Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Kirill
One week later
“Ty ne mozhesh' byt' takim glupym,” I say. I accept a rag from Edik, and begin to clean the man’s blood off of my brass knuckles. They’re slick. Messy.
“I told you,” the man groans, hanging heavily from his chained wrists, “I don’t even speak Russian!”
“He said you cannot possibly be this stupid,” Edik translates, leaning casually against the basement wall.
The man lets out a pathetic whimper as he hangs his head, blood from his busted lips spattering softly against the cement floor. We’ve been at this for a week now. Punching. Bleeding. Crying. And we have little show for the trouble.
“It was a job,” he wails. “Just another job! It wasn’t personal! I’ve told you everything I know already so just stop, please just stop!”
The man bursts into tears and pathetic sobs, and I grimace.
I hate this type of weakness in men. It sickens me.
I give Edik a nod, and he pulls out the syringe.
I watch, the wheels of my mind spinning as Edik slides the needle into the man’s neck and pushes the plunger down.
The man lets out another terrified sob before he promptly loses consciousness and sags into his chains.
It’s just a tranquilizer, enough to knock the man out for a few hours.
“Should I get the boys to dump him?” Edik asks.
“Not yet,” I reply. “Have them get him down, bring him some food and water, some antibiotics for his wounds. We’ll come back in a couple days and try one more time.”
“I don’t think he has any more information to give us, Pakhan,” Edik replies. Still, as we step out of the basement he gives the orders to two of our guards.
“You heard what he said,” Edik went on as we get into the town car. “The way he described the guy that paid him. Sounds an awful lot like Yulian.”
I give a terse nod. It’s what my mind has been stuck on more than anything.
Yulian could have used the marriage as a cover.
And if that is truly what happened, that meant that Annika was in on it.
It has me questioning everything. Did those men push me toward the club she was coming out of?
Did she always mean to lure me into the Four Seasons? Get pregnant with my baby?
My body hardens with tension as I think it over, the sense of betrayal far greater and more intense than I would ever imagine it.
I thought there was something between us.
Maybe not love, but certainly something greater than lust. But maybe I’m wrong.
Maybe my siren wife is simply an excellent actress.
“It could be a set up,” I say at last.
“Or it could be a trap,” Edik replies. “For your safety we need to get Annika out of the house and-”
“No,” I cut him off, stopping him with a cold stare. “We don’t do anything to her until I say. I have Yana watching her at all times and I’ve already switched Annika’s old phone for one of mine. She hasn’t stepped out of line yet but if she does, we’ll know about it.”
Edik looks at me as if he wants to argue, but he clamps his mouth shut and lets out a steadying breath.
“Very well,” he says to me at least. “But I don’t like this waiting around for her to do something. We should put her through a test.”
I have to admit, Edik has a point. Give her an opportunity to make a move and see what she does.
“The private auction tonight of the Yvaganov estate,” I say.
“I was planning on going anyway. The other families will be there. I’ll take Annika with me.
You and Yana will both be there to watch over us, but I’ll give Annika a couple chances to slip away.
If she does, if she talks to anyone, you let me know. ”
I know it won’t take much convincing for Annika to be on board with this. It has been a week since she’s moved into the house and although she seems to be happier now that she has a studio, I have no doubt that she will jump at the opportunity to leave the compound.
Edik nods, then a rare glimmer of pity touches his dark brown eyes. It instantly has me pissed off.
“What?” I snap.
“I hope she’s not a spy, Pakhan. I know you like her.”
“I like to fuck her,” I correct him as the car pulls up to the compound gates. “There’s a difference.”
I catch another glimmer of pity and now I’m even more pissed off.
“Go get cleaned up,” I order him as a guard opens the town car door for us. “I’ll handle the debriefing with Yana and getting Annika in order. We leave in two hours.”
As I make my way inside the house and toward the solarium I feel my body spark with need.
Even just being in proximity of my wife makes my cock hard and blood warm, and I haven’t even seen her yet.
Instead of heading inside the solarium, though, I beckon to Yana.
She’s been there every day since I gifted Annika her studio.
Staying close to my wife while still giving her space.
That’s going to have to change though. Until I’m certain Annika isn’t part of this act of betrayal.
Yana comes to me at once, and I have her follow me upstairs.
“What has she been doing today?” I ask.
“Same as she always does these past few days,” Yana replies. “She works on her sculptures.”
“Has she eaten?”
The question slips from my mind before I can stop it, and I feel annoyed that I even care. I have to get in front of that. Especially if she could be my enemy.
“I stop her every few hours so she can have a meal or a snack, but she’s quick about it and goes back to work,” Yana replies, then I catch a smirk on her face.
“What?” I demand.
“She’s as dedicated to work as you are. As all of us are, Pakhan. I believe she is one of us.”
Her words bring me to a full stop, and I focus my gaze completely on Yana.
“Don’t be so sure,” I reply, then fill her in on what Edik and I discovered today. I study Yana’s face as I tell her the news, and I take in a spark of surprise. Maybe even a tinge of disbelief before her face draws back to a void expression.
"You don’t think it’s her?" I ask.
"She hasn’t taken any phone calls. Even when her phone rings," Yana replies. "All her focus is on her sculpting. If she’s working as a spy, why would she ignore communication?”
