Chapter Twenty-Four
Blood has never looked as good as it does splattered across Vivienne’s face. She looks like a grim reaper standing in the middle of my warehouse with bodies scattered around her. The prettiest grim reaper I’ve ever seen.
Her delectable body is hidden from me by jeans and a gray sweater. My hands flex around my gun as I remember how it felt to hold her. To fuck her. Last night was supposed to be a one-time thing. I promised myself I’d only do it once. Then, I’d do the right thing. The brotherly thing and let Kaz have her. All of that went up in flames the instant her lips touched mine. One time won’t be enough. It never could be. I need her. The same way my brother does.
I didn’t get a chance to talk to Kaz this morning between Dmitri’s crap and the small-time gang that attempted to take over one of my businesses. But I hope he is ready to share for the rest of his life. I’ve never been one to share. I’ve always been a jealous man, but it wasn’t jealousy that I felt last night while Vivienne rode my cock and sucked my brother’s. It was something else entirely.
“Mikhail?” Vivienne says, standing in front of me with her forehead creased.
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Fine. Just… distracted.”
She gives me a look, and I wonder if she knows my mind is stuck on her.
“Right. Well, you have a visitor.”
Vivienne points behind me. Her hands are bloody. Most women I know wouldn’t be here, much less be covered in blood. But Vivienne isn’t most women. I think that’s why Kaz, and I like her so much. She’s a breath of fresh air. She doesn’t fear us or see dollar signs when she looks at us. She sees us for what we are, and she doesn’t ask to change. No, all Vivienne wants is for us to bring her along while we raze the Earth. She’s a fucking queen, and if I have my way, she’ll be the Volkov queen.
My gaze moves from Vivienne’s hands to the doorway. Melor, one of my foremen, stands there. He’s older than me by a decade.
“Melor,” I say, speaking English. “Did we lose anyone?”
Every man who works for me knows the language. It helps when doing business in public.
“No,” he replies. Stepping into the room, his clear eyes immediately fall on the bodies behind me. “The Krysy again?”
“Looks like it.”
The Krysy are a local gang of young men. As the name suggests, they’re rats, but they usually only cause minor annoyances until now. Today, they thought it would be smart to break into one of my plants and steal some of the drugs we manufacture here. Of course, the fourteen men who thought that are too dead to think now. But why are they getting braver?
“Did something seem different to you about them?” I ask Melor.
“They were more organized. More trained,” he replies.
“Find out what’s changed with them. If they’ve made a new friend, I want to know.”
“Sir,” he nods.
“I’ll have a clean-up crew sent out tonight. Give the guys the rest of today off. Sorry this happened, Melor.”
“It’s not your fault, sir, and you know I’m more than happy to defend you.”
I bow my head towards him in gratitude. I’ll have to make sure everyone who works in this plant gets a nice bonus. This kind of danger isn’t run of the mill for us. I run a tight ship over my land, and it’s rare that someone steps out of line. That’s why I’m so curious as to why the Krysy decided to take the leap. Or were they pushed by someone else?
Melor turns to leave. His exit leaves me alone with Vivienne. I look at her and find her already looking at me. Her face colored with astonishment.
“What?”
“The three of you just aren’t the monsters I imagined you to be. Well, two of you aren’t.”
I step close to her. My hands settle on her hips, pulling her into my chest. Pride swells in me when her arms drape around my neck.
“Oh, sweetheart, we’re monsters. Just not with you.”
“Why?”
I shrug, her arms rising and falling with my shoulders. “Maybe because you’re a monster too.”
Her blue eyes dance with amusement. She leans more into me, not scared of getting blood on my white shirt. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
I cup her face, smearing the specks of blood off her pale skin. Crashing my lips to hers, I kiss her. She gasps into my mouth before tightening her arms around me. Her hands fisting the back of my shirt.
Our kiss deepens, a fiery desire forming between us. The rest of the world fades away, leaving only the way her lips feel against mine. How good it feels as our tongues slide together, locking in place like perfect puzzle pieces. Her peppermint taste mingles with need. I can feel her heart pounding away in her chest, just as mine is.
Letting my hands fall from her hips to her ass, I pick her up. Vivienne wraps her legs around my waist. The heat of her pussy floods through my pants. It’s an instant wake-up call for my cock. Better than Folgers.
