THE DEN OF SIN

Belles & Mobsters Series Collection

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EVA WINNERS

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 CONTENTS

The Den Of Sin

PLAYLIST

Prologue
1. Isabella
2. Vasili
3. Isabella
4. Isabella
5. Vasili
6. Isabella
7. Vasili
8. Isabella
9. Vasili
10. Isabella
11. Vasili
12. Isabella
13. Vasili
14. Isabella
15. Vasili
16. Isabella
17. Vasili
18. Isabella
19. Vasili
20. Isabella
21. Vasili
22. Isabella
23. Vasili
24. Isabella
25. Vasili
26. Vasili
27. Isabella
28. Vasili
Epilogue
PREVIEW OF BELLES & MOBSTERS: LUCIANO
Prologue

Acknowledgments
CONNECT WITH ME
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 THE DEN OF SIN

Belles & Mobsters Series Collection

Note: The Den of Sin is a complete standalone. It is a full-size novel that

can be read as a prequel to the Belles & Mobsters series.

If you'd like a preview to the Belles and Mobsters Series make sure to keep
reading and check out the prologue to Book One in the series, Luciano,
after the ending of The Den of Sin.

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Copyright © 2021 by Winners Publishing LLC and Eva Winners

Cover Image Designer: Eve Graphic Design LLC

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author,
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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 PLAYLIST

IF YOU’D LIKE to hear a soundtrack with songs that are featured in this book, as well as songs that
inspired me, here’s the link:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6fCE9neoRsiC0rrnsCu3To?si=PmC_vH7dS8egDnqoOJXeTw&
dl_branch=1

In no particular order…

“Criminal” - Britney Spears

“You Broke Me First” - Conor Maynard
“Never Too Late” - Three Days Grace
“Silence” - Marshmello (feat. Khalid)
“Tears of Gold” - Faouzia
“Look At Her Now” - Selena Gomez
“Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” - Moss Kena
“Beg For It” - Iggy Azalea
“No” - Meghan Trainor
“Bitter” - Fletcher
“Feel It” - Michele Morrone
“Play with Fire” - Sam Tinnesz, Yacht Money
“Someone Else” - Miley Cyrus
“Sex (With My Ex)” - Fletcher
“Numb” - Kiiara
“Stupid Boys” - Cassidi

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 To my daughters, love you always and forever.

To my Happy Hour Ladies – you feed so many ideas.

To all my family and friends – thank you!

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 PROLOGUE

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 Isabella

Halloween Party - Senior year

Georgetown University, D.C.

T he loud music pumped through the speakers and the windows

shook with the bass. The amplifier channeled the beat with
enough power to fill a medium size club, the tunes bouncing
off the walls. Iggy Azalea’s song played through the speakers, some girls
danced, others ground against their boyfriends and then some just observed.
Tonight, I just observed.
“This will be a long night,” I muttered under my breath.
I was always up for a good party and a good time, but my mood today
wasn’t up to par. The entire frat house was too crowded. Every two seconds,
a body bumped into me, causing my drink to spill over, so I kept my cup
slightly outstretched, away from my body, avoiding it being spilled on me. I
had yet to even take a drink. Unlike other girls, there wasn’t a single boy
here that appealed to me. Just as well, since we’d all go our own separate
ways soon.
This would be our last year here and somehow the reality of life started
creeping in. My best friend and I had done some seriously wild shit over the
last three and a half years. And got into some trouble. Okay, a lot of trouble,
but her brothers, the oldest one in particular, came to the rescue every time.
It was always the highlight of my evening. He was the highlight of my days
and nights.
 Vasili Nikolaev was the star of all my fantasies. He was a gorgeous,
scary, panty dropping specimen of a man. Much older than Tatiana, and
therefore much older than me too. He was way out of my league. But did
that stop me from imagining his tattooed hands all over my body? Nope,
not at all. The chemistry I felt around him though, was unprecedented. No
boy has made me feel remotely as hot as he did, and the man hadn’t even
touched me.
My gaze traveled over the crowd. The Halloween party was usually the
wildest party of the year. Most girls wore Playboy Bunny, skimpy bodysuits
while most boys just wore jerseys. There would be a lot of hooking up
tonight. Including my best friend. Tatiana and I were among the few girls
wearing our regular clothes. Well, not exactly regular. More like nightclub
clothes. We wore matching, short strapless, mini dresses. Hers was black;
mine was pink.
One zipper and off it went. Her words, not mine. I had no doubt my
dress would stay on tonight, just like any other night. It was impossible for
these boys to compete with the hero of all my dreams.
“Ladies, are you two enjoying yourselves?” Travis and Trent asked at
the same time.
They were twins, football players, and this week’s hot flavor on
campus. Neither one of them appealed to me. They had the mentality of a
ten-year-old and manners of a two-year-old. But Tatiana was fascinated
with them; both of them.
“Not really,” I mumbled begrudgingly.
“Yes,” she shouted over the music.
They both had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Pale blue eyes were
more up my alley. These two could be tolerable; if only they wouldn’t speak
or stare at you like a piece of candy.
“Want to go somewhere quieter?” Trent asked. Or was it Travis? Heck if
I knew, or cared.
I shook my head. I knew what that meant. Tatiana, on the other hand,
already ditched her drink and looped her arms through theirs.
“I’m all yours. Both of yours.” She let the meaning linger in the air and
those two beamed like they hit the jackpot. Little did they know, they were
her experiment. Tomorrow morning, they would be history. Tatiana was
adamant about giving a threesome a try. I had to stifle my grin.
 With another elbow bumping into me, I gave up on my drink, placed it
on the little makeshift bar and leaned my back against the counter, my eyes
studying the crowd. Why did nobody compare to the man I wanted? And
why couldn’t I get him out of my mind?
Briefly returning my gaze to Tatiana with the twins, I noted all three of
their heads brushed together, whispering among themselves. Probably
planning which dorm room or hotel to do their bidding in.
Or bedding, I added wryly in my head.
I prayed it wasn’t in our dorm room. I didn’t want to spend all night out
nor hear any of that shit. This Halloween party wasn’t exactly my kind of
scene, and I was ready to call it a night.
Shifting my gaze back over the crowded room, I spotted him and my
whole body jolted upright.
“Holy shit, your brother is here,” I announced, my eyes locked on the
big frame of the man striding towards us. Although he had the most unusual
blonde hair coloring, he always struck me as a dark shadow looming over
his enemies. Just a glance at him could fill you with fear. Or with lust!
Tatiana’s oldest brother always, and I mean always, made my panties
wet. He had this odd lure about him, a mixture of CEO billionaire and
dangerous shadow. Power oozed from every pore of his body wrapped in an
expensive, black Armani suit. He was hands down, the hottest man I had
ever seen. From the moment we met, he featured in all my fantasies, played
the starring role.
Even if he was old enough to be my father, a young father, but still. Just
glancing his way made my heart race, my pussy pulse, and my skin flush.
“Shit,” Tatiana groaned out loud. “Hotel it is. Text me when he’s gone.”
She disappeared before I could say another word. My eyes searched out
for hers and the twins' frames, but they were nowhere to be spotted. Tatiana
had a knack for disappearing, I’d give her that.
“Hey babe,” a voice whispered in my ear. “You are looking hot.” My
head snapped behind me. A face in a mask, the creepy Joker mask, stared at
me. I attempted to inch away but someone was right behind me. “Want to
get out of here?”
I shook my head and answered, just to ensure there was no
misunderstanding. “No.”
“Babe, it’s me,” his muffled voice came through the mask.
 He smelled like a liquor store. How unattractive! Besides, I didn’t give
a crap who it was, all my body wanted to focus on was Vasili striding
towards us like a hunter. The creep in front of me shifted his mask to give
me a glimpse of his face before moving it back into place. It was Jason, the
creep. Now I gave a crap even less. Jason was the university’s star football
player, and his only purpose during our four years of college was to get into
my pants.
Shifting my body away from him again, he followed, invading my
space. I hated people in my space. His hand came to my chest, his body
pressing against me. I shoved at him hard, detesting the feel of his body so
close to me. Instead of taking the hint, he pushed against me harder,
grinding. Like that would ever turn me on!
“Get the fuck away from me,” I hissed, trying hard not to make a scene.
I hated damn drunks that didn’t know how to take no for an answer.
From the peripheral of my eyes, I noticed Vasili Nikolaev striding
angrily towards us. Even from here, I could see the fury burning in his pale
blue eyes. Tatiana must have done something seriously wrong to piss him
off like that. Though, I was surprised he kept coming my way instead of
going after his sister.
Tatiana’s brother moved across the crowded dance floor with such
ruthless power and raw confidence. He didn’t have to shove his way
through because everyone parted ways, making a path for him. He moved
like a panther but had a lion’s stocky body. The stormy look on his face told
everybody to fuck off or threatened to chew up anyone that got in his way.
Jason’s hand kept inching down, creeping its way to the inside of my
thigh, and Vasili was forgotten. I slapped Jason’s hand away. He still didn’t
get the hint and kept going. I struggled against him, shoving at him again,
trying to push him away. It was for naught because he was like a wall.
You’d think the guy next to me or anyone in this crowded room would step
in… but fuck no. They all had the status of badass to uphold.
Before Jason’s hand reached for my panties, while I continued
struggling against him, Vasili’s big hand wrapped around Jason’s neck, and
all I could do was stare at those ink decorated fingers, tattoos of a cross,
queen of hearts, and pointed star. God, I loved his hands, those tattoos. So
fucking hot!
“She said no,” he growled through his teeth, his Russian accent more
prominent than ever. “I see you touching her again, I’ll slice your throat
open.”
Jason’s eyes bulged out of his head like two balloons. As if Jason
weighed nothing, Vasili lifted him up into the air like a ragdoll, Jason’s feet
dangling. Although his strength lurked underneath those expensive suits all
along, I had never seen him get violent before. And Tatiana and I pushed his
buttons quite a bit.
I stared at the scene unfolding in front of me; Jason’s eyes wide and
scared. If I wasn’t so shocked, I might have laughed because he looked
ridiculous. Next thing I knew, he threw Jason, his body flying like a sack of
potatoes across the floor. Jason slid before scrambling to his feet, running
off to who knew where.
Vasili’s pale blue eyes shifted to me, fury clear in his gaze. I guessed he
must have seen Tatiana disappear on him and would probably blame me
now.
Ugh, worst Halloween ever! But hey, I got to see him. Which probably
wasn’t good for this crazy crush I had on him.
His eyes traveled from my obnoxiously high black heels, over my bare
legs to my curve hugging, pink mini dress, and up to my face.
My eyebrows creased with confusion. I was certain there was fury in
those eyes just a moment ago, but now I couldn’t see any trace of it. It was
replaced with something dangerous and hot, sending my body into some
heated overdrive.
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly too dry.
“Tatiana is not here,” I rasped, a rapid pulse stuck in my throat.
“Did he hurt you?” He growled at another frat boy that stepped too
close, Vasili’s big shoulder shoving him away and his frame blocking the
crowd of bodies from me.
“No,” I barely got the words out. He was so close, I felt the heat
radiating from his body and straight to my core. This man could make me
lust after him and be scared of him all in the same second. “Thank you,” I
muttered under my breath. I should look away from him but I couldn’t
muster the strength, the beauty of those pale glaciers captivating me. The
heat in his gaze excited me.
“Let’s go.” If he’d told me to jump off a mountain at that moment, I
worried I’d go willingly. And, his accent! I’d only heard him speak a
handful of times, but that accent alone could bring me to my knees. My
temperature instantly spiked. Great, now I had an image of sucking him off
while on my knees.
Yes, I definitely need my brain checked because there is no denying it. I
want to get laid by this man.
Taking my arm, his grip firm but gentle, he guided me out of the frat
house; his jaw pressed tightly. His touch scorched my bare skin, and for
some reason, the silence felt thick and heavy between us. The urge to say
something and have his eyes back on me itched beneath my skin, like a
need for another shot of adrenaline.
There was such a dark expression on his face, I was scared to ask where
he was taking me. You’d think I’d be used to it by now, considering how
often Tatiana and I got in trouble. But usually, she was always here with
me, buffering her big brother’s tension and grumpiness.
It took me several minutes to realize he was walking me back to my
dorm.
“Ummm, Tatiana is out.” Was he looking for his sister? He wouldn’t
find her sleeping. Did he not see her ditch him at the party? “She didn’t
know you were coming,” I muttered a lame excuse.
Otherwise, she would have been gone a long time ago. Me too. Maybe.
I loved seeing him, feeding my porn fantasies in those brief encounters
we had. But I’d told myself only this morning that my fascination and lust
after Tatiana’s oldest brother wasn’t healthy. He was twenty years older
than me. He would never see me as anything but a brat that hung out with
his little sister.
Yes, my Halloween resolution! No more lusting after Vasili Nikolaev. It
would have been easier to uphold that resolution if he didn’t show up today.
Vasili didn’t comment. He always had that stoic personality but a
response or acknowledgement would be nice. Men were weirdos!
I half-expected him to take off any second and let me get back to my
dorm. He was walking too fast, and I kept tripping in my high heels, trying
to keep up. Each time I stumbled, he just caught me. The man had some
amazing reflexes… and biceps. And every time he touched me, a shot of
electricity jolted my body, my blood sizzling with need for more of his
touch.
Once we were in the dorm building, I hoped he’d send me on my way,
but instead, he eyed me, again, from my heels, up my bare legs all the way
up to my face. It felt like the gentlest and hottest caress. My cheeks flushed,
although I wasn’t sure why. The way he looked at me was totally hot.
Then in one swift move, he picked me up and threw me over his
shoulder as I squealed in surprise.
“What the hell-”
A loud slap on my ass. “Hey! You can’t-”
Smack. Another slap on my ass.
“What the fuck, man?” I grunted. Yes, he is hot but who in the fuck did
he think he was?
Smack.
A yelp escaped me, my ass on fire from his hand. I couldn’t quite
distinguish whether my ass was burning from pain or desire. I worried it
was the latter because I felt tingling between my thighs, and I had to stop
my body from arching my butt higher up so he’d smack it again.
No, not smack it, Isabella. Just touch it. Maybe rub it a bit. Damn it, I
was getting horny.
He walked up five flights of stairs with me slumped over his shoulder
and his breathing never even sped up. Like I weighed nothing. I wiggled,
trying to get comfortable on his shoulder and eyeing his backside. Damn,
even upside down, he looked gorgeous.
Maybe I can run my hands down his muscled back. It seemed like a
great idea. Just a little touch.
“Unless you want another smack on your ass, be still,” he growled in his
thick Russian accent, and instantly desire pooled between my thighs. Holy
mother of God, I was turned on. Like really, really turned on.
I instantly stilled, not wanting to earn another smack on my butt. It
would be utterly embarrassing if evidence of my desire trickled down my
inner thigh, revealed by this obnoxiously short dress, and he realized how
turned on I was. I had no idea what was happening or what his deal was.
This man had never touched me, except to help me out of the car when he
had to drive us home from our rendezvous with trouble.
I kept my mouth pressed tight, counting the stairs to keep my mind off
the painful throb between my thighs. Or to stop my mind from imagining
all kinds of creative, sexy images involving Vasili as the star role of my
porn movie. God, that ass! I bet there wasn’t an ounce of fat on it. Fuck, I
want to lick and kiss every inch of his body!
 “Keys.” Short demand. He wasn’t a communications type of guy. I
peeked, upside down, over his torso and saw he stood in front of our dorm
room.
“I can-”
“Isabella, you want another smack?” Gosh how I loved my name on his
lips.
Quickly, I dug into my bra and pulled the key out. It was harder doing it
upside down, but I wasn’t going to point out the obvious. He might smack
my butt again. I would get myself off the second he left. It wouldn’t take
me long.
“Here,” I murmured, handing him the key over his body, watching him
unlock the door. God, he had beautiful hands. Big, rough, and sexy, those
tattoos on his fingers fascinating.
Yes, I am obsessed with his hands. With all of him!
Once, we were in the dorm room, I slid off his shoulder, the front of my
body brushing against his hard muscles all the way till my feet touched the
floor. The haze in my brain made me disoriented and slow, yet I wasn't sure
whether it was from his touch or because I was upside down while he
carried me up the stairs.
I stood there, waiting, our gazes locked in a heated, unspoken exchange.
He made me feel so much… nervous, turned on, scared, excited, hopeful.
All wrapped up in a whirlwind of emotions when I looked at him or even
thought about him. Nobody had ever affected me like this. He made me feel
starved for his brief glances thrown my way, for his deep voice that soaked
through me like a delicious, smooth whiskey and most of all his touch.
“Welcome to the den of sin,” I rambled nervously, feeling flustered as
my eyes roamed his body, imagining all kinds of sinful deeds. The den of
sin was mine and Tatiana’s nickname for our dorm room. This room has
seen some crazy shit over the last three and a half years.
And right now, I really want to sin with this man.
His one eyebrow shot up, and I offered him a smile. “It’s what we
named our room.”
“Hmmm.”
“Yeah.” Ugh, stop talking Bella!
I shifted uncomfortably, my cheeks burning. I bit my lower lip to
prevent any more words coming out, but unfortunately, I couldn’t shut my
mind down. Every piece of this man’s body was a masterpiece, even his
neck. The tan skin made my mouth water, my blood sing and my most
intimate part clench… all for him.
He moved back to the door, and the locking sound echoed through the
room. It never even occurred to me to question why. The whole thing barely
registered in my mind, because all I could do was stare at that bulky, tall
frame. That beautiful, strong face. His sharp, angular features with high
cheekbones portrayed harshness and cruelty, but I didn’t care. I loved his
face. Those muscles that filled his expensive, custom-made suit. I craved to
see more of him, like my life depended on it. How many times did I wish I
could catch a glimpse of him naked?
My heart thundered and my earlier resolution was out the window. This
man was a masterpiece, everything from his mouth, unusual hair color, all
the way down to his expensive shoes. I chewed on my lip, picturing how it
would feel to kiss him.
Just once, I told myself. One taste.
Our eyes met and I held my breath, worried I’d break the moment. Was
that desire in his eyes? His hand came up to my face, and he brushed my
cheek with his big fingers, the touch feather light. It shot shivers down my
body. I had never felt anything like it when touched by anyone else. A pure
shot of lust.
His gaze was one of a predator, hungry and intense. Heat burned in
those beautiful eyes, igniting every inch of my skin.
The next second, his lips crashed against mine, his strong hands
wrapping around my body and molding me to his chest. My pulse
skyrocketed, tremors vibrated through my blood with an intensity I would
never forget. His warm breath was the oxygen I never knew I needed.
A moan echoed through the empty room, and it was mine. He felt so
good, each fiber of me shivering for him. His tongue thrust into my mouth,
tasting me, kissing me with passion and need. The same need that I felt for
him.
I felt his hard cock pressed against my stomach and the feeling made
my pussy clench. My body fit perfectly against his, like we’d done this
thousands of times before. Like my body was always meant to mold into
his.
Not one single reason worked at that moment. Even if it did, I’d wanted
this from the second I’d laid eyes on him. All my thoughts fled, leaving
only one behind.
 I crave this man. More. I would have more from him.
In frantic movements, we kicked off our shoes. In one swift move, he
got rid of my dress, discarding it onto the floor. The sound of a zipper was
followed by the tearing sound of my panties. He tossed my shredded panties
to the floor and my eager hands stripped his suit jacket off, letting it fall
onto the ground. Then in rushed, swift movements I unbuttoned his crisp
white shirt, eager to see him and feel his skin under my fingers.
The moment I saw his ripped, hard abs, a gasp left my lips. He was a
work of art; muscles underneath sun-kissed, tanned skin.
I reached for his pants, my eyes eager to see all of him. He must have
been just as eager because he assisted with getting rid of his pants and then
his socks followed. My mouth dried at his magnificent body, my eyes
drinking in the sight. From his strong, wide shoulders to his chest, amazing
abs to… My eyes lingered on his torso.
“Fuck,” I muttered, swallowing hard. He was big, everywhere. And I
mean everywhere.
He pushed his body closer to mine, skin on hot skin. Every inch of me
hummed with overwhelming need for him, inflaming my skin.
This is what I have been waiting for, this man!
I thought I’d burn out any second. His big, rough hands roamed all over
my body, marking it as his. Everywhere he touched, he left a sizzling, hot
sensation in its wake.
I panted with need, unrecognizable words leaving my lips, and his
murmuring words in Russian that I couldn’t understand. It wouldn’t have
mattered if he had spoken them in English anyway. I was too far gone; I
wouldn’t have understood any of it.
He slammed me against the wall, his lips back on mine. His tongue was
merciless, tangling with mine, tasting me, exploring every inch of my
mouth. My moans and our heavy breathing were the only sounds in the
room. The whole world ceased to exist. This was so much better than any of
my fantasies.
I hooked my leg around his waist and felt his cock against my entrance.
I had to feel him inside me. There was a lingering thought I should tell him.
I should warn him that I was a virgin. I pushed the thought aside and kissed
him feverishly, eager for all of him.
He grabbed my ass, both my legs hooked around him and without
warning, he slammed inside me, all the way to the hilt and a scream
escaped me. I knew there would be pain, I just didn’t expect that much pain.
He stilled, his eyes searching out mine.
“You’re so big,” I murmured breathlessly.
I didn’t want him to stop because I was a virgin; I needed this. He
needed it; I could sense it within every cell of my body. He had to sate this
need in the pit of my belly. The flames burned through my veins, and he
was the only one that could extinguish them.
“Please, don’t stop,” I breathed out.
If I had only known he’d set a blazing inferno that my body would
never forget.
His hand reached between us, his finger on my clit, while his mouth
trailed down my neck, nipping and marking my skin. The pain slowly eased
and a soft moan escaped me as his finger rubbed my sensitive spot. My
body arched into him, wanting him closer, needing more of him.
I wrapped my legs tightly around him and he started moving, slow
initially and then faster and harder. His control slipped with each thrust. He
fucked me relentlessly and hard. The initial burning sensation each time he
thrust into me changed into friction and hot need. His right hand roamed
roughly all over my body while his left kept me pinned against the wall,
rutting me with ruthless, primitive need.
I searched out his lips, needing to taste him again. He took my mouth,
offering me everything I could have ever dreamed of in his kiss and touch.
He sucked on my tongue, kissing hard, setting a blaze through me. My
vision turned hazy, my heart thundering hard against my chest, matching
the pulse between my legs. We kissed frantically, hunger and desperation
mixing as he continued pounding into me. Each time he moved, he pushed
against my throbbing clit taking me higher and higher.
His lips trailed down my neck, Russian words against my skin. My head
fell back against the wall with his name on my lips, a soft moan. Closing
my eyes, the heat built and my heart stilled for a fraction of a second before
my body burst into a million pieces. A languid heat swam through my
bloodstream as my pussy clenched around his thick cock and my body
convulsed against his as a liquid pleasure burst through every single fiber of
me.
“Malyshka,” he grunted loudly, his hips working like pistons, thrusting
into me through my orgasm. “Fuck.”
 He bit into my collarbone, branding me as his before he followed me
over the cliff, shuddering in my arms. This was addictive. Amazing. I
wanted more. He murmured foreign words against my neck and my body
melted. For him.
The thundering in my ears eased and my heartbeat slowed. Slowly the
lust haze lifted, and my eyes widened as I realized what had just happened.
I had sex with Vasili Nikolaev, the guy I have been fantasizing about
since the moment we met. Tatiana’s brother!
I gently pushed against him, my limbs shaky as my legs met the floor
again. I had never imagined it was possible to fly that high. Yes, there was
pain, but it was all forgotten the moment he started moving inside me.
Our eyes met and there was an indescribable look in his beautiful pale
eyes. I found myself never wanting to look away, wishing he was mine.
He slowly knelt down and lifted my dress. The panties were
unsalvageable, kind of like my heart and body at this moment. Because
after three long years, they were finally his.
“Thanks,” I murmured shyly, looking away. It was weird, I wanted to
drown in his gaze forever but the intensity of my own feelings right now
had me looking away.
He grabbed his pants, pulled them up and went to tuck himself in when
his movement froze. I risked a glance to see what he was looking at when I
saw blood on his shaft.
I bit on my lip and risked a glance at his face. There was disbelief there.
“You were a virgin?” His voice was raspy, the look on his face one of
shock.
“Ummm, it’s not a big deal.” My face was inflamed with
embarrassment, again.
He shoved his pants back off and lifted me into his arms. “Yes, it is. Let
me take care of you properly, malyshka.”
Holy shit! We’d get to do this again? It was on the tip of my tongue to
say he took great care of me but then stopped myself. I wanted more, to feel
him again all over me.
He carried me into the bathroom and sat me on the counter. I watched
him move around the small bathroom, his big frame making it appear even
smaller and wondered what he planned to do.
He turned on the shower and then returned to me.
 “I’ll clean you up and then I’ll worship you all night long,” he
murmured softly, his face nuzzled in the crook of my neck. My body
instantly responded. It was amazing how at ease I felt with him. It was no
wonder I fell for him.
“Can I do the same to you?” I usually wasn’t that open and forward, but
for some reason, I wanted to experience it all with him. Take it all, and give
it all.
He took my hand and placed it on his cock. He was hard again, pre-cum
glistening at the tip of it, and with my thumb, I smeared it down his shaft,
his cum mixing with remnants of my blood. My fingers wrapped around his
smooth thickness, exploring his length. His shaft twitched under my touch,
getting harder with each second, and I stared at it in amazement, licking my
lips.
“Later,” he murmured in a hoarse voice, his accent thick. Damn, his
accent did things to me.
A sensual ghost of a smile lingered on his face making him look
breathtakingly beautiful. It was the first time I’d seen the semblance of a
smile on his face, and my chest warmed at the sight of it. I loved his smile,
no matter how small it was.
Both his hands wrapped around my waist, lifting me up. My legs
instinctively looped around his hips and he walked us into the shower with
ease. The heavy spurts of warm water flowing from the showerhead felt
good on my skin.
What felt even better was feeling his body flushed against mine. My
legs slid, and I planted my feet firmly onto the tiled floor, his body still
pressed against mine and his eyes burning like blue flames.
“You’re beautiful, malyshka.”
I felt my cheeks warm at his compliment. He was more beautiful, all
hard muscle, not an ounce of fat on any part of him. My hands gently
skimmed over his body, exploring every inch of him. His skin felt warm
under my fingers, his muscles sculpted and strong.
Watching him through my hooded eyelids, I couldn’t tear my gaze away
from him, water trickling down his big, strong body. Despite water
sprinkling down on us, my mouth was dry, and my pulse raced with
excitement.
“Look at me.” The timbre of his voice vibrated through me, and I raised
my head to meet his eyes. He lowered his head slowly and his lips started
with soft kisses on my jaw. The soft sigh escaped my mouth and my head
tilted up, offering him my lips. Or maybe I was begging for his lips on
mine, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I needed more… more of him,
more of us, more of this.
He took my offering and his mouth took mine, my lips opening up for
his tongue. I moaned into his mouth, needy. This man was worth every
second of waiting. He was perfect for me. Our tongues wrapped together,
our kissing becoming frantic and hungry. This passion flared with each
touch and kiss he gave me, setting off fireworks through my bloodstream.
“I’m going to eat your pussy.” His voice vibrated through my body,
igniting flames that no shower could extinguish.
He pushed my back against the wall and dropped to his knees on the
shower floor. My mouth parted as I watched him eye me like a desert. Both
his hands gripped my hips and his head buried into my pussy.
“Fuck!” A moaning groan echoed in the small shower as his mouth took
its first taste of my pussy. My fingers tangled through his hair, gripping it
for support or as my anchor, I wasn’t sure.
“Vasili,” I panted, writhing against the wall, but his grip had me pinned.
My heart pounded in my ears, as my moans echoed through the small
bathroom.
My skin burned, and my body shuddered with every lick of his tongue,
each nip of his teeth against my clit.
His rough fingers dug into my soft hips and they bucked against his
face, needing more.
“Oh my God,” I whimpered. His one hand traced down my hip, down
my inner thigh, and I felt his finger slide inside me, filling me. I threw my
head back, relishing the sensation. My mind blank of all other thoughts,
Vasili’s name on repeat in my brain. Or maybe I was chanting it, I had no
idea.
My body shook with need that only he could sate. I was so close, heat
rushing through my veins as I struggled to breathe.
He hummed his approval and it shot through me, vibrating against my
pussy.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I chanted, his finger pumped deeper and deeper.
Panting, I kept squirming under his firm hold. “I’m- I’m so-”
I couldn’t finish the thought. I was going to burst any second, chasing
that intense, blazing pleasure. I lowered my head and our gazes met. My
breath stuck in my throat, seeing desire in his beautiful eyes. Vasili was a
god; there was no doubt in my mind.
His big shoulders against me, his mouth ate me out like a starved man.
Another finger joined his first one, he thrust in and out of me, taking me
higher and higher. Every rational thought evaporated and I broke apart, the
orgasm crashing through me like a tidal surge. Sudden, strong, and
shattering.
Panting moans whimpered on my lips as my body twitched slightly in
the aftermath of the most amazing orgasm.
He lifted his body to a standing position, the water raining down on us.
“Holy shit,” I murmured, my eyelids heavy, and my body slumped
against him. I pushed my face into the crook of his neck, breathing deeply
as my heart rate slowed. I want to do this with him for the rest of my life, I
thought to myself.
His one hand wrapped around my ass while his other tangled into my
hair, his fingers gently gripped my strands.
“Too tired to keep going?” he asked darkly, as he gently pulled my head
back so he could see my eyes.
“Never,” I smiled lazily, pressing myself against him. He was making
me greedy, this feeling with him addictive and thrilling.
“Good,” he groaned, and I felt his hard shaft against me. “Because
we’ve barely gotten started.”
A small gasp on my lips, I lowered my eyes between our bodies. His
cock was rock hard, reaching for me, needing me as much as I needed him.
God, was this normal? To feel this intensity with someone was exhilarating
and exciting, it made me feel alive. And I had an inclination to think it was
only because of him.
I reached out for his cock and stroked the smooth flesh over his
hardness. His dick responded with a jerk, while I watched it with
fascination. My thumb circled the tip of his hard length, cum glistening at
the tip of it and then I smeared it down his shaft.
“I want to taste you,” I murmured, never looking away from his cock.
“Nothing would please me more,” he rasped and his next words just
about set me on fire again. “Get on your knees, Isabella.”
I opened my eyes and met V asili ’ s gaze , watching me . H e was sitting
at my desk, his big frame probably uncomfortable in the small chair. He had
his pants on, but his tanned chest was on full display. I still couldn’t believe
last night. I’ve had a crush on him since freshman year; never thought he’d
spare me a second glance or second thought. Till last night.
My body was sore, the sweetest exhaustion settled in my bones after all
the things we did last night. Gosh, I felt good, sated… hmmm, happy. I
smiled at him, but he didn’t return the smile and something in my chest
squeezed with worry.
I pulled up the sheet and held it against my chest as I sat up, covering
my naked body. “Is everything okay?”
“I have to go.” Something was off, but my brain was too slow to catch
up.
“Okay,” I murmured, searching his face. He was a hard man to read.
“When-” I pulled my knees up to my chest feeling vulnerable but unwilling
to let life decide whether I should have this man or not. “When can I see
you again?”
“That’s not a good idea.” My heart sank at his words and confusion
settled in.
He wanted me; almost as much as I wanted him. I felt it. “Why not?”
Maybe I should have done the usual and kept my walls up, unwilling to
face anyone’s rejection. But for some reason, with him, I always wanted to
challenge him, push his buttons.
“Why not?” I repeated.
“Because you are in way over your head, Isabella,” he gritted out,
sudden anger in his voice and eyes.
“I don’t understand,” I murmured, confused. When he didn’t elaborate, I
added in a small voice, “Please talk to me.”
I was pathetic, in the early morning light, begging a man to talk to me.
To explain something that was abundantly clear. But I struggled to
understand the sudden change. What we had shared last night was amazing,
beyond my wildest dreams.
“What is there to talk about?” His voice felt like the icy whip of a bitter
cold wind against my skin. “It was just a fuck, Isabella.” He smirked but my
brain refused to process it. “After all, your family should be familiar with
fucking their way around.”
 In a swift movement, he stood up and went to gather the rest of his
clothes that were scattered all over my room. He started getting dressed,
never even glancing my way. Then headed for the door.
Confusion struck me. “What are you talking about?”
My heart ached, an unfamiliar burn spreading in my chest, making it
hard to breathe. Tears blurred my vision as I watched his inked back turned
to me, his broad shoulders mocking me.
“Your mother destroyed my family.” He turned his head and those pale
eyes that burned all night were colder than Alaskan temperatures in the
winter. “She spread her legs for my father and destroyed our family in the
process. Took a mother from Sasha and Tatiana, cost a wife her life.”
His words were like a slap in the face. My mom would never do
anything like that. She wasn’t a homewrecker. Was she? For Christ’s sake,
she went to church every Sunday like clockwork.
“I don’t understand,” I muttered. I was twenty-one, and yes, it was
unusual that I waited this long to lose my virginity, but now that I did, I
refused to believe I made a mistake. He never looked at me with distaste
like this. I have known him and had a crush on him for over three years.
“You didn’t have to sleep with me to tell me all this,” I breathed out.
Breathing became harder, each inhale spreading chest pain. It was so
hard to reconcile this man with the one from last night. He caressed me all
night, worshiped me. And then he burned it all to ashes. None of it was real.
Only someone cruel and ruthless could touch me, take my body and heart,
knowing I was just a pawn for him. But then, I knew that about Vasili
Nikolaev; his ruthlessness lurked on the surface from the moment I met
him.
“But I did,” he growled, his tone low and menacing. “Imagine my
surprise when I discovered you were Tatiana’s college roommate. Like a
pretty wrapped present, you fell right in my lap.” He paused, watching me
pensively. “Your mother fucked my father and in return destroyed my
family. What better way to repay the favor?”
I stared at him, my wretched heart breaking with each passing second. It
hurt so bad; I found it hard to breathe. How did I never see his hate before?
“You are a sick bastard,” I snapped, throwing words at him because I
had no other weapon. I had no idea why my mother would have done
anything to him or his family. She was one of the most caring people to
walk this earth. I had never even heard of the Nikolaev name till I met
Tatiana, our first day of college. What kind of freaky coincidence was this?
Damn karma indeed! “And pathetic,” I added in a breathless tone. “You
couldn’t find a better method of revenge than to sleep with the daughter of
your supposed enemy.”
He moved in a flash and was on me in a blink. The anger flamed in his
eyes and penetrated down to my soul. I flinched when he gripped my face,
and I hated that I wasn’t stronger or at least a better actress.
“Watch it, Isabella.” His voice was low and soft, but there was so much
cold threat in it; I didn’t doubt he could dish out worse revenge than taking
my body and my heart. “I made you moan and scream my name in pleasure
last night. I can make you scream my name in terror just as easily. Then
you’ll find out how sick I am.”
My breath shook, and the stupid, twisted side of me actually tried to
find a slither of hope in that statement. Maybe he cared about me. If he
made it good for me last night, maybe he cared after all. If he hated me, he
wouldn’t have bothered to make it good for me. Right?
“Why?” I mustered the courage to ask.
“Why what?” He seemed annoyed at my question.
“Why did you sleep with me?”
“You wanted me, and I wanted you,” he retorted matter-of-factly like he
was talking about the weather. He was more focused on his clothes than me
or my heart that he shattered to pieces with each word he uttered. “Now that
I’ve had you, I’m sated, and I can move on to the next best thing. Besides,
with you, it was a two for one. I got to fuck you and dish out revenge.”
My chest ached, each breath I took squeezing my chest further. ”That is
so cruel,” I whispered in a shaky voice. “Heartless. Making love should be
about caring not hate.”
“Isabella, we just fucked,” Vasili’s voice was cold. “Nothing more,
nothing less.”
How could he say that? It was everything to me.
“Besides, you were so easy,” he added. I met his eyes in confusion.
“Your mother took from my family, so I took from your mother.”
After a tense pause and my stupid mind looking for excuses for his
cruelty, I watched Vasili’s broad shoulders as he headed towards the door,
leaving me behind like a worthless piece of furniture.
“It wasn’t just a fuck for me,” I whispered. Why did I have to humiliate
myself more? His words couldn’t have been clearer; he didn’t want me. He
used me. He hated who I was, just by default. Each beat of my heart
ached… physically ached.
He halted, his body stiff, but he didn’t turn around. From all the
scenarios I imagined for the walk of shame morning after I’d lost my
virginity, this was not one of them.
“If I knew you’d be a dick, like the rest of the college boys, I could have
just saved myself time and slept with them. Marriages fall apart every day. I
agree, my mother shouldn’t have caved in to your father, but it takes two to
cheat. Maybe they cared for each other. You couldn’t have gone through all
this just because two adults had an affair. What could possibly be worth
doing something like this?”
“Ask your mother. She cost lives that could never be repaid. Be thankful
I let you live.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his pale gaze on me and shivers ran down
my body. Even after the crude words he had just spoken, my body still
craved him. It had responded this way to him from the moment we met.
You’d think after three and a half years, I’d get used to it or it would ease
up, but it only got stronger.
“Do you want the truth, Isabella?” I frowned at his question, watching
him lean against the dorm door, his big frame pretty much covering the
entire doorway. He casually stuck his hands into his pockets, the cold and
hard expression on his face alarming, but my brain refused to register the
warning.
“The truth?” The change in him was hard to adjust to after everything.
The heated and passionate man from last night that ignited my body was
gone. In its place was a cold, ruthless stranger. But even more unnerving
was his hate; it went from cold to burning hate.
“The truth, Isabella, is that you were a willing pawn to my revenge. My
mother lost her life. Your mother took from a Nikolaev, and we always
settle the score. Neither you nor your mother should play with wolves.”
I asked for that one, didn’t I? I had pathetically worn my heart on my
sleeve for this man.
It will never happen again. For anyone!

