bite of his apple. “Now, what’s for breakfast? ”
“Nikolai,” Alexey said.
“He’s right. I’m making breakfast.” Jane cupped Alexey’s shoulders. “I’m not trying to nag or cause you stress, or any of those things. I just worry about you.”
Nikolai let out a little sigh. She couldn’t help but laugh as Alexey rolled his eyes.
“If I beat the crap out of him and bury his body, you’d lie for me, right?” he asked.
She held her hand up with the engagement ring on. “Of course. I follow your lead.”
“Oh, shit, is that turning anyone else on?” Nikolai asked. “I think I need to find myself a good woman like the one you’ve got. She is really something.”
Jane laughed and turned her attention back to Alexey, and he was looking right into her eyes.
“Yeah, she really is.”
It was the strangest sensation, but it literally gave her goose bumps. She wasn’t expecting it. He cupped her chin between his fingers and kissed her. She closed her eyes, and for the briefest of moments, she completely forgot Nikolai was there, until he let out a little sigh.
She pulled away, and when she glanced toward him, he had his hands together, looking all dreamy.
“You two steal my heart.”
Jane laughed, quickly averted her gaze, and grabbed some bacon and eggs out of the fridge.
“Shut the fuck up,” Alexey said.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Jane asked. She had a feeling it would result in her staying here at the apartment, working on that dreadful sweater that seemed to develop more holes as she worked.
“I’m taking you to go and look at dresses,” Alexey said.
This surprised her. “Dresses?”
“Yes, you’re going to want a wedding dress, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Well, yeah, I guess. But I figured you’d have them come to me.”
“Nah, we’re going to them. Also, be warned, you won’t be having any girlfriends with you. It’ll be me, Nikolai, Makar, and Igor.”
Jane frowned. “Isn’t it bad luck for you to see my wedding gown?”
“I can always turn my back, and you and the guys can choose which one is the favorite. You can name them, one, two, three, or something like that without me knowing.”
“Have you always imagined what your wedding day would be like?” Nikolai asked.
“No, I haven’t.”
Jane cracked each egg into a jug before adding them to the bowl.
She absolutely hated getting shell into her scrambled eggs, so she was always careful.
Also, there was one time she didn’t do it this way to save on dishes, and one of the eggs had been off and had ruined the other eggs in the bowl.
She had never gotten a bad egg since, but that memory had stayed with her.
She looked back at the two men, and they looked confused. “What?” she asked.
“You never thought about getting married? Or imagined walking down the aisle?” Nikolai asked.
“Are you telling me you two have imagined getting married?” Jane asked.
“No.”
Jane laughed. “Look, I know the books and movies paint a picture of all women looking at wedding photos and pretty dresses and all that. I just wanted to have a family, and seeing as from a young age I was blatantly told that was never going to happen, you kind of cut off everything other people have.”
“That’s just sad.”
“But it’s true,” she said.”
“It can’t be true,” Nikolai said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be enjoying this breakfast and about to go and find you the perfect wedding dress, would we?”
That was also true, and she couldn’t argue with him.
She got the breakfast underway and couldn’t help but wonder if this could be her chance to get to that pregnancy test kit without Alexey knowing.
****
Alexey had never taken time in a wedding dress shop. This had never been something he thought he would ever experience himself.
Nikolai, Igor, and Makar were delving into the experience and had even opened the expensive bottle of champagne. Jane had declined a glass, while his friends each filled their glasses to the rim.
Jane had already been out in two dresses. Both had been pretty, but none gave him the wow factor.
While his friends sat on the small sofas the large changing room provided, he kept guard.
His men were outside of the shop, while he had another within the shop. He’d paid extra to have the shop to themselves, so Jane could enjoy the whole experience. She didn’t have any female friends, in fact, she didn’t have any friends. She never kept in touch with anyone from her past.
Jane stepped out from behind the curtain. This dress didn’t have any straps and looked quite tight around the bust. It had pushed her tits up high, and she seemed to wriggle a little.
“No,” Nikolai said. “You look like you’re being squeezed and I hate to say it, it does not look appealing.” He let out a gasp. “Does anyone else think I should change my profession? Maybe I could offer my advice to brides.”
Jane laughed. “You’re not exactly doing a good job of it. I have yet to choose a wedding dress.”
“We’re going to find you one. Did you guys not see the river of dresses out there?” Nikolai pointed behind him. “If we don’t find a dress here, where will we find a dress? It’s like the island of wedding dresses.”
Alexey didn’t like this dress either.
The next three were okay. One looked like a more luxurious summer dress. Another had too many feathers. Some were uncomfortable just by the expression on Jane’s face.
Alexey watched her and saw that as the day wore on, she did start to have a lot of fun. She followed his friends’ advice, gave a little twirl and a bow.