Blood travels to my dick at lightning speeds, leaving my head spinning. My cock thickens. I feel more beast than man as I fight back the urge to toss her to the ground and fuck her right here. In a dirty warehouse with fourteen dead bodies around us. The loss of blood is causing a loss in rationale.
I pull back, letting her breathe again. My chest palpitates as I stride out of my warehouse. Melor stands just outside the door. I pause to speak to him.
“Lock this door behind me. No one is allowed inside this part of the plant until I say so, and I want everyone out of here within the hour.”
“Yes, sir.”
The frozen wind blows as I trek on. Snow crunches beneath my heavy footsteps. Vivienne snuggles into my neck. Her hair falls down my back as she lays her head on my shoulder. It’s such a small thing, but something about it just hits me. Makes me feel like the biggest man on Earth.
It’s funny. I used to crave the approval of a giant, someone I considered superhuman most of my life. Now, the only approval I want belongs to a wisp of a woman who has probably killed more men than the devil himself. All those years I spent chasing after my father’s validation mean nothing. Because I should’ve been worried about being a good man for Vivienne. Making a home for her. She’s all the validation I need. But things worked out how they were meant to work out. No need to dwell on that now. I have better things to do.
I slip my hand into my pocket as we near my black SUV. The car honks as I unlock it. Pulling open the back door, I deposit Vivienne in the back seat before climbing in behind her. She scrambles to sit up. Snow falls from her boots down to the car liner, and it starts to melt. Her eyes are still dark with lust.
Refusing to give her even a nanosecond to think twice, I capture her lips again. I’m not gentle or slow. I kiss her like it’s the last time I ever will. Her taste is my new addiction. If today was my last day, if I only had minutes left on this begrudged planet, I would want to spend every one of them tasting her.
I push her coat off her shoulders. Vivienne pulls away, only long enough to rip her shirt over her head. I catch sight of her plain black bra before she kisses me once more. Her lips are fervent as they move against mine.
Vivienne runs her hands over my chest before unbuttoning the buttons on my shirt. I reach back and undo Vivienne’s bra. It slips off, setting her nipples free. I pull away to admire her.
“God,” I sigh. “You’re so fucking sexy.”
“So you’ve said,” she replies, taking her last bit of clothing off.
I pull Vivienne into my lap. She straddles me, her wet pussy right over my cock. The temptation to plunge home is too much.
Breaking our kiss, I spin Vivienne around. I slap her ass, loving how beautifully it jiggles. Yanking Vivienne’s back against my chest, I spread her legs out over my knees. I lift her just enough to push the tip of my dick inside her silky hot pussy. Her eyes widen as I shove her down all ten inches of me.
“Mikhail,” she moans.
“You feel so fucking good, baby.”
Her appreciation for my words of praise drips down my balls. I reach up, wrapping my hand around her throat. Using my hold on her, I propel her up and down. Her cunt sucks me in, coiling around every veiny ridge of my manhood. She pulses around me in a silent plea for my release.
Vivienne’s moans grow louder with every punch of my hips. I squeeze her throat a little tighter, cutting off her airway a little more. She looks back at me. The blue in her eyes is made of curiosity and craving. I don’t look away as I thrust harder and harder. The car fills with the sounds of Vivienne’s strangled groans and the harmony of our bodies moving together.
Our breaths grow stuttered as we fall deeper into our salacious dance. Vivienne grips my thighs, pinching the skin of them between her nails. The bite of pain is like an electric jolt to my balls. I feel like I could come at any moment. Gritting my teeth, I hold myself back. She arches her back, drawing me further into her wet heat.
Her body quakes, and juices run down my shaft. There’s so much desperation in her eyes. She’s begging to come. Begging to be set free. The car rocks from the force of our passion. I feel her muscles tighten around me, and I know she’s on the brink.
“There you go, baby. You’re doing such a good job taking me,” I groan. “You’re going to make me come.”
She lets out a guttural cry as her orgasm encases her. Her tight body convulses around me, milking me for everything I’m worth. I spiral, falling into a deep sea of pleasure as my seed pours out of me in waves.
I release Vivienne’s throat. She gasps and coughs as she drinks in a fresh breath. I’m pleased as I take in the red fingerprints I left behind.
“They’re totally going to know what we did,” I taunt.
“Shut up,” she sighs, leaning back against me.