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter One

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

OceanofPDF.com
 Five Years Later

“Y ou look beautiful, babe.” Ryan’s eyes burned with desire, his

hands wrapping around my waist. I wore a sleeveless, V-
neck red dress that fell down my body, softly hugging my
curves. It revealed more skin than I was used to, but it fit this
type of party. My hair was up in a fashionable bun that left my neck and
shoulders exposed. Combined with red sandals and simple diamond studs, I
looked like I belonged at the fancy party. Although, I didn’t feel it.
He looked very handsome too. His tux fit him well, accentuating his
slim body and making his light brown hair even lighter.
“You look very handsome.” I placed a soft kiss on his cheek, inhaling
his cologne. My body didn’t shiver in lust at his scent nor his body pressed
against mine. But he felt comforting and warm.
He nuzzled his cheek against mine. “Thank you for coming with me.”
“Of course,” I murmured. “It is a big night for you. Your first movie
role and you are nominated.”
I knew it was important to him, and I was proud of him. His rock band
had been on top of all the charts for the past two years. When he was
approached over twelve months ago for a movie role, Ryan jumped at it. He
was eager to get to the top, and I was happy for him. If only there would be
less paparazzi around.
“I know how much you hate the publicity and all eyes on us,” he
retorted. “Makes me love you even more.”
I smiled softly at him. He was the first man to actually tell me he loved
me. I loved him too; I just wasn’t sure whether it was the same way he
loved me.
But he knew me well. He took time to know my likes and dislikes,
which made me grow fond of him and slowly fall for his charm. And he
was absolutely right. I hated crowds and the publicity, but I knew in order
for our relationship to work, it was important that I supported him in his big
moments. No matter how much I disliked being in the public eye.
The intercom buzzed and I gave him a peck on the cheek. “Let’s go, my
award-winning boyfriend.”
“You don’t know-”
I cut him off quickly. “Have faith.”
Two hours later, we roamed the afterparty. Ryan was taking pictures
with his prize, pretty much dazzling with his smile. His acceptance speech
was beautiful but made me uncomfortable because everyone’s eyes turned
to me. He pointed me out to the entire room, gushing about my support, and
it took all I had not to shrink back. Then afterwards, I had to smile through
endless photos till I finally snuck away, leaving Ryan to deal with the
spotlight on his own.
There were only so many flashes of camera I could handle. To say this
wasn’t my scene was putting it mildly. I was an ER physician for Christ’s
sake, not celebrity material. I even hated being photographed. I asked
myself at least a million times tonight what I was doing here. Crowds and
spotlight were my two biggest dislikes. But I ground through it all.
Sipping on my champagne, I enjoyed the fact that nobody was talking to
me. Silence and solitude were my best friends sometimes. Leaning against
the wall, I observed the scene in front of me. So many fake smiles, fake
congratulations, gossiping, laughing, and happy crying. God knew some of
the actors had a lot of emotions.
There were faces I recognized from movies but the names escaped me.
Every so often, someone would approach me and congratulate me and press
a kiss on my cheek. At this point, I felt like I needed a damn shower. I hated
familiarity with strangers.
My skin tingled with a familiar sensation that I hadn’t felt in so long. I
rubbed the back of my neck, trying to shake it off, but instead of easing, it
became stronger. As if on a magnetic pull, I turned my head and that was
when I spotted him.
Vasili Nikolaev.
 My heartbeat paused, time stilled, and the only thing I was aware of was
the towering man across the room with the pale blue eyes of glaciers. The
eyes I dreamed about more nights than not. The eyes I have been trying to
forget for the past five years.
Pain pierced through me and my pulse resumed, thundering under my
ribcage.
It couldn’t be him. I closed my eyes for a brief second and opened them,
hoping the image was a figment of my imagination. Or a nightmare.
Praying hard it was just a bad vision, I slowly opened my eyes. But no,
it was Vasili. He stood there in the flesh, towering like a dark cloud over
everyone else, his strong frame making the crowd part for him without any
effort from him. Like a king among his subjects.
But he wasn’t a king. He was the devil disguised in an expensive, black
Armani suit. Brutal and ruthless under all that polished exterior. I
swallowed hard, my eyes soaking him in. He held a glass of champagne in
his hand, but it was untouched. He didn’t drink that shit, he was a more hard
core, expensive liquor kind of guy. His strong, inked fingers wrapped about
the delicate champagne glass reminded me of what he could do to me. All
he had to do was squeeze, and I’d shatter into a million pieces.
And despite it all, my stupid body hummed with electricity and the
blood rushed through my veins like liquid lava. My brain couldn’t stand
him, warned of his cruelty, but my body refused the message. Instead, my
heart raced and the familiar ache spread through my body, reminding me he
ripped the heart from my chest.
And I still want him, the piercing thought was not a good revelation. I
swallowed hard, hardening myself. I would pretend I didn’t know him.
Too late I realized he was headed this way. No, no, no. I begged silently.
Please turn. Anywhere but here. I wasn’t ready to see him nor talk to him.
He knew it too; I knew it without a doubt.
He stopped a mere two feet from me, his familiar scent entering my
lungs and the entire room was forgotten. I held my breath, my tingles
turning into a full-blown blaze. I haven’t seen him in five years. It wasn’t
long enough. Five centuries wouldn’t be long enough.
“Hello, Isabella.” His deep, accented voice went through me like
electricity, making my insides melt.
I should tear my gaze away from him, walk away, do something. But all
I seemed capable of doing was just staring at him, remembering those last
words that pierced through me. That broke me!
My grip tightened around my own glass of champagne. This hold Vasili
had over me was unhealthy on the most fundamental level; I knew it. And
yet, it festered inside me, and at this point, I was sure it would be something
that would die only when I took my last breath.
“Hey babe,” Ryan’s voice startled me out of my stupor. He took my
mouth into a soft kiss. “You disappeared on me.” I swallowed hard, my
whole body stiff, aware of Vasili’s eyes on us. “You made friends?”
His eyes curiously darted to Vasili. Ugh, so much for pretending I didn’t
know him.
“No, this isn’t a friend.” It might be a small jab, but it was something
nonetheless. “This is Vasili Nikolaev.” His name on my lips felt strange,
unusual. I hadn’t spoken it since the night I gave him my virginity. “He’s
Tatiana’s oldest brother. Remember her, right?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course.” Ryan extended his hand, and for a second, I
thought Vasili wouldn’t take it. He let it linger in the air a second too long,
but then he took it. “Nice to meet you, dude.”
I groaned inwardly. Vasili could be called many things but dude wasn’t
one of them. As tense and intimidating as Vasili was, Ryan was the exact
opposite. Too laid back and carefree! After my initial experience with the
cruel man standing in front of me, it appealed to me more than ever.
Suddenly, I noticed a woman on Vasili’s arm. I had been so captivated
by him that I completely missed her by his side, but she was definitely his
date. Her hand looped through his arm clearly indicated it so.
“This is Natasha,” Vasili introduced his date. Short and to the point. He
never wasted energy on excess words, did he.
“Oh my gosh,” a woman’s squeal startled me. “Ryan Johnson. I am such
a fan.” Her voice was high-pitched, and she beamed like a hundred-watt
light bulb. She turned her gaze at me, envy in it and a fake smile on her lips.
“You are such a lucky lady. To be Ryan Johnson’s girlfriend.”
“Aww, thank you,” Ryan grinned, his hand roaming down my back.
Usually it comforted me, but right now it set me on the edge. “This might
help in convincing her to move in with me. But truthfully, I am the lucky
guy.”
He leaned in again and kissed my neck. It was so wrong to remember
how Vasili’s lips felt on my skin while Ryan kissed me, but here I was
remembering that fire the ruthless man ignited while my sweet, thoughtful
boyfriend worshiped me.
I swallowed hard, a bitter taste on my tongue. I wouldn’t think about
Vasili’s lips.
Instead, I focused on the conversation. Ah, yes, moving in with Ryan.
He’d been hinting and asking for months now but I kept delaying my
decision. Though I knew for sure, this was neither the time nor place for a
conversation about us moving together. I smiled tightly, and it probably
looked fake as fuck. Unsure how to respond appropriately to either one of
their comments, I just decided not to respond.
“I can’t wait to have Bella in my place,” Ryan continued oblivious to
my tension. “To see her every morning and every night.”
Vasili’s eyebrow raised ever so slightly, a smirk curving his beautiful
lips.
“Ohhhh, you should do it,” Natasha gushed all over herself as she
continued. “That would be such a dream.”
The way she spoke, it seemed like it was her dream.
“And you and Vasili,” I snarked softly in my passive aggressive voice,
ignoring the comments about me moving in with Ryan. “You found yourself
a winner there.”
She turned her eyes to Vasili, and I swore there were stars there. “He’s
the best.” My sarcasm was lost on her.
“Yeah, sure,” I muttered. There might have been a tiny bit of bitterness
mixed with that sarcasm, but she completely missed it. Good thing Tatiana
wasn’t here because she would have picked up my sarcastic tone
immediately.
Leaning closer to Ryan, giving him a glimpse of her low-cut dress,
Natasha murmured to Ryan. “Would it be pushy to ask for a picture with
you?”
Ryan was immediately in idol mode for his fans. “No, not at all. Babe,
how about you join in?”
Yeah, that would be a hard pass.
“Ummm, I’ll wait here. You go ahead.”
Ryan turned his gaze at Vasili.
“I’ll pass.” Of course he would. He bowed to nobody, people admired
him, not the other way around.
 And those two were gone, leaving me standing next to the man that
made my body burn with lust. I watched those two walk away from us and
suddenly wished I’d went along for the pictures. Enduring photos would
have been better than staying alone with Vasili; tension and nervous energy
seeped through each pore of me.
God, this man was making me nervous. Even after all those years, he
succeeded in rattling me. I was older and wiser now; nobody should impact
me like that.
“How’ve you been, Isabella?” His question startled me and I almost
spilled my champagne.
“Good, thanks.” I sucked at small talk. With Vasili Nikolaev, I sucked at
everything. I wished we weren’t in public, so I could just turn my back at
him and walk away. Or flip him a middle finger and tell him to go fuck
himself. “You?”
“Not too bad. You are living in L.A., huh?”
After our one-night stand where Tatiana’s oldest brother used me for his
revenge, I avoided Vasili like a plague. The secrets I couldn’t have even
fathomed came out into the light and changed things forever. He granted me
one thing - we wouldn’t tell Tatiana and Sasha what my mother had done to
his family, if I kept to myself that I had slept with him. I agreed.
“Yep.”
In order to avoid looking at him, my eyes traveled to Ryan and Natasha.
She was giggling like a little school girl, trying to get as many selfies out of
him. She was very pretty, with her long blonde hair and her tall frame.
Somehow her and Vasili fit well together. Unlike me, I thought wryly. I was
barely pushing five foot five, my skin looked pale compared to his
permanent tan, and my thick hair was too dark for my complexion.
“I never took you for a big city girl.”
My skin tingled with awareness, his body too close but not close
enough. His gaze lazily traveled down my body, melting every inch of me
into a wanton puddle. How was it possible that even after everything, my
body reacted so strongly to him?
“Well, I’m not a girl anymore,” I retorted. “It’s fun living here.”
“Do you still surf?” I was surprised he remembered I liked surfing. I
annoyed Tatiana with it all the time, but when Vasili was around, I tended to
listen more than talk.
 “Sometimes.” God, I wished Ryan would just come on. I didn’t want to
stand here with this man and make small talk. My skin tightened with
tension and that familiar tingling sensation that only happened around him.
It threatened to burst into fireworks, and I suspected it wasn’t the good
kind.
I watched Ryan and Natasha giggling some more and my annoyance
grew by the second.
“You look good, Isabella.” My skin flushed at his compliment, and I
knew my cheeks blushed crimson red. His flattery flared the anger within
me, and the hurt I buried deep inside.
“Don’t make small talk with me, Vasili,” I murmured, meeting his eyes.
He was still the most handsome man I had ever seen, but I wouldn’t forget
that he considered me his enemy. I was his revenge. For something I had no
control over. A Nikolaev always settles the score. “And let’s not pretend we
are friends.”
Without a backwards glance, I strode to Ryan and Natasha with my
back stiff, painfully aware of Vasili’s eyes on the back of my head. I
plastered a fake smile on my face as I approached my boyfriend letting
Natasha snap another selfie. Gees, how many selfies does a person need? I
wondered.
“Babe.” Ryan wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into his
body. I couldn’t help but compare my body’s response to Ryan’s touch and
Vasili’s proximity. The latter didn’t even have to touch me and I was putty
for him. Ryan’s lips met mine and although I regularly hated over-the-top
displays of affection, I let him in hopes of erasing the hyperactive
awareness of Vasili in the room. It didn’t work.
“Ready to go home?” I murmured low against his lips.
“Yes.” Ryan waved behind me at Vasili and tilted his head at Natasha.
I’d need another five years to recover from seeing Vasili Nikolaev
tonight.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Two

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

R yan Johnson was lucky I didn’t smash his pretty face into the
marble floors of this reception room among all the reporters.
With a clenched jaw, I watched him pull Isabella’s soft body
into his and press his mouth to hers. She let him, but there was a slight
tension in her body. I read her body’s responses like an open book. I might
have had her for only one night, but she melted under my touch and my
body. Fuck, the way she melted into me that night was pure perfection.
And I threw it all away. To keep a promise, I thought bitterly.
From the moment I spotted her in that dress, her amazing tits on display
and the slits up both sides of the skirt showing off her legs with every step,
my hard cock refused to subside. There was nothing more I wanted than to
kill her boyfriend and take her home with me. Everything about her made
my cock hard. And the way she raised her haughty chin of hers, defiance in
her eyes… fuck, it was enough to make me spill.
Ryan placed another kiss on her soft skin, and I gritted my molars. She
wasn’t his. I could still hear her moans in my head, feel her soft skin under
my rough palms. The rage blinded me at seeing her boyfriend touch her.
I rolled the anger off my shoulders at seeing Ryan put his mouth on her
and touch her. It wouldn’t bode well if I went into attack mode. Not yet. It
wasn’t time to show who owned Isabella Taylor. Or should I say Santos?
Her red dress hugged her body and had an open back, giving me a full
view of her smooth skin. It made my cock painfully twitch. Ever since that
night five years ago, she had inked herself into my bloodstream and refused
to leave me. She was like a fucking enchantress that threw a spell on me,
refusing to let go. That innocent, vulnerable look of hers, the way she
carried her softness on her sleeve, drew me in. She was a beautiful woman,
but that vulnerability and softness was what brought men to their knees. She
was crack for men, willing to commit murder to have a taste of her.
It was the reason I had men watch over her from the moment I met her,
alongside my sister. Even after that night I squashed her heart under my
expensive boots, I had men watch over her. I couldn’t let go. I told myself it
was so I could always keep tabs on her, but for the first time in my damn
life, I’d lied to myself.
Ever since I met her, I had always lurked in the shadows. She was a
pawn to my revenge, but the joke was on me. The relationship between my
father and her mother was so much more than my mother led on. There
wasn’t an innocent in that fucking triangle.
Actually, scratch that!
Isabella was the only innocent in that whole fiasco. The regret was
bitter, but the desire and need for her never diminished. Five years and I
could still taste her on my lips, feel her soft body withering under my touch,
hear her moans. Ever since that night, I haven’t been able to get her out of
my head. The way she gave herself to me, without reservation, holding
nothing back. It was priceless, addictive, intoxicating.
Her blind trust made my betrayal even worse.
But I was done paying for my sins. Or our parents’. This time, I’d play
for my queen.
Let the games begin.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Three

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

M r. Johnson wants to meet you.

Today, six this evening.
His place.
The text was from an unknown number. It wasn’t surprising. Ryan went
through assistants like underwear. He could be a difficult prima donna to
work for. The surprising part was that he wanted to meet tonight. I thought
he was out of town for another two days, on his tour.
It had been three weeks since the award ceremony and the night I ran
into Vasili. Seeing him after all that time shook me more than I cared to
admit. It was stupid that I still wanted him with the same intensity as I did
five years ago. Knowing how he used me and then discarded me, you’d
think I’d know better. But my damn heart wanted what it wanted, without
regard for what was smart.
“Gun victim, coming in five minutes,” someone shouted, and
immediately I shoved all thoughts of Vasili and Ryan aside.
The next few hours the atmosphere in the ER was hectic. Surgeons,
physicians, and nurses running around, working together to save the victim.
We each all our own important part in saving people.
Three hours later, I was finally able to call it a day after a twelve-hour
shift. It had been a long day, I was exhausted and tired. There wasn’t
anything more I wanted to do than just head straight home, take a shower,
and crash.
I briefly debated just ignoring that text. It was so tempting just to go
home and get my much-needed sleep. I was glad Ryan was back, but I
wished it had happened yesterday. It was a much quieter day. Or maybe
tomorrow when I was supposed to have a shorter shift.
I peeked around the corner from the ER, the place I have called my
home for the past four years, and a relieved sigh left my lips. No paparazzi
and no reporters. God, how I hated being followed by those! It was the
single biggest downfall to dating Ryan Johnson. Since the premier, the
spotlight was even more on him and his life. As the lead singer of The
Surprise Blink, it was a necessity for him. For my career, it was a nuisance.
Ryan and I were an unlikely couple in the world of the rich and famous.
Our interests and careers were vastly different. Even more, our personalities
were too. He loved being the main talk of the public; I loved being
unnoticed. Although he was just a few months older than me, he still looked
like he was twenty-one. Sometimes he acted like it too. It was what made
him popular. That nice boy charm.
So unlike Vasili who was more dark, cruel, and cold. I shook my head,
shooing the thoughts of him out of my mind. I had to stop comparing him to
Vasili. I noticed it happened more frequently since I ran into my blast from
the past.
Ryan and I met in an unusual way for a rockstar. I ran into him in the
cafeteria of the ER. His guitarist fell off the stage and hurt his arm. His
friends rushed him in, and it happened to be my shift. I had no clue who
they were, but they all hovered around me as I set their friend’s arm
straight. An hour later, he was getting a cast and I was getting a fresh cup of
coffee. Ryan spotted me, offered to buy me a cup of coffee, and the rest was
history.
The hot air was heavy as I walked down the sidewalk. Ryan’s place was
a ways away, but I needed some fresh air after a long shift. Although today
was a bit too hot. It was the last week of September but Los Angeles tended
to remain hot much longer than the East Coast. Initially, the weather
attracted me, but now I missed all the seasons. Yes, I could drive to Tahoe
for some winter or Yosemite National Park in the fall, but it wasn’t the
same. There were days I told myself it was time to move, but then, I’d
convinced myself to stay. This relationship with Ryan was difficult as it
was. Between his touring schedule, constant appearances at various
publicity events, and my hectic schedule at the ER, we didn’t have much
time left for us. Dating with thousands of miles between us wouldn't bode
well for our relationship.
 Despite my tired state, my chest warmed at the thoughts of him. It was
good that I would see him tonight. Sometimes I just needed some time to
warm up to an idea. Like to see him out of the blue.
Or move in with him. I recalled our conversation from the last night we
spent together, before he left for his tour. He asked me to move in with him
again. It was a big step and though my brain said just do it, my heart
resisted. There was no logic to it.
“I love you, Isabella.” His voice was soft as he showered my neck with
gentle kisses. “I have never asked another woman to live with me. But with
you, I want it all.”
My body was relaxed, my heartbeat slowing down after what he had just
shared. I didn’t feel intense, crazy chemistry with Ryan, but I cared for him,
and I enjoyed everything we shared, in and out of bed. The question was did
I love him?
I raised my head off the pillow. Our eyes met and I searched his eyes
for… what? I wasn’t sure. I loved him too; maybe not exactly the same way
as he loved me. But that was because there was a part of me missing.
Someone stole it years ago and hadn’t given it back yet.
Ryan’s deep brown eyes stared at me, and I knew each second of delay
caused him pain.
I smiled to assure him there was nobody else for me but him.
“That’s a big step, Ryan.” It ended up coming out, instead of the yes.
“Let me think about it.”
His hopeful expression shattered and guilt hit me straight into my heart
at being the cause of it.
“Please,” I added in a soft voice, my fingers tangling through his hair.
“There is nobody else I want to do this with… I just-”
The words escaped me. What could I possibly say? I needed time. We’ve
been dating for two years. A lot of people moved in after just a few months
of dating.
“I understand,” he muttered, shifting away from me.
I pulled him back to me, meeting him halfway. “Please let me think
about it. You are leaving for your tour. When you are back, we can discuss
it, and how we would go about it. Please, Ryan. Let us not part like this,” I
begged.
A soft smile lit up his face and his nose brushed against mine. “Okay.
You are right. I want to be here when you are moving, so we can do it
together.”
And that was how we parted. His nose brushed against mine, then his
lips searching out mine. Ryan was everything… gentle, soft, thoughtful,
caring. Everything Vasili wasn’t.
I should tell him yes tonight. It was the right move, a step in the right
direction. He wouldn’t watch me with a cruel sneer on his face as he
shattered my heart into a million pieces.
I waved at the doorman of Ryan’s building and he smiled back.
Something about his smile though; it was almost pitiful. I ignored it,
attributing it to melancholy. The next instant I understood it though, there
was a group of paparazzi and cameras swarming the hallway.
This was what I hated the most about dating Ryan Johnson. He was
always surrounded by paparazzi. My back went rigid and I scurried along,
hoping they’d fumble with their big ass cameras and I’d be inside Ryan’s
apartment before they caught up.
No such luck though. They were right on my tail. Usually, they weren’t
allowed inside the building, and I pondered why they were inside now.
Maybe some publicity stunt was going on, I guessed.
I took the stairs, two at the time, and fished the keys to Ryan’s
apartment out of my purse on my way to his floor. There was only one more
floor above his and that was a penthouse that belonged to the building
owner. Apparently, nobody knew who that was. A huge mystery that
intrigued the residents.
Pushing the key into the lock, I barely made two steps in when I saw it.
Ryan naked as he fucked some blonde bombshell bent over his couch.
Both of them naked, her boobs on full display, his body behind hers. My
heart spiraled lower and lower while their grunting and moaning indicated
they were reaching their peak. My chest tore with each sound, the
unbearable lump choked my throat, and then, I just went numb.
I should have said something, done something. Instead, I stood there
frozen. Incapable of moving or speaking. The clicking sound of cameras
and flash was what finally startled me out of my stupor. Those two never
even realized I entered the room. Ryan’s eyes lifted and everything stilled.
The woman panted, demanding more. Ryan’s eyes met mine and my breath
halted for several heartbeats. I had started to open my heart to him, and for
the second time, it got smashed to pieces. By two different men. A look of
guilt replaced the love in Ryan’s eyes.
 At least he wasn’t smirking like- I couldn’t even think about that right
now. It would break me.
I turned around without a word, softly put his apartment keys on the
nearby table and left through the door. The cameras still flashed from the
hallway, capturing every single moment of my heartbreak. The last time a
man broke my heart, at least there weren’t witnesses. This time, the whole
world would see and know. I shut the door to his apartment and my heart,
firmly but softly.
I would not do this again.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Four