He had a feeling they were not going to find a dress until she came out, and he was completely dumbstruck.
It was a combination of lace that teased the body beneath and what appeared to be white silk.
It could have been any fabric, but the details were stunning.
The lace decorated the valley between her breasts and curved around her hips, and the spaces between were covered in white that also had a decorative embroidery on it bringing it all together.
“Wow,” Nikolai said.
Jane had also let her hair down, and she looked so beautiful. He saw her coming down the aisle toward him, glowing.
“You like this one?” Jane asked.
“It looks amazing,” Makar said, speaking up for the first time.
“What do you think?” Igor asked.
Jane turned toward the mirror and looked at her reflection. “It’s so beautiful, and it feels so comfortable. I love it.” She turned back toward the group. “It’s expensive,” she said, warning them.
“I don’t give a fuck about the price. If this is what you want, then this is what you’ll have,” he said, closing the distance between them.
“But you’ve seen the dress. Isn’t that bad luck?” she asked.
“No, it’s not.” He cupped her chin and tilted her head back. “Tell me it’s what you want.”
He wanted her to start telling him what she wanted, and he would gladly give it to her.
“It’s what I want.”
“I think we should give them a moment,” Makar said.
“No, I think we should get popcorn and watch the show. This is better than any rom-com, and no, I don’t know that because I’ve seen a whole lot of rom-coms.”
He looked at Jane as she smiled, but his friends left. Actually, Makar and Igor left and pulled Nikolai out of the room.
“You look stunning,” he said.
“It’s expensive.”
“I told you, I don’t give a fuck about the cost.”
“Are you sure about this?” she asked. “It’s ... a lot.”
“I know, but it’s for you, and that is enough.” He took possession of her lips. “Nothing bad is going to go wrong. I’ve seen you, and trust me, I still want you.”
He banded an arm around her waist and pulled her in close. Alexey let her feel how much he wanted her.
She let out a gasp. “Is that the dress doing all the talking?
“No, that’s all you. It’s not about the dress. It’s about the woman behind the dress.” He took possession of her lips and moaned. She was everything.
Nothing could ever spoil this moment.
Jane put her hands on his shoulders. “Wait, wait, I feel there is something I need to tell you, and I don’t want you to freak out. I was going to try and get one and take it in secret so we didn’t have the awkwardness.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“I’ve skipped my period. Actually, I’ve skipped a couple of periods, and I know sometimes stress can be the cause.
You know the whole ... someone wanting to kill me, but there can be other reasons, and we’ve not used a condom, and well, when you have sex enough and you get lucky or unlucky, depending on the way you view it, babies start to happen.
I don’t feel any differently, and I don’t know if I am pregnant, but we’re not exactly being careful, and babies can happen when people have a lot of sex.
Well, we’ve been having a lot of sex, and I am starting to feel like I’m rambling. Am I rambling?”
“Yeah, you are,” he said. “But don’t worry, I kind of like it.”
She laughed. “Oh, good, but that still doesn’t change the fact we’ve got to get a pregnancy test kit. Do you think we could get one?” she asked, and she nibbled her lip, looking a little worried. Did she think he was going to say no?
“We’ll pick one up.”
She smiled and it lit up his whole world. “That’s good.”
“I’m going to kiss you now. You’ve got nothing else you want to say to stop me?”
She looked up, and her eyes went from left to right as if she was trying to think of something. “Nah, I can’t think of anything.”
And now, he was going to kiss her.
“Incoming!”
Alexey didn’t have much time as he saw the car plough into the window, and he had no choice but to shove Jane out of the way of the oncoming car.
He grunted as the car hit him, but it wasn’t hard, just enough to send him a few feet across the room. He fell into a bunch of wedding dresses, and he was a little dazed.
The sound of Jane’s scream pulled him out of his daze, as he fought his way out of the dresses in time to see Jane being pulled into the car, even as she fought. She was not going without a fight, and Alexey growled as he saw a man strike her.
Pulling out his gun, he started to fire as the car pulled out, and he stumbled against the debris, which made him drop his gun.
He yelled in anger, grabbed his gun, and took off, running out of the shop that was now nothing more than a giant mess, with dresses all over, and dirt, and wood and brick.
Alexey ran out of the wedding dress shop and fired his weapon.
“You’ve got to stop,” Makar said. “You could hit someone.”
There were people on the street, cowering.
Alexey could only see red.
He had promised Jane that nothing bad was going to happen, and then he’d just seen her stolen right before his eyes.
“Morello!” he yelled.
He couldn’t bring himself to say words. The anger was so acute. He had fucked up, big time. He’d taken his eye off the ball, and now Jane was out there.
“We’ve got this, man, we can deal with this. Jane is going to be okay,” Makar said. “But we’ve got to get moving.”
They had a few people who acted as spies in the Morello camp. It was time to pay them a visit.