I take in Yana’s words, my mind churning.
"Still. She gets no more privacy. I want her phone screened and I want you closer to her person. I know she doesn’t like it but if she asks just tell her it’s necessary."
When I finish giving Yana her new commands she just nods, and I dismiss her.
In the master bedroom I undress and make quick work of scrubbing myself clean in the shower.
I try to focus on anything other than Annika being my potential enemy but evidence of her is everywhere.
Her body wash, her razor, her shampoo and conditioner for those long dark blonde locks.
By the time I dress in a clean suit and go to the closet to pick out a dress for her, my body feels absolutely torn between rage and the need to fuck.
I feel my mood sour further as I look through the hangers of designer clothes and notice that all of them still have their tags on. I did this for her. Bought her these nice things. Jewelry. Built her a studio- and she’s been spying on me?!
I draw in a calming breath as I feel my suspicion tick toward rage, and pull a black dress from its hanger. I snag a pair of sexy black heels from the shelves lined with brand new women’s shoes- untouched like the new clothes-, and go back down stairs.
When I reach the solarium doors I shove them open, ready to throw them at her and demand her to get dressed- then I see her and my entire chest freezes.
Baggy overalls, a lime green crop top, brown gloves.
She’s got her blonde hair thrown into a messy bun atop her head, a black bandana over her mouth, and I even from where I stand, I can hear the heavy metal music blasting from her ear pods.
Beautiful.
She doesn’t see me. Doesn’t even know I’m here. She’s too absorbed in this new creation of hers. A day ago it was barely more than a slab of blue marble, but now I can clearly see a muscular chest chiseled out of it. Clear ridges of pectoral and abdominal muscles. A man trapped in stone.
A man that looks…like me.
I’m enthralled by watching her work, so much so that I forget my anger, forget that I’m standing there like a total debilizm- a putz. Then she notices me. Those crystal blue eyes turn in my direction and meet mine, sending a shock of electricity through my entire body.
The hum of heavy metal deadens, she pulls down the bandana from her face, and she smiles. Smiles like she is truly happy to see me.
Fuck.
“How long have you been standing there?” she asks me, stepping down from the raised platform I had built for her so she wouldn’t have to use a ladder. It was safer, steadier than a ladder.
“Not long,” I reply.
She bounds toward me like a happy puppy and I feel my heart begin to race.
Clean suit or not, possible betrayal or not, I snatch her up and kiss her hard.
On her lips I taste black cherry tea and immediately want more.
Cupping the back of her neck, I press her closer and force her lips wider with my own, then thrust my tongue into her mouth.
Her soft whimper has me wanting to rip her dusty, baggy, overalls right off of her and take her right there on the solarium floor. And then reality comes crashing back. What I heard today cannot be ignored. I cannot let great pussy threaten my life- my family.
I pull her away from me, even as my entire body screams for the opposite, and take a step back. She gives me a strange look, but then her eyes widen as she looks me over, and the most adorable blush fills her cheeks.
“Oh, no,” she sighs, starting to brush me off, “Your suit. I got it all dusty.”
The sound of her genuine concern has me lowering my defenses again, and I let out a chuckle as I glance down at the flecks of dust scattered along my black jacket. At least the dress and shoes I still held in my free hand were unscathed.
“It will brush off,” I tell her. I want that concern wiped from her face. I don’t want anything to bother her. Ever.
Catching my thoughts, I clear my throat and take another step back.
“Here,” I say, holding out the dress and shoes.
She gives them a curious look, then goes for her rag so she can clean off her hands and arms.
“What’s that for?” she asks.
“We’re going out,” I tell her. “Soon. So you’ll need to stop for the day and go clean up.”
Her eyes light up and damn it if my heart doesn’t flutter again.
Enough, you fool, I curse silently to my body.
“We are?” she asks, her voice full of excitement.
I nod.
“There’s an auction tonight. The other families will be there. I’ll need you by my side to represent us.”
She takes a long look at the dress and shoes I’m holding, but doesn’t take them.
“You got these for me?” she asks.
“I got you an entire closet full of new clothes. It is you that refuses to wear them,” I say. I don’t hold back the bitterness in my voice; finally having an excuse to show my irritation.
I expect her to fight with me. Yearn for it even. I want proof that she is against me, even just on this subject, but to my surprise, she gives me another guilty look.
“I know,” she says, her soft voice so sweet it makes my cock ache. “I’m sorry I haven’t thanked you for them yet. And that I haven’t worn them. I was just angry with you at first. Then when I started working again I didn’t want to get them dirty.”
I grit my teeth as I feel another surge of annoyance. We’d been either fighting or fucking all week and now she wants to be sweet with me? Now when I need proof she’s against me? I take a level look at her, trying to size her up. Maybe she knows I’m onto her. Maybe she’s trying to fool me.
But the more I look at her, the more I crave her, and damn it I have to find a way to stop that.
“It’s fine,” I bite out. “Just go get cleaned up. I’ll bring these upstairs for you so you won’t get them dirty.”
As she leaves, I take a few moments to myself to get my head on right. It has only been a week since we were married but Annika has already found a way to get under my skin and lower my guard. I have to stop this. Have to get myself under control.