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

T he annoying persistent doorbell buzzing woke me up.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“Ugh, go away,” I mumbled under my breath.
There was no point in getting up. Ever since the incident with Ryan a
week ago, my phone has been blowing up and so has my doorbell. The
reporters and paparazzi have been harassing me so badly that on my third
day at work, after pictures of Ryan banging a woman went viral, the head of
the ER department asked me not to come back to work. I needed that job,
not only for the paycheck but also to finish my residency, so I could be fully
qualified. Besides, it helped to throw myself into work to get me through
the days, this heartbreak and humiliation.
She said to stay away till things calmed down. I could understand her
request; those reporters were getting out of hand. Entering the ER, faking
injuries, even obtaining real injuries, just to get close to me and snap a
picture.
I thought as the time went on, the interest would ease up. It didn’t. If
anything, it became an even bigger topic.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
I put the pillow on top of my head, ignoring the persistent buzzing.
“I know you are in there,” a familiar female voice yelled. “You can’t
ignore me anymore.”
Could it be-
Shifting off the bed, I headed towards the door and peeked through the
hole.
 “Oh my God,” I swung the door open. “Tatiana!”
“Yes, it’s me,” she announced, strolling into my small apartment.
I quickly shut the door and locked it. I wouldn’t put it past those damn
paparazzi to come in if they found an unlocked door.
“What are you doing here?” She lived between New Orleans, D.C., and
New York. We barely saw each other anymore.
“I saw what happened,” she replied, like that explained it all. When I
continued staring at her blankly, she let out a deep sigh. “You needed
saving. I sent you like twenty messages, and you didn’t reply to a single
one.” I stared at those pale blue eyes so much like her brother’s. I really,
really tried not to remember those eyes and that night, but it was hard not to
when looking at my best friend. It was probably why I avoided her and her
brother, Sasha, so much. I loved them both but the risk of running into
Vasili and their resemblance had me running and hiding.
A lot of good did that to me. I still ran into him.
I headed to my little kitchen, Tatiana right on my trail.
“I’m sorry. My phone has been blowing up. There are thousands of
messages and calls. I just-” I tried to justify myself but what could I say. I
was just too depressed after losing my boyfriend and my job in the same
week. “I didn’t feel like going through them all.”
“You are just hiding,” she announced, without beating around the bush.
“But you should have at least read the messages from me.”
I took a deep breath. She was right, there was no point in denying. I was
hiding and not in the best frame of mind. I have been publicly humiliated,
my entire life ripped to pieces, and to top it all off, I couldn’t even throw
myself into my job. Because I lost that too.
“I lost my job,” I muttered.
The expression on her face was that of shock.
“What?” Her voice was screechy when she got upset. “Why? How?”
“The reporters and paparazzi were swarming the ER.” Wrapping my
arms around me, I felt like such a failure. “Faking injuries, making real
injuries, and it just wasn’t safe. For anyone.”
“That’s bullshit,” she spat. “And you just let them fire you?”
“Tatiana, I wouldn’t have, but nurses were having to work sixteen hour
shifts because of those idiots. It wasn’t fair, and Janet, our head of ER, was
just trying to look out for everyone.”
“She sure as hell wasn’t looking out for you.”
 I shrugged my shoulders. There was nothing she could do really. I just
knew I had to find another job and finish my residency training. It was the
last step required, and I was almost at the finish line.
“I’d offer you something to drink,” I muttered, “but the fridge is empty,
and I’m all out of coffee.”
“Do you have any wine?” I shook my head in response. “Any kind of
alcohol?”
“Maybe a Kahlua,” I muttered.
I hadn’t been to the grocery store in weeks. Initially, it was because I
was too busy, and now, because I didn’t want to show my face anywhere.
Between my job and Ryan, I barely ever ate at home, so I kept the bare
minimum in the fridge. And my alcohol supply was pretty much
nonexistent. I definitely regretted that this past week.
Tatiana strode to me and took my face between her hands. God, when
she did that, she reminded me of a mother. And Tatiana was just a few
months older than me.
The memory of my mom always hurt. I missed her. She never got to see
me graduate from college. It was another blow after Vasili squashed my
heart with a hammer. And all my ideals about my mother. There were so
many secrets that lurked in the past, and sometimes I wished I remained
ignorant of them all. But thanks to Vasili, they all came out in the open. A
few months later, Mother was diagnosed with stage five cancer and passed
away two short weeks later.
It was the worst time in my life. I had a fairly happy life, but that last
year of college, after that Halloween night, things turned dark, and it took
me a long time to get through them.
But no matter what, I still loved my mother. She was a good and caring
mother to me my entire life. I couldn’t punish her for something she had
done when she was barely twenty. People make mistakes. God, just look at
me! How many mistakes have I made?
Except for Vasili Nikolaev. That man was cold as ice and never made a
mistake.
Mom finally lost the battle one month before I graduated. In the span of
a few months, my heart broke with the loss of my mother and the man I
lusted after since my freshman year.
I graduated summa cum laude and walked across the stage feeling more
alone than ever in my entire life. It was also the last time I saw Vasili who
came to support Tatiana. Ironically, she avoided him, and for the first time,
so did I.
“How are you?” Her pale blue eyes searched my face, and suddenly I
felt too vulnerable. Too exposed. Ever since all the shit happened with
Ryan, I had seen pity, envy, glee on people’s faces. I ignored it. But not a
single person has asked me how I was doing.
A lump in my throat formed again and my lip trembled. I shouldn’t have
been thinking about Vasili or my mother. I wasn’t sure whether I was numb
or was it something else, but this with Ryan didn’t hurt as bad as it did with
Vasili. The worst part about what happened with Ryan was that after two
years, he couldn’t even give me a courtesy of telling me I wasn’t enough.
He preferred for me to find out by witnessing it and walking away from
him.
Tears stung in my eyes and I blinked hard, trying to hold them back. I
felt the need to hide from the world’s prying eyes and lick my wounds.
“Fine,” I barely got the words out.
The look she gave me told me she didn’t believe me. We have been best
friends since our first day at Georgetown University in D.C. We were
roommates freshman year and stuck together from that first day. We were
put together by happenstance. I didn’t know the connection between my
mother and Tatiana’s family when we met. The universe’s own cruel joke,
and I was at the center of it.
It still didn’t diminish the fact that Tatiana and I got close. We grinded
together through all-nighter assignments, exams, cried our hearts out after
boys, and ate our way through a lot of ice cream when we were sad.
Needless to say, she knew when I was lying.
“No, you are not fine. And we are going to do something about it.”
The look on her face told me she wouldn’t take no for an answer. I just
hoped she wasn’t up to something. Usually, she was. During the first few
years of college, we were always up to something and getting in trouble.
Living in D.C. gave us a lot of opportunities to enjoy a big city life and
party hard. Trouble just followed. It was her oldest brother that usually
bailed us out.
Don’t think about him now, I ordered myself.
“If you are thinking about drinking all night in a bar,” I told her in
resignation, “I can’t. I don’t have the same alcohol tolerance level. Besides,
there are paparazzi on each corner just waiting to attack.”
 I was just tired. I needed time to rebound and form a new plan. Yes, that
was all I needed. Fuck, I am doomed. The last time it took me several years
to rebound. But now I have experience, I told myself. I should be able to
rebound faster. Besides, there was a lot more that happened after Vasili
dumped me after a one-night stand.
My mother’s illness. The baby. Skeletons that came out into the open.
“I think you should come to New Orleans with me.” My eyes snapped
to Tatiana in shock, and I started shaking my head. “Hear me out,” she
quickly justified. “That city has a different tempo and different audience
from L.A. Most people probably won’t even recognize you or know who
Ryan Johnson is.” A pang of hurt hit my chest. How could he have done
that? He literally just asked me to move in with him and then did this? It
made no sense at all.
“Isabella, are you listening?”
I blinked my eyes, eyeing her perfectly styled blonde hair. She wore a
Chanel pink skirt with a white blouse and white heels. Her light blonde hair
fell down her back in a slick curtain. She looked so put together, just like
her life. On the other hand, my whole life was a complete mess. I was a
disaster on two legs.
“You look really good,” I mumbled, unsure what else to say.
“That’s because I haven’t had my heart just slashed in the most public
way possible.”
I strode to the couch and sat down in the corner, folding my legs
underneath me. It was the first week of October, but I felt cold. Probably
because the owner of the building controlled the A/C and turned it to
freezing temperatures.
“Come to New Orleans with me,” she repeated, her voice soft. “Is there
anything else for you here? Would anyone miss you?”
No, there wasn’t anything else for me here. And no, nobody would miss
me. I had a job as an ER physician and a good team. I lost it. I had a
boyfriend. I lost that too. I thought our relationship graduated to the next
level when he asked me to move in with him.
I couldn’t afford not to have a job. Rent in L.A. was outrageously
expensive. Between rent and my school loan, I was barely surviving. But
my job and Ryan made it all worth it. At least that was what I kept telling
myself for the past few months.
 Now, I just couldn’t wrap my head around Ryan’s betrayal. The soft
words he spoke that last night we spent together before he went on the tour
kept replaying in my mind. What did I miss?
“Isabella?”
My eyes burned, and I felt a tear escape, rolling down my cheek. I
wiped it with the back of my hand, angry at myself. Tatiana sat next to me
and wrapped her arms around me.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I should learn to be more sensitive. I didn’t
mean it that way but you have been saying how you contemplated moving.
Maybe this is a sign.”
“It’s just so pathetic,” I whimpered, feeling sorry for myself. “If I left
this city right now, nobody would even miss me or notice me gone.”
“The paparazzi would,” she attempted to joke.
I gave her a wobbly smile at best. “I just don’t understand what
happened.”
“He’s a jerk who doesn’t deserve you,” she spat angry. “Come to New
Orleans with me. You could stay with me while you look for a job. It could
be college all over again.”
Despite a heavy heart, I chuckled. “You really want to relive those
years?”
“Fuck, yeah. Those were the best years of our lives.” There was
wistfulness in her voice. “Don’t you think so?”
I nodded. They were simple years, till that last year. Then everything
went up in flames thanks to her oldest brother. But she didn’t need to know
about that. Nobody knew about it except for the two of us. The problem
was that I didn’t want to see Vasili again. I had no idea where he lived, but
the siblings usually remained in the close vicinity of each other.
“So, what do you say?” she asked eagerly.
Taking a deep breath, I met her hopeful expression. “I have to move,
yes. But I don’t want to live with you while hunting for an apartment. Your
brothers are there, and I don’t-”
“No, no, no,” she cut me off. “I have my own place and my brothers
have their own. Besides, for the past few weeks they were in Russia and
will slowly start spending more time there than here. In fact, that’s where
they’ll be for the foreseeable future. It would be just the two of us. Well,
Katerina is there too. She ensures the house runs smoothly.”
 I shook my head. Our lives were so vastly different, it was mind
boggling. Before I met her, I had never known a single person that had a
cook, maid, and entire staff to run a household. But that was exactly how
Tatiana and her family lived. When we first met, I heard whispers about her
family being part of the criminal underworld, but it was so far-fetched, I
never paid it any attention. Initially, I had no clue what her family did for a
living, but I knew they owed extensive real estate and multiple businesses.
During our college years, I never asked, more interested in her friendship
than anything else, so we never discussed it.
But after that night with Vasili and my mother’s death, there were so
many secrets revealed. I had never even fathomed my mother could have
kept so many damn, dark secrets. How did I not know? How did I not see?
My mother’s journal I found after her death was eye-opening, that was for
sure.
Tatiana’s family was part of a mafia. Scratch that, they were the damn
mafia. But I couldn’t cast the first stone, because among all my mother’s
written words I found out my heritage, and my father was a much worse
man than Vasili’s father.
“I don’t know,” I told her honestly. “I’m not exactly in the best frame of
mind.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Both of us jumped at the doorbell sound.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered to myself. “I wish they would just go away.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
Tatiana got up and strode to the intercom. “Yes?”
“Miss Taylor, I have a few questions that-”
“Stop harassing me, or I’m calling the police,” Tatiana threatened.
“Just one-”
“No.”
She cut the conversation and strode back to me, like she was on a
runway show.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
“When was the last time you left the apartment?” she questioned me.
I thought back. It was the day that I was told not to come back to work.
“A week ago.”
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
 “That’s enough of this,” she exclaimed. “Spend October with me. If you
don’t like it in New Orleans, we’ll find someplace you like. Just not in this
forsaken city.”
“At least the surfing is good here,” I muttered.
She gave me a blank look. “That was very random, and I didn’t know
you still surfed.”
I shrugged. “Occasionally, I do.” After all, I grew up in Florida, right on
the ocean.
“I can’t just get up and leave,” I told her. She might have that luxury but
I didn’t.
“Yes, you can. I’ll handle it all.” That was the scary part. She could
handle it all in a matter of hours. I knew firsthand she could handle
anything and everything. “I just want one thing in return,” she added, a
mischievous gleam in her eyes.
Immediately suspicious, I watched her for any hints of trouble. “What is
that?”
“You go to a Halloween party with me,” she grinned. I hadn’t seen her
in almost eight months, but sometimes, she acted like we were still in
college. And truthfully, I haven’t been to a Halloween party since my senior
year. It was my least favorite holiday. The memories of that night were
bitter but I still couldn’t muster the will to regret it. Nobody had ever made
me feel the way Vasili did that night. “There is this club, The Den of Sin.”
My head snapped to hers. “What?”
“Yes, can you believe it!” She continued all giddy. “Talk about
coincidence. They are holding a Halloween party. I want to go there with
someone, and I know you won’t ditch me. Besides, considering it was our
dorm room name, it is a sign. Don’t you think so?”
“I don’t know if that is a good sign,” I muttered under my breath while
my heart sped up despite my brain’s objections.
Reluctantly I recalled what happened during the last Halloween party.
Even after all the cruel words spoken by Vasili, my body still warmed at the
memories of that night. Nobody had ever felt like him or made my body
respond like him.
“Besides, it is you that always ditches me,” I objected, pushing
memories of her eldest brother out of my mind. “I’d ruin your time with my
mood. I’m not exactly in the party mood.”
 “Give it time,” she quickly replied, jumping at the opportunity. I didn’t
shut it down firmly enough. “It is a few weeks away. I don’t want to see you
drag around for months and months.” She referred to the last time I was
dumped by the man I gave my virginity to. “You never told me who it was,”
she complained. “And we are best friends. We are not supposed to have
secrets.”
This was one secret I couldn’t share with her though. “We granted each
other one secret,” I reminded her.
“So does that mean you are coming?”
I knew it was time to leave L.A., but after the encounter with Vasili
three weeks ago, I knew I couldn’t be around him. I knew I should have
mentioned to Tatiana that I saw Vasili three weeks ago, but it was so much
easier not to mention it. I needed more time to get over him.
He won’t be there, I justified.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
I groaned, sick and tired of that sound.
“I’m visiting you in New Orleans, while I decide where I’m going
next,” I told her, my mind made up.
She squealed so hard, I felt a headache coming on.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Five

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

I liked order, rules, and submission. It was what made the

Nikolaev name feared among our competitors and our enemies.
Our name was synonymous to power, wealth, and money. It
took an iron fist and control to keep it all running like a well-oiled machine.
We owned New Orleans but our businesses expanded throughout
Detroit, D.C., Los Angeles, and now we've ventured into Florida. Much to
the Santos family’s dismay. And that was just in the U.S. We had businesses
all over the world, starting with a bulk of it in Russia.
The Santos family has had control of Florida and ran their drugs, guns
and casinos only in that territory. Over the last three years the youngest
Santos, Raphael, has been working with Luciano Vitale, Cassio and Luca
King, as well as Nico Morrelli and Alessio Russo. That entire bunch
worked against human trafficking, which was perfectly fine with me. I
hated criminals who got involved in that business. There were plenty of
other ways to make money. The Nikolaev family has been against flesh
moving for generations.
It was what started a feud between the Santos and the Nikolaev families
- Raphael’s father, being young and stupid, moved flesh for Benito King,
the scum of the mobster world, over our territory almost forty years ago.
And ever since, the feud never ceased, fueled by additional wrongs. At least
Raphael Santos wasn’t as dumb as his father who insisted on human
trafficking. Lombardo Santos had been drinking from Benito King’s hose
for the past forty years and was more than willing to play in that bloody
mess.
 But Lombardo Santos was dead now. Thanks to my dear brother!
I strode into my building and sensed as everyone’s eyes darted away
from me before they scurried away to remain unseen. The money and
power behind me made people cower. I was sure my sheer size and
reputation had something to do with it too. I’ve always been a large man
and when dealing with opposing crime families, I didn’t hesitate to handle
things myself. It earned me a reputation that people feared, but it assured
enemies wouldn’t fuck with me. Not unless they had a death wish.
I made it into my office undisturbed, only to find my brother sitting with
his feet propped up on my desk.
“What the fuck are you doing, Sasha?” I barked at my brother who was
reading a goddamn People magazine.
Over the last few weeks, the slightest provocation set my anger blazing.
Ever since the evening I had Isabella within my grasp, drowning in her
whiskey gaze and her scent.
There was no denying it, my mood had been especially sour since
seeing that woman. I was in a constant state of arousal that nobody could
sate but her.
“Reading a magazine.”
“Get your feet off my desk before I beat your fucking ass.”
Everyone in my businesses, legal and illegal, yielded to my demands.
Even Alexei, my half-brother, didn’t fuck with me anymore. Probably
because he became a grouchy ass like me. But Sasha and Tatiana did
exactly what I didn’t want them to do. Like they thrived in pissing me off.
Neither had any interest in the businesses, which left it all on my shoulders.
I didn’t mind it for the most part, but it irked me when my brother acted
like some flamboyant ass reading a goddamn People magazine. A fucking
sniper, a killer, reading People. What the fuck!
“Want to know what I read in People magazine?” It was beyond me
why he thought I would give a shit. Nobody but chicks read that garbage.
I gritted my teeth, keeping my mouth shut or risked losing my shit on
him. I just came out of a good meeting in which we acquired a key piece of
property in New Orleans. My brother was only interested in his sniper
activities and the next guy he could eliminate. Anything to do with business
and his eyes just glazed over.
But it was now that I needed him and Alexei more than ever. Those two
were family; if something happened to me, they would take over the
Nikolaev business. The three of us had same principals - never move flesh,
don’t launder money for others, and never fucking do any kind of business
with the men that did move flesh.
After my encounter with Isabella, I flew to Russia to take care of our
businesses there. Fucking Benito King and Alphonso Romano had
attempted to move flesh through my territory behind my back. I would
never allow that to happen. It was against everything the Nikolaev family
stood for.
Sasha and Alexei hated human trafficking too. They hated it so much,
both of those hotheads liked to set their own targets and eliminate them. It
was one of the reasons it set Sasha off to kill Lombardo Santos. Not that I
objected eliminating people that participated in human trafficking, but we
couldn’t start a full-blown war with every family Sasha and Alexei wanted
to shoot down.
Although, I wouldn’t have objected to killing off Benito King and
Alphonso Romano - that would certainly earn me a huge favor from
Luciano Vitale. His wife has been missing for three years, and he blamed
her uncle and had almost succeeded in bankrupting the Romano family. Too
bad I didn’t really need Luciano’s favors. And I didn’t want conflict with
Benito King that would make my family a target and weaken us.
If something should happen to me, I knew my brothers wouldn’t let it
all just fall into our rivals’ hands. I needed them to think before they acted.
Our vast business set up could do a lot of damage if used the way some of
our rival families operated. If something happened to me, I needed my two
younger brothers to keep Tatiana and Isabella safe. The fact that my father
refused to do business with Benito King, the ringleader of human
trafficking, and Alphonso Romano made Tatiana a target.
While I was away, Sasha and Alexei found themselves the new targets
with the head of the Santos family. I could understand my brother’s need to
kill the old bastard. Not only did Lombardo participate in moving flesh, but
he was also indirectly responsible for our father’s death ten years ago. But
Sasha and Alexei’s execution of Lombardo wasn’t the right move. Not yet,
anyhow. We killed his eldest son in repayment for that debt a few years
earlier.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Sasha continued, completely unperturbed that
he was wasting my time. And his own, because I didn’t give a shit about
anyone in that magazine. Keeping my family safe should be all of our focus
right now. “Remember Tatiana’s friend? Isabella Taylor.” My body stiffened
at the mention of her. Completely oblivious to everything, Sasha continued,
“Okay, that was a dumb question to ask of my cold-ass brother, but I
remember her. Sweet ass and even sweeter personality. Apparently, she
caught her famous boyfriend, Ryan Johnson, red-handed banging some
chick. They have a whole debate going on about what she should have
done.”
Ignoring my brother, I sat behind my desk and powered my laptop by
scanning my retina.
“Get your fucking feet off my desk, or I’ll break both of your legs.”
This would be the only fucking response he would get from me. I didn’t
even bother giving him a glance, but the threatening tone of my voice was
finally enough to get him to obey.
Sasha didn’t know I held Isabella’s sweet ass in my hands for one
glorious night. Nobody knew it but Isabella and I. He didn’t know that her
pussy became my obsession and even after five long years, I could recall
her sweet taste and moans as I fucked her hard. One night! It took that girl
one night to do what no other woman had ever done. Make me an addict for
her pussy.
When our eyes met at the awards ceremony, time stilled all over again.
From the very first moment I laid my eyes on her, Tatiana’s freshman year, I
wanted her. I didn’t give a fuck about her age or anything else. Just her
sweet ass. Till I found out who her mother was. And even then, my cock
zeroed on her and wouldn’t retreat.
Ryan Johnson was an immature rock star that liked to bang chicks on
the side. Isabella was just too blind to see. If she’d ever only bothered to
pick up tabloid magazines, she’d see evidence of it plastered all over the
pages. And I had my men confirm the rumors. That bastard succeeded in
securing the apartment in my L.A. building only because of his connection
to Isabella, and so I could keep an eye on him. The second I heard he was
trying to have her move in with him, I set out to burn him down. He wasn’t
good enough for her.
The text sent to Isabella having her meet him that day was by design.
“Fine, be like that,” Sasha grunted. “All work, no play.” He threw the
magazine onto my desk. “Okay, about work then. I hunted down some
information on the old Santos man.”
 “The one you killed,” I grumbled, reminding him what a fucking mess
he started. He always had to stir a pot.
Unknowingly, with his rash decision, Sasha set more in motion that I
was prepared for. I didn’t want the wrong people digging too deep into
Lombardo’s affairs for a very good reason. I hated all those motherfuckers
too, but in order to protect Tatiana and Isabella, I fought our battles
differently. Not execution style, but more along the lines of tearing down
their empires. Kind of like Luciano Vitalle, the guy that ran all of New
Jersey, Connecticut, and some of New York alongside Cassio King, the
illegitimate son of Benito King. The latter hated his father, just as much as
his younger brother, Luca.
Now with Lombardo Santos gone, his youngest son Raphael became
head of the Santos’ empire. And if I knew Raphael Santos, he would refuse
to participate in human trafficking too. If Benito King or Alphonso Romano
found out about Isabella, she would soon become a target too. Nobody
knew about the connection, which would make Isabella the target of the
mob world, no one except me. She didn’t even know it, but her name was
whispered in the underworld already.
It was the reason I came back from Russia earlier than anticipated.
Santos' execution caused a clusterfuck and a shit storm to deal with. We
made it look like the Mexican cartel did it, but that blame shift wouldn’t last
long. Raphael Santos, the only living son remaining, wasn’t dumb, and it
would be a mistake to underestimate him. Besides, I wasn’t sure if he knew
about Isabella, and I was unwilling to have her be an open target.
So there were multiple benefits to me coming back early - I put in
motion my plans to get Isabella Taylor into my bed, keep her away from the
fucking criminals of the underworld, not including myself, and lastly, I
saved the latest real estate closing purchase. The account manager and the
engineer almost fucked it up. Needless to say, they were both fired. New
Orleans would forever be mine, and my family would be safe here.
“Fucking jackass deserved it.”
The Santos and Nikolaev families have had a feud going on for over
forty years. The eldest Santos son, Vincent Santos, cost our father his life
ten years ago. And we made Vincent pay for it with his own life. But the
tension was still high. Our empire grew and expanded; our recent
acquisition of a few key properties in Florida added fuel to the fire. My
brother liked to kill. As I said, I liked to squash my competitors in a slightly
different way.
But Santos kept wanting to play in the sandbox outside of Florida, so I
kept apprised of their dealings and was always a step ahead of them. I
owned the sandbox, and it made it slightly difficult for them to expand their
empire. They better watch their own sandbox; otherwise, I’d end up owning
Florida too.
“What did you find?” I ended up asking my brother. Clearly my little
brother would drag this one on forever unless I get him to spit it out and
move on.
“Apparently, there is a rumor that old man Santos has a daughter.”
I raised my head from my laptop. “That cannot be right,” I told him.
How did the puzzle pieces already start moving? “Unless you meant
Vincent.”
“Actually, no. I’m talking about Lombardo Santos. He has a twenty-six-
year-old daughter,” Sasha elaborated. “She hasn’t been part of his life, the
mother kept her a secret, and he only recently learned about her. My sources
tell me he knew about her for the last five years or so.”
“Name,” I demanded. I had to know what the Santos family knew. Or
how much Sasha learned? I didn’t know what I would do with it, but it was
always good to keep information in my back pocket.
“Don’t have one yet, but I'm hunting it down.”
“Sasha, no matter what, you do not make a move or approach the
woman,” I warned. “You understand me?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Sasha was sometimes too impulsive and didn’t think
about consequences. Clearly! “I don’t know why you don’t eliminate that
fucking family off this planet. Especially after what they have done to
Father.”
Our father learned that Lombardo held information about the woman he
loved and walked straight into Vincent Santos’, Lombardo’s eldest son,
trap. My father made a mistake of trusting Santos' words when in fact they
were looking for a way to weaken our family. They desperately tried to
expand their territory, so they could move flesh through Louisiana.
“And they paid for that,” I told him calmly. “If we eliminate all of them,
there will be another Columbian family stepping up to fight their battle. I’d
rather keep Santos, knowing I have them within my control than open the
door for another power-hungry family eager to take their spot. The Santos
family can never compare to us. We own businesses above ground and
underground. They just have scraps.”
Not to mention Isabella’s connection to them!
“Whatever. Guess that is why you are good at this leading shit. I just
want to kill them all.” I shook my head at my brother. I loved him but
wished he’d think a bit more about the business aspect of making a killing
than just eager to kill and eliminate. “I’m leaving the magazine here for
your reading pleasure,” he mocked and strode out of the office.
The moment the door shut the Santos family and this whole bloody mob
mess was forgotten. I reached for the magazine and searched out the page
about Isabella Taylor. It wasn't hard to find it because they dedicated almost
half of the magazine to the couple.
Ex-couple, I added silently. I couldn’t deny I was exceedingly pleased at
how the events turned out. The image of the two of them together from the
party grated on my nerves. I still wanted to kill the fucker for ever touching
her.
Pictures of Isabella Taylor and Ryan Johnson plastered several pages of
the magazine, capturing their last two years together. They were the main
topic of the entire edition with multiple pictures of the couple, and I
disliked every single one of them.
She looked beautiful, a painful reminder of what I held and threw away.
Nobody knew how much I regretted those words that morning. It made me
the true, cold bastard that people thought of me. I never minded it, except
with her. I wanted her to see the real me.
She tried, my mind mocked. And you tossed it away.
The fact was that she saw the real me. That bastard that crushed her
heart was the ruthless mobster everyone feared. I never bothered with a
conscience or regrets. Those were for the weak. But I didn’t like the hurt
that I saw flash in her beautiful eyes. She didn’t scream, cry, or seek
revenge. She was unlike anyone I had ever met before. Taking the high road
took a whole new meaning with her.
Shoving those thoughts all away because they were pointless, I focused
on the magazine. In most of the pictures, she avoided looking at the camera.
There were only a few photos where the photographer caught her whole
face.
She was one of those women that had a striking beauty and timeless
body. Her slim figure with soft curves in all the right places was every
man’s wet dream. She was my sister’s age, just recently turned twenty-six
but years made her more stunning. Her resemblance to her mother was her
only fault in my eyes. I hated her mother’s guts for a majority of my life,
but now… I was done. I couldn’t fight this lust for Isabella anymore.
I studied the picture of her face. Her almond shaped eyes and full mouth
dominated her face. Her eyes, the color of whiskey, almost appeared like
embers against her dark, thick hair that made her ivory skin look even paler.
Unlike her brothers’ tanned skin, hers was like fresh snow. Her gaze, staring
from the pages of the magazine, had the same effect I remembered. It shot
straight into my soul.
Her eyes always did something to me. Like she could see every single
rotten part of me, but instead, she focused on the very few good pieces. And
when she laughed, she just shone. I could still hear that laugh in my head
sometimes, along with the scent of the ocean and the pineapple tanning
lotion that always seemed to linger around her. I rarely allowed myself to
think about her. Each time I did, something inside of me stilled as my pulse
raced with the primal need.
She is my biggest weakness. Nobody knew it, not even her. The hurt in
her eyes as I laid her mother’s sins at her feet had been haunting me since
that night. It had cost me more than anyone would ever know.
Shoving the past out of the way, I glanced through the rest of the
photos. My most favorite photo in all the dedicated pages of the broken-up
couple was the one where she caught him cheating. The calm expression on
her face was the talk of the article. Why didn’t she scream or lash out?
Apparently, all she did was drop off his keys and left without a word while
he scrambled to run after her butt-ass naked.
But that expression on her face, it was the same one she gave me at her
graduation. She only greeted me for Tatiana’s sake and then disbursed, her
expression calm and closed off. The eyes that usually sought me out
couldn't stand to look at me anymore.
The world didn’t know Isabella Taylor like I did. That expression was
one of unforgiveness. She was done with him and would never give him
another chance. He blew it.
Just like I did. Except I did it on purpose, methodically, giving back the
taste of her mother’s medicine. Or so I thought.
The bitterness of that night still sour on my tongue, I stood up and
strode to the mini bar in my office. I grabbed a bottle of whiskey and
poured myself a glass. The coloring of it always reminded me of her. The
woman was bewitching with an uncanny ability to get under my skin
without even trying. I gulped it down in one swallow. But it still didn’t
wash away the bitter memories.
My brother and sister would never know how much I had given up for
this great Nikolaev name, cleaning up the mess our parents had left behind.
And their mess was wrapped up in sins, lies, and betrayal - by my mother
and father as well as Isabella’s mother.

A week later I was right outside the city parameters of N ew

Orleans, in one of my warehouses. The sun was just rising and the stillness
surrounding the city was almost unnatural. It would remain like this for
another few hours and then, the buzzing and life of the city would start its
cycle all over again.
Gambling. Drinking. Parties. Sex.
Men were caught trying to blow up one of my less reputable business
buildings within the city. They were caught red-handed. And guess what?
They were Santos’s men. Surprise, surprise! My brother really knew how to
stir some shit up. I really wasn’t in the mood for this clusterfuck. Not now
that Isabella Taylor was in my town, within my grasp.
“What do we have here?” I greeted my men and the unfortunate souls
that already looked half-beaten to death.
Sasha sat by the dock doors, overlooking the muddy river, peeling an
apple. It meant he was in the mood to play. I really wasn’t. Managing
legitimate businesses was enough of a job. I really didn’t need an
impending war among crime families because of my brother’s stupid
moment. But it was coming, I had no doubt about it.
Sasha claimed it was eye for an eye. Except he seemed to have forgotten
that Santos' eldest son paid for the death of our father. Now they’d be back,
demanding a blood settlement.
Fucking Sasha!
I loved him, but his bloodthirsty ways would get him killed. Or worse -
Tatiana and Isabella.
 Tatiana has been back from Los Angeles for a week now. I knew she
went to visit Isabella, although she never said so. Sometimes I wondered if
she learned about what happened between her best friend and me because
she never brought her up around me anymore. Or maybe she just sensed my
mood each time she brought her up.
I intended to go visit Tatiana after this clusterfuck here. I didn’t even
bother to pretend as for the reason. My sister came back from L.A. with her
best friend, and those tempting whiskey brown eyes of Isabella Taylor
flashed in my mind, inviting me. Her soft smile was too much of a
temptation to resist, and now that she was in my city, I was determined to
have her again.
I imagine this was probably how my father was tempted by her mother.
But he was married. She should have never touched him. Luckily for
Isabella, or unluckily, I wasn’t married. And I’d decided I would take her.
Get my fill of her for as long as it took. If after five years I have been
unable to get her out of my system, I’d need her under me for the
unforeseeable future to quench this thirst for her.
“These are the pricks that tried to blow up the building.” Alexei, my
other brother, finally answered since Sasha was intent on peeling his
goddamn apple. I strode towards the slumped bodies and stood three feet
away with my feet slightly apart and my hands behind my back. I
immediately spotted the leader among them; he was the only one that dared
to meet my gaze.
“Gentlemen, meet your host. Vasili Nikolaev.” Alexei liked to taunt, just
like me.
When I found out about the brother I never knew about, I searched high
and low for him. He was a Nikolaev regardless of who his mother was, and
we stuck together, no matter what. I never regretted it because Alexei was a
step closer to my woman. I would have kept him with us regardless, but
fuck if I would miss an opportunity to use him to get my woman. Alexei
would try to beat my ass if he knew it. He had never met Isabella Taylor,
but he was protective as fuck about her. Tatiana and Isabella were his
number one protection priority. I didn’t have to worry about their safety if
something happened to me.
Isabella Taylor didn’t even know she had two living half-brothers. She
grew up believing she was an only child while there were two men roaming
this world, sharing her blood. One from her mother’s side and one from her
father’s side.
Bringing my attention back to the man in front of me, I watched fear
dilate the pupils of the fucker that thought he was so brave to meet my gaze.
He didn’t exactly lower his gaze, but he was no longer being so brave.
Truth be told, I relished in the fear my name evoked in people. It made
them less likely to fuck with my family and others under my protection.
“And why did they try to blow up my building?” I asked casually. No
answer. “Hmmm?”
It seemed he lost all semblance of speech.
“We can do this quickly, or take all the time in the world,” I drawled out
although I didn’t want to take all the time in the world. I just wanted to end
these fuckers and be on my merry way. I had Isabella to see. “I am sure you
had a taste of Sasha’s techniques.”
They visibly tensed and one of them even pissed himself. I barely
stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Santos should really send tougher
men because this was pathetic.
“So what’s it going to be?” I asked.
“W-we don’t know anything?”
I chuckled, completely unamused. “So you went to blow up one of my
buildings without even knowing why. You are either stupid,” my tone was
slightly agitated, “-or worse. You think I am stupid.”
I let the silence follow before I added. “And with that, I’ll let Sasha give
you a lesson. Just in case you thought I was stupid.”
Truthfully, I could teach them an even better lesson, but fuck it, I would
go see Isabella at my sister’s place after this, and I wasn’t willing to ruin my
white slacks. She wouldn’t be happy if I showed up all bloody. But then,
she probably wouldn’t be happy to see me anyway if our last encounter was
any indication.
Therefore, if I wanted to get her into my bed, I would have to behave.
She would be the only woman I would do it for.
Sasha strode over leisurely, a happy grin on his face. Sometimes I
worried he enjoyed torturing a bit too much. He kept toying with his knife,
throwing it up into the air and catching it on the way down. And without
warning, he threw it, and the edge of the knife buried itself straight into the
chest of the weakest captive.
 My lip quirked into some semblance of a smile. It was a method I taught
my little brothers. Scare the shit out of the captives by killing off the
weakest link. Although now, watching both Alexei and Sasha grin, I
worried I taught them a bit too well how to torture people.
Once Sasha was in front of the leader, his hand struck against him, his
hand wrapping around his neck. He squeezed hard, cutting off the air
through the windpipe.
“What is Santos's plan?” I asked, watching the man’s face turning red,
his eyeballs bulging out as he clawed at Sasha’s hand for air. The man’s
eyes rolled back in his head, his fingers no longer gripping hard at Sasha.
Just as he was about to lose consciousness, Sasha released him and he
dropped sideways to the floor along with his chair, gasping for air.
“Five seconds for an answer then we start again,” I told him. It was a
generous offer. His cheek was flushed against the dirty concrete floor, and I
was tempted to just smash his face flat against the dirty ground.
He raised his head and looked up at me, a true fear in his eyes.
“He wants to hit where it hurts most,” he rasped.
Raphael Santos wasn’t dumb; he knew blowing up my building wasn’t
where it hurt the most. So this was a warning. Sasha kicked him hard, the
force knocking the air out of him, and he collapsed onto his face, his
forehead hitting the hard floor.
“What else?” I questioned.
“It was payback for the old man,” he grunted, blood drooling out of the
side of his mouth. “And for the woman. He knows you have been hiding
her tracks. He wants her, to keep her from Alphonso Romano.”
My heart paused and my breathing stilled. Raphael knows!
“What woman?” Sasha asked in surprise.
“I don’t know,” he cried out. “He only knows she exists. He found out
after the old man died. He doesn’t have a description but Lombardo knew
the Nikolaev family had her in their clutches.”
I pulled out my gun, tucked in the back of my pants, and shot them one
by one, execution style.
“What the fuck, Vasili?” Sasha shouted.
“We could have found out what they were talking about,” Alexei
scolded me, a dark expression on his face and knowing look in his eyes. He
had an unkeen ability to see through things, even when hidden in plain
sight. It was probably what kept him alive during all those dark years.
 I turned around without acknowledging my brothers. I knew exactly
what these men were talking about.
“Clean up the mess,” I ordered and left both behind without a
backwards glance.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Six