We’re both panting. Our hearts hammering in sync with the throbbing between our legs. After last night, I knew I was an idiot for thinking I could fuck her out of my system, and this only proves that. I just had her, but I already want her again. It’s as if she gets embedded further under my skin the more I’m inside of her.
“We should go home,” she says. “Kaz will be looking for me.”
I smile. Home. She called the Volkov estate home. I can overlook that she’s thinking about my little brother while my come is still leaking out of her sore cunt. As long as she keeps thinking of this as her home.
***
Dmitri is waiting for us the moment we step through the doorway. Vivienne sighs and turns to look at me.
“I’m going to shower. I’ll see you later.”
I give her a kiss. “I’ll come find you when I’m done with him.”
She nods before walking away. I hear her and Kaz talking around the corner from us, but I can’t understand them.
“Where the hell were you two?” Dmitri asks. “You’ve been gone for hours.”
“The Krysy attacked warehouse twenty-eight. Vivienne and I went to help the guards out.”
“You took Vivienne on a job with you? Are you fucking serious right now? You showed her one of our plants?”
He starts to pace, flabbergasted that I would do such a thing. That pisses me off. I might let my brothers have a lot of opinions in this family, but I’m still the one in charge.
“Fuck off, D.”
He gives me a look. “Mikhail, she stole from us.”
“No,” I reply, stepping closer to him. “The Taylors stole from us. But even if it had been her, we’ve already made back what they took. Stop acting like this is about the money.”
“Of course, it’s about the goddamn money.”
I shake my head. “Look, D, I get it. You live with more guilt than any man should, and you’ve done it for twenty years now. But she’s here, and she’s not going anywhere. It’s time for you to face the past and make your peace with it. It’s what your mother would have wanted.”
“Don’t fucking tell me what she would want. If she were here, she’d want me dead, Mikhail. Don’t pretend otherwise. Get rid of the girl, or I will.”
I grab Dmitri by his collar. “Do I need to send you away?”
“E-excuse me?”
“I will. I will send you to live and work in Vegas for the foreseeable future if you don’t stop threatening her. She is here. She is staying. She is mine, and she is Kaz’s,” I tell him, getting right in his face. “Get. Used. To. It.”
“Or get out,” Kaz completes, rounding the corner with Vivienne’s lipstick stained across his lips.
“You’re really going to do this to me?” Dmitri asks.
“You’re doing this to you,” I reply. “I’m not asking for you to be her best friend; I’m just asking for you to respect her enough to leave her the hell alone.”
“She’s going to be your sister-in-law,” Kaz adds. “The least you can do is get along.”
“For you or for him?” Dmitri asks, looking at me.
“For us.”
Dmitri’s eyes fill with jealousy. I release him and step back. My mind whirring with a million different thoughts. This whole time, I thought this was about Dmitri’s guilt over what happened when he was fifteen. But maybe I’m wrong.
“You want her too, don’t you?” I rasp, my body rigid as I wait for his answer.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dmitri scoffs. “I don’t want her. I just want her gone.”
The honesty in his eyes outshines the lie escaping his mouth. My little brother wants Vivienne the same way Kaz and I do. He just doesn’t think he deserves her, and after the way he’s treated her, I can’t say he’s wrong.
My phone beeps with a text message. Slipping my hand into my pocket, I pull it out, hoping it’s not another crisis. I’m surprised to see Vivienne’s brother’s name on my phone. Swiping up to see his message, I break out into a smile.
“Keep telling yourself that, D. But after tonight, no more talk about the money.”
I push my phone into his hands so he can see the video Declan sent. It was stamped just a few seconds before the first batch of money was sent through the casino. Bristol is the only one at her computer. You can clearly see she’s alone. There’s no Vivienne in the room forcing her to steal our money like Dmitri assumes.
“Fine,” Dmitri concedes.
He has the guts to look disappointed. I get it. If he could pin the theft on her, he wouldn’t have to worry about how he feels for her. But no such luck. She’s innocent, and he has to make peace with that.
My phone beeps once more. I take it from my brother just in time to see a new message from Declan.
Here’s your proof. Now give my sister back to me.
I don’t even have to think before I type out a one-word reply.
No.
The thought of Vivienne leaving me feels like the teeth of a sharp whip cutting through my skin. I can’t lose her. Refusing to give her back might start a war. But I don’t care. I’d start and finish a thousand wars if it meant keeping her.