Chapter 9 Yakov
Yakov
I knew she wouldn't be able to stay in the car. The fury that floods through my veins is hot and spiky. Even though I know I’d have done the exact same thing in her situation.
I follow the SUV close enough that is she turns in her seat, she could see me, then pull up right behind it when it stops outside of the small gated property that the safehouse sits on.
The doors open and Pav gets out of the driver’s side, opening the back door and waiting for Laurie to climb out. Laney quickly climbs out of the other side, rounding the back of the SUV and coming to help Laurie.
Our eyes meet, and as much as I want to be wrong, I know I won’t be able to fight whatever this is inside me. The urge to be near her, with her, is going to consume me.
It’s late, I should be helping with the clean up and leaving these women to be cared for by the medics and men who aren’t as scary as I am. But I couldn’t leave her and I knew she couldn’t leave her sister.
Her scent still lingers in the car, mixed with leather and the coppery tinge of blood that is pouring from my shoulder wound a little more freely than I’d like.
I don’t move, instead, I watch as she makes her way up to the front door of the safe house, lights already on inside, the other women already there.
Twelve of them in total. I pull out my phone and text Adrik with a few details.
Enough to keep him updated but not so much that it takes me ages to type out.
It’s almost midnight when I finally get out of the car and head inside, no longer able to ignore the wound on my shoulder.
As soon as I enter the house, Laney is there, looking at me with a combination of confusion and curiosity.
"I thought you’d changed your mind," she says quietly, twisting her fingers together.
"About what?" I ask.
Her big eyes drop from mine and it’s clear to anyone who looks at her that exhaustion is warring with what’s left of her adrenaline, and beginning to win.
"Me." Her voice is quiet. Timid almost, like finding Laurie has finally given her body the opportunity to relax, but it’s taken all the fight from her too. I hate seeing her like this. She needs rest.
"No," I say. "I couldn’t even if I wanted to. But you do need to rest. Go be with Laurie while I get patched up."
Her eyes flit to my shoulder and she winces. "You’re going to need stitches," she says.
I lift it slightly to get a better angle. "I've had worse."
"Are you mad at me?" she asks, her eyes scanning my face for the answer.
"You could have stayed in the car like I asked you to. Like you promised you would."
"I couldn’t." She meets his eyes. "I knew she was in there, Yakov, I could feel it. And those women were scared. They needed—"
"They needed someone like you." I cup her face with my good hand, my thumb brushing over her cheek. "Brave. Strong. Refusing to break even when everything is falling apart."
"I'm not—"
"You are." I lean in closer. "Do you have any idea how fucking magnificent you are?"
Her breath catches. "Yakov—"
"I've never wanted anyone the way I want you." My voice drops lower, rougher. "Protecting those women, keeping them together in the face of danger. Seeing you fly at Kaiden and beat the living shit out of him like a wild animal. All I could think was mine. Mine. Mine."
I close the last shred of distance between us, my lips hovering just over hers. "I'm going to kiss you now, and not feel even a tiny bit guilty about it."
The moment Laney's lips touch mine, everything else disappears.
The pain in my shoulder. The blood on my hands. The bodies I left scattered across that warehouse floor. None of it matters. Nothing matters except her mouth on mine, soft and fierce at the same time, tasting like fear and relief and something that makes my entire body go tight with want.
I cup the back of her head, fingers tangling in her hair, and kiss her deeper. She makes a sound alost like a moan and it goes straight to my cock. I want to pull her into my lap, strip her out of those jeans, bury myself inside her until she's screaming my name.
"Fuck," I breathe, breaking the kiss.
"Yeah." Her voice is shaky. "That was..."
"Just the beginning."
She laughs, breathless and a little wild. "What happens next? With all the girls, I mean," she asks.
"They can stay here as long as they need." I reach over and take her hand, bringing it to my lips. "But you're staying with me."
She doesn't argue. Just nods, squeezing my fingers.
"You should get that looked at," she finally says, pulling me through to the living area.
The ground floor has been converted into a medical triage area.
The women are scattered across couches and chairs, some being examined by the medical team I hired, others wrapped in blankets and drinking bottled water.
Kaiden is coordinating everything with his usual efficiency, directing paramedics and keeping the atmosphere calm, albeit with an icepack pressed against his face.
The moment Laney walks through the door, every woman looks up.
Then Macy starts clapping.
It spreads, Faith and Laurie joining in, then the others, until the entire room is applauding. Some of them are crying. All of them are looking at Laney like she's a hero.
She freezes, clearly uncomfortable with the attention.