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

T he sun was hot, the air humid, and the music on the radio was
playing low. Thankfully, Tatiana had it on some eighties
station so there was no chance of hearing my ex-boyfriend’s
band.
I worked hard to keep my mind off of everything. I have spent a week in
New Orleans, and so far, Tatiana has manipulated all my time. I didn’t mind
it, except I had to find a job. My savings would be enough to get me
through two months tops. And that was with the assumption I would get my
school loan deferment granted on an unemployment basis.
So embarrassing, I thought to myself. I felt like such a flunk. And I was
so damn close to finishing up my residency!
But at least there was one good thing that Tatiana was right about.
Everywhere we went in New Orleans, nobody seemed to care or know who
I was. Ryan Johnson and his band were barely a blip on the radar here.
I almost felt like the old me. No paparazzi, no reporters… I just needed
a job to keep me busy, and I’d get over the whole fiasco in no time. Tatiana
hadn’t brought up Ryan once since L.A. True to her word, Vasili was
nowhere to be seen. I assured myself it was to my joy, not dismay. Damn
man!
Tatiana organized packing my entire apartment, five years of my life,
into twenty boxes, all within a single day. All the while, I evaluated every
word ever spoken and every look ever shared, over-analyzed the words,
between Ryan and myself. I knew what I was getting with Ryan when we
first started dating. I went into it with open eyes, and truthfully, I didn’t
think it would last as long as it did. Rock stars are notorious for their string
of love interests. When he kept proving me wrong, I slowly started
lowering my guard.
But likewise, I thought he went into our relationship open-eyed too.
Yes, he asked me all the time to accompany him on tours. I couldn’t
because of my job that I happened to love. Did he do it because I kept
refusing to go on the tours with him? Or because I needed time to think
about moving in with him?
Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
I felt sweat trickle down my skin and a groan escaped me. It was too hot
to just lay here and think about all that.
“What’s the matter?” Tatiana didn’t even move. Sometimes I wondered
how she could bear this humidity. New Orleans in the middle of October
was no joke. It felt like the middle of summer. Even worse than the
humidity, I didn’t know how she could stand doing nothing. From the
moment we arrived, her only purpose was to shop, wine and dine, and
lounge by the pool. The first two days, I could handle it. Even enjoyed it a
bit. But now, I itched for some semblance of a daily routine.
“I’m going to die of heat stroke,” I muttered. “Unless I go for a swim. I
need to cool off.”
The sun rays sparkled off the blue water, the turquoise tones alternating
between green and blue accents. I lowered myself into the pool, leaving my
white framed sunglasses on, and instantly a sigh left my lips.
“This feels so good.”
“Didn’t I tell you this would be the best therapy?”
I smiled at her, and we both reached for a pool noodle, then slowly
floated into the deep end.
“You were right,” I told her. “I feel like I am on another planet, and I
can finally feel the tension seeping out of me.”
“Oh, so it’s not the fact you are with me?” she teased.
“It is absolutely because I am with you.” I smiled. “But I need to find a
job, make some big decisions.”
It was hard to believe that only two weeks ago my whole life exploded,
on national news, in front of millions of readers. The whole world saw my
ex-boyfriend banging some chick. Bitterness swelled inside me with images
of them in Ryan’s living room. How I wished I could somehow unsee it all!
“You are thinking about it,” Tatiana scolded me. “Stop.”
 I shook my head. She was right. Tatiana showing up at my apartment
kicked me into gear. Even before the big scandal with Ryan, Los Angeles
never felt like home. Maybe all this was just a sign. Or maybe I was mental,
trying to find some weird positive in this damn mess.
At least I was capable of thinking rationally this time. When her brother
broke my heart in college, I was upset for months. Maybe because I gave
him my virginity, my all. After all, you never forget your first. Right around
the same time Vasili used me, my mother passed away. It was another hard
loss to swallow.
Until I met Tatiana’s oldest brother, I had never been tempted to give in
and sleep with a guy on the first night. But around Vasili Nikolaev, all my
reason, control, and rationality went out the window. Or just seared to
ashes.
Sometimes I still thought about him but I never, ever, asked Tatiana
about him. I didn’t want to know. Actually, I did want to know, but it wasn’t
good for me to know. I had never told his sister what happened between her
oldest brother and me. It was mine and Vasili’s agreement. But also I didn’t
want to lose her as a friend. After all, I was his willing victim.
I still remembered the first time I stared into his eyes. Tatiana and her
brothers shared similar eye color, but Vasili’s were even paler than his
younger brother’s and sister’s. Something about his eyes, the
uncharacteristically pale blue and the intensity in them, shook me to my
core every time I gazed upon him.
Tatiana and I met in college and hit it off on the first day. I was pre-med
and she was a political science major. Within the first month, I met both of
her brothers. Sasha was easy going, pleasant, easy on the eyes, and made
you laugh. I loved hanging out with him.
Vasili Nikolaev, on the other hand, was intense, overbearing, and utterly
gorgeous. From the moment I locked eyes with him something in me
shifted and never went back to its place. I fucking loved my body’s
response to him even before he touched me. He was a force of a man.
He was twenty years my senior, built like a god, scary and intimidating.
So, of course, I wanted him even more. But I always thought he was way
out of my league. He saw me as his little sister’s friend, troublemaker, and
both of us as irresponsible party animals.
What could I say? Tatiana and I lived up to the college reputation. We
survived our classes together, drunken parties, and got into a lot of trouble
during our college years. We came up with our brightest ideas when we got
drunk, and we never knew who came up with them when we sobered up.
Till that Halloween night of my senior year. When he consumed me in
every sense of the word. I guess Vasili proved me wrong, didn’t he? All that
time, he was toying with me, waiting for the right time to strike and tear me
down. All that so he could get back at my mother. It was a blessing in
disguise that she never learned what I had done with Vasili Nikolaev. It
didn’t matter how much my body wanted him, I might have been at the
point where I hated his guts as much as he hated mine.
All in all, thank God Vasili is in Russia, I told myself. There was no
chance of running into him.
All those years that passed and my insides still shook each time I
thought about him. Hence the reason for keeping him out of my mind, my
sights, and most importantly, out of my heart. I was surprised to see him in
L.A., and it was a painful confirmation that I hadn’t gotten over all that had
happened between us. Vasili used me without any consideration of the
consequences to me, and I ended up bearing them alone. My hand fluttered
to my lower abdomen, and the familiar pain in my chest accompanied it.
A deep sigh escaped me.
The memory of that night still stung. I have had enough humiliation
with the latest incident from Ryan to last me a lifetime. I didn’t need a
reminder that I wasn’t good enough for Vasili Nikolaev too.
When Vasili dropped the bomb and tore my heart into shreds, I ended
up licking my wounds by spending every minute of my day studying and
working my ass off. It was my only reprieve. I wanted to prove to myself
that I was good enough. After graduating, I worked in the ER until I caught
the eye of Ryan Johnson.
This time, I had nothing to do but lounge around after my big love
fiasco. Which was so much worse because it gave me all the time in the
world to think about everything. And most of all Vasili - which was
disturbing.
“We should go out tonight,” Tatiana’s voice pulled me back from the
trip down the memory lane. “Dancing or at least to a bar.”
“If you want.”
“Unless you don’t want to.” She wanted to, I could tell by the
expression on her face.
 I sighed, unable to resist her. “I want to,” I mumbled the lie. “I didn’t
pack anything to wear for going out.”
“That’s okay,” she beamed. “You can have my stuff. There are plenty of
dresses with tags still on them.” She wasn’t exaggerating either. Tatiana’s
closet was bigger than some L.A. homes. Heading to the edge, she pulled
herself out of the pool. “I’ll get us dinner reservations and put our name on
the list for the club.”
“Okay,” I answered unenthusiastically, but she didn’t pick up on it. I
watched her wrap a towel around herself and head into the house. I couldn’t
even remember the last time I went out to a club.
Was it the night that Vasili threw me over his shoulder and ravished me
in my dorm room?
I groaned inwardly. What was with me today and all the past I kept
dragging up? I didn’t want to think about any of it. I didn’t want to
remember it either. All it would bring me was sorrow. If I didn’t love
Tatiana so much, I would have cut all ties so there’d be no chance of ever
running into Vasili. But I cared about my friend a lot. She was the sibling I
never had.
I heard the purr of an engine, but I just ignored it. Tatiana had people
coming and going all day long. If it was my house, it would drive me nuts,
but Tatiana’s brothers had people guarding the house and their little sister
twenty-four hours a day.
Swimming toward the side of the pool, I pulled myself out of the pool
and headed towards my chair. I grabbed my phone and scanned through my
emails. Nothing.
There was no need to check messages and voicemails. It was a new
number and Tatiana was the only one that had it. I didn’t expect to get an
offer for an interview for my first application, but I sent at least twenty over
the last three days. I hoped for at least one acknowledgement or offer for an
interview. I had pretty extensive experience and hoped finding a new job
wouldn’t be such a problem.
“Is this a new way to greet guests?” A familiar, deep voice with a heavy
Russian accent had me turning on my heel to meet the pale blue gaze that I
was thinking about less than ten minutes ago. And my heart instantly raced,
threatening to jump out of my chest and run towards its doom.
I stared at Vasili, my mind wiped of all thoughts. Why isn’t he in
Russia? His mouth held that smirk resembling a smile and his pale blue
eyes watched me lazily, as if bored. I had just seen him a few weeks ago so
the impact shouldn’t have been this strong. Yet, it was even stronger. It
would seem my body rejected the memo informing it Vasili Nikolaev was
the enemy. Okay, that might be too strong of a word, but he definitely
wasn’t a friend.
I stood in front of him in a white, skimpy bikini that Tatiana gave me,
soaking wet. Literally and figuratively. The way he watched me made my
insides quiver with need. Oh my gosh, I craved him so desperately that my
pussy clenched at the sight of him. His gaze traveled from my bare feet up
my body till our eyes met. My heart raced in my chest, thundering hard
against my ribcage and my breathing shallow. Why couldn’t my body hate
him, find him unappealing? It would make it all so much easier.
He was just as gorgeous as he was a few weeks ago wearing a suit.
Except now, he wore white dress pants and a black short-sleeve shirt, his
ripped, tanned biceps and forearms on full display. And those big hands…
my heart fluttered with just thoughts of those inked fingers tracing my body.
He looked good. Too damn good! And I loved it when he wore black
shirts, because it made his unusual hair color even more striking. He
seemed so tall compared to my small height, forcing me to crane my neck
to meet his eyes. He was six foot five, his body big and strong. I swallowed
hard and warmth spread through my body like wildfire.
The air stilled between us, and I swore I heard the drips of pool water
hit the stoned tile.
“I’m still waiting for an answer,” he barked, his tone rude. I blinked,
confused what answer he could possibly be waiting on.
“What answer?” I asked, trying to keep my voice leveled. I hated that
my blood rushed through my body with excitement every time I saw him. I
hated that those years that passed by without seeing him hadn’t lessened my
obsession for this man. I reacted to him just as strong, if not stronger, each
time I saw him. I shouldn’t want him after what he did to me.
“Are you now into greeting guests half-naked?” A muscle in his jaw
ticked, and his irritation was evident on his face. “In my sister’s home.” He
actually glared at me. Talk about a cold shower.
“Everyone but you.” I tried to sound nonchalant and hoped I succeeded.
I gave him a fake, sweet smile. I think.
His jaw tightened as he took a step forward. I stood still, although my
instinct urged me to step back. He was so much bigger and stronger than I
that his intimidation tactic worked, but I refused to cower. Instead, I stood
my ground and craned my neck further, titling my chin in challenge. I
would not give him the satisfaction of thinking he had any power over me.
Unfortunately, he did. My body was too aware of him. He was so close,
my breast almost brushed against his shirt. The old familiar tingling sizzled
through my body.
In the back of my mind, the contrast between us registered. His black
shirt, my white bikini; his towering frame to my small one; his dominance
over my meek personality; his hard body versus my soft one. He certainly
felt like a dark cloud over me. The problem was that his darkness didn’t
bother me; not one bit.
My body tingled in anticipation of feeling his touch, and I fought the
urge to step closer, to press myself against him, to feel his warmth against
my skin. To see if it felt the way I remembered. After what he did to me, my
body should despise him, not lust after him.
I focused on his face and ignored his body. Unfortunately, even his face
was perfect, beautiful and intimidating all wrapped in one with perfectly
chiseled cheekbones, a straight nose and strong chin. He always wore his
hair cut short, that yellowish blonde hair in such contrast with his tanned
skin. His eyes, though, were what had always captivated me. They were
pale and clear, like the blue of the glaciers against the ice in the depths of
the ocean. I still remembered how they burned with desire. It turned out I
was wrong, he’d just used my body to satisfy his craving.
But I was older now, and wiser. Hopefully. Yes, I was still physically
attracted to the man, but I was no longer blind to that contemptuous,
sarcastic smirk on his face. I could clearly see harsh ruthlessness and
darkness in his eyes.
It was amazing what five years could do to you. Apparently, it can’t
erase the desire I feel for him.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Seven

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

S he was my temptation; she has been my enticement from the

moment I locked eyes with that incredible gaze of melted
chocolate and caramel.
The way her soulful brown eyes watched me right now, her skin
glistening wet, dripping water to the tiled ground… she could bring me to
my knees with her sweet expression or a simple smile. It took every ounce
of restraint not to rip off those two little pieces of bikini and pounce on her.
If she only knew how much power she held over me.
She was beautiful. Regardless of what she wore, Isabella Taylor always
glowed, her inner beauty shining through, having a hold over me. Her
unique scent enveloped me, making me instantly hard for her.
I wanted to fist my hands into her dark hair, in such contrast to her pale
ivory, smooth skin. Skin that begged to be touched, to be marked by my
hands. And her body, Jesus Christ, it was made for fucking. When I saw her
a few weeks ago, she was drop dead gorgeous. But that didn’t compare to
her now - makeup free, barefoot, and wet.
The idea of any other man, or woman for that matter, seeing her half-
naked dug under my skin. There were guards all over Tatiana’s property,
ensuring this place was protected and safe. They could be gawking at her
right now. Frustration clawed at me and the words left my mouth before I
thought better of it.
“Go put some fucking clothes on,” I barked. “This isn’t a whore house.”
A fleeting expression resembling hurt flashed over her face, but it was
gone before I could zero on it.
 “That’s too bad, and here I was going to apply for it.” The sarcasm in
her soft voice didn’t escape me. My little malyshka grew a backbone over
the last few years. She gave me only a small preview at the awards
ceremony.
I grabbed her wrist, and the sensation burned through my fingers. “If
you want that job, then start by being my whore,” I growled at her. She was
pissing me off and the idea of any other man putting their hands on her
made me want to murder them.
She chuckled. “Nah, I think I’ll pass. There are better fish in the sea.”
Her soft voice soaked through my skin and went straight to my cock.
She pulled her arm out of my grip and strode away from me, giving me a
magnificent view of her backside.
The image of her bent over my desk, my bed, over any goddamn thing
as long as she was bent over flashed in my head. There was nothing more I
wanted than to pull her by that beautiful mane of hers, wrap my hands
around it, and force her face sideways to watch me as I pumped into her.
Primal hunger overwhelmed all my senses as I stalked after her, intent
on my prey when my sister’s voice stopped me.
“Vasili, what are you doing here?”
Tatiana was in a bathing suit too. My teeth clenched - I wanted to tell
her to get lost. But knowing my sister, she’d stay just out of spite. My
brother and sister perfected the ‘lounge and relax’ lifestyle. She insisted on
studying political science and hasn’t done a single thing with it. My brother
insisted on studying business and banking management. Again, he hasn’t
done a single damn thing with this degree. Although he perfected his sniper
skills, I thought wryly. And starting wars.
“Came to see you.”
It was a partial truth. Katerina told me my sister had a guest staying
with her, and I immediately knew who it was. I would have had to be a saint
to stay away; lucky for all, I wasn’t one.
“Ah, my big brother cares,” she teased. She knew I cared. After all, it
was the main reason I put up with her extravagant lifestyle. Isabella
wrapped one of the beach towels around her, her beautiful body no longer
on display.
Too bad.
“Also, I need you to take Adrian with you when you go out,” I told her.
With the latest threats from the Santos family, I couldn’t risk her or
Isabella’s safety. Adrian was the best, and he’d keep them safe. “Clear?”
“Yes,” she muttered under her breath.
She knew what that meant. I wouldn’t risk anything happening to my
family. My sister’s eyes darted to Isabella who was scrolling through her
phone with her delicate eyebrows furrowed. Isabella wasn’t part of the
mafia world. She knew very little about our business and how we came to
rule our empire. We kept family, business, and friends separate. It was a
damn irony that she was actually conceived in this mobster underworld.
Except very few people knew about it. Five years ago, I almost fucked up
and crossed that line - bringing her into my underworld. Since then, I have
been hiding her tracks from the Santos family.
I couldn’t stop myself from flickering a glance Isabella's way again. She
was my magnet, drawing me in. Would she let me in again, let me bring her
pleasure? She hated my guts, that much was evident. She pretended to be
interested in her phone, ignoring me. Her scrolling suddenly halted, and she
lifted the screen to my sister.
Tatiana’s eyes widened and she eagerly nodded her head.
What are those two doing?
I knew full well how much trouble those two were capable of getting
into together. From their freshman year, I felt like I had two rebellious,
teenage daughters that hated my guts. I spent more time flying to D.C. to
bail them out of some stupid shit than going anywhere else. And neither one
of them was ever willing to admit who came up with the plan. I was
constantly tempted to put them in time-out, take all their electronics away,
and have a guard on them twenty-four-seven. Because those two got in
trouble even when they were sleeping.
I spent so much damn time in D.C. that Nico Morrelli, the mobster that
ruled Maryland and D.C. thought I was trying to make a move and overtake
the damn city. It took many meetings to convince him I wasn’t. He didn’t
believe me till the night Tatiana and Isabella crashed into his casino, with
fake IDs and drunk as damn sailors, wearing skimpy clothes. Those two
took college partying to a whole new level.
“Privyet, ladies,” Sasha greeted loudly, strolling in without a care in the
world. My younger brother wouldn’t miss a beat if there was a gun pointed
to his head, counting on the universe to make it alright.
Isabella’s head shot up and her face lit up. “Sasha?” she squealed and
resentment hit me at her warm greeting, so unlike the one she gave me.
 Well, he didn’t fuck her and then tell her to get lost.
She ran into his wide-open arms. “And where have you been hiding?”
Sasha has always been fond of her. I knew full well they always reached
out to him first when in trouble, but Sasha tended to disappear. He took care
of eliminating targets for our empire, from afar. Sometimes, it required him
to be gone for weeks, studying the subject and their habits before he’d
strike.
“Ah, nowhere. Just here and there.”
He chuckled. “No, rypka. You have been hanging out with rockstars.”
My brother always called her a fish, ever since he learned she loved surfing.
She scoffed. “That was only ten percent of my time.”
“Ah, he never made it to thirty?”
I wondered what all that meant.
“Nope,” she muttered, but a sad expression crossed her face. She was
careful to quickly hide it.
“Are you two staying for lunch?” Tatiana offered. It wasn’t my intent,
but I was glad she asked. Otherwise, I would have invited myself. “Maybe
we can hang out for a bit?”
“Yes.” Tatiana’s eyes snapped to me in surprise. I rarely hung out, my
schedule not accommodating it. But there was no way I’d go and leave
Sasha with Isabella. He likes her too much! The jealousy ate at me seeing
my brother and Isabella speak softly to each other, reminiscing like some
old lovers. I hated seeing them together. Those two had an easy-going, laid-
back relationship from the moment they met unlike the two of us.
“Is this your dad?” Isabella asked Tatiana as she extended her small
hand in greeting, eyeing me curiously. It was the night both of them got
arrested by the campus police for breaking into the university pool and
throwing a party. Took them less than thirty days from the start of freshman
year to earn a reputation as wildlings. “Thank you for getting us out, Mr.
Nikolaev. And for not calling my mom.”
The dress she wore that night revealed more than it hid. Even at barely
legal, she had a knockout body, the smooth open back giving a glimpse of
tempting skin. The dress was so short that it barely covered her ass. I
barked at Tatiana in Russian to get in the car, and Isabella’s eyes widened
with fear. I was agitated to have had to deal with their adolescent bullshit
but even more with the reaction I had laying eyes on Tatiana’s eighteen-
year-old friend. I wanted her but knew I couldn’t have her. Not unless
Tatiana and her parted ways for good. Then I’d bury my cock deep inside of
her, fuck her into oblivion as many times as necessary… till I was done with
her. Because one thing I was certain of that day; she wouldn’t hold my
interest for long. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
God, was I wrong!
The agitation at remembering her first assumption of me soured my
volcanic mood even further. I was only twenty years older than her and
Tatiana. Hardly father material. From the moment I met Isabella, she stirred
a beast inside me, hungry for her young body. I fought it, hard and long,
wishing it was anyone but her that stirred this want and need inside me.
Shortly after meeting Isabella, I had one of my men run a background check
on her, digging up every single piece of dirt I could get my hands on.
Imagine my surprise when I learned who her mother was. Isabella had no
dirt on her, but her mother had plenty for both of them.
Marietta Taylor was my father’s ex-mistress. Small world!
But none of it stopped me from wanting and craving till I got Isabella.
Then I twisted it into revenge and broke her heart.
That lust I experienced with her never happened to me again… not
before her nor after her. She was slightly older now, but my cock
remembered how it felt to be buried in her tight pussy. And wanted it again.
Fuck, I wanted to strip her naked right now and pound into her.
“I’m going to change out of my bathing suit,” Isabella told Sasha and
Tatiana. She was clearly ignoring me.
“I’ll come with you.” Sasha followed behind her. “While you are
changing, I want to hear everything I missed. Because you have been
avoiding me, little fish.”
A laugh bubbled from Isabella's lips and the two disappeared from my
view. I fumed inside, barely containing the rage and the urge to go after
them. I ground my molars and strode to the bar area.
“Isn’t it a bit too early for drinks, brother?” Tatian’s voice mocked.
“This coming from my little sister that starts sipping wine at eight in the
morning,” I retorted back.
“Actually, I haven’t. Isabella doesn’t like me drinking so early. So we
agreed once we had lunch, we’d have a glass of wine.”
“Maybe your friend is good for something after all,” I mocked, being a
goddamn hypocrite.
“I’d say she is good for a lot more.”
 I poured a glass of whiskey, the liquid immediately reminding me of
Isabella’s eyes. My hand gripped the glass, the crystal threatening to shatter
under the force. What were Sasha and Isabella doing right now?
“What the fuck do you mean?” I barked, while I imagined all the
creative ways I could torture my brother if he touched her.
“Well, Ryan Johnson sent her half a million messages begging her to
take him back. Sasha has always been crazy about her. Maybe those two
will finally hit it off. So I’d say she is very good. Men fall all over
themselves for her. They always have.”
Her smirk didn’t escape me.
“She told you Ryan wants her back?” My tone portrayed boredom, but
my body was tense. She would never take him back. Right? If she took him
back, I’d find another way to get rid of him. Maybe bury him six feet under
some remote Louisiana field. Or he could become fresh food for the
alligators.
And I’d never allow Sasha to tangle up with her. He knew better and so
did she. I would never feed my little brother to the alligators, but I wasn’t
beyond breaking both his legs if he touched her.
“No, I saw it on her phone. She never opened the messages. She asked
me to help her with it since she was too upset.” I didn’t care; Ryan Johnson
wasn’t good for Isabella. At least that was what I kept telling myself.
“Vasili, whatever the hell you are doing, you better not fuck it up.” I
growled, glaring at my sister. “Don’t give me that look. That woman caught
banging Ryan… I’d recognize her anywhere. She used to be your
plaything.”
It didn’t surprise me that she recognized her. I never brought women
around my brother and sister, but the media seemed fascinated with who I
fucked. They always blasted them all over the papers.
Women were just not a constant in my life so I never worried about the
coverage. Everything was always yesterday’s news. Women were a
commodity; I used them and discarded them.
Just ask Isabella, I thought wryly.
“Mind your own business, Tatiana.”
“I’m not going to ask what is going on, Vasili,” she started. “You
wouldn’t tell me even if I did. But don’t cost me my best friend for your
own selfish motives. I know you are the reason she stopped coming
around.”
 For the first time, my sister surprised me. And that rarely happened. In
fact, I could count the times someone surprised me on one hand.
“And how do you figure that?”
“Whatever,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m not playing your
games.”
I would have questioned her about what she knew but Sasha and
Isabella walked in at that moment. My brother’s hand was casually wrapped
around her. She must have taken a quick shower because her hair was wet.
She wore a light-yellow summer string dress, her shoulders and arms on full
display. The thought of her taking a shower anywhere in Sasha’s vicinity
made me want to murder him. Did he touch her?
A red haze swam in my vision, and I had to inhale deeply to calm down.
Unfortunately, her scent that radiated throughout the room entered my
lungs, and instantly, I went from rage to having a rock-hard dick. She
always smelled like this, the ocean mixed with tanning lotion. That scent
uniquely hers was always enough to get me worked up and rock hard
without any effort. She could just stand there and I’d jerk off with her scent
in my nostrils.
Would she let me? Fuck, I wanted her to let me. The sad part was that I
probably wouldn’t last long, knowing how she would feel underneath me.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Eight

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

T he lunch was tense, but I might have been the only one that
felt that way. The oldest Nikolaev had me on the edge of my
seat. He always rattled me in the most basic ways.
He leaned back against his chair, sipping his whiskey with his eyes on
me, studying me. His gaze burned the side of my cheek as I worked to
ignore him.
“So what are your plans, Isabella?” His deep, accented voice hit my
lower belly. He rarely addressed me by my name. Except that one night.
And now, he seemed to enjoy using it, taunting me with those memories. I
loved the way my name sounded on his tongue, with that Russian accent.
Out of the three siblings, he was the one with the strongest accent, and I
loved his voice the most. The words that man could utter between the
sheets… it didn’t matter if they were in Russian or English, they were so
excitingly filthy.
Sasha’s hand squeezed mine, and I raised my eyebrow. “Hmmm?”
“Vasili was wondering what your plans are,” he repeated his brother’s
question.
Crap, I got so lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize I failed to answer him.
Vasili’s lip quirked, as if he knew what he did to me. He doesn’t know
shit, I assured myself. My doting infatuation was long gone for Vasili. My
body might have wanted him, but my heart didn’t.
Our eyes met and I shoved all my desires into a deep, dark corner. “I
don’t have one,” I told him with a shrug. “But rest assured, if I do come up
with one… you won’t know it.”
 His chiseled jaw pressed tighter, a slight flicker of a jaw muscle but it
was gone quickly. He brought his drink to his full, soft lips and he
swallowed the ember liquid, causing shivers run down my spine. The image
flashed in my mind of him between my thighs, and instantly desire flared
all over again. I had a feeling he’d force me to watch him eat me out, his
gaze locked on me to ensure I did as he commanded. Just like that night.
I watched the tanned skin of his throat move, as he swallowed another
sip, and I swore my whole body was on fire. Even his throat was sexy.
“That’s okay,” he purred, his eyes burning. “I’d know what you were
doing even before you did.”
I scoffed. “Well, old man. Maybe you should get a life if that’s the
case.” I swore the sound of his molars grinding reached my ears. Satisfied I
got to him, I continued. “You know, some would find that stalkerish
behavior fit for an old, creepy dude.”
He grinned, but his eyes were cold, colors of pale glaciers. “I forgot.
You like your men like Ryan Johnson, baby face pricks that sleep with
every skirt willing to open their legs.”
I slowly felt years of anger bubbling and hissing inside me, boiling my
blood. Before I realized what I was doing, I shot up, my chair falling with a
loud thump behind me, but it didn’t register. I leaned forward and laid my
palms flat on the table, glaring at him.
“That is not true,” I hissed, my face close to his. In the back of my
mind, I recognized shocked gasps from Tatiana and Sasha, but I was too far
gone. “You think you know something but you don’t. You are an asshole,
Vasili. A selfish, sick rich prick that doesn’t give a shit about anyone or
anything, just himself. And you know what, old man?” I was yelling at this
point. “I’d rather have a baby face prick than a fucking old man in my bed.”
“Whoa, whoa.” Tatiana and Sasha must have been shocked to see me so
angry. It was like rage and hurt from Ryan and what Vasili had done to me
five years ago boiled over and burst into a volcano. “Okay you two, let’s
calm down,” Tatiana tried to calm the situation, but both of us ignored her,
neither one of us willing to budge.
“How do you explain those pictures then?” Vasili’s smug smile was
taunting and nothing would make me happier than to wipe that smile off his
face. “Besides, isn’t he a bit too young for you?”
“He is my age,” I spat back.
“Exactly my point. A baby.”
 “Well, what is that saying?” I was quick to get back at him. “Younger
men, more stamina. It is something that an old man, such as yourself,
cannot compete with.”
He chuckled, completely unperturbed. “Oh, my little girl. You shouldn’t
play with wolves. It is you that couldn’t handle a man.”
I stiffened at his comment.
“Don’t worry your big head with what I can or cannot handle,” I
snarled. I swore every little piece of hair on my body stood straight because
of this man.
Leisurely, his eyes never wavering from mine, he brought his glass up
to his lips. He was so close, I could smell his drink. I watched him take a
sip, rich brown liquid on his lips, and my body leaned in, like a moth to a
flame. I wanted to lick it off his lips, taste it. Taste him.
“I’m not worried about it,” he drawled. “I know you can’t handle it,
malyshka.” Baby. He called me baby.
I wanted to slap him, claw at that beautiful face, scream at him. This
violent reaction was not me. But he was bringing the worst out of me. Jesus,
I caught Ryan fucking another chick in front of my eyes and my response
pretty much nonexistent. This man’s words were driving me over the edge.
Maybe it was because so much had happened and I snapped.
“I’ve lost my appetite.” I straightened up and gave a tight smile to
Tatiana and Sasha. “The old man in my sight just churns my stomach. I’m
going for a walk.”
“That’s right,” he taunted. “Run, little bird. Run.”
“Asshole.” I flipped him a middle finger over my shoulder and walked
out of there.
“Isabella, wait!” Tatiana was right behind me. “I’ll go with you.”
I couldn’t stop; I had to put away as much distance between that man
and me. Or I’d kill him! Or even worse, jump him and beg him to fuck me.
Damn it, what was wrong with me?
“Have lunch with your brothers,” I told her, never slowing my stride.
“Hell I will,” she caught up to me. “Vasili is being a total jerk. I’m
going for a walk with you.”

