Vadim
“Did you open the curtains?”
It’s a stupid question. Of course she did. She’s the only other one in here.
“I did,” she says, lifting her chin. “Sue me.”
“Close them.”
Her defiance falters under my tone. “Why?”
“Because I told you to.”
She stares at me. Daylight fills the room, harsh enough to make pressure build behind my eyes before I push it back. I keep my expression controlled.
Her attention moves over my face. “You don’t like the light.”
“I don’t like people changing things in my bedroom.”
“Your bedroom resembles a crypt.”
“Close the fucking curtains, Taisiya.”
She does it slowly. The room darkens, and the pressure eases.
I catch the flash of understanding in her expression when she turns from the window. I don’t want her understanding me. I don’t want her noticing anything I haven’t chosen to show her.
She faces me. “You could’ve said please.”
“I could’ve. I didn’t. Besides, you could’ve asked before you opened my curtains.”
She swallows. “Okay, that’s fair. I apologise.”
I stare at her, stunned. It’s the first time she has stopped snapping at me since Anton started shooting up my club. “So you have a softer side.”
“I have many sides. Currently, I’m in defensive mode.”
I scoff quietly. “I understand that more than most.”
She chews her bottom lip. “I don’t know what to do,” she whispers after an uncomfortable beat.
The admission strips the fight from her voice.
I prefer the fight.
“Sit down,” I say.
She considers arguing before lowering herself onto the chair near the window. The cardigan covers most of her hands. My clothes hide her body, but her bare legs remain visible beneath the tee as she pulls her knees up and stretches my tee over them. I drag my attention back to her face.
“What you do next is simple,” I say. “You stay here.”
“That isn’t simple. I have a Bratva family after me.”
“You also now have a Bratva family protecting you. One far more powerful than the Melnikovs. They are lowlife pieces of shit. Not worthy to hold the Bratva title,” I spit out.
She stares at me. “I didn’t realise the Bratva were so full of honour.”
“They are in some ways. You were in my club when Anton came in. He might’ve been looking for me, but it makes no difference.
The Melnikovs know I didn’t do it now. I killed their pakhan, but another one has already been chosen.
Make no mistake, this does not end with Anton.
” I crouch down in front of her. Her grey-green eyes are wide with worry, shining with tears she won’t shed in front of me.
“The Voronov’s protection means more than you can possibly understand. ”
“I’ve never heard of you until yesterday,” she whispers.
“That doesn’t mean jack shit, Taisiya.”
“Call me, Tai,” she mutters, and then her shoulders sag. “What am I doing?”
“You’re surviving.”
“That’s a generous description.”
“It’s accurate.” I rest my forearms on my thighs, close enough to catch her if she decides to bolt, far enough that she doesn’t feel trapped. “You defended yourself. You found someone who could help. You came to me despite being terrified. Those were smart decisions.”
“I cleaned the knife and washed my clothes too.”
“See smart.”
Her eyes close. “How is that smart?”
“The police are not your friends. Not when you are dealing with a Bratva murder.”
“It wasn’t murder. I didn’t plan it.”
“You planned it enough to walk around with a knife in your bag.”
“My bag,” she croaks and looks around.
“It’s downstairs. Do you need it?”
Tai shakes her head, eyes closed. “What if they are already looking for me? The police, I mean. What if they find evidence?”
“They won’t.”
Her eyes open again. “You sound very certain.”
“I am.” I need someone at her flat before the police or the Melnikovs get there. The evidence needs removing, cleaned or not. “I’m going to remove anything connecting you to Gregor.”
“The knife is in my dishwasher. I cleaned it, put it back in the block, decided the innocent knives deserved better, used it on a lasagne dish, then put it in the dishwasher again.”
“That might be the most chaotic destruction of evidence I’ve ever heard.”
“I had a difficult morning.”
“The innocent knives?” I ask, the corner of my mouth tugging up.
“You know what I mean,” she mumbles.
I rise carefully and move away from her, trying not to startle her any more than I have to. “We need to go to your flat.”
Silence.
Then she croaks, “We?”
“We. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
“Forgive me if that doesn’t reassure me when the Melnikovs stormed your club earlier.”
“And who won that fight?”
“You did.”
“Exactly. Do you want a shower before we go?”
“Will you be in the room?”
I stare at her, trying to decide if she wants me here or not.
Definitely looks like not, so I say, “Yes.”
“Then I’ll pass.”
She stands up and reaches for her dress, brushing past me to go into the bathroom. She closes the door and locks it.
It clicks with unnecessary force.
I go to the wardrobe and dress in black pants and a black shirt. I roll up the sleeves and fasten my watch when my phone rings.
Baron.
Of course.
I answer. “Before you start, Anton stormed my club and shot it up.”
“You killed him.”
“He tried to shoot me in the face.”
“Your face has always caused problems.”
I smile despite myself.
“What happened?”
I give him the shortened version. Anton arrived, accused me, started shooting, ignored several opportunities to leave, then made a fatal error.
I leave Tai out of it.
Baron stays silent for several seconds. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing important.”
“You’re a bad liar.”
“I’m an excellent liar. You’re just nosy.”
“A little bird told me that Bogdan carried a woman out of the building.”