"You both saved us," Macy says, standing up. Her voice is stronger now, steadier. "But inside that container, when we were all panicking and had just about given up hope, you kept us together. You fought for us. You got us out."
"I didn't—" Laney starts.
"You did—" Faith cuts in. "You made us feel powerful enough to take back control after we thought it was gone for good. Thank you."
Laney's eyes are shining with unshed tears. "I'm just glad you're all okay."
Laurie appears from one of the back rooms, her arm in a sling, but moving under her own power. She comes over and pulls Laney into a hug.
Laney pulls back to look at her sister. "How are you? Your arm—"
"Sprained wrist. Couple of bruised ribs. Nothing serious." Laurie's gaze shifts to me, assessing. "You're the one who found us."
"Yes."
"Thank you." She says it simply, but there's weight behind it. "For getting us out. For..." She glances at Laney. "For keeping my sister safe when she wasn’t thinking clearly."
"She is a menace," I say. "But she knew you were in there and she wouldn’t have let the devil himself stop her from getting to you."
Laurie smiles and wraps her sister in as tight a hug as she can manage with one arm in a sling. "That's very Laney of her."
One of the nurses approaches. "Mr. Korolyov, we should look at that shoulder."
"In a minute." I turn to Kaiden. "Status?"
"Everyone's been checked out. No life-threatening injuries.
Mostly dehydration, malnutrition, some bruising and psychological trauma.
The therapist is talking to them individually, helping them process.
" He lowers his voice. "We're working on getting them home.
Most of them are from Vegas or nearby. A few are from out of state.
We're arranging transport and compensation.
But most of them will be staying here at least a couple of days. "
"Compensation?"
"For their trauma. Whatever they need to get back on their feet." He shows me a tablet with a spreadsheet. "I was thinking fifty thousand each to start, plus ongoing needs."
It's generous. More than generous. But these women lost weeks of their lives to Zajmi's operation. They deserve more than money can buy. And I’ll be recouping it from Zajmi at the very first opportunity.
"Make it a hundred thousand," I say. "And set up a fund for long-term support. Therapy, medical, housing assistance, job placement. Whatever they need for as long as they need it."
Kaiden nods, unsurprised. "I'll handle it."
We follow the nurse through to the kitchen which has been transformed into a make shift clinic. I catch Laney watching me, something soft in her expression.
"What?" I ask.
"Nothing. Just... you're not what I expected."
"What did you expect?" I ask as a nurse removes my shirt, wincing as she pulls it away from where its stuck to the wound
"I don't know. Someone colder, maybe. More..." She gestures vaguely. "Mobster-like."
I scrunch up my face. "I don’t think I like being referred to as a mobster."
Laney rolls her eyes. "But you're also..." She trails off, shaking her head. "Never mind."
The wound is worse than I thought, deep enough that it needs proper stitches, not just field dressing. The nurse cleans it with antiseptic that burns like hell, then starts stitching while Laney holds my good hand and tries not to wince every time the needle goes through my skin.
"You're very calm about this," the nurse says to her.
"I'm good at compartmentalizing." Laney's thumb brushes over my knuckles. "Handle the crisis now, fall apart later."
"Smart woman," the nurse says, tying off the last stitch and sticking n adhesive dressing over it. "Okay, you're done. Keep it clean, change the dressing daily, no heavy lifting for at least a week." She hands me a wad of sterile dressings.
"Thank you."
She cleans up the medical detritus and leaves, closing the door behind her.
Laney and I sit there in the sudden silence, her hand still in mine.
"A week of no heavy lifting," she says. "Does that include carrying women off to your place?"
"You can walk on your own."
"What if I don't want to?"
Heat flares in my chest. "Then I'll carry you anyway and deal with the consequences."
She smiles, but it fades quickly. "I should check on Laurie. Make sure she's really okay. We need to figure out where she's going to stay, how to get her things from the apartment, whether she even wants to stay in Vegas after this…"
"Laney." I pull her closer, until she's standing between my knees. "Your sister is safe. My people will handle logistics. You don't have to fix everything right now."
"I know, but—"
"But you've been in crisis mode for a week, and you don't know how to turn it off." I cup her face, forcing her to look at me. "Let me help you."
"How?"
"Come home with me. Let me take care of you. Just for tonight. Tomorrow we'll handle everything else. But tonight..." I lean in, pressing my forehead to hers. "Tonight, I want you all to myself."
She's quiet for a long moment. Then: "Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yes. I'll come home with you." She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes. "But I need an hour with Laurie first. To talk. To make sure she's really okay. Can you give me that?"
"I can give you whatever you need."