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Chapter Nine

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

“W hat the fuck was that about?” Sasha spat out the moment
the women were out of earshot. I pressed my lips,
ignoring my brother. “Don’t ignore me. I always liked
her. She is single now and-”
I shot up and got into my brother’s face. “You can’t have her!”
Brother or not, I’d beat his face black and blue if he touched her.
“That is not up to you.”
I grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him off the chair. “Yes, it is. And
you will not touch her.”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Sasha couldn’t even begin to fathom what was wrong with me. That
woman was my drug.
“What did you do with her upstairs?” I questioned him, jealousy eating
at me. “Did you touch her?” Sasha punched a fist into my ribs, but I didn’t
budge. “Answer me!”
“No, you fucking idiot,” he tried for another punch but failed. “I didn’t
touch her. She took her clothes into the bathroom, locked the door, and we
talked through it while she took a quick shower and got dressed.”
Satisfied with his response, I let go of him and he straightened himself. I
had never lost my temper with my brother before. Not like this. Barely an
hour around Isabella and I was already beating my own flesh and blood. I
guess Tatiana was right, Sasha had a crush on Isabella.
Yeah, not happening!
 “What the fuck happened between you two?” Sasha eyed me curiously.
“And don’t tell me nothing.”
“Nothing.”
“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t care if I wanted to bang her.”
I growled at him. The idea of my younger brother with Isabella sent
fury through my veins. I’d never allow him to touch her. She was back in
my life now, and she would be mine for as long as I said so.
Granted, I kind of forced her out of L.A.
I ignored my conscience and how she got here. The fact was she was
here, and I wanted her. And what I want, I get.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” I ordered him and headed out. I had
officially overstayed my welcome.
The entire day, my blood simmered with thoughts of Isabella. That
Halloween night five years ago when I found her at the fraternity party and
saw that fucking boy touch her, all the desire for her unleashed. I would
have killed that boy if not for the full house of witnesses. I could still
picture her in that small pink dress; she looked fucking hot.
I had fought the attraction for her from the moment we met. I kept
reminding myself who her mother was, how much she cost my family.
None of it mattered to my dick though.
But that night, I lost that battle. At that moment, I didn’t give a shit who
her mother was, about her affair with my father, nor what it cost my family.
I cared about nothing and nobody. Just Isabella in my arms.
It was the sweetest surrender. She should have gotten so much better
than me for her first time. I was so blind with lust and need for her, I didn’t
even realize she was a virgin. A damn virgin, and she didn’t even fucking
warn me.
It was hands down the best night. For whatever she lacked in
experience, she made up for with her enthusiasm and passion. And sweet
Jesus, she was perfect. Everything I never knew I wanted and needed.
Till the early hours of the morning came, and I woke up with a reminder
what her mother cost my own mother. Her mother was the reason my own
mother was dead. To add icing to the cake, there was also a threat from the
Santos family, and I couldn’t risk Tatiana’s or Sasha’s life. I even told
myself I was doing Isabella a favor by dumping her ass. She wouldn’t be on
the radar of any other mobster. Unlike her mother who liked to sleep her
way from one mobster to the next one.
 My father always told me that Marietta Taylor was under Santos’
protection. The natural assumption was that Isabella fell under their
protection too. Except there were so many holes in that protection and my
father’s desperation in hunting the woman he loved ended up costing him
his life. Tatiana was barely in high school, left an orphan and cared for by
her mobster brothers.
What a clusterfuck!
I didn’t have the whole story, nobody did, till I spoke to the actual
woman my father obsessed over herself. Unfortunately, it was months after
I did the damage. And Marietta’s daughter bore the brunt of it.
I knew I had to let her go. I knew we could never be, her mother sealed
it even before Isabella was born. The best thing that ever happened to me,
and it lasted less than twelve hours.
My phone desk buzzed. “Miss Candace on line two.”
Damn it, I really didn’t want to hear from her. I already sent her
payment for letting Ryan Johnson between her legs.
I picked up the line. “Yes.”
“Ahhh, Vasili. It’s me.”
“What do you want?” I barked out, not in the mood for her or any other
woman, unless it was Isabella Taylor. Even if she hated my guts, I still
wanted to be around her. When she spoke with that soft warm voice and
watched me with those rich caramel brown eyes it soaked through my skin
and all my thoughts fled. Except for one. Mine.
“No need to be all rude with me,” she purred and the sound agitated me.
“I’m just giving you a fair warning.”
“And what’s that?”
“Ryan Johnson wants his girl back. He hired an investigator to find her.”
I straightened in my seat. “You are supposed to keep him busy.”
“And what would you have me do, Vasili? Tie him to the bed and fuck
him, till he stops calling her name.”
“If that’s what is necessary,” I gritted out.
“Well, it’s over. He won’t call me nor see me. And now, he is adamant
about going after her.”
Can’t anything go right today? I groaned silently. Today was a disaster
from the moment I woke up.
I ended the call without another word and typed up a message to Adrian
to ensure he kept an eye out for Ryan. There were two undercover men
watching Tatiana and Isabella, but Adrian was their direct bodyguard. He
was the only one I trusted so close to them.
Adrian’s reply was instant with confirmation. And a heads up on where
the girls were going tonight. I would make an appearance. After all, Isabella
was now in my town, and I’d make her mine… even if I had to
sledgehammer all those walls she kept up. I’d burn down my own city, if I
had to.
Sasha strode into my office without knocking.
“By all means, come on in,” I told him sarcastically.
He just grinned and threw himself into the chair. “We might have a
problem.”
Fuck, another problem?
“What?”
“Santos might suspect it wasn’t the Mexicans that eliminated his
father.”
It wasn’t surprising if he sent his men to blow up my building. But I
kept those words to myself. Raphael Santos was smart and calculating,
unlike his father who was more rash and flew off the handle.
“We knew he’d figure it out.”
“Yeah.”
Sasha didn’t fool me. He wanted to dish revenge on the entire Santos
family for killing our father. I could understand the need for revenge and
was on the similar path till my priorities shifted. The man that killed our
father was dead as well as many others that worked with him. I’d have to be
satisfied with that. There was no fairness in our world. We all lost when it
came to loved ones. It was a lesson Sasha has yet to learn.
“You are not to make another move,” I told my brother. “I will deal with
Raphael. And if you get any more bright ideas, just think of your sister’s
safety.” And Isabella’s, I added silently. But I wasn’t ready to reveal that
connection yet. “As the head of this family, I forbid you from making any
moves without running it by me.”
Inadvertently, Isabella would become too visible if he kept fucking with
Santos.

OceanofPDF.com
 Chapter Ten

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

I spent the entire day fuming, rage simmering inside of me and

Vasili’s words playing on repeat in my head.
You shouldn’t play with wolves. Those were the same words
he told me the morning after I gave him my virginity.
Obviously, he kept his word and did not say anything to Tatiana and
Sasha. Because those two were still happy to see me. I started regretting
coming to New Orleans. Sasha was right; I have been avoiding them. How
could I not after what had happened between me and Vasili? The words he
dished out, the history between my mother and his father that I never knew.
It was only four in the afternoon and there was so much restless energy
within me, I thought I’d burst. I headed outside, despite the humid heat.
Maybe it’d melt this energy and anger simmering within me. Tatiana was in
the house, messing around with some fashion designs. I really didn’t
understand why she studied political science if all her interests always lay
in the fashion industry.
It wasn’t as if she had to have a sensible degree. After all, her brother
ensured she was well off. I groaned out loud. I didn’t want to think about
her brother. That damn devil in expensive clothing. More like a wolf in
sheep’s clothing, fooling you into lowering your guard and then striking.
Yes, he was everything bad.
I was at the edge of Tatiana’s property and debated whether I should
continue walking or turn around and go back. Just as I went to turn around,
I heard a familiar voice call out to me.
“Isabella.”
 I whipped around and came face-to-face with Ryan. I blinked, expecting
to have imagined him there. But he still stood there. His face was scruffed
with the shadow of a beard, his hair ruffled, like he shoved his hand through
it a hundred times.
He took a step towards me when Adrian appeared out of nowhere, his
bulk frame blocking him from getting any closer to me.
“Please, Isabella.” His voice was soft, regret soaking it. “Can we talk? I
just want to explain. Give me a chance to explain.”
“You are on private property.” Adrian’s voice was calm, but there was
undertone of threat in it.
“It’s fine, Adrian.”
“No, it is not. This is private property, and he cannot step foot on it.”
An irked sigh left me, and I stepped around Adrian. “Fine, then I’ll step
off the private property and talk to him.”
“Isabella-”
“Save it, Adrian. I don’t care.”
I strode towards Ryan and his arms came around me, but I gently
pushed him away. “We can talk, Ryan. Nothing else.”
He nodded but there was still hope on his face. “My car is right there.” I
followed his gaze to an old Chevy truck. I raised my eyebrow in surprise.
“I’m incognito,” he murmured. “Remember when we talked about traveling
for a week incognito?”
Yes, I remembered. But it wasn’t on the table anymore. He broke my
trust, and it wouldn’t come back. I’d question anything he’d tell me from
now on.
I felt Adrian’s gaze burning into my back, compelling me not to go talk
to Ryan. But it was none of his business, nobody’s business but Ryan’s and
mine.
“I don’t think that truck will get you out of the state.” I shook my head
at Ryan. But that was him, always going to extremes.
We walked towards the rusty tan truck, parked in the shade. When he
opened the door for me to get in, I shook my head.
“We can just sit on the tailgate, in the back, and talk.”
I watched him go around and lower the tailgate. He really was
handsome, in a boyish kind of way. Nothing like Vasili. It was probably
why I agreed to go out with him. He was a safer alternative and could never
hurt me like my first lover did.
 Regardless of the fact that I caught Ryan with another woman and he’d
betrayed my trust, my world didn’t shatter as loudly as it did the morning
after I gave myself to Vasili. Yes, it hurt, but the pain was more like a dull
ache.
We both lifted ourselves up and sat in the back, our feet dangling off the
truck.
“You better not do incognito traveling in this truck,” I told him. “This
scrap of metal will probably not make it out of the city. You want to be safe,
not incognito stupid.”
He chuckled a low, strangled laugh. “Still worried about me?”
I turned my face his way. “I don’t want to see you hurt or in a dangerous
situation, if that’s what you are asking.”
“So you care?”
“Ryan, why are you here?” There was no sense in debating whether I
cared or not.
The silence lingered and I thought he might have changed his mind
about what he came here to say.
“That woman, she meant nothing.”
I watched my feet dangle back and forth, back and forth with his words
choking the air between us.
“Then why do it?” My voice was strangled. When I was growing up,
my mother always taught me that every action had a consequence. Of
course, I didn’t realize that she was speaking from experience. But she was
right. Each choice I made had a consequence. I wanted Vasili but was
purposely blind to the ruthlessness that lurked underneath those expensive
clothes. I settled for Ryan because I thought he was a safe alternative.
Despite the fact that intensity of what I felt for Ryan didn’t match what I
felt for Vasili, it still hurt. “You wanted us to move in and there you were-”
I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“I was a fool,” he murmured. “I let your friend’s promises get the best
of me.”
I turned my face to him, frowning. “What do you mean? What friend?”
“Tatiana’s brother.”
Every single piece of hair stood up straight on my body, tension like an
elastic rubber band ready to snap.
“Vasili?” The name choked out of me in a whisper.
 “Yes. He promised me a Sony Picture movie with a starring role and a
five-year record label contract.”
“If you slept with that woman?” I was amazed that my voice was so
calm.
“No, if I broke it off with you.” His hand pushed through his hair,
making it an attractive, boyish mess. So unlike Vasili. “So I told myself if I
no longer had you, I’d drown in other women while you are on my mind.”
The buzzing in my ears started as a low hum and intensified with each
second, threatening to drown out all the reasons I had left. I wanted to lash
out, scream at the top of my lungs, rage. I finally understood murder by
passion because I was so damn furious I could kill. Vasili was a fucking
bastard. A manipulative, arrogant, cruel bastard.
Screeching tires breached the fog of my anger, but I didn’t raise my
head to see who it was. I focused on the boiling fury within me with images
of me murdering Vasili Nikolaev.
“That explanation sucks,” I muttered. I’d never jump into bed with the
next person, just to drown out the memory of another. Or maybe I did it
too? While trying to forget Vasili, I’d settled with Ryan. “Who was the
woman?” My voice was calm or maybe I just couldn’t distinguish anything
anymore.
“I don’t know. She followed me through each concert of that last tour.
Got VIP tickets to hang out with us.” I wouldn’t put it past Vasili to have
gotten those VIP tickets for that woman. There weren’t too many people
that could afford VIP tickets. But to be able to afford them at every concert
destination, you needed a wealthy person. Ryan continued explaining in a
hopeful voice, but regardless whether he was seduced or not, I couldn’t
overlook what happened. “Initially, I accepted his offer then changed my
mind and told him I wasn’t interested. Tatiana’s brother sent her, but I
didn’t know about it until earlier this week.”
The anger was bitter on my tongue. He hated me so much, he had to
destroy everything good left in my life.
The screeching tires neared and then suddenly a ball of dust raised all
around me, and Vasili jumped out of the car, striding towards us like the
devil in a black Armani suit.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Vasili’s voice had both Ryan and
me startled. “I told you if I saw you near her, I would spill your fucking
brains.”
 I blinked my eyes, watching the scene in front of me through a faraway
lens. Vasili had Ryan’s body lifted off the truck, his inked fingers wrapped
around the fistful of his shirt and raised up in the air.
“Didn’t I say to stay the fuck away from her?” he growled and finally I
snapped out of my stupor. I shoved off the truck and pounded with my fist
against Vasili’s back. I might as well have been shoving at a mountain, he
didn’t even flinch.
“What the fuck, Vasili?” I screamed. “Let him go.”
Like I never even spoke a word, he growled. “You will be finished,
Ryan Johnson. There won’t be a single record label that will want you now.
I gave you a generous offer. All you had to do was stay the fuck away.”
Adrian stood to the side, spitting out some words in Russian but none of
it registered. He seemed tense too, his eyes on Vasili like he was a madman.
Maybe the guy lost his mind?
“Vasili.” My voice shook and I wrapped my arms around his torso
trying to pull him away. “Stop it, please.”
I squeezed hard around him and felt the bulge of a gun, pressing under
my arms. I froze, and my body went taut. Fear for Ryan’s life and mine was
like acid through my veins. Stiffly, I took a step back, self-perseverance
kicking in.
That alarmed Vasili more than all my hitting and screaming. He dropped
Ryan like a rag doll and I took another step back, away from the danger.
Vasili turned around, taking a step forward, and I immediately followed
with another step backwards. Our gazes met, a silent stare down of wills.
What did he want? Was his goal to make me miserable? Was that it?
“Come with me, Isabella,” Ryan begged. “I won’t make the same
mistake again. Please trust me.”
“Leave now!” Adrian dragged him away effortlessly and shoved him
into the truck. “And never come back.”
Ryan fought against him, but he was no match. “Isabella, come with me.
I’m sorry, I should have never even entertained this asshole’s offer. You are
the only one for me. Please, give us another chance.”
The trust would never be there with Ryan again, but I couldn’t stay
around Vasili either. I took a step towards the passenger door when his
words had me stopping dead in my tracks.
“You get in that truck, and he’s a dead man.” Vasili’s voice was low and
calm, so unlike the rage I had just witnessed. But there was an unsettling
threat in that calm voice, I believed he would do it.
Ruthless and dangerous.
I swallowed hard. “Goodbye, Ryan,” I barely choked the words out.
Regardless of Vasili’s threat, it would have been goodbye, but I didn’t
want to stay around Vasili either. Now I stayed glued to my spot, scared that
maybe this man wanted to dish more revenge for the pain my mother
caused his family.
“Bella-”
“Just go, Ryan.” My eyes stayed on Vasili, scared if I looked away, he’d
follow through with his threat.
I heard the loud start of the engine, and the next second, Ryan was gone
through the dust of the hot, humid air.
I remained still, Vasili holding my gaze. And with each silent second,
my anger rose. My mother always said that I went from meek to fury when
scared. It was a wrong response but how could I control it? My mother
believed it’d get me killed one day. Today might be the day.
Who in the hell is this man? Acid climbed up my throat, feeding my
rage. He was a monster, the devil in disguise as a gentleman. But there was
nothing gentle about this man. He must thrive on cruelty and suffering.
My hand flew through the air and connected with his beautiful, hard
face.
Smack.
The sound rang through the air, or maybe it was just in my ears. His jaw
clenched, but he didn’t move. The only betrayal to his anger was the throb
of his vein on his neck. It was so fucked up because even as angry as I was,
I had to fight my body from leaning forward to lick that vein and taste the
pulse on my tongue.
Adrian shifted, muttered something in Russian or broken English that I
couldn’t understand and left. I went to move and go with him when Vasili’s
big hand wrapped around my wrist.
“Nyet.” No. A simple command and my body obeyed. His cool gaze
and voice raised hair on my arms.
My eyes lowered to where his fingers wrapped around my small wrist.
Such contrast. His golden tan skin against my pale one. His rough, ink-
decorated fingers were big but graceful, and I knew how much pleasure
they could bring. But also pain.
 “You are a cruel bastard,” I hissed. “You just don’t care what you
destroy, do you?” The anger slowly rose inside me and my blood boiled. I
snatched my wrist out of his grip, scowling at him. “Want to dish out
destruction and pain, Vasili? Bring it the fuck on and be done with it.”
Goddamn this man. I wanted to forget that one night of pleasure with
him so I could have a clean slate. I lost pieces of myself that night and
nothing had ever been the same. I had to move on.
He stood there stoic, unmoving. His jaw locked, ruthless stubbornness
and cruelty on that beautiful face that watched me.
“Nothing to say?” I scowled, my voice shaking from anger. I usually
never raised my voice but around this man all I wanted to do was scream.
When he didn’t answer, I continued, “I’m not that girl from five years ago
anymore. I won’t just sit and take your sick, twisted punishments, Vasili.”
My eyes locked on my handprint marking his cheek, and instantly,
regret hit me. This wasn’t me. I didn’t scream and yell at people; I didn’t hit
people. I didn’t like to see people hurt, and I’d just hit him. I had never hit a
person in my life.
I knew he deserved worse, and I should want nothing to do with him.
Yes, my stupid body, heart, and soul craved him, but he was all wrong for
me.
“I’m sorry for hitting you.” I was fully aware of the irony. He destroyed
my relationship with Ryan, he took my virginity, used me for his pitiful
revenge, and I was the one apologizing. “But you deserved it.” I took a deep
breath and stepped backwards, needing more space between us. I was
relieved to see he didn’t follow. “I swear, Vasili. You are bringing out the
worst in me. This is not me. I’ve never hit a person in my life. I’ve never
raised my voice at people and here you had me screaming twice in a single
day.“
Still nothing. Just those pale eyes watching me.
I pushed my hands through my hair, at a loss as to where this one-sided
conversation was even going. As quickly as my anger rose, it also
evaporated leaving in its wake resignation. “What do you want, Vasili?” I
ended up asking.
“You.” Clear, concise answer, yet he couldn’t have uttered more
confusing words. “I want you in my bed.”
I stared at him like he was a two headed snake. I couldn’t do this. Not
again. My body might have wanted the insufferable man, but my heart and
mind would never survive him.
My heart might have fluttered at his words, it might have beat for him,
and my blood might have hummed with hell yeah, let’s do it, but my brain
heeded the warnings. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame
on me.
What was Vasili’s end game? There was purpose to everything he did.
“You already had me. Remember? You took me and then left me
without a backwards glance. You took my body,” I pointed out what we
both knew. You stole my heart, I thought silently, the admission closed in
my soul. “-then you spat me out without an ounce of remorse. What more
do you want?“ I thought I saw him flinch but I must have been wrong.
I shouldn’t want him. I refuse to want him, I whispered to myself
“I need more.” I shook my head in disbelief or maybe it was to convince
myself I didn’t want him. But it was hard to ignore this fire that he ignited
within me, burning everything in its wake. Even my two-year relationship
with Ryan. “I need to fuck you hard, feel your pussy milk my cock, taste
your juices, hear your moans, feel your mouth around my cock. I want
more.”
A strangled laugh escaped me. “You need to fuck me? Unbelievable!” I
huffed. “Are you fucking nuts?”
“Possibly.”
“And what about me?” I had no idea where those words came from.
“I’ll make it good for you. You didn’t complain last time.”
I wanted to slap him again. Instead, I gawked at him in shock. Maybe
my mouth dropped too, I wasn't sure, but one thing I was sure of… Vasili
had lost his mind.
“You can’t make it good for me again, you son of a bitch. I…
DON’T… WANT… YOU!” I spat, while my hands trembled from anger.
He would be my downfall. Just like his father was my mother’s downfall. I
should know better.
“Yes, you do.” The nerve in this man!
And suddenly, I was just done. Done with Vasili. Done with Ryan. Done
with everything. I took a step back from him and shook my head.
“No, I don’t,” I said quietly, shaking my head. “I might lust after you
but I do not want you.” I emphasized the words. “There is a big difference.
You should learn it.”
“We can start with lust,” he reasoned. “We’ll relieve our desire.”
 “I think you are right,” I murmured, and for a brief second, I saw a
glimpse of victory cross his face, but he misunderstood it completely. “You
are crazy. The answer is no, Vasili. You cannot have me.”
He advanced, leaning over me, the scent of his woodsy cologne
invading my lungs. But I refused to cower, to show him he impacted me at
all. I would hold my ground against him.
“You can lie to yourself, Isabella. But you want me.” His hot breath
burned against the sensitive spot on my neck. “Ryan never had you, not the
way I did. Your pussy is mine. It has always been mine. Your body is mine.
You are mine. And if that ex-boyfriend ever thinks about getting close to
you again, I’ll shred him to pieces.”
”That’s your answer to everything, isn’t it? Destroy whatever gets in
your way.” I pushed away from him, glaring at his smirk infested face.
“Don’t you fucking dare touch Ryan.”
His laugh was mocking and cruel. “You know that wasn’t his first affair,
right?” Somehow, I wasn’t surprised, but it still sucked to hear it said out
loud. “And still, you worry about him.”
“You are such an asshole. Does it make you feel better to rub that in my
face? Do you think saying that will make me want you?” I laughed
derisively. “At least he has a heart. At least he knows when to apologize.”
“He will never have you again, malyshka. You are fucking mine, and
the sooner you come to terms with it, the sooner we both get relief.”
“Just pull that gun you’ve got under your jacket and shoot me, Vasili,” I
challenged him with the fake bravado. “That’s the only way I’ll get relief,” I
sneered.
He was mad! So was I apparently because, despite everything, I did
want him to fuck me. Five years ago he consumed me alive, in every sense
of the word. Damn this man, I wanted to be consumed alive like that night.
Seeing a fleeting look of shock on his face, I turned my back to him and
left him without a backwards glance. All the while, I fought the urge to turn
around and run to him, beg him to touch me, and burn me with his touch.
God help me, I needed to find some self-respect because I was so damn
tempted to say yes to Vasili Nikolaev. The fucking devil that kept tempting
me with his sinful words. Because he was right. My body did want him. I
just couldn't let him have it. After everything he’d done, he didn’t deserve
to have me.
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Eleven

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

F ucking Ryan Johnson.

He had to play a knight and try to take what’s mine. I
was half tempted to go after him and beat the living shit out
of him. But Isabella would know it was me.
All he had to do was take the money and fuck other women. It was
fucking simple, but he had to fuck that up too. He thought he was smart to
come for Isabella. Wrong, dude! So fucking wrong! She was mine.
The second Adrian’s message alerted me to his visit, I left my business
meeting halfway through it and drove like a maniac here. Seeing them
sitting on the tailgate, like a damn romantic infomercial, I lost my shit.
I knew Ryan was the only thing keeping Isabella in Los Angeles. So the
bastard that I was, I got rid of him.
Did it make me a cruel, sick motherfucker?
Yes, but I’d be damned watching her settle for him all the while he
fucked any willing skirt during his tours. She knew it too. I knew her
spending habits, her routine, everything. It was the reason she still insisted
on condoms even after dating him for two long years.
Isabella might be unwilling to admit it, but she still wanted me. The way
her body flushed, her eyes shone, or hazed with lust. I threw it away five
years ago, but I was wrong. Now, I refused to let her throw it away. I bowed
down to nobody, begged nobody but her… fuck it, I’d beg and kill for her.
Truth of the matter was, I fucked up five years ago. I blindly trusted my
mother’s words, never doubting she’d be so shallow to resort to lying with
her last dying breath.
 Now that the Santos family knew about her existence, Isabella was
safest with me. She belonged to me. And I wouldn’t let anyone else have
her. She was mine to protect and cherish.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twelve

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

V asili’s words played in my mind over and over again. I want you
in my bed. I want to taste you.
If only his words repulsed me. If only I didn’t want him too.
What was wrong with me? Where was my self-respect and dignity? The
man used me as his own sick revenge and then discarded me like a piece of
trash. And I still craved his touch, his smell, his filthy words.
My thoughts got interrupted when Tatiana ran into my room handing me
another dress. We have been at this for the past hour. I would have much
rather worn comfortable yoga pants and lounged around the house than go
out.
I raised the dress in front of me and my eyes just bulged out of my head.
“Oh my gosh! I can’t wear that!” I exclaimed at her.
“Isabella, you have a killer body. Use it!” She shoved the dress at me,
demanding without any additional words that I try it. She waited with a
raised eyebrow, daring me to say anything.
“Use it for what?” I muttered but took the dress. I stripped down to my
underwear and bra, then squeezed into the tiny little red dress. “Being
mistaken for a prostitute?” I said with discomfort.
“Nothing wrong with that.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled the little scrap of red sparkling material on.
“Whoa! You look fucking amazing!” She whistled as she spun me
around. I caught my reflection in the full-size mirror and couldn’t believe
the woman staring back at me. The sparkling, shimmery dress hugged my
curves in all the right places, accentuating my body. It contrasted my dark
hair, and my slim legs seemed longer in it. Probably because there was so
little of my legs covered.
“You will take any man’s breath away,” she announced. “Here, combine
it with these shoes.”
She handed me a pair of simple, elegant, and outrageously expensive
Christian Louboutin nude pump heels.
“Hmmm, they are surprisingly comfortable.”
“Because they are meant for you,” she grinned.
“Okay, now you go get ready,” I told her. “And you better look just as
slutty as me,” I instructed her, laughing. She was right, this was good
therapy and I was feeling better, despite the fact that her oldest brother was
in town. Somehow I had a feeling Vasili entered my life by design. That
man was a fucking control freak.
Truthfully, I should have known I was bound to eventually see him if
Tatiana and I remained friends. She was my best friend, and I refused to
give her up. Especially not on the account of some relationship my mother
and his father had way before Tatiana and I were born. People made
mistakes, and I couldn’t take responsibility for what his father and my
mother had done. I regretted that it hurt his mother but that was as much his
father’s fault as it was my mother’s. Besides, my mother more than paid for
that sin, in a devastating and hurtful way.
I certainly wasn’t willing to give up my friendship with my best friend
just because her oldest brother dumped me after one night of amazing,
incredible sex. I had fantasized about him from the very first moment I met
him. Even when I assumed he was her father! A gorgeous, mouthwatering,
panty dropping father. I actually looked forward to each time Tatiana and I
got in trouble because her big brother always came to save us. It was
pathetic, but it was the only time I saw him.
Tatiana came back from her room and my eyes widened. “Wow, you
look beautiful.”
And she truly did. She wore a black mini dress that hugged her body
like a second skin, low cut in the back, exposing her skin. The black dress
and her blonde hair created a beautiful contrast.
By the time we stepped out of her house, the sun was slowly setting.
Adrian came forward, showing up out of nowhere, causing both Tatiana and
I to squeal in surprise.
“Damn it, Adrian,” I muttered. “You scared the shit out of us.”
 When I came back from my incident with Vasili, his security guy never
commented on what had happened. It was for the best; I preferred to
pretend it never happened. Because oblivion is so much better, I mocked
myself.
“Sorry, ladies.” He also had a Russian accent although not as prominent
as Vasili’s. Inwardly I groaned frustrated at myself. I didn’t want to be
comparing everyone to Vasili. That damn old man! Sexy as fuck man. I
shook my head, trying to get images of him out of my head.
“Hey Adrian,” Tatiana greeted him, her smile soft.
She liked him... a lot. By the way he was watching her, I’d say he liked
her too. But those two never hooked up, and I never understood why.
Tatiana was always adventurous and carefree. When she wanted something
or someone, she went for it. Kind of like Vasili, I added in my head and
immediately cursed myself silently.
“Where are we going again?” I asked Tatiana as we slid into the car that
Adrian would drive.
“Sazerac Bar,” she told me. “We were going to go to the Carrousel but I
know how much you hate crowds. I think this will be better.”
“I agree,” I murmured. “The less crowds, the better.”
Once we arrived, I wholeheartedly agreed this was a better choice. The
ambiance of old world New Orleans reflected in each corner of this room. It
was located in the historical French Quarter of the city, on the corner of St.
Louis Street. Deeply patinated walls and old photography decorated the
place.
The low sounds of a melancholy trumpet played somewhere nearby
giving the entire place an ambiance of energy, sex appeal and danger
lurking in shadows. Yes, this place was fancy and still crowded by my
definition but there was no denying the raw atmosphere dressed up in
elegance. It was mixture of the Old World of New Orleans meeting the New
World.
I couldn’t even imagine how crowded the other place was. Thankfully,
we didn’t go there. A large crystal chandelier dominated the room and
booths surrounded the cozy dance floor. Surprisingly, there were a few
couples dancing to the soft music.
Tatiana had our booth reserved by the magnificent large window that
gave us a view of Jackson Square with St. Louis Cathedral. Lively crowds
strolled the streets, the sweet alcoholic concoction of gin, rum, vodka, and
melon liqueur the locals referred to as hand grenades in their hands as they
laughed and chatted, some even drunkenly stumbling around. The windows
were open, allowing a warm breeze to sweep through off the river and along
the busy street, the aching, bluesy melody of a lone trumpet drifting on the
air.
We slid into the booth while Adrian went to take a seat at the bar.
“He could join us, you know,” I told Tatiana. “I don’t mind.”
“He refused.”
“Oh.” It was odd to hear anyone refuse Tatiana. Men usually drooled
after her. “Why?”
She shrugged her shoulder. “He has it in his head we should go a proper
date, not him joining my girls’ date.”
I raised my eyebrow. “And that is a problem?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured, her glance darting to Adrian. There was
longing in her eyes that I had never seen on her face before.
“Tatiana, I have never known you to hold back,” I urged her. “Life's too
short. If you like him and he likes you, just go for it. Agree to his date.”
“But if it doesn’t work out, then it makes things complicated.”
“Why is that?”
“He and Vasili work closely together.” I could see that being a problem.
“They own a company together. It would make it awkward if it didn’t work
out for us.”
She was worried that Adrian would lose his job if she dated him.
Although Vasili was protective of his family, I didn’t think he would
meddle in his sister’s dating. But then, what did I know? That man
constantly shocked me.
Our waiter came at that moment and we ordered our cocktails. I
watched people mingle on the square, lovers holding hands, and families
enjoy their evening strolls. One thing that working in the E.R. has taught
me was that we are not guaranteed tomorrow. We could miss out on the
chance to be with someone we love or experience something extraordinary
by holding back.
The waiter came back with our cocktails and we both raised our glasses.
“To taking chances,” I told her, as we clinked our glasses in a toast. I
took a sip, the fruity, alcoholic drink warming my insides as it slid down my
throat.
 “I think you should take him up on the date if you like him,” I told her.
Her eyes snapped to me in surprise. “What?” I asked defensively.
“And I think whatever is going on between you and Vasili, you should
ride it out.” It was my turn to be surprised. Our eyes locked and I didn’t
have it in me to admit nor deny what the hell this was between Vasili and I.
I lashed out today. Five years ago when he smashed my heart into a million
pieces, I didn’t lash out. Obviously, when I caught Ryan cheating, I didn’t
lash out.
I drank down the entire drink and before I could even raise my hand to
order another one, the waiter was already bringing us another round.
“Vasili is the man that hurt you five years ago, isn’t he?” She framed it
as a question, but it was more of a statement.
“It was a long time ago.”
“That son of-”
“Don’t say it,” I stopped her. “It was as much of my own stupidity as it
was his.”
I had no idea why I was defending him. He sure as hell didn’t deserve it.
Yes, my mother broke their family, but maybe his family was already
broken and she was a scapegoat. Either way, it didn’t justify his behavior
towards me.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t tell her it was an understanding Vasili and I
came to. He wouldn’t tell his sibling, who was my best friend, that my
mother was the cause of their family’s distress, and I wouldn’t tell her that
he used me as revenge. Truthfully though, I never understood what kind of
revenge that was. Nobody would know that he had used me since we’d both
keep it a secret.
“I always thought it would maybe be you and Sasha one day,” she
muttered. “Never you and Vasili.”
“There is no me and your brother,” I objected, forcing a smile on my
face. “Neither one of them.”
The way she watched me told me she didn’t believe me. Okay, maybe
there was something I still felt for Vasili, but for him, I was always just a
method for revenge.
“Did he know about the pregnancy?” Her question startled me and pain
expanded in my chest at the memories.
 I really didn’t want to talk about that right now. I just shook my head,
finding it hard to say even a simple no. I blamed myself for that one. I was
drowning in my sorrow over Vasili that I completely missed all the
pregnancy signs. Till one night-
I swallowed hard and shoved the dark memories into the small corner.
That’s where they belonged.
“Give Adrian a chance if you like him.” I’d much rather talk about
Adrian than her brother.
“I never saw you lose your temper like today.” She was right. And she
didn’t even know I lost my shit again later that day, and then slapped her
eldest brother. God, that man was turning me into someone I didn’t like at
all.
“Maybe you guys like each other?” Her voice was hopeful.
I drank down another glass of the cocktail I’d ordered, my body already
warming up from the alcohol consumed. I sighed at the thoughts of Vasili. I
didn’t think he liked me. If he did, he wouldn’t have done all this shit, using
me for some ridiculous revenge and bribing Ryan to dump me.
“I need another drink,” I mumbled under my breath.
Immediately, she flagged the waiter again.
“You know, women usually don’t stand up to Vasili,” Tatiana started
pensively. “Even in college, when we kept getting into trouble, you never
cowered. When he’d scold us, you’d meet his eyes, stood up straight, never
wavering. You never argued with him, but that serene way of yours,
watching him quietly, probably drove him crazy. Maybe you two have been
foreplaying all along.”
I rolled my eyes; I knew she wouldn’t let it go. I shrugged my shoulders
because what could I say really. The truth was that he rattled me, even after
all these years, my body still sizzled with desire, remembering his rough
hands on my skin and his mouth pressing against mine, conquering.
And now he wanted me in his bed. I shook my head in disbelief. His
words still rang in my ears.
“I could talk to him,” she suggested in a low voice.
“Please don’t and let’s not ruin our night talking about all of that.”
She eyed me thoughtfully, and there was no mistaking that she knew
how much her oldest brother impacted me.
“I propose another toast.” She raised a glass, and I rolled my eyes.
“Okay.”
 “To men,” she clinked my glass. “Let’s bring them to their knees.”
I laughed. I didn’t know Adrian very well but Vasili Nikolaev would
never be brought to his knees.
“Sure, why not.” We clinked our glasses again. “Bottoms up.”
We giggled, the clock turned back to our college years when life seemed
simpler. We downed our drink in one gulp.
“Let’s dance,” Tatiana announced. The cocktails relaxed us, but we
weren’t drunk. Yet! It was just enough to ignore the judging eyes and have
fun. Okay, maybe we were slightly buzzed. Light tempo jazz sounds played
and we swayed to the music, with cocktails in our hands, laughing and
reminiscing about our college years when two men approached us with big
smiles.
“Hello ladies.”
I eyed both of them. They were slightly older than us but as Vasili so
kindly pointed out with Ryan, a baby face. A hiccup escaped me, and I
giggled.
“Hello.”
“I’m Regi,” the guy with light brown hair introduced himself.
“Dino,” the other chimed curt, eyeing both Tatiana and me. Dino had
dark hair and olive skin with dark eyes. He was handsome although he had
nothing on Vasili.
Tatiana and I shared a look, then smiled. We never gave names out
when we went out.
“Nice to meet you.”
“What are your names?”
I ignored the question and just smiled. “You two visiting?” I asked
instead.
“Yes, we are here for the Halloween parties,” Regi announced. “Heard
they are awesome here. Have you been?”
I shook my head. “Nope. My first time in the city.”
“Where are you from?” Dino asked, his eyes glancing between Tatiana
and me. I had a feeling he was looking for a weak link.
“Here and there,” Tatiana smiled at him, but I caught her eyes darting
Adrian’s way. I followed her gaze and saw him frowning. He didn’t look
pleased. Poor guy, I didn’t blame him.
“Do you ladies want to go check out a new club?” Regi offered. He sure
moved fast. “It’s called The Den of Sin. We wanted to check it out,
apparently it is very exclusive.”
Tatiana and I shared a look and smiled. “Curious name,” I muttered.
Heading for the bar area, to order a glass of water, I nodded at Adrian as
I turned my eyes back to Regi and his friend.
“So how do you think you’ll get into it?” I questioned him. “If it’s so
exclusive.”
“We have our ways,” Dino chimed in, his eyes roaming my body
unashamedly. Something about the way he watched me made my stomach
churn. Yes, there was appreciation in his eyes but also cruelty. Like the
slaughterer measures their stock to make sure they are the fattest so they
could profit most from their animals.
He could have at least been somewhat discreet. I swallowed hard,
grateful Adrian was with us.
“We would make it worth your time,” Regi promised. “Barista, ladies
will have another round.”
I shook my head. “I’m done for the night.”
“Me too,” Tatiana surprised me. She must really like Adrian. She was
on her best behavior.
“I insist,” Regi added.
I rolled my eyes, but he didn’t see me since he was gawking at my
breasts instead of my eyes. He could insist all he wanted, but I’d still not go
anywhere with him.
“Drinks on me,” Regi announced like he just offered me the world. He
handed me the cocktail, and short of refusing it, I just took it. I wouldn’t
drink it though. “Let’s get into my car-”
“The ladies are busy,” the booming voice had my spine go rigid. Vasili!
What the hell was he doing here? The smell of his cologne surrounded me
and wrapped me into a bubble where all my senses were aware of only him.
This damn man, why was he everywhere?
Vasili’s body so close to the bare skin of my back rattled me so much
that I brought the drink that Regi treated us with to my lips, covering my
nervousness with a smile at Regi.
“You won’t be drinking that,” Vasili growled.
He took the drink out of my hands and placed it back on the bar counter.
“Drain this down the sink.”
I frowned at his unnecessary rudeness.
 “Ah, dear brother,” Tatiana grinned, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Don’t be such a party pooper. Isabella and I are not done for the night.”
“Yes, you are.” There was no room for negotiation. The back of my
neck tingled at his vicinity.
He was too close; I could feel the heat radiating from him against my
skin. The flames licked at my body, searing me. All I had to do was lean
backwards and I’d feel his hard chest pressed against my back.
I caught Vasili’s eyes in the mirror behind the bar. He was literally
towering over me from behind, his eyes stormy and cold. His dark three-
piece suit hugged his body just right. I knew that underneath that expensive,
polished, custom suit, he was ripped, all muscle and no fat. He looked like a
model with a MMA fighter body.
“Is he your brother too, gorgeous?” Regi asked, his finger circling the
palm of my hand lazily. “Maybe you and-”
In a blink, Vasili threw all his weight on Regi, pinning him against the
bar counter, his hand wrapped around his throat.
“You don’t touch her. You don’t look at her. And today is the last time
you speak to her. Try one more word and you are dead.”
I stared at the scene with my mouth parted in shock. Tatiana didn’t seem
perturbed at all that her brother was choking the life out of another man.
Instead, she just giggled and slid off the bar stool, heading towards Adrian.
There were some bystanders pretending not to look but clearly watching
every move in this little conflict.
“Vasili, what are you doing?” I grabbed his bicep with both my arms,
trying to peel him off. “People are watching. Someone’s going to call the
police.”
He wouldn’t budge. Frantically, I looked around, searching out Adrian
but he just stood there, waiting. “Aren’t you going to help?”
Adrian just shrugged his shoulder. “Shouldn’t touch what doesn’t
belong to him,” was all he said.
Both of these men were crazy. “Vasili, let him go,” I hissed. “You’ll kill
him.”
“That’s the point, malyshka.” Our eyes met, his hand still wrapped
around Regi’s throat, his face getting dangerously red. “Ready to go
home?”
“Let go of him right now, you big brute,” I growled. He tightened his
grip around Regi’s throat, and his eyes rolled backward. “Yes. Yes! I’m
ready. Let him go,” I shouted frantically. I had never seen Vasili so violent
during my years in college. And Tatiana and I did some stupid shit. Yet,
over the last few days all I saw was his violence.
Vasili let go of him in the same instance, and Regi’s body slid onto the
floor with a loud thud. I took a step forward, the physician in me ready to
assist but Vasili’s arm stopped me.
“Leave him,” he gritted. “We are going home.”
My eyes traveled over to Regi who was gasping for breath, his friend by
his side. He would live, probably have bruises around his neck.
My eyes snapped at him furiously. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I
hissed and his fingers dug into my upper arm. “Are you mental or
something? You can’t be going around bullying men.”
“Oh, there is plenty wrong with my brother,” Tatiana chimed in,
chuckling. “The fact that I’ve seen him twice in the same day tells me our
earlier toast has some merit to it.”
I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts together.
“Adrian, you take Tatiana home,” Vasili ignored both his sister and me.
“I’ll take Isabella.”
Then he turned his head and I followed his gaze. He had his men
lingering in the background; he barked instructions to them to take the guy
and his friend downstairs.
“Downstairs?” I frowned and looked on in confusion between Vasili and
Adrian. “Why downstairs? Is this your place?”
“He put a roofie in your drink,” he growled. “And yes, this is my place.
Now, let’s go home.”
Turning my head, I looked at Regi. “Seriously?” And I was feeling
sorry for him. “I should kick your ass,” I took a step but Vasili pulled me
back.
“No, malyshka. That job is mine.” Something about the way he glared
at Regi told me he would take pleasure from it.
“What are you going to do?” I asked in alarm. I tried to pull my arm out
of his grip. Something about the way he threatened Regi without actually
threatening made him even scarier. And I recalled the feel of a gun when I
tried to pull him away from Ryan.
“Don’t worry. He’ll just get what he deserves.” He gave Regi a
menacing smile. This Vasili was scaring the shit out of me.
”I don’t want to go anywhere with your crazy ass.”
 He paid no attention to me as he dragged me across the street. Tatiana
and Adrian went in the opposite direction, towards the car he brought us in.
She kept giggling, playfully dragging her finger over Adrian’s neck tattoo.
She threw me a glance over her shoulder and shouted.
“Remember our toast, Bella.” I groaned. Tatiana was sometimes just
outright ridiculous. “Let’s start tonight,” she yelled which was followed up
by a giggle. It turned out, she was tipsier than I thought. Maybe I was too.
Those cocktails could take you down. They were so tasty and fruity. Next
thing you know, you were drunk with a brilliant idea of breaking into the
nearest public pool facility so you could go skinny dipping.
Vasili saved us from that one too.
“I want to go with Adrian and Tatiana.” I really didn’t but I worried
about being alone with this man. Especially in my buzzed state.
“Nyet.” Oh crap, if he started speaking Russian, I might do something
stupid. Just remember he is the jerk, sexy accent or not, I kept telling
myself. “I’m taking you home.”
I was thankful he saved me from the roofied drink but agitated that he
thought he had any right to tell me what to do, especially after this
afternoon.
“Listen, you don’t get to tell me who I go home with,” I gritted but
before I could get another word out, his body slammed against mine and his
mouth crashed on my lips, nipping, biting, tasting. All reason instantly left
me and my body melted against his, my lips giving into his possession. I
moaned into his mouth, craving more of him. He tasted even better than I
remembered.
Before I knew what was happening, he stopped and his hand wrapped
behind my neck, forcing my head still.
“Look at me,” he growled. Our eyes met, the intensity of his gaze
searing into me. “Nobody touches you.” Confused at this man that
discarded me five years ago, I just stared at him. “Understood?”
I blinked. A simmering, burning anger bubbled inside me replacing lust,
and I pushed my palms against his hard chest.
“No, not understood,” I spat back at him. “You don’t get to dictate who
touches me and who doesn’t. Who in the hell do you think you are?”
To my amazement and shock, Vasili just grinned.
“I am the one who will fuck you hard and long… very soon.” My
cheeks heated up at his crude words. “You are in my city, my home. Now
you belong to me. Your resistance… only makes me harder for you. So you
might want to reconsider resisting.”
As if to confirm his words, he pushed his abdomen against me and his
hard shaft pressed against my lower belly.
If my jaw wasn’t attached, it would have been on the ground. His words
weren’t even the most disturbing fact. It was my body’s response. The heat
pooled between my thighs and my body melted, eager for his words to turn
into reality. Despite the insanity of the situation, my body remembered how
he fucked me and how he owned every moan and shudder of my body.
I shook my head, clearing the fog of desire within my stupid brain. With
a scoff and an eye roll, I tried to sound more confident than I felt.
“You must be smoking something really strong,” I tried to sound firm
but it came out breathless. He chuckled and then pulled me into his body.
“I’m serious, Vasili. Let go of me.”
“Relax, I’m opening the car door and you are in my way.”
He swung open the door to a red Lamborghini that was probably worth
more than all my possessions. Actually, scratch that. There was no probably
about it.
“Get in,” he ordered.
I slid into his sports car, the seats too low to the ground. “Ever heard of
a normal vehicle,” I complained under my breath, pulling my dress down
that accidentally flashed him with the color of my panties. Mental note,
getting into a sports car with a skimpy dress was not practical.
Once satisfied I wasn’t flashing the world, I threw him a glance. He still
stood with the door open. I raised my eyebrow, waiting for him to shut the
door. I caught his gaze on my thighs and I silently cursed Tatiana for
convincing me to wear such a short dress. Vasili’s eyes told me he liked it
however, and I couldn’t find a reason not to like that.
Just remember what he did to you, Isabella, I chided myself.
It was exactly the reminder I needed. Ryan might have humiliated me
publicly but what Vasili did was worse. He tore my heart and then discarded
it carelessly.
You were nothing more than a tight pussy to get my dick wet. My ears
rang at the parting words he bestowed upon me five years ago. It was
exactly the cold shower I needed. All the desire evaporated into the humid,
hot air.
 “Well, shut the door and let’s go. Or are you going to stand here all
night?”
He raised his eyes to mine and then shook his head, as if to clear off
whatever thought lingered in his brain. Shutting the door, he came around
the vehicle and swiftly got behind the wheel, roaring the engine to life.
I turned my head away from him, staring into the night. There was
nothing to see, but it felt like the images of that night reflected in the side
windows, staring back at me. Reminding me. The memories still hurt. Five
years and those words still shattered me.
Ryan’s heartbreak was barely two weeks ago and the sting had slowly
diminished. The worst part was that now I knew the reason why. It was
because of this man. I should have never come with Tatiana, knowing the
risk of seeing her brother. I would have preferred never to see him again.
All the heartaches paled in comparison to my reaction to Vasili. Losing
my mother to cancer was hard, but somehow even that pain paled to these
feelings for this man.
Leaning my forehead against the cool window, I closed my eyes and
focused on the purr of the engine rather than the voices from the past. I
didn’t want to hear them, didn’t want to remember. But if I forgot, I would
easily let him do it again. That was who Vasili Nikolaev was - cruel and
ruthless. He took what he wanted and then discarded you when he was done
with you.
Focus on the engine, Isabella.
I was just a stupid, young girl back then. I was no longer infatuated with
him. Correction, my brain wasn’t but my body was. Damn this body! My
phone buzzed, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I dug it out of my little
clutch that matched the dress.
It was Tatiana, checking to make sure I was okay. I sent her a quick
thumbs up. Studiously ignoring the man that was driving, I scrolled through
my phone, checking for the latest job postings and opportunities to finish
my residency. I applied for any level positions alongside the East Coast,
knowing I couldn’t afford to be picky.
Now with Vasili in town, I felt getting a job sooner versus later might be
in my best interest.
Losing my job in L.A. made my pride suffer a bit, knowing I’d have to
start at the bottom again.
 But I could do it. I was proud of what I had accomplished. The job at
L.A. ER was my first one out of med school. It was tough and challenging,
but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I had seen such a variety of
cases, from gunshot wounds to broken bones. It was the reason I wanted to
specialize in advanced cardiac life support and trauma care. I knew the pace
would be strenuous and challenging. I’d never have a boring day.
A job opening caught my eye. A private ER room. The terminology was
weird, but it couldn’t hurt. I scanned the job description and loved
everything about it - a small, private clinic and treating all injuries, ER
experience a plus. Perfect! They even offered additional funding for
continuing education. It had to be one of the major metropolitan cities, but
when I saw the location, I was surprised to see it was in New Orleans. It
was the only drawback to the entire posting. I wasn’t sure that I’d stay. The
more I thought about staying in New Orleans, the less I liked it. The
potential of running into Vasili made it completely unappealing.
It doesn’t hurt to apply, I convinced myself. And with an easy button,
the application was sent.
“Looking for a job?” Vasili’s voice startled me. I threw him a side
glance and returned to my search, ignoring him. “That’s real mature,
Isabella” he muttered under his breath.
“Hmmm.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I didn’t even raise my head. “It means that a man that bribes another
man to dump his girlfriend and gets into a bar fight has no right to preach to
me about maturity.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “That wasn’t a bar fight. I saved
your ass from a pervert that would have fucked you while unconscious.”
I shuddered with disgust at that thought. It was the reason I never
accepted drinks from any boys during college nor later. I guess maybe he
did save me, but Adrian would have eventually stepped in too. And it didn’t
escape me he didn’t comment back on bribing Ryan.
“Just please stop talking to me.”
“No, I kind of like talking to you.” I rolled my eyes but said nothing
else. He waited a few seconds but must have realized I had no intention of
talking. “Are you looking for something in this area?”
I pressed my lips tightly fighting the urge to tell him off and finally
failing. “Stop. Talking. To. Me.”
 Couldn’t he get simple things through his thick skull?
“We have to talk.”
My head snapped to him. “About what?”
I remembered that day I begged him to talk to me and he refused. There
was no sense in talking now.
“About everything.”
I laughed, the sound bitter in the small space of the car as I returned my
attention to my phone. “Well, that is a lot to talk about. You will have to do
it alone because I am busy. For the rest of my life.”
I couldn’t resist glancing back his way as he sped down the highway
towards Tatiana’s place. His jaw pressed tight, the muscles in his neck
twitching, and I found it so damn hot. He couldn’t make me pissed off one
second and totally horny the next. Right?
But I knew the answer. Resisting him was like resisting a drug that you
had consumed one too many times. I knew it wasn’t good for me but my
body wanted it anyway. Craved it. My thin resolve to resist him melted like
ice under hot sun.
I bit my lower lip, tempted to lean into him and lick his neck. Just to
taste him again. Would he taste as good as he did five years ago? Jesus,
around this man my hormones just skyrocketed and my pulse raced. This
urge to touch him was too strong.
He turned his head and our eyes met, the untamed lust weaving through
the air.
“Fuck,” he groaned. I blinked in confusion, wondering what was the
matter when in the next instance, he shot across four lanes to take the exit.
His tires screeched, taking a right and another left and he pulled over next
to an empty building, right under the large weeping willow tree.
Glancing around, I scanned the area and all the while my pulse
thundered in my ears.
“What are we doing here?” I questioned him, my heart beating hard
under my chest.
The sound of a zipper inside of the car had me whipping my head his
way and my mouth just about dropped. His big, thick cock sprung out of his
pants and Vasili’s big hand wrapped around him.
“Y-you, are you,” I couldn’t compose a sentence. “What are you
doing?” I asked in shock, my eyes locked on his hand movements. His ink
decorated fingers looked so damn hot as he pumped up and down. I had
never seen anything so sexy. I wanted to feel his hands on my throbbing,
aching center.
“Jerking off,” he groaned, his eyes on me. Holy shit! My heart
thundered under my rib cage and fire burned in my veins. I should be
appalled, disgusted, angry, but the only thing I managed the energy for was
to get turned on.
This sight of him jerking off was so damn erotic.
I forced my eyes away from his cock and up to his face. His hooded
gaze burned with desire, the tension in his body visible.
The silence in the car, broken only by his soft grunts and the low tunes
coming through his car stereo. This is making me alive.
The words of the song reflected exactly what I felt at this moment. The
song “Feel it” by Michele Morrone would forever whisper of this night, of
this man. Vasili made me feel alive.
I felt him on every inch of my skin and he wasn’t even touching me. My
tongue swept over my lower lip, and I bit into it, preventing a whimper
escaping through my lips.
“See what you do to me, Isabella,” he grunted. Oh my God, was my
breathing labored or was that his? Or both of ours?
My pussy clenched with need and my eyes returned to his cock. His
hand tugged on it, up and down; the glistening of cum at the tip of it
tempting me to lick it. Holy shit, I might just orgasm from watching him
jerk off.
“Fuck, you smell so good.” His groans filled the inside of his
Lamborghini. “Are you wet, malyshka?” My head nodded without
registering the meaning of his words. “Touch yourself.”
I couldn’t move, mesmerized by his cock and pre-cum glistening,
running down his shaft. I could just lean over and taste him, or at least
touch him. Finally, I lost my battle with temptation and my hand reached
out to his hard cock, wrapping around his big hand.
“Do you know how many times I get myself off thinking about you?”
His voice was tortured, the tension and need for the release steaming off his
body.
I removed his hand and wrapped my small hand around his shaft. The
moment my hand touched his shaft directly, a loud groan echoed in the car
and vibrated straight to my core. It has been five years since I touched him,
but it might as well have been yesterday. God help me, my hand
remembered him.
I started pumping his smooth, hard cock, up and down, and he threw his
head back, closing his eyes.
“Yes, like that Isabella,” he purred, igniting flames through my body.
He was so strong, yet vulnerable at this moment as he surrendered to
me. One day around this man and I succumbed to this lust sizzling between
us. And at this moment, I didn’t even give a damn.
“Can I touch you, malyshka?”
My hand halted. A sharp inhale of my breath and I slowly exhaled. God,
I wanted him to touch me. It was so tempting just to say yes. Our eyes met,
and I couldn’t find the strength to deny him nor to allow him his touch.
He must have read the indecision in my eyes, the battle of wills that
pushed and pulled.
“Touch yourself then,” he rasped. “Show me how wet you are.”
I swallowed hard. “Can I straddle you?”
The words barely left my lips, before his both hands grabbed my waist
and lifted me effortlessly across the center console to his lap. The space was
tight, but it didn’t matter to me. I wanted to feel his body as close to mine as
possible. My knees spread, each landed on the outer side of his thighs and
my dress hiked up around my waist. My fold was so close to his cock but it
wasn’t enough.
Our eyes locked, faces inches apart. “I won’t touch you, malyshka,” he
promised hoarsely. “Not unless you tell me.”
That was all the promise I needed. I pushed my panties aside, and the
moment my finger brushed against my nub, a loud moan escaped me.
“Finger yourself while I jerk off underneath you,” he instructed, on a
growl. “I’ll imagine your hot pussy tight around my cock.”
“Vasili.” His name was a breathless whisper on my lips as I fingered
myself.
The pressure inside me built, taking me higher and higher, intent on
chasing this pleasure. I watched him through heavy eyelids, his eyes hungry
on my pussy. I followed his eyes, watching between our bodies as he
pumped his cock, up and down, and I rubbed myself. Every so often,
accidently or not, I brushed against his cock and he’d groan. The sound was
thrilling, dangerous, tempting.
 “I want to taste your fingers.” His voice was a raspy demand. Without
questioning my sanity or his, I brought my fingers to his lips. He kept
pumping his shaft, his other hand wrapped around my wrist as he sucked
my fingers clean. “You taste amazing,” he groaned, savoring it like a
delicacy.
“Oh my God,” I moaned, the throbbing pulse between my thighs
unbearable. I wanted him to touch me, I wanted him inside me, but the
words stayed locked behind my lips.
Pulling my hand out of his grasp, I shoved it back inside my panties and
fingered my clit. With his free hand, he ripped my panties, the tearing sound
in parallel to our heavy breathing. I didn’t care, the only thing I cared about
was the pleasure. I fingered my clit, faster and harder, purposely brushing
against the tip of his shaft. Each touch caused a friction and tortured groan
from both of us.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I kept repeating it as pressure built higher and
higher. He buried his face into my hair, breathing words in Russian.
“Isabella,” he murmured. “Fuck, I want you so bad.”
I closed my eyes, relishing in the sensation. I had never felt a fraction of
this with Ryan. Ever!
“Vasili, I need-” What did I need? I needed him inside me, to fuck me
hard and relentlessly. The way I remembered he did that night five years
ago. “Please,” I begged.
“Tell me what you need, malyshka.” His grunts matched mine, both of
us touching ourselves and needing each other with desperation. “I’ll give
you anything. Just tell me what you want.”
My eyes lowered back to where his shaft was inches away from my
aching pussy. He pumped his cock hard, the glistening pre-cum all over it,
tempting me to feel him hot at my entrance. I kept fingering my clit as I
lowered my body just a fraction, to feel the tip of his hard shaft inside my
entrance, and it was all it took. My body exploded into a million pieces, and
I watched him do the same, as cum spurted out of him all over my pussy
and himself.
He kept milking his cock, his grunting sounds and my moans mixing
together. I rubbed my hot pussy all over his shaft, relishing in the hot
sensation. I had no idea why but this felt so erotic, and I wanted to keep
going. I was greedy and wanted to feel him inside me, hard and deep.
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Thirteen

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

I listened to Isabella’s breathing, her forehead still against mine.

Her eyes were closed, her cheeks flushed, and I couldn’t tear
my gaze away. What we had just done was seriously some high
school shit, but it sated me. For now. The moment I felt her hand on my
dick, I could have exploded right then. That was how much she impacted
me. And watching her pleasure herself, my dick barely at her hot
entrance… it was some vanilla porn, but with Isabella it felt damn erotic
and right.
“We messed up your car,” she muttered, her eyes still closed.
“No, we didn’t.” Fuck, I wouldn’t mind having smears of her wetness
all over this three-hundred-thousand-dollar car. It would make it worth
millions in my book.
I wrapped my one hand around her slim waist while with the other I
reached to the back seat where I always kept a clean shirt for emergencies. I
wiped her clean first and then myself. Balling the shirt, I threw it onto the
floor of the back seat.
I tucked myself back in and zipped my pants up. This time, I wrapped
both arms around her and I cocooned her into my arms. She made me weak
and strong, rough and soft. I had been ruthless from a young age, knowing
I’d take the reins of my father’s criminal organization. Our organization
started in Russia where things were harsher and more ruthless than here.
Weaknesses were exploited so I never wished for soft; never needed it and
never wanted it. But with Isabella, a tiny bit of softness and gentleness
found its way into my rough edges. It only happened with her.
 She shifted away from me, and it took everything in me not to beg her
to stay in my arms. Talk about a joke because Isabella’s eyes kept darting in
every direction but mine. She was avoiding my eyes.
“Isabella, look at me.” She refused so I took her chin between my
fingers and gently brought her face to mine. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Her response was a soft murmur and my cock was ready for
round two.
“Something is bothering you.”
Her eyes flashed with wariness, unease pouring out of her. She pulled
away, climbing back to her own seat. Her walls were firmly back up.
“Just take me back to Tatiana’s, please,” she asked quietly.
Frustration rose within me, but I kept it in check. It has been less than
twenty-four hours since we’ve seen each other in my city. She needed time.
While I knew for certain there would never be anyone else for me, she
might need time. I didn’t want to push her away five years ago, but my
pride and misconceived revenge pushed me too far and in the wrong
direction. Now that I knew the whole story, I had some serious ground to
make up with her. I’d wait. I was going to need a lot of patience, something
I’ve never had. In the meantime, I wouldn’t risk anyone getting their paws
on something so beautiful as Isabella.
She needed time, and I would give it to her.

A fter I dropped off I sabella , I came back to the bar . I thanked all
the saints that I had Adrian to keep me updated with everywhere Tatiana
and Isabella went. It made it easier to keep tabs on those two.
Walking in, I recalled Isabella’s surprise at finding out I owned this
restaurant. Didn’t she ever bother looking up everything I owned?
Apparently, she didn’t. It always surprised me to witness her oblivion to
money and power. I thought that was all her mother cared about and was the
reason she went after my father and later after Lombardo Santos. Yet
Isabella came out pure, uncaring of money and status. She couldn’t care less
about any of it. When I first met her, I thought it was a pretense, but as the
months and years went by, I realized it was just her. She could tell you
every brand of bathing suit and where to find best surfboards and beach
locations to ride waves, but when it came to knowing famous or powerful
people, she couldn’t keep her interest long enough to even look at a
magazine page. I heard Tatiana joke about it for as long as they’ve known
each other.
I made my way into the basement and I could hear the skin-on-skin
meeting and painful yelps by the fucker that tried to slip a roofie into my
woman’s drink. The guy was already hooked up to chains and his face was
a bloody mess.
I turned to Alexei, who was hanging out with my two bodyguards that
dragged these two assholes here, to teach our guy and his friend a lesson.
“Aww, you started without me?” I complained. “You know how much I
enjoy the first few punches.”
I watched them as I took time to slide off my suit jacket and roll up the
sleeves of my shirt up my forearms.
“Guess what, big brother?” Alexei played along. “Regi and Dino work
with Alphonso Romano. Not for him but with him. These two are big
shots.” Alexei smirked, his words taunting. “They had specific instructions
to bring the girls back to him.”
The rage simmered, flowing through my blood. I had always been
known to keep a cool head and as an unemotional fucker. But images of
Isabella or Tatiana drugged up and limp, while these sick assholes touched
them had me teetering on the edge. Alphonso Romano was the worst kind
of scumbag, right alongside Benito King. Those two had an old agreement,
moving flesh for general distribution. But they also had another exclusive
agreement going, moving only certain kinds of women. The underworld
whispers called it the Belles and Mobsters' agreement. Not too many people
knew the details, including me. But I’d be damned if I’d let either one of
those fuckers ever get their hands on Isabella or Tatiana.
“Why these women?” I asked, anger simmering in my blood.
Both of the guys’ eyes tried to follow my movement, but they were
unfocused and one of them pretty much swollen shut.
“I don’t fucking know,” he cried out, his body shaking with fear.
“Something about the current Santos refusing to continue his father’s flesh
agreement.”
Had Alphonso and Romano known about Isabella all along? Alexei and
I shared looks. He knew what that meant. Isabella’s connection to
Lombardo Santos was known. Maybe the old Santos dealings in human
trafficking was the only thing that spared her all these years.
“We were just going to grab them and deliver the package.” The other
guy chimed in, screeching like a damn bitch each time Alexei took a step
towards him with his swiss knife, taunting him.
“Tst, tsk,” I started, my voice calm while my blood boiled. “You should
never touch things that don’t belong to you.”
“I’m sorry, man.” Blood dripped from Regi’s mouth mixed with drool
as he tried to speak through his slip, bruised lip.
“Not nearly sorry enough,” I told him, glancing at Alexei. “The sheers.”
Alexei picked them from a nearby table and handed them to me with a
smirk. Alexei might be my half-brother but he was very much like me and
Sasha. He liked to make people pay for hurting women, hungry for revenge.
The coward hanging off the chains started to back up, realizing what we
had planned.
“And guess what buddy?” I taunted him. “It was Regi, right?” He
nodded his head, his whole body shaking. “You tried to rape my woman.” I
turned my gaze to Dino. “And you, fucker, dared to eye her… like she was
for sale,” I snarled, and got in his face so he could see the rage he evoked
within me. Let him taste it; he had no idea what was coming his way.
“Women are not for sale in my territory. Never have been and never will be.
Especially those two women you tried to pick up tonight.”
His eyes got big, ready to pop out of his skull. “I-I wasn’t,” he
stammered. “We wanted to take only the brunette. I was just going to feel
her up and then take her to Benito. The other one was just an extra bonus.”
Fucking, idiot. Wrong thing to say because in the next second, all I saw
was red. Images of his hand on the woman that moaned my name while
straddling me barely an hour ago sent me over the edge. And he was going
to take my fucking sister!
I cut through his pinkie first. His scream echoed through the basement
but nobody would hear him. This room was designed specially to prevent a
single sound from escaping. There could be a person with their ear pressed
against the door right outside, and they’d never hear a goddamn thing.
“My turn.” Alexei grinned at the screaming bastard and grabbed another
pair of the sheers. He cut his other pinkie and then more screaming.
“You fucking coward,” I spat at him. “Not so brave now, are you?”
 I grabbed him by his throat and squeezed hard, watching the light
extinguish in his eyes. When he was no longer breathing, I dropped him like
a ragdoll onto the ground.
“Fuck, Vasili,” Alexei complained. “I wanted to do that. She’s my sister,
not yours.”
But she’s my woman, I added silently.
When I found Alexei, he was all kinds of fucked up, on his way to
ultimate self-destruction. It fucking killed me to see my flesh and blood so
broken, only guessing what he had lived through. His wake-up call came in
the form of Isabella and Tatiana. Once I revealed to him he had sisters and
the dangers lurking in the shadows, waiting to get their clutches into his
sisters, it gave him a purpose. He took that purpose and made it his mission
to keep them protected at all costs.
I tilted my head to Regi’s accomplice that hung by the other chain, his
pants with a big dark spot and the scent of piss all around him.
“You can have that one,” I growled, my entire body tense. “And make
him fucking suffer. We’ll ship both of their body parts to dear old Alphonso
tomorrow.”
I walked out of the room, screams echoing behind me, and headed
straight to the bathroom. I stopped at the bathroom and caught my
reflection. What would Isabella say if she could see me now? She saved
people, tended to their wounds, and here I just killed a man. His friend
would soon follow; Alexei would make sure of it.
There was blood splattered all over my white dress shirt and my arms. I
stripped the shirt off and scrubbed my face and hands under the running
faucet, using hand soap. I reached for a little closet that housed basic
necessities in this bathroom. Nobody but my brothers and I used it.
Once there was no clearly visible evidence of blood on me, I headed
back to my car and to my home. I found myself wishing Isabella was
waiting for me there, in my bed. We wouldn’t even have to fuck; I just
wanted her wrapped in my arms, in my bed.
I dialed up Adrian to check on the house. He answered on the first ring.
“All good?” I went straight to business.
“Yes, both women are in the house, in bed.”
I recalled all the trouble those two got in during their college years
while they were supposedly at home and in bed. “Are you sure?”
 “Yes, Vasili. I put Tatiana in her bed myself, and Isabella passed me in
the hallway on my way out.”
“Did she say anything?” Great, now I sounded like some loser teenager
schmuck.
“Yeah, that she wants you to crawl into her bed.” His voice dripped with
sarcasm. “Come on, Vasili. Do you think your woman would ever spill her
heart to me?”
That’s right. My woman! Great, now I just had to pound my chest and
all would be well in this world.
“I should come there and beat your ass,” I threatened half-jokingly.
Although it didn’t sound like a bad idea. It would be a good excuse to show
up there and check on Isabella in her bed.
“You better hurry up then,” he chuckled. “So you can catch me before
I’m in bed. Otherwise, your poor-ass excuse to see your woman will be out
for the night.”
“Fucker.”
“Right back at you.”
Adrian and I had an odd relationship. We were friends and business
partners. Our friendship started when we were kids in Russia. When our
expansion in the States started, my father brought him along. There was
nothing but death waiting for him in the motherland. His father was a
deadbeat drunk and his mother a junkie, both worthless humans that cared
nothing about their son’s well-being.
Our first year of college, we started our own business. He always had a
knack for security so it made sense to tempt him into starting a company
with me. He managed all our security - personal, business, and illegitimate.
There was nobody better than his company, and it made him rich. I was his
top customer, but he had many other, high-profile clientele too.
“Tighten up the security around both of them,” I told him. “Those two
today were after Isabella. On Alphonso Romano and Benito King’s orders.”
“Fuck.” He knew that meant a shitstorm. I wondered if Sasha’s
elimination of Lombardo Santos kick-started the hunt for Isabella or was it
already in the works all along. “I’ll make sure they are both safe.”
Adrian was the best. Next to locking them both up in my own home
alongside Sasha’s and Alexei’s protection, there was nobody else better to
protect them.
 “I’ll see you tomorrow.” I ended the call and took the turn towards my
side of the town, although it was so tempting to sneak into Tatiana’s home
and crawl into the bed with my woman.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Fourteen

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

“M alyshka,” his voice rasped in my ear. I had missed his

voice and the feel of his body heat so much.
“Please, Vasili.” I wasn’t sure what I was begging for
but he seemed to know. His mouth took mine for a consuming, hot kiss. His
tongue licked my bottom lip and my mouth opened, welcoming him. He
tasted so good, like whiskey and the most delicious, wicked sin.
His mouth left a hot, searing trail all over my skin as he made his way
down my neck, trailing kisses down my body. Licking, sucking, and biting at
my skin, in all the right places, making my body sensitive all over.
My head thrashed against the pillow, my lids closed, enjoying the
sensation. I felt him nuzzle the soft skin in my inner thigh, inhaling deeply.
“You smell delicious,” he murmured, his lips briefly connecting with my
pussy. “I’m going to feast on your tight pussy.”
A loud moan sounded in the dorm room, the small dorm bed protesting
at the weight of two bodies. My head thrashed back and forth against the
pillow.
“Open your eyes, malyshka.” His voice was stern, deep and rattled my
insides. My eyes peeled open. “Watch me eat your pussy.”
Our gazes met, his pale eyes on me as he lowered his mouth and licked
my slit. A shudder ran through my body, and I resisted the urge to throw my
head back. Instead, I focused on his eyes, watching him devour me like a
rare dessert.
“Mmmmm.” Vasili’s rumble shot straight to my core. “So fucking
good.”
 His mouth latched onto my clit, sucking hard and fast, alternating
between licking and sucking. My insides burned, my muscles clenched with
the need igniting within me. His mouth on my most intimate part was a turn
on but watching him as he ate me out was mind-blowing eroticism.
His inked finger slid inside me, his mouth relentlessly sucking. “Yes,
Vasili,” the moan left my lips on a tremble.
His finger pumped in and out, my back arching off the bed into his
touch. “So fucking beautiful,” he groaned. His finger reached a spot inside
me and my whole body tensed. My blood burned, flames licking at my skin
as I flew for heights I had never known.
“Oh my fucking God,” I screamed out, my body bucking against his
finger.
My insides squeezed around his finger but he kept pumping and licking.
The entire time, I watched him through heavy eyelids, breathing heavily as
his gaze locked on me.
Before I even had a chance to come down from the most incredible
orgasm, his big body hovered over mine, holding himself up by his strong
arms and he thrust inside me, burying himself to the hilt.
“Fuck,” he groaned. My hands wrapped around his neck, searching out
his lips like I was dying from thirst and he was the only drop of water
around. Our movements synchronized, he moved hard in and out of me,
igniting the flames all over again. Our bodies fit perfectly together, despite
the difference in our size.
He gritted out unrecognizable words, his hips working like pistons and
my fingers dug into his back, holding on.
“Don’t stop!” I screamed, demanding more pleasure. I had waited for
this for so long. He was the reason I never slept with anyone over the last
three years. I wanted him, only him. He pushed deeper and harder into me,
both of our moans and grunts echoing in the room. Hell, probably the entire
floor heard us. “Yes, yes. Oh my God. Yes!”
My body shattered into a million little pieces, white lights burst behind
my eyelids. I shook in the intensity of the pleasure he gave me, my pussy
clenching, squeezing around his cock. His head buried in the crook of my
neck, foreign words tumbling over his lips as he followed me right over the
edge, his cock twitching inside me.
The scene changed and early morning sunrays glimmered in Vasili’s
golden hair. He watched me with those eyes, the expression unreadable. I
didn’t want to hear his next words. I knew what was coming next but I
wanted a different ending.
“Isabella Taylor, this was just a fuck.” A cruel smile and cold eyes on
Vasili’s face pierced through my heart and my body shook.
Just a fuck. Just a fuck. Just a fuck.
“You shouldn’t play with wolves, Isabella.”
I shot up in the bed, my breathing labored. I had to blink my eyes
several times to clear my mind. It’s not really happening now. That was a
long time ago.
My hand reached for my chest, the heart thundering underneath my
palm and the pain at hearing those words still lingered between each
heartbeat.
Vasili would be my downfall. It was only a matter of time before I
succumbed to his will. I knew it. He knew it. I wanted him despite it all.
The little glimpses of the man I saw over the first three years of my college
and the passionate man that devoured my body would forever haunt me. I
should remember his cruelty, his ruthlessness but those always faded away,
leaving me longing for the Vasili that worshiped me that night, for the man
that sent me flowers congratulating me on a job well done on exams. My
mother never remembered, but Vasili remembered. My birthdays, my
exams, my parties… he remembered it all.
I stared through the dark at the ceiling, the memories of that night
swirling in my mind and filling my chest with emotions. If only my mother
had not kept her whole life a secret, and I was prepared. Instead, it all came
crashing down after that night. He opened the floodgates because after that
night, I learned so much more than just about my mother’s affair with
Nikola Nikolaev, Vasili’s father. Mom’s life was cloaked in so many secrets,
my whole identity and how I came to be was a shock once I started looking
into it all after my mother’s death.
I still couldn’t understand what kind of revenge sleeping with his
enemy’s daughter was. I half expected Vasili to go and brag to my mother
but that never happened. Maybe because she died too soon. I wished I
knew, but there was nobody to ask. Except for Vasili, and I wouldn’t give
him any more ammunition.
I threw the blankets off and got out of bed. I knew there was no sense in
lying in bed. I wouldn’t be able to get any more rest. Glancing at the clock,
I saw the time. It was barely four in the morning.
 I headed out, hoping for some fresh air. Maybe I could sit by the pool
and listen to the movement of the pool water.
Careful not to wake anyone up, I headed through the hallways of the
house and out the French doors onto the patio. I half expected the alarm to
go off but was relieved when silence continued.
In my shorts and a tank top, I sat on the edge of the pool and listened. I
needed that familiar sound of the water moving back and forth, waves
crashing against the shore. Whenever I was upset growing up, I sat on the
beach and listened to the waves crashing against the shore. This was the
closest I could get to waves against the shore right now.
God, when was the last time I sat on the beach while I was upset? I
lifted my face to the moon and was startled at the sight. It was a blood
moon. Just like the night after I lost the baby. That was the last time I sat on
the beach. After my breakdown.
Tears stung my eyes as I stared at the moon, the pain at the loss from
five years ago still fresh. The hints of red on the moon reminded me of the
loss and the loneliness of that night.
The cramps were worse, taking my breath away with the intensity. The
pain made my vision blurry. Something was wrong.
I huddled into a ball, holding on to my lower abdomen. It was stupid,
but I hoped if I sheltered it with my hand, I’d be able to protect the little life
that grew inside me. I knew better but my mind revolted at the knowledge
that it was my body rejecting the baby.
My body curled in a fetal position, silent whimpers shaking my soul. I
had to keep silent. Nobody could know about this. I licked my lips, tasting
the bitter tears that refused to stop coming.
Alone. I felt so alone.
My mother was dead. I couldn’t save her. The baby inside of me was
dying. I knew it. I was only four months along but to me, it was a living,
breathing thing. It was part of the man that I wanted. And it was dying,
leaving me alone.
“Isabella.” Tatiana’s voice was close, but I was too weak to raise my
head. “Oh my God. There is blood everywhere.”
Something was squeezing my throat. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get a
word out. I had no energy to lift my head to assure her I was fine.
“It’s okay, Bella.” I could hear fear in her voice. “I’m calling the
ambulance.”
 “No.” I barely choked the word out.
“Bella, you are bleeding out.”
“Please, just take me to the hospital.” I forced myself to raise my head
and meet her eyes. “Off campus. Please. I’m losing the baby.”
Her face whitened, fear gutting me, but I couldn’t soothe her now.
“Please, Tatiana,” I rasped.
“I’ll call my brother.”
I grabbed her hand and surprised myself at the strength of my grip.
“No,” I breathed. “Nobody. Please.”
Without hesitation, she helped me and pretty much carried me to her
car, leaving a trail of blood from our room. I could feel my strength fading
and lightheadedness kicking in. Another cramp and I hunched over. I would
have fallen straight onto my face if not for Tatiana.
“I got you,” she murmured into my ear. “I got you.”
I passed out somewhere between the campus and the hospital. When I
woke up, Tatiana’s ashen face and pale eyes full of fear was the first thing I
recognized.
“Hey,” I murmured, my mouth dry. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” she rasped, her voice shaking. “You have been out for
two days.”
She burst into tears and buried her face into my chest. Raising my hand,
I placed it on her head, noting the IV on it.
“You lost so much blood,” she murmured.
“I’m sorry.” My chest hurt as my other hand came to my lower
abdomen. The knowledge was buried deep in my mind and body but the
damn hope was stronger. “Baby?” I barely whispered the word.
Tatiana’s pale eyes met mine and the answer was in them, even before
she shook her head.
I wasn’t ready to be a mom, I told myself. I had my whole life ahead of
me. Then why did it hurt so damn much?

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Fifteen

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

OceanofPDF.com
 Five Years Ago

I leaned against my convertible, in the parking lot of the Mariners

Hospital in Tavernier, Florida where Isabella’s mother was
being treated. Tatiana let it slip that Isabella took a few weeks
leave to care for her mother. My sister wanted to help her, come down with
her to at least offer moral support, if nothing else, but Isabella didn’t want
her to. Because of what I had told her that morning.
It had been two months since that Halloween night. Two fucking
months and I couldn’t get the girl out of my head. I was a forty-year-old
man that couldn’t get a woman that just turned the legal drinking age of my
fucking system.
The visiting hours would start in ten minutes, and I knew Isabella would
be here on time. I had my men watch after her to ensure she was protected
from the Santos family. Especially that psychopath Vincent. I got their
report daily with her activities, so I knew how she spent each hour of her
day.
It was mid-January but the temperatures in the Key Largo area were
warm and even suitable for swimming. Palm trees were everywhere, even
giving the hospital a happy vibe. The light breeze swept through, the smell
of the ocean drifting over, and suddenly, I understood why Isabella was
obsessed with surfing and the beach. There was a calming effect to the
distant sound of the ocean and the smell of the salt carrying through the air.
A light blue Jeep zoomed past me and parked in one of the front,
visitor’s parking spots. Isabella stepped out of it, wearing jean shorts
combined with a white t-shirt and flip-flops, her dark hair up in a high
ponytail. The urge to go to her and feel her body against mine was so strong
that I had to grit my teeth and focus on the pain rather than the need for this
woman. She looked pale and tired. Even from here, and through my
sunglasses that hid my face, I could see dark shadows under her eyes.
A pang of guilt hit my chest, but I ignored it. It happened a lot over the
last two months, and I learned to ignore it.
Grabbing a few bags from the back of the Jeep, she started walking
through the small parking lot when a young kid her age came up to her from
the opposite direction. He wrapped his arms around her into a tight hug and
my hands balled into fists at seeing them like this.
“How are you?” He stepped back, watching her with concern. There
was nothing more I wanted to do than go over there and punch his young
face. And then level him with the sidewalk.
Isabella Taylor would be the death of me; nobody had ever brought this
shit up in me before. I had never wanted to beat someone up because of
jealousy.
Thankfully, the young punk wasn’t holding her anymore. They stood
fairly close and their voices carried over to me.
“Good. You?”
“Bella, you’re not good. You look like shit.”
“Gee, thanks,” her voice was sarcastic. “Who taught you to hand out
compliments? You shouldn’t recommend them.”
My lip quirked at her comeback. “How are your mom and dad? I’ve
been meaning to swing by and say hi.”
“They’d love to see you. You know you are their favorite.”
Her lips curved into a smile, but it was tired and sad.
“You tell that to all the girls, don’t you?”
“No, just you.” He brushed her cheek with his hand and my vision
blurred with red fog. This jealousy wasn’t right, and sure as hell wasn’t
healthy. Rage simmered through my veins. I wanted to pull out my gun and
fill him with lead for touching what was mine.
Shit, what is this woman doing to me?
“Awww. Tell them I’ll come by. Maybe tomorrow night. I haven’t been
feeling that great.”
“You’re not getting sick, are you?”
“No, nothing like that.”
 “Has your mother told you stuff about Santos?” My body tensed, and I
slightly shifted forward. Were they talking about the Santos family?
Isabella shrugged her shoulder. “Not much. Honestly, I don’t really
want to know any of it. I was better off not knowing. It is like digging up
skeletons, nothing good comes out of that.” I wondered if she was talking
about the history between her mother and Nikolaev family or was there
something else. “Besides, she gets so upset and it’s not good for her. I want
to make her comfortable, not relive her nightmare.”
“She is lucky to have you.”
“Anyhow, I better go. I want to be there when she wakes up.” She went
to turn and walk away from him but his fingers wrapped around her upper
arm.
“Come for dinner tonight?” Isabella was already shaking her head. He
softly added. “Please, cara.” My jaw clenched at his endearment. I was
being irrational, I knew it. Obviously, they were childhood friends, and she
hadn’t slept with him. I took her virginity, but I still hated seeing someone
else touch her. “You shouldn’t be alone tonight.”
“I’ll message you later,” Isabella told him. She wouldn’t message him
later. In the past three years, I had come to know Isabella’s little telltales.
She only did what she wanted to, and when pressured for something that
didn’t appeal to her, she’d leave her response open ended. It was one of the
reasons I knew her and Tatiana got into trouble on campus together,
willingly. My sister was pretty much the same way.
An hour later, I stood over the hospital bed of Isabella’s mother. The
nurses always made Bella take a twenty-minute break at this time.
Marietta Taylor looked frail lying in the large hospital. She was dying,
the cancer they found incurable. Her labored breathing was the only sound
breaking the silence. I had hated this woman for almost thirty years for
causing disarray in my family and my mother’s death. And now here she
was. Frail and pathetic.
Even sickly like this, you could see the remains of the beautiful woman
she was. If she was anything like Isabella in her younger days, I could
understand my father falling for her. She was younger than my mother and
there was an allure about her. The same that Isabella carried around her.
Her mother’s eyes fluttered open and her gaze hit me right into my
chest. Isabella was a spitting image of her mother, even the exact same
shade of her eyes.
 “Nikola,” her voice was hoarse and weak, calling out my father’s name.
“No.”
Her unblinking stare was unnerving. She swallowed hard. “Nikola,
where is my son?”
I frowned at the odd question. I came to mock the woman, gloat at
giving back what she gave to my mother. She broke my mother, my family.
My mother found out about my father’s affair. It made her bitter and
resentful, dishing out her anger at his sons because he was never around.
For the longest time, I was Sasha’s only defense. And then she got pregnant
with Tatiana. Two months after giving birth to her, she killed herself.
Leaving another child all alone.
This woman was the reason my sister had to grow up without a mother.
She was the reason my brother had to spend his adolescence years without
both of his parents. Even after Marietta Taylor cost our family so much, my
father couldn’t let go. He kept searching for her, ignoring his
responsibilities to Sasha and Tatiana. It was the reason I had to step up and
take the reins of our family and our business. Or risk losing it all.
“Where is my Alexei?”
“Who’s Alexei?” I questioned her.
“Your wife took my son.” Her voice was weak and hoarse, her breathing
heaving. “My poor boy.”
Maybe she was hallucinating. “You have a daughter,” I told her. She
must be confusing the gender of her offspring.
“Yes, my little Bella,” she murmured softly, her eyes closed. “She’ll
need her big brother now. My Alexei and Bella.”
What the fuck was she talking about?
“Where is your son?”
Her eyes opened, a distant look lingering in them. “I searched
everywhere. It is the reason I went to Santos.” Her frail hand took mine into
hers. “It was the only reason, Nikola. Your wife took our son, and I wanted
him back. Please believe me.”
I stood there frozen, her hand holding mine. Yet on the inside, I felt my
life spiraling out of control, like a whirlwind. My father and this woman
had a son. I didn’t understand her reference to the Santos family.
Her hand gently shaking my arm had me focusing back on her.
“Are you my son?” My mind revolted at her question, causing a
sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach. Images of Isabella and I on her
little dorm bed as I thrusted into her flashed in front of my eyes, my name
on her lips as she moaned, the way she kissed me.
Don’t think about it.
The way her pussy felt milking my cock, her taste on my lips.
Everything we had done that night swirled in my mind on repeat, over and
over again. I’d get sick at any moment. My stomach churned, bile forming
in my throat. And regret in my chest. She will never be mine.
I shook my head, trying to clear my head. I had to think rationally. This
woman wasn’t my mother. She couldn’t be. She wasn’t even in the picture
back then, and she was younger than my own mother. Fuck, this woman
was scaring the shit out of me.
Maybe Sasha was hers? This is fucking bullshit, saying things like that!
I could just choke the poor woman right now.
“No,” I rasped the answer. “How old is your son?”
“My little Alexei will be thirty. I won’t see him turn thirty either.” The
regret in her voice punched me in the gut. Sasha was thirty-three. I have a
half-brother somewhere out there, the revelation rattled me to my bones.
“I’m going to miss my little Bella’s birthday too,” she murmured, drifting
off to sleep. “Find my son, Nikola. Please, for my little Bella.”
The eyes of a dying woman begged me in labored breathing, and images
of my own mother gripping my hand, her body broken in the courtyard of
our estate in Russia flashed in my mind. So fucking ironic. With her last
dying breath, my mother begged me to avenge her, make Marietta Taylor
pay, make her suffer.
And here we were. Marietta Taylor on her deathbed begging me to find
her son, my half-brother.
“Don’t let Santos take Bella,” she begged in a small voice and instantly
I stilled. The Santos were our enemies. “They don’t know about her. She is
too soft. It’s not her fault he’s her father.”
This was not going the way I envisioned. I came to gloat, give this
woman back the suffering she brought onto my family. And now I come to
find out I have a half-brother and Santos is Bella’s father.
“Which Santos?” I choked the question out but there could only be one.
“Lombardo.” Lombardo Santos is Isabella’s father!
“Keep her safe, Nikola.” Her mind wasn’t clear, she kept calling me by
my father’s name. “Find Alexei and tell him-” her voice was weak, “tell my
little boy I love him. I never stopped looking for him.”
 How could so much have gone wrong? I asked myself.
“Promise you’ll keep my babies safe, Nikola.” Her eyes never opened
as she spoke those last words and drifted off to sleep.
“I promise.” Another promise to a dying woman.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Sixteen

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

I strolled through the French Quarter, the warm breeze a gentle

caress on my skin. Tatiana had a hair appointment and there was
no way I would spend such a warm day inside. I convinced
Adrian I’d get on his nerves if I went along with him and Tatiana. The
restlessness grew within me, like excess energy that I had to burn but didn’t
know how.
I knew Adrian had someone watching me, at least he gave me a heads
up. His driver dropped me off at the corner of St. Charles Avenue and a
man that didn’t blend in at all, sat there casually pretending to read a
magazine.
“Is that the guy that works for Adrian?” I asked the driver before I
exited.
Upon his nod, I thanked him and exited the vehicle. It wasn’t till my
mother’s death and revelations in her journal that I finally understood why
Tatiana’s family needed so much protection. It turned out those rumors I
heard in college had been well founded.
There is truth in every lie, Bella. My mother’s words rang in my ears.
God, how right she was!
I casually strolled through the stores, enjoying the silence. Tatiana liked
to talk and it was what I loved about her. But as an only child, I was used to
being alone a lot. It didn’t bother me to do things alone, and I loved the
silence.
The street painters at the square were my favorite. There were paintings
of the French Quarter in a multitude of bright colors, paintings of the
Garden District, saxophone players, and the New Orleans skyline. The
Crescent City boasted a rhythm style and attitude unlike any other city I had
ever been to. There was freewheeling fun and go-cups everywhere I looked.
It wasn’t Carnival season but the vibrancy of this city and colors
everywhere made it seem like it was. The smell of jambalaya and a
crawfish boil mixed with the alcohol fragranced the air.
I aimlessly wandered around but would have loved to just sit on the
bench and stare at them all. The performers and people painted silver were
at each corner, attracting crowds. I didn’t stop though. The restlessness
within me grew with each second.
My eye caught on a small corner with an older guy, smeared water
colors all over his shirt, painting. Although he faced the Saint Louis
Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in North America, he surprised me. He
wasn’t painting the church. And while other paintings around the square
had loud and bold colors, so synonymous with this city, this guy was
painting a serene picture with settled earth colors. I stood behind him,
watching him as he created the image within his mind. Every so often he’d
raise his head and stare at the church, but I knew in his mind, he wasn’t
seeing the church. He had a picture in his own mind.
I must have stood there for an hour and as the image of a lone weeping
willow tree surrounded by water slowly came to completion, so did my
realization. This restlessness I felt was because I haven’t seen Vasili since
the night he brought me home. It had been two whole days, after seeing him
three times in a single day. I kept telling myself I regretted what we did in
the car, but it was a lie. I didn’t regret it at all. In fact, I wanted more.
But the memory of the pain he caused was stopping me. Vasili acted
like he wanted me but it could all be a pretense. After all, I’d found out
firsthand how good he was at pretending.
But then why touch me again? I pondered.
He had me five years ago, he got his revenge against my mother and
me. Unlike Vasili, I couldn’t hold the mistakes against my mother. She was
young, only twenty when she met Vasili’s father. She fell in love, and yes, it
was wrong. He was married, but his father was at fault too. And my mother
paid a steep price for it. She lost a son.
I swallowed hard, the pain of my own loss choking me. All the pain he
caused me and I still wanted him. Was that normal? I couldn’t control how
my heart raced around him nor this longing for his touch and hushed
whispers. One night with him became the epiphany of my life. From the
moment we met, he was cold and hard but past all that exterior, there was
passion and a heart that cared. All I had to do was look at Tatiana and Sasha
and there was the evidence how much he cared.
Maybe he just didn't care for me, but he had a heart. I often wondered
what his mother must have told Vasili to drive him to such an extreme to
avenge her.
I blinked hard, pushing the emotions into a dark corner. None of it
mattered really. He might want me, but it would never be more than that for
him.
My eyes focused on the painting, and I realized the man completed it.
He watched me, probably wondering why I stared at the painting like some
kind of lunatic.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured. And it was, the peace and serenity mixed
with the passion screamed on that 16 x 24 canvas. The weeping willow
reminded me of Vasili and our rendezvous two nights ago in the car on our
way home. “Is it for sale?”
He nodded.
“How much?” I asked. I couldn’t really afford to spend money right
now without a job, but I really liked it. Although I wondered about my
sanity at wanting it. It would forever remind me of Vasili. Maybe I liked
torturing myself.
“A thousand dollars.”
It was too much. I shouldn’t do it. “I’ll take it.”
It took him five minutes to package it and process the payment. As I
thanked him and turned around to leave, I bumped straight into a large
man’s chest.
“Oops, I’m sorry,” I apologized, raising my head.
Dark blue eyes on a hard face met mine and something about them
struck me as familiar. The man was tall, had a broad chest and strong body.
I felt, more than saw, a few women passersby throw glances his way. There
was a raw appeal to him, that tanned skin against dark blue eyes and dark
hair. His full lips curved in a small smile, his eyes studying me with
interest.
Too bad none of it appealed to me. Vasili was the only man that
appealed to me.
 “No worries.” His voice was deep, strong with a light accent. Hmmm,
Spanish accent?
I went to step around him but he did the same, and we were chest to
chest again. I went the opposite way and he followed the movement.
I laughed uncomfortably. “Okay, you stay still, and I’ll step to the left.”
He chuckled, his hard face softening a bit. It made him look handsome,
although in a dangerous way. “I kind of enjoyed our game. I’m Raphael.
What’s your name?”
Frowning, I met his eyes again. Something about him was definitely
familiar, I was sure of it. I just couldn’t place it.
“Miss, everything okay?” One of Adrian’s men came forward. My eyes
darted to Raphael but he never turned around to look in my guard’s
direction. Instead, he studied me, like his life depended on it.
“Oh, yes. All good. We just bumped into each other.” I tilted my head at
Raphael. Pretty name. “Have a good day.”
Like I had a purpose, I strode away without a backwards glance. Instead
of going back to Tatiana’s place, I continued my sightseeing, Adrian’s guy
falling behind, much to my delight. It was almost three in the afternoon
when a black Maserati came to a screeching halt next to me on the
sidewalk, scaring the living daylights out of me.
Glaring at the car with tinted windows, I opened my mouth to give the
driver a piece of my mind when all thoughts escaped me. Vasili exited the
vehicle and took my hand.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?” he growled, taking my
wrist.
What? I blinked in confusion. I didn’t do jack crap for him to be mad at
me.
“What is your problem?” I pulled my wrist out of his grasp.
“You can’t be roaming the city like this,” he hissed. “Someone could
hurt you. Get in the car.”
I glanced around, aware people were looking at us. “You are causing a
scene.”
“I don’t give a shit. I won’t have you getting hurt.”
I shook my head in confusion. “What are you talking about? I was just
sightseeing.”
“Get in the car, Isabella,” he hissed. “Or I swear to God, I will throw
you over my shoulder and do it myself.”
 Halloween night five years ago immediately came to mind. His eyes
burned with that same expression as that night before he took my body to
the most amazing heights. My cheeks heated and my heart fluttered.
The sexual tension between us sizzled and the whole world disappeared,
leaving me with the most intense male specimen on earth. I took a step
towards him, his eyes pulling me in. Everything about this man captured
me, like a moth to a flame. The question was whether I’d survive the burn
the second time around.
The camera's flash startled me, breaking the moment. I turned my head
to see several paparazzi snapping pictures, and I quickly turned my face
away from them. You could always tell the paparazzi from onlookers by the
ridiculous, expensive lenses they had hanging over their necks like noose. I
hated being photographed.
Unlike Ryan who always gave the reporters and paparazzi attention,
Vasili blocked their view of me with his broad shoulders and took my hand.
I shrank into him and rushed along with his help into the car.
On instinct, I turned my head away from the windows.
“Sorry about that, malyshka,” he muttered, putting the car into drive and
speeding out of there. “I should have seen them sooner.”
“It’s not your fault.” I should have been more aware of my
surroundings, but after not seeing a single reporter nor paparazzi in sight for
days, I became too lax. “I didn’t see them either.”
His car engine hummed softly, his driving fast and confident. Just like
this man. If only he didn’t get under my skin so easily. I stared at his
tattooed fingers gripping the steering wheel, remembering his words from a
few days ago.
I want you in my bed. Those damn words haunted me. I wished he never
spoke them out loud because now they were all I could think about. Ever
since I saw him at Ryan’s award ceremony, Vasili has been invading my
mind. It was like five years apart had never happened. How was that even
possible?
“How many cars do you have?” I asked him, glancing around at the
luxury interior. I had to occupy my mind with neutral topics.
I want you in my bed. No, that was not a neutral topic. I had to forget
those words.
“Not sure. You like this car?”
“I guess. It’s nice.”
 “You still have your Jeep?” I frowned trying to remember if I ever told
him I had a Jeep. Maybe Tatiana told him. I’ve had it since my last year of
high school, and I loved that car.
“No, not anymore.”
“I thought you loved that car.”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Some jackass poured sugar into my gas tank.
It caused some engine issues so I had to get rid of it.”
He growled. “Where? When?”
I could almost feel the threat steaming off his body, ready to avenge my
Jeep. I had to chuckle.
“No clue, and about a year ago. I rarely drove it in L.A. since I lived
close to the hospital.”
The silence followed and I nibbled on my lip, trying to come up with
another neutral subject. Anything but those strong, beautiful, rough fingers
that tempted me.
“Isabella, I can’t have you roaming the city alone.” I raised my eyes to
watch his face, his eyes on the road. “I have enemies, and I don’t want them
to get to you.“
“Adrian had someone follow me. So I thought it was okay.”
His gaze shifted my way, before he returned attention to the road. “You
are right, he did.”
I almost expected him to say something else, but he remained quiet.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Seventeen