I grimace. “Who is the little bird because they’re about to get their wings clipped?”
“Who is she, Vad?”
“She came for documents.”
“And Melnikov’s arrival was a coincidence?”
“Seems so.”
“Vadim.”
The warning in his voice would trouble most men. I walk towards the bathroom door and lower mine.
“She killed Gregor.”
The silence this time lasts longer.
“I see. And you are protecting her?”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Beats the shit out of me,” I mutter.
“Vad—”
“Don’t use that warning tone; I know what I’m doing.”
The bathroom door opens, and Tai walks out, black dress on and barefoot. She looks good in my bedroom. Too good.
“Gotta go. Don’t worry, it’s handled.” I hang up knowing I will pay for that later, but right now, there is more than one thing that needs crossing off my to-do list.
Tai stares at me as I shove the phone into my pocket. “Problem?”
“No.” I move closer and back her against the wall.
She gasps when I cup her face and tilt her head back to look at me.
“I’ve been thinking about this since you walked into my office,” I murmur and press my lips to hers.
She freezes, but then her hand comes up to push me away before her fist clenches in my shirt and she pulls me closer.
The kiss turns hard within seconds.
She opens for me with a quiet sound that goes straight through my control. I slide one hand to the back of her neck, holding her in place while I take more. Her fist tightens in my shirt. She drags me closer until my body presses against hers.
All that defiance, all that fear, she puts both into the kiss.
I bite her bottom lip.
Tai sucks in a breath as my other hand settles at her waist. The dress is a thin material that does nothing to hide the heat of her skin. She rises onto her toes, meeting every demand I make.
I want the dress off.
I want her in my bed.
I want to hear my name without anger attached to it.
The need hits too fast. I tighten my fingers on her neck and force myself to slow down. I break the kiss.
Tai’s breathing is ragged, but she looks up at me, her fist still holding me in place.
My hand leaves her neck and slams into the wall next to her head. “You want this?”
Her breath catches, just once, before she drops her hand to my pants.
My lips curve up, and I grip her wrist, tight enough to move her hand from pressing against my cock. “No.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Why?”
The simple question suddenly seems like quantum physics. I release her wrist as if she burned me and cage her in with my other hand on the wall.
“Because you’ve had the worst twenty-four hours of your life, and I don’t know if you want me or if you want to stop thinking.”
Her expression changes. The heat remains, but confusion joins it. “I can want both.”
“You can.” I drop my hands and step back. Every part of me objects. “But I’m not fucking you against a wall while Bogdan stands outside.”
She nearly chokes on her laugh. “Oh, I see.”
“You see nothing,” I say dismissively and turn from her to pull a jacket out of the wardrobe. “Put your shoes on. We’re leaving.”
“That’s it?” she asks behind me.
I shrug into the jacket and face her. Her lips look swollen from my kiss. I did that. The knowledge tests what remains of my restraint.
“What were you expecting?”
“I don’t know. You kiss me, reject me, then announce a trip to my flat.”
“I didn’t reject you.”
“You stopped me from touching you.”
“Temporary delay.”
Her cheeks colour. “Your ego is exhausting.” She grabs one of her boots from the floor and shoves her foot into it before grabbing the second one.
I laugh and open the bedroom door. Bogdan waits on the other side. His eyes shift from me to Tai, and then he hands me the gun and cuffs that I removed downstairs before I came up to her.
Tai’s gaze goes to them, and she chews the inside of her lip. “Do you think you will need that?”
“I always need it,” I reply and shove the gun into the back of my pants while the cuffs go in my jacket pocket.
“You carry handcuffs around?”
“They’re useful.”
“For arresting people?”
“Nope. They are pretty good as a weapon though.”
“Better than a gun?”
“Different situations require different weapons.”
“Hmm, okay. I’ll take your word for it.” She does nothing to make my cock go down when she slips her arms back into the cardigan that I didn’t even know I owned.
Bogdan steps aside, and Tai walks into the hallway. I follow, watching her scan every doorway on the way to the stairs.
Ivan waits in the entrance hall with her tote bag. He passes it to her.
“Thank you,” she says.
“Would you like a late lunch before you leave?”
“I ate lasagne and drank wine this morning.”
Ivan pauses. “I see.”
“It was a bad morning.”
“I understand, madam.”
“Please call me Tai.”
“Of course.”
“Have the guest room prepared,” I tell him.
Tai stops, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Start preparing rooms for me. I’m not staying.”
Ivan looks at me.
“Prepare it,” I say.
“Don’t prepare it,” she counters.
He gives me one respectful nod and walks away.
She glares at me.
I glare back. “He answers to me, not you.”
“How lovely for you. You can drop me off at my flat, and that will end our business.”
“You paid me four grand for a passport,” I point out. “Remember, because you are on the run?”
She stops halfway out the door. “That money is in your office at the club, and we never agreed to terms.”
“Here’s the terms,” I say, grasping her elbow and guiding her towards the Bentley with Bogdan on our arses. “You pay me four grand to protect you until this blows over. How’s that sound?”
I hide my smile as I open the passenger door, watching Bogdan get into the SUV to tail us.
“I hate you,” she says, but gets in the car anyway.