Chapter 33
I Know What I Have To Do
Tess to Kai: I wish I could keep you forever. I really do love you. [unsent]
Tess
“So, you’re telling me that one of the most feared Bratva families’... uh... second-in-command’s... wants you as his wife, and if you don’t go, then everyone dies?” Carina repeats, her voice laced with disbelief.
“That just about sums it up, yeah. Oh, and don’t forget the whole ‘my mum’s a Russian assassin’ part.”
“How could I forget that?” she mutters.
The weight of the conversation presses down on me, and I sink deeper into the mattress, gripping Kai’s new phone. I called her the moment I shut myself in my room, needing space—needing her.
“I wish you were here,” I sigh, flipping onto my stomach and pressing my face into the pillow. The movement pulls at the wound at my side, but the pain is lesser now than it was a few days ago.
“I can leave Nate here with Cupcake and be on the next flight if you need me? Enzo told me it was safer for us to stay put; we don’t want to raise too much suspicion. Though obviously, Kai didn’t listen.”
“No. He’s right. And you have your work to worry about.”
“Maybe we need to open up a support group for runaway mafia brides?”
I snort a laugh, the sound almost foreign given the circumstances. “Do you think it would be a big group?”
“The shit I’ve seen? It’d be bigger than you’d think.”
I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.
A knock sounds at the door before Kai steps in, his presence immediately grounding me. My breath catches—like it always does. No matter how much chaos surrounds me, he makes it all disappear for a moment.
He moves effortlessly despite the hot pink boot Carina so proudly chose for him. The contrast between his usual brooding demeanour and the ridiculous neon colour should be comical, but somehow, he still makes it look good.
Kai sits beside me, his fingers tracing idle patterns over my back. Warm. Comforting. Distracting.
“What are you going to do?” Carina asks.
“I don’t know,” I murmur, sitting up. Kai shifts, and I take the opportunity to settle into his lap, straddling his thighs. His arms wrap around me instinctively, and I melt into him, resting my forehead against his chest.
“The options seem to be: I marry a man who will no doubt abuse me,” Kai tenses, his arms tightening around me in silent protest, “or we all die.”
“Nice options,” Carina says flatly.
Kai doesn’t speak, but his hands move beneath my top, palms skimming along my spine, leaving goosebumps in their wake. His fingers stroke, caress—gentle but possessive. Each touch sparks something deep and consuming inside me.
He presses a kiss to my forehead. Then my cheek. Then lower, his lips grazing my jaw, moving deliberately. My breath hitches as he tilts my chin, exposing my throat to him. He doesn’t hesitate, sucking softly against my skin, dragging his teeth ever so slightly.
A small, traitorous moan slips past my lips.
I freeze.
“Oh my God,” Carina deadpans. “I never want to hear that again. But also—get it, girl. Text me later.”
The call disconnects before I can reply.
Kai chuckles against my neck, the vibration sending a shiver down my spine. His lips find mine, capturing them in a deep, lingering kiss. The slow, teasing drag of his tongue against mine pulls me under, and I arch into him, pressing closer.
We lose ourselves in the moment, kissing like we’re teenagers sneaking around, desperate and reckless. Grinding against each other, fully clothed, but feeling everything.
For a little while, the world outside doesn’t exist.
That is until Kai pulls back and whispers, “You aren’t leaving me,” and reality crashes back down.
Tears prick at my eyes as I realise the hopelessness of the situation. “There’s no good option,” I whisper, capturing his lips with mine again.
“Tess,” he groans, pulling back to look at me. He opens his mouth, but I cut him off, kissing him again and trailing my hands over his chest.
“I don’t want to think right now,” I murmur against his lips.
I find the hem of his white top and pull it up over his head, getting it tangled before I manage to pull it off. Kai pulls my top off with greater ease and makes quick work of removing my bra. My breasts spill out and he takes them in his hands, rubbing his thumbs over my hardened nipples.
“Kai,” I whimper as he takes one into his wet mouth. My back arches as I grind down, feeling him hard beneath me.
He groans against my skin, and I buck my hips against him. He releases my breasts and goes for the buttons on my jeans.
I stand and quickly force them off my hips and down my legs. Kai struggles to get his shorts and boxers off over his boot, growling then deciding to leave them hanging off one leg. I move to push them off, but he hauls me back onto him.
“I need you,” he groans as I rub my slit over his length.
Not bothering with foreplay, I grasp his cock in my hand then line it up with my entrance. We stare into each other's eyes as I sink down slowly, taking each delicious inch. The stretch burns, and I have to take a moment to adjust before starting to move.
Kai’s hand finds my ass and he grasps my butt cheeks as he helps me ride him, moving me up and down his cock.
I throw my head back, my eyes rolling at the feel of him so deep inside me. His lips find my nipple again as he bites down on the tightened bud while keeping his hands on my hips.
“You’re so fucking perfect. So fucking mine,” he rasps before sucking on my neck hard enough to leave a mark.
He leans back, taking me with him until I’m laying over him, his cock still deep inside me. The new angle has him hitting my g spot as he starts thrusting up into me. I bite down on his shoulder, right over his tattoo as I moan.
One of his hands on my ass travels lower until he brushes against my back hole. I stiffen at first, then relax as he just circles the tight ring of muscles but doesn’t take it further. I start whining with anticipation and he chuckles darkly.
“You want me to take you here one day, gorgeous? Fuck you in your tight little asshole?”
A mewling sound leaves my lips and all I can do is nod against his skin.
Instead of pressing his finger into my ass like I expect he reaches further, finding my pussy and pushing his finger into me at the same time as his cock.
He does this a couple times before his finger is back at my behind and slowly, gently, he starts breaching somewhere no one else has.
He thrusts up into me at the same time and my orgasm hits me. I cry out, trying to muffle the sound in his neck as a shake and tremble with the force.
Kai removes his finger from my ass then grasps my hips as he starts fucking up into me quicker while moving my hips in time to his rhythm. He flicks my clit, and I clench around him, both of us coming together, shouting cries of release.
I roll off him, careful of his leg, my body sweaty and spent. He pulls me back to him, until I’m flush against his side with my leg resting over his.
He kisses my hair. “We’ll work this out.”
“Sure you don’t want to run screaming? Go back to living a life of routine and normalcy.”
He sighs. “Was it really that normal? I’m a crime scene cleaner for my serial killer best friend.”
“Fair point,” I laugh, feeling a lot less tense than I did earlier. “But you know what I mean…”
“Hurricane, I don’t let just anyone in. Once you’re in… you’re in. You can’t get rid of me now.” He brushes a sweaty strand of my hair from my face and looks down at me with emotions I’m not sure I’m ready to name swirling in his eyes.
Kai’s breathing evens out as he falls asleep while I lie awake mulling over the options.
I could run, Kai could come with me, and we could spend our lives running from this man. But everyone else would be left behind to die. Even if we all went, people would die. Their blood on my hands.
We could fight, but again, people will inevitably die. I can’t handle another loss. Nico was bad enough, if I lost Carina? Kai? Nate? Even Enzo, despite us not knowing each other that well. I couldn’t handle that, and there’s no guarantee we’d win.
So, my other option is that I marry this Nikolai. Someone who scares even my father. That alone tells me the type of man he must be. I’d be used as a plaything, someone for him to break. But at least it would only be me. No one else would need to get hurt.
I know what I have to do.
Kai
Tess is acting strange. Given everything that’s happening, that’s not surprising—but something about it feels off.
She’s more affectionate than usual, always reaching for me, tracing patterns on my skin, pressing herself against me like she’s trying to memorise me. Not that I mind, but there’s a quiet desperation to it, like she’s holding onto something she knows she’s about to lose.
And she’s too calm. Like she’s already made peace with the storm that’s coming. No fear, no second guessing—just acceptance. It doesn’t sit right.
Meanwhile, Enzo and I have been working on a plan to bring the Ivanov’s down before this turns into a full-scale war. It’s going to get messy no matter what, but we’ve found a way to weaken them before a single bullet is fired.
Their assets? Frozen. Their bank accounts? Compromised. Every weapons shipment? Cancelled. We’ve buried our tracks so deep that even if they suspect us, they won’t be able to prove a damn thing.
And that’s not all. I hacked into their communications, pulling every dirty secret they’ve tried to bury—fraud, embezzlement, trafficking. Enough to burn their entire operation to the ground.
Tomorrow is Tess’s birthday. It’s also the deadline Anastasia gave us to make a decision.
Tess doesn’t know it yet, but Enzo and I have set up a meeting with Anastasia and Nikolai. They think we’re handing her over.
But really? We’re walking in with the leverage to bring their empire crashing down.