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

I almost lost my shit when Adrian called me to let me know

Raphael Santos approached Isabella. He should have never been
allowed to come within miles of her, even less face to face with
her. Didn’t I fucking tell Adrian to tighten up the security? That Alphonso
Romano and Benito King were after Isabella? I wanted to fucking kill my
best friend.
That wasn’t even the worst part. When Adrian proceeded to tell me the
guy he assigned to watch over her had been found unconscious and nobody
knew where she was, I was ready to fire his entire company and burn it to
the ground. The guy was alright, and when he came back to consciousness,
he told Adrian someone hit him from behind right after he interrupted
Raphael speaking to Isabella.
I imagined the worst scenarios in my head as I grabbed the gun out of
my office safe and loaded it with bullets. If they touched a single hair on her
head, I’d kill them all. Pushing the gun into my holster, I strode to the
garage, rage rolling off of me in waves. She should have never been
roaming the city alone. Adrian should have had a fucking team on her.
Why was she alone?
Each second that I looked for her cost me years off my life. And I was
already fucking old. Twenty years older than her. I needed every goddamn
year so I could love her the way she deserved to be loved for the rest of her
life.
Love.
It was a fleeting word and a feeling. I never thought myself capable.
 Since I was a child, I watched my parents bicker, argue, and fight. My
mother wanted my father’s undying love. My father wanted Marietta’s,
Isabella’s mother. He fell in love with her and refused to let go of her so my
mother did the unfathomable. She kidnapped the child Marietta had with
my father and then she lied to her. Told her my father didn’t want a bastard
son. She taunted her with the knowledge that her son was alive. In
desperation, Marietta Taylor went to Lombardo Santos, my father’s enemy.
Unfortunately for her, he liked beautiful women. So he demanded her body
in return for his help. It was how Isabella came to be.
Once she discovered she was pregnant with Isabella, she ran away from
Santos and searched for her son alone. She feared Lombardo’s wife would
do to her the same as my mother, take another child from her. So now she
hid from my father and Lombardo Santos. She really managed to make a
mess out of her life.
My mother destroyed the woman my father loved above all else. She
thought he’d come back to her once she was gone, but he didn’t. He refused
to share my mother’s bed, till one night my mother had colored her hair
dark and got him so drunk, he’d mistaken her for Marietta. It was how
Tatiana came to be. My father couldn’t stand the sight of a baby by a
woman that robbed him of his happiness and my mother abandoned her by
jumping from the window. From the beginning, Tatiana lost both her
parents.
If only I knew what my mother had done when I made her a promise to
avenge her. I would have never agreed to it. She cost my father his
happiness and made me sacrifice Isabella. And for what? Her petty
jealousy. She should have stayed around to love Tatiana and offered her
motherly love. Instead, she opted for one last revenge against my father.
My father spent the rest of his life searching for Marietta Taylor and
their son. He never found them.
“I’m sorry I raised my voice.” I glanced her way and noted her shocked
expression. Honestly, I was surprised too. It had been a long time since I
apologized. Possibly never. “I was worried something happened to you.”
I watched her cheeks blush with color, her eyes careful on me,
untrusting. After what I had done to her, I couldn’t blame her. I would take
the rest of my life, if she let me, and make it up to her. I just needed her to
give us a chance.
 “No worries.” She forgave too quickly. Or she just didn’t care. I wasn’t
sure. There was this amazing attraction between us, there was no denying it.
But for the first time in my life, I wanted more with a woman. And I wanted
it only with her.
Her eyes lowered onto her package, her fingers nervously fidgeting over
it.
“What’s that?” I asked her curiously.
“A souvenir.”
She didn’t strike me as a souvenir type. My lip curved into a smile. “A
mask?”
It looked too big to be a mask. You never knew though, some were
rather extravagant.
She returned the smile. “Nope. Try again.”
Surprised at her playfulness, I decided to go along. Besides, it was the
first time she actually talked to me since I came back into her life.
“A voodoo doll.”
She threw her head back and her soft laugh rang throughout the car.
“Seriously?” she retorted, a smile in her voice. “Do I strike you as a
person that would buy a voodoo doll?”
“Hmmm. Maybe not.”
“Try again.”
“Shitload of Mardi Gras beads?” I joked. I wanted to hear her laugh
again.
A soft chuckle. “You are horrible at this game.”
“What?” I grinned. “I thought I was doing pretty good.”
“Horrible,” she grinned back. “Do you give up yet?”
“Malyshka, I never give up.” I thought of the next thing to guess. “An
instrument? Saxophone?”
She laughed again, her eyes on me, shining with happiness, and my
heart squeezed in my chest. She almost looked like that young woman
before I turned her world upside down.
“Nope.”
“A painting.”
“Bingo,” she exclaimed. “You get a prize.”
I grinned. “I like this game.”
“Yeah, me too,” she smiled, a distant look in her eyes as she looked out
the window. “I used to play it with my mom when we-”
 Her body tensed and her smile faltered. I caused this and hated myself
for it. But unless I fixed it, there would be no moving forward for us. And I
wanted to move forward - with her. Only with her.
“When you-” I encouraged her to continue.
Careful, like a wounded animal, she peered at me through her dark
lashes. I smiled, hoping she’d read in the expression on my face that I really
wanted to know. I didn’t smile often so I hope it wasn’t a grimace.
“It was a game my mom and I played when we traveled long distances,”
she muttered softly. “A guessing game about a story, what we wanted to eat,
anything really.”
I nodded. “I like it.”
“Really?” her suspicion was written all over her face.
“Yes, seriously.”
“Did you-” She stopped and I waited, holding my breath, hoping she’d
continue. “Did you play any games when traveling?”
I thought back to my childhood. My mother was never interested in
raising kids. She hired nannies for that. My father was busy with building
our businesses, he didn’t have a lot of time for me. And then of course,
everything changed when he fell in love with Isabella’s mother. But that
answer wouldn’t help us move forward.
“My father and I often played states and capitals when I was a kid.
Instead of the U.S., it was the world map. I'd always search for the most
remote, unknown countries to get one up on him.”
The way she smiled at me made my chest shift. Yeah, I fucking loved
her. I have been falling for her since the moment we met. If she asked me to
sign over my companies with that smile on her face, I’d gladly do it. “Did
you get one up on him?”
“Only twice.”
“That’s pretty good for a kid.”
“So what’s the painting of?”
An attractive blush creeped up her neck and to her cheeks. “Oh, just a
tree.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You got a souvenir from New Orleans and
it’s a painting of a tree?” She nodded, her cheeks turning a deeper red.
“What kind of a tree?”
“Ah, you know. The standard kind.”
 I glanced at her confused. “Is it an oak tree?” She shook her head, and I
chuckled. “Are we playing a game again?”
“If you want.” The way she mumbled her words and her eyes shifted
away told me she didn’t want me to know something about the painting.
Naturally, it intrigued me even more.
“Okay, there are only a few trees in New Orleans. Is it a magnolia?” She
shook her head. “Cypress?”
“No.”
“Pine tree?” Another shake of her head. “Weeping willow?”
“Yes.” Her voice was raspy and her eyes seemingly casually observed
the streets we were passing. A deep red colored her neck and cheeks now,
and her fingers fidgeted on her lap. If she was watching me, she would have
seen a smug smile on my face because her admission gave me hope.
“Have you eaten today, malyshka?” I changed the subject.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“This morning.”
“How about we grab a quick bite?”
She threw me a dubious glance. “A quick bite would be a fast-food
place. You don’t strike me as a guy that eats at those places.”
She was right, I didn’t. Smiling, I commented back. “There is a local,
hole in the wall restaurant that serves good food and they are quick about it.
Want to try it?”
Her eyes shifted to check the time on the dashboard. It was little past
three in the afternoon.
“Um, sure. But I have to be back by five.”
“I’ll be sure you are home by five. Plans tonight?”
She nodded. “Yes. Tatiana and I are going to a Halloween costume
party.”
I grinned. I would be seeing my little malyshka tonight. I wondered if
she knew it was my club and my party. I didn’t think she knew it because if
she knew the name, she’d guess it belonged to me. She gave me the name,
the night of the Halloween party when I took her virginity.
Parking the car, I exited and went around to help her out. I extended my
hand and she hesitated for a fraction of a second before placing her hand
into mine. My fingers wrapped around her slim hand, and the sight of her
hand in mine made me want to shout off top of my lungs, Mine.
 Yes, my forties turned me into a mellow fucker. Soon, I might be asking
for a damn rocking chair. Or maybe it was just Isabella. I didn’t feel the
need to be constantly ruthless around her. When I was with her, I wasn’t the
mobster. I was Vasili, the man. And God, the way she watched me with
those soulful eyes. No other woman had ever looked at me that way - like
she saw me. Not the billionaire, not the ruthless mobster, not her best
friend’s brother.
“Thank you.”
She didn’t pull her hand out of mine so I took advantage. Hand in hand,
we walked to the back of the building where a small patio terrace expanded
with small round tables. The view expanded over the river, the weeping
willows in the background of the river giving it an enchanted feel. The light
breeze that swept through the terrace made it feel like a beach restaurant.
My father used to bring me here when I was a kid and despite all the
shit that happened, I loved the memories. I used to bring Tatiana and Sasha
here too when they were kids. My father was long disconnected from us by
that point.
The place didn’t change much. The owners now were children of my
father’s friends, but they kept everything the same.
“This is beautiful.” Isabella’s eyes swept across the restaurant.
“Definitely not a hole in the wall.”
“You like it?”
Her dark eyes shone, confirming she did. “I love it!”
“Vasili,” a familiar voice called out and I turned in its direction. It was
Ysabel, daughter of my father’s friends. She was in her sixties but looked
the same for as long as I could remember. “I can’t believe it is you.”
The woman was smaller than Isabella but she wrapped me into her
arms, squeezing tight.
“Hello, Ysabel.”
“I thought you forgot about us. I haven’t seen you here for so long.”
“I’ve been busy. I shouldn’t have stayed away for so long though. I
missed your food.” She grinned and her eyes darted to Isabella, her hand
still in mine. “Ysabel, this is my friend. Isabella Taylor.”
She eyed her critically as if deciding whether she liked her or not. “She
must be important. You never bring girls here.”
Ysabel was right. Isabella wasn’t just any girl.
 “Nice to meet you,” Isabella spoke to her, taking her hand out of mine
and extending it to Ysabel. I didn’t like the loss of her touch, but I couldn't
expect her to hold my hand all day and all night. Hmmm, or maybe I could?
I noticed Isabella didn’t comment on being important. She probably
didn’t believe it, but the fact was, she was important. To me she was the
most important person in the world.
Ysabel grinned and I knew she liked her. “You too. I hope you make
this boy come and see us more often.”
A soft chuckle followed that statement, and I fucking loved hearing
Isabella laugh.
“I don’t think anyone makes Vasili do what he doesn’t want to do.”
“Oh, you are right, girl! But you come and he will follow.” They both
grinned mischievously and the world seemed so fucking right. “Come, let
me show you to your table. I hope you are hungry.”
“Now that I am smelling all the food, I am starving,” Isabella admitted.
Once we were seated, Ysabel left us to it with the excuse she would
oversee our food being prepared. It meant she wanted to prepare it herself.
Isabella’s eyes roamed around, soaking it all in. The way the strands of
her hair flowed through the breeze, her soft expression on her face and a
relaxed smile playing around her lips… I could almost imagine what we
could have been if only I didn’t fuck it up.
“My father used to bring me here when I was a kid,” I blurted out, the
admission coming out of nowhere. She turned her face to me, curiosity
written all over it but she said nothing. “It was when Sasha was just a
toddler and before Tatiana was born.”
“This place has been around that long?”
I nodded. “We always sat at this table.”
“I honestly can’t imagine you as a little kid,” she murmured, smiling as
she pushed her unruly strands of hair out of her face. “You are so ummm…
big.”
“Must be all the spinach Ysabel fed me.”
She threw her head back and laughed, the sound of it carrying across the
terrace. “Okay, Popeye.”
“Do you have a favorite place from your childhood?” I knew facts about
her life, but I wanted more. Her favorite color, her favorite food, book,
vacation… I wanted to know it all.
 She eyed me suspiciously, but I kept my gaze on her. There was so
much I had to fix with her, but unless she started trusting me, we wouldn’t
get over that hurdle and I refuse to give up. I waited for her answer and
didn’t realize I was holding my breath till she started talking.
“Mom and I moved a lot till I was about ten.” She cleared her throat, as
if worried I’d snap at her at any moment. “When we landed in Key Largo, I
fell in love with it. Beach, food, everything. So I guess that’s my favorite
place.”
“Is that when you started surfing?”
She nodded, smiling. “Yeah, pretty much.”
A waitress came with our drinks and we both thanked her before she
went back in.
“How did you get into it?”
She pushed her hair out of her face again, her expression turning soft as
she watched over the river.
“Well, my mother refused to buy me a surfboard. First, it was too much
money, and second, she worried I’d wash out to sea.” She rolled her eyes,
although fondly. “I spent my days on the beach while my mother worked.
One day, I found a surfboard washed up on the shore. I dragged it home,
adamant to keep it. I knew the right thing to do was to ask around who it
belonged to.” She shrugged her shoulders and brought her lemonade to her
lips. “But I wanted it and didn’t want to give it back. I hid it in the shed and
took two weeks to sand it down, paint it and change its look. The moment I
stood up on it, the waves rocking under my feet, I was hooked.” There was
a wistful look in her eyes. “Of course, I fell right off of it. It took me some
practice to get the hang of it.”
The image of Isabella riding the waves flashed in my mind; I could
already picture her trying to learn how to surf and refusing to give up. She
had a meek personality with the edge of stubbornness in it.
“I had an accomplice to my stolen surfboard too,” she admitted. “Paolo,
a local boy. My mom got close with his parents and the two of us spent
quite a bit of time together. He helped me change the look of the
surfboard.”
I remembered the boy from the hospital and a pang of jealousy bloomed
in my chest. “Do you still surf with him?”
“With Paolo?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “No. I kind of lost touch
with him after Mom died. He joined a gang, and I kept away.”
 There weren’t too many gangs in that area. I had to wonder whether
Santos learned about Isabella from him. They talked about Santos that day
at the hospital, although they never elaborated.
“Ever think about going back?” I wasn’t sure why I asked. I didn’t want
her to leave. I wanted to keep her in my city forever.
“To surfing?”
“Key Largo.”
“All the time,” she murmured softly and the tone of her voice told me
she missed it. “Maybe when I have kids. It’s a great place to raise a family.”
An unfamiliar feeling swelled in my chest. Kids. Family. The way she
said it told me she wanted children and family.
“You want kids?” My voice was hoarse, my heart pounding. A fleeting
expression crossed her face, resembling pain and sorrow, but before I honed
in on it, it was gone.
Shit, I wanted kids. And a family. To have all that with her, I would be
fucking ecstatic. The luckiest man on this planet. How the fuck we got to
talking about having kids I had no idea, but damn it, what I wouldn’t give to
have children with her. I had half a mind to ask her if she’d consider having
my babies. And I would love the act of making them with her. I could
picture Isabella’s belly swollen with my baby growing inside her womb, my
ring on her finger.
Fuck it, I wanted it all with her. She’s my end game. And nothing would
keep me away from her. She would be nothing like my mother, and I would
be nothing like my father. Our family would be everything to me.
“Yes, one day,” she murmured, her voice strangled. “First, I have to find
a job.”
“Work for me.” The words came out without any thought. I just wanted
her with me forever.
She laughed uncomfortably. “Doing what? I’m not exactly corporate
material.”
Sometimes I wondered if she purposely remained oblivious to the
rumors. Something Tatiana told me when those two first met rushed to the
front of my mind. When Bella doesn’t want to know something, she just
shuts down her mind to it.
“Not all my businesses are of corporate nature.” I had no idea why I
decided to take this route. I never discussed anything I did with anyone
outside business associates. “I have other dealings that frequently require
medical assistance for my men.”
I waited, watching her facial expression but she just tilted her head
sideways, studying me in return.
“I don’t think you’d need full time medical staff for that,” she retorted,
and I had to wonder if that means she knew what I meant or not.
“You’d be surprised,” I smiled. “I have a private equipped medical room
to ensure they get top care.”
“Hmmm.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, thank you.” Her eyes darted away from me, and I knew her
next words I wouldn’t like. “I’m not staying in New Orleans though.”
Stay for me. The words were on the tip of my tongue.
Goddamn it, she rattled me. I thought removing Ryan Johnson from her
life would make it easier to get her back but now I wasn’t so sure. The
attraction between us could set off fireworks in the entire damn state, but
she was unwilling to bring her walls down. Five years ago, she gave me
everything, but now she kept herself barricaded behind stone walls.
Little did she know, I was willing to bulldoze through it all. If she left
my city, I would follow. Because she was mine, and I’d be damned to let
anyone, Benito King or her own half-brother, get their hands on her.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Eighteen

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

I t was half past nine and I still waited for Tatiana. One of
Adrian’s men would take us to the party. Supposedly, Adrian
and Vasili got into it or something. Tatiana wouldn’t elaborate
but she found out Adrian would be at the party tonight. Waiting for her. I
could see excitement painted all over her face.
Taking the brief encounter with paparazzi out of the equation, and
Vasili’s grumbled behavior when he found me roaming the city, it was a
pretty good day. I hoped it would end on the same note.
The late lunch I had with Vasili unsettled me. It was surprisingly
comfortable and pleasant. He acted like a different man, like he cared. I
wasn’t sure if I could trust that exterior. He had so many layers, I wasn’t
sure which one was the real him.
Was it the man that threw those cruel words at me the morning after we
slept together? Was it the caring brother? Was it the man that I had lunch
with? Or was it the man that blackmailed Ryan into leaving me?
Whichever one it was, my body wanted them all. But I worried about
my heart. There were no guarantees when it came to affairs of the heart. I
learned that first hand with Vasili, and unfortunately, my mother
experienced it too.
Ironically, those last few hours with Vasili brought back memories.
Spending hours and hours on the beach, the smell of the ocean and sun tan
lotion, our little home, Paolo and his family. It broke my heart when I heard
he joined a gang. He swore he never would. We both knew that gangs were
bad news. When he learned of the connections between Santos and my
mother, he was appalled. So was I! But I never told him how deep that
connection went. I hadn’t told anyone. Certain secrets were better left
buried.
Halloween! It all started that Halloween night five years ago. It was my
least favorite day of the year and here I was... wearing a costume.
I stared at my reflection and this ridiculously skimpy costume. All the
years at Georgetown and we never dressed up in costumes once. And here
we were, doing it now. The costume called for Cleopatra, but I swore I felt
like a belly dancer with a golden mask. I shook my head at the
ridiculousness, and with a last glance of my reflection in the mirror, I left
my room and headed for Tatiana’s.
I went into her room and groaned. She wasn’t even close to ready.
“Seriously?” I complained. “What is taking you so long to get ready?”
She was only in her bra and underwear, staring at two costumes laid out
on the bed.
“I can’t decide which one!”
She had ordered herself two costumes, unsure which she’d like better.
One was a red riding hood costume and the other was a skimpy maid
costume, or should I say bodysuit, that revealed pretty much everything but
her boobs and her private area. The mask matched each one of those
costumes.
Not that my costume was much better. I went for a Cleopatra look, two
pieces of skimpy cloth material in golden tones and a mask with matching
material. I didn’t like having so much skin on display for everyone to gawk
at, but it was too late to find a new costume now.
Tatiana’s eyes skimmed through me. “Fuck, you look so hot in that
costume.”
I rolled my eyes. “You will look even hotter in either one of those, if
only you’d decide to put one on.”
“I just want to look good so Adrian can’t resist me.”
My lip curved into a smile. He wouldn’t be able to resist her if she wore
sweats to this party.
Although if I said that to her, she’d object. I took a deep breath. “Do
you know what he is dressing up as?”
“James Bond.”
I chuckled. It kind of suited him. Adrian liked gadgets, and the little I
saw of his security screens and technology, he was all into that shit.
 “Okay, go for the maid,” I told her. “It will match his suit.”
“You are the best!” She grabbed the one-piece maid bodysuit and pulled
it on, ditching her bra since the suit had a built-in bra. All the while getting
dressed, she kept talking. “I’m going to follow your advice and just see
where it takes us. I have had a crush on him since college. Maybe he is the
one, and I’ve been fighting it.”
I knew she needed this conversation so I just let her talk.
“What do you think?” she questioned me, her eyes searching me out in
the reflection of the mirror.
“I think you should just go with the flow and see how it goes,” I
suggested. “Don’t overthink it. If it feels right, do it. If it doesn’t, stop it.
You’ll know.”
“How about you?”
I inhaled a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. I was better at giving
advice and preferred not to think about what felt right for me. There was too
much history, dating even further back than my life between Vasili and my
family. He thought my mother broke his parents’ marriage, he seduced me
to get back at her, and then shattered my heart. And then there was my
miscarriage. I blamed myself for it, blamed him for it… it was hard to get
past all that and forget.
Yes, he always felt right to me. Even when he barely looked my way,
something about him soothed me and excited me at the same time. I wanted
him, and from the moment his lips touched mine, I wanted to feel him for
the rest of my life. Was I a young and naive girl back then? Yes, but the
intensity of our physical attraction was something extraordinary. He must
have felt it too, but he threw it away.
Maybe he was coming back around though. Maybe he realized his
mistake. The quick lunch we had today showed me a different Vasili. He
talked, asked questions, revealed… like he wanted to share glimpses of
himself that he kept hidden from everyone else. And mesmerized like a
child in a candy store, I wanted to see all of him, his depths and sorrows,
desires and wants. And I wanted to help him get it all, but the memory of
that night kept holding me back.
I didn’t want to give him a chance to hurt me again.
“Are we ready then?” I asked her instead.
“Fine, fine.” She accepted my elusiveness. “We are ready.” She hopped
her way to the corner of her room where she kept a little mini-bar. “But
first, let’s have our warm up drinks.”
I chuckled. It was what we always used to do in college before we went
out. Warm up alcohol to boost up our mood. Not that our mood needed any
boosting. We were quite happy as it was.
She poured vodka into small shot glasses. She handed me one glass and
we clinked our glasses.
“Nostrovia.” Cheers in Russian. At the same time, we tilted our heads
back and downed our drink.
“Holy shit, I forgot how it burns.”
She giggled. “One more.”
“We are going to be trashed before we even arrive.” She filled both our
glasses.
“No, not trashed,” she justified and filled both of our glasses again.
“Just buzzed. This is the last one before my driver gets here.”

W e entered the club and the name fit this place perfectly . W hile
our college dorm room had this name, it was nothing compared to this. The
Den of Sin club was something you saw in the movies and never expected
to experience in real life. I thought Tatiana owned it since it was the name
we used for our room, but she denied it.
“Oh my gosh,” I murmured to Tatiana. “Please tell me nobody can
recognize us in our costumes. I have a feeling it's scandalous to be caught in
this club.”
She grinned, like she just discovered a candy store. “Nobody can
recognize us, and this is fucking amazing.”
Her head kept whipping from left to right, trying to see it all. I couldn’t
blame her. I was pretty much doing the same thing. The red accents
everywhere made it look forbidden. Duh, this was kind of forbidden.
I spied a corner in which a woman wearing a tiny, white playboy bunny
costume and a man dressed as Zorro were sitting. Well, not exactly sitting.
She was straddling him, her body grinding against him giving me a pretty
good idea of what they were really doing. I quickly looked away, the
images of Vasili and me in his Lamborghini coloring my mind.
 My eyes traveled over the club. Glittering lights were everywhere, the
warm, seductive tones of the club set the atmosphere. The large bar was
made out of black marble and the bar stools of red leather. The whole room
had mirrored walls, and I wondered if they were one way glass. I hoped not,
since I could see a few more corners with questionable activities going on.
“There is Adrian,” she whispered. I followed her gaze to a man dressed
as a sexy James Bond. How appropriate. I couldn’t tell it was Adrian with
that dark mask but hopefully Tatiana could tell better than me, otherwise
she’d spend the night with the wrong man.
She chewed on her bottom lip, shifting from leg to leg. She wanted to
go to him, but worried about leaving me behind. Well, this time, I was okay
being left behind because I would not be joining the party those two
planned.
Yeah, that is a big, fat no.
“Go ahead,” I told her. “I’ll be around. Text me when you are done, and
we can meet by the bar.”
The words weren’t even out of my mouth and she was already grinning
happily. I watched her for a few seconds and then carried on, slowly
roaming the large podium. There were all kinds of costumes but all had one
common theme. Sex. There was something alluring about every single one
of them. I sighed and headed towards the bar. I was careful not to make eye
contact with anyone. I didn’t want someone getting the wrong idea.
There was an empty corner with five empty chairs and I headed there. It
was odd that the whole corner was empty and the rest of the bar was
crowded. As if the whole club knew to avoid that section.
Maybe it is close to the stinky bathrooms.
As I got closer, I saw no sign of a bathroom but didn’t bother pondering
on it. As I went to sit myself down on the bar stool, the bartender came up.
“Miss, this is reserved for the club’s owner.”
“Oh,” I went to get up and leave when a voice stopped me.
“It’s fine, Jackson.” A deep familiar voice came from behind me and
my skin instantly prickled with awareness. I turned around and met Vasili’s
gaze. Of course, he would be a club owner. Just a little detail Tatiana forgot
to mention, but I should have known. He pretty much owned everything in
this city. And that club name!
My eyes roamed over his big, tall frame. He wasn’t wearing a costume
but my heart instantly sped up, threatening to leap out of my chest.
 Boom-bum. Boom-bum.
It was always the same around him. My heart raced and my desire
flared. Memory of what happened between us a few nights ago only
heightened my arousal. His eyes lazily traveled over my body, and my skin
warmed at the gleam of appreciation in his eyes.
I wished my costume wasn't so skimpy, but only so I could wear it as
armor. That appreciative look made me want to jump him and demand he
show me just exactly how much he appreciated me by giving me another
orgasm. Just his touch would be enough. I was in so much trouble.
Stop thinking about orgasms, I scolded myself.
“Why are you everywhere?” I breathed out, agitated more at myself
than him. He made me greedy and needy, wiping away five years without
him overnight. “And what kind of a club name is this?”
He chuckled. “It was my way to torture myself,” he murmured, his hot
breath on my neck. “Reminds me of our night.” It almost sounded as if he
was fond of that night. Was he? I didn’t think so, but this man confused me,
sending me signals I didn’t trust to interpret correctly. “I want a do over,
malyshka.” A sharp gasp escaped me, while my body shuddered in need of
him. There was no misunderstanding that statement. He couldn’t have been
cleared. “Please, Isabella.”
I swallowed hard. I wanted a do over too, but the possibility that the
outcome would resemble the last time scared the shit out of me. Nothing
and nobody made me feel like him. Could I lower my carefully built walls
for a do over? I wasn’t that same girl anymore. With my past experiences, it
was hard not to weigh possibilities, outcomes, and consequences.
“I like your costume,” he purred, his finger tracing the exposed skin on
my belly. I should slap his hand away, forbid him to touch me. Instead, my
body leaned into his hand. “What is it?”
“Cleopatra,” I murmured, my insides clenching. God, did I just moan?
“It suits you.” His voice made my pussy throb. “Strong and soft.
Beautiful and precious.”
My body was too hot, and my skin tingled everywhere. The alcohol
Tatiana and I consumed prior to leaving the house and on our way here
might have helped. Although I had an inclination to think it had nothing to
do with alcohol and everything with him. His finger continued its trail down
my upper thigh, circling the bare skin there. My legs opened slightly,
needing him on my aching sweet spot.
 “Why aren’t you dressed up?” I could barely get the words out. I was
amazed I even noticed that in my state of arousal.
He chuckled like I just said the funniest joke. “Malyshka, I am dressed
up.”
My eyebrows scrunched. “What are you supposed to be?”
“Vasili Nikolaev.” And then he pointed to his back and my eyes
followed the move. That’s when I saw it. Black wings that blended well
with his suit. “The dark angel.”
“Oh.” This time I chuckled too. “Well, that’s not very exciting. I think
you cheaped out.”
“You don’t like my black wings?”
I shrugged my one shoulder. “The dark angel suits you. But those wings
with the suit… it screams more angel of business transactions.”
“I admit, usually I don't dress up.”
“Why not?”
“Not my thing, I guess.”
“Then why do you have a Halloween party in your club if it’s not your
thing?”
“You have a lot of questions,” he murmured, inching closer. “Open your
legs wider for me.” His demand was a hot breath whisper. My legs
immediately obeyed, even before my brain registered the words. “That’s my
girl,” he purred and my eyes fluttered shut.
Ignoring all the background noise and chatter, all my senses focused on
his touch. His big hand inched closer and closer to where I wanted him. The
moment his fingers brushed against my panties, a moan escaped my lips.
“You are wet for me,” he groaned.
I was always wet for him. Have been from the moment we met. Initially
it was infatuation and a crush, then it slowly developed to liking him a lot.
Despite his grumbling ways and rough edges, I loved how he kept his sister
and his brother safe. He always came to the rescue. Always! He was
dependable and reliable. He could have easily gotten Tatiana and I
separated, instead he ensured to keep us both protected.
When he sent flowers to Tatiana for passing a hard exam or a class, he
always sent flowers to me as well. The card was always short, but I’d stare
at it for days. Yep, I was completely crushing on him back then. I never
knew how he found out what classes I was taking. I assumed Tatiana
probably told him.
 “Yes.” There was no sense in lying. Evidence of my arousal was at his
fingertips. “Don’t stop,” I begged needy for all the sensation only his touch
could bring me.
“Malyshka,” he growled. “Put your head on my shoulder.” His
instruction was a rasp and without hesitation, I did as he said. “Nobody gets
to see you like this. Just me.”
The possessive tone of his voice soaked through my skin to my veins
and into my bloodstream. This was far better than any alcohol.
His finger caressed my aching pussy, touching everything but the spot
that I needed him. I leaned closer into his touch, grinding against his finger.
“We do this my way,” he groaned into my ear. “Stay still.” A little pout
left my lips, and I wondered where it came from. “I’ll make it good,” he
promised softly. “Now, obey me.”
My body immediately stilled, and he rewarded me with a gentle nip on
my neck and a brush against my sensitive nub. My eyes were locked on the
spot where his hand disappeared between two scraps of material called a
dress, and each time he moved, it was like a peekaboo game of his inked
fingers disappearing under the skimpy, revealing material.
“Are you watching me touch you?”
“Yes.” My voice was barely audible between little moaning breaths.
His finger applied gentle pressure against my clit and rubbed, my moans
getting louder.
“Shhh, malyshka.”
I bit my lip, trying to contain the sounds. There were people barely six
feet away from us while I let him touch me, his finger teasing me. Could
they tell what he was doing?
“Not a sound. The waiter is coming.”
I immediately stilled but his finger continued rubbing my clit, fingering
me. My core shook, the heat licking my skin, his finger taking me higher. I
bit hard into my lip to stop any sounds from escaping me.
“Sir, your whiskey on the rocks. Two cubes, like always.”
“Thank you, Jackson.” Vasili’s deep voice was calm and composed,
unlike my entire body. My forehead still rested on his shoulder, unwilling to
look up and meet his nor the waiter’s eyes. His finger slid into my pussy
and while his hand covered it, his thumb continued to finger my clit. I bit
into the cloth of his suit, trying to stifle a moan.
 “Sure thing,” the waiter told him. “Let me know if you need anything
else.”
The sound of clinking of ice reached my ears through the haze of lust.
“He’s gone, malyshka,” he murmured softly. “Let me see you.”
I lifted my head off his shoulder, my cheeks burning, whether with
embarrassment or need, I had no idea. I watched him take a drink of his
whiskey and then his mouth came down on mine. He tasted like whiskey
and Vasili, all man. My man.
The thought shattered my soul, but it was gone the next second as my
mouth opened to welcome his tongue. Liquid poured into my mouth,
whiskey on my tongue and I swallowed it, the burning sensation going
down my throat matching the way my body burned.
“Fuck, you are perfect,” he groaned. “You are all fucking mine.”
“Vasili, please,” I begged. “I want to come.”
He added another finger, pumping in and out of me, never easing the
rhythm and pressure on my clit. The pressure built and built, taking me
higher. Russian words whispered in my ear only made me hotter. I
pretended they were words of love and sorrow for breaking my heart all
those years ago. I imagined he was telling me he needed me as much as I
needed him right now.
“Ohhhh.”
“You come when I say,” he said roughly against my ear.
The overwhelming sensation of heat writhed and pulsed in my veins,
my body fitting perfectly against his. His lips traveled down my throat, he
grazed the skin with his teeth and immediately licked it. My hands traveled
under his suit jacket, and I fisted his shirt, pulling him closer.
Everywhere he touched me, I burned like lava, leaving sizzling heat in
his wake.
“More,” I begged.
He palmed my pussy harder, running his thumb across my clit. The
friction he applied would make me come, and I struggled to hold off.
“Please, Vasili,” I breathed. He knew what I needed.
He slipped two fingers through my wet entrance, and I arched my back,
my nails digging into his shirt. “Fuck,” he muttered. “You are so beautiful.”
Lightning sparked in my veins, igniting the fire. I was so damn close.
He slid his fingers in and out, rubbing a spot deep inside of me and the hot
pressure built and built. I bit harder into his shoulder, clothed in his
signature Armani suit or risked screaming out his name.
“Come for me, malyshka.” I trembled, the fire in my veins so close to
erupting. His thumb pressed on my clit, and he pumped his fingers harder
into me. The heat exploded through my body, and my heart pounded hard
against my chest as I held on to him.
My ears rang with the intensity of the orgasm, Vasili’s soft murmured
words coming through the haze in my brain. I kissed up his neck, inhaling
his masculine scent that was so characteristically him. Languid warmth
spread through each cell of my body and my heart shuddered with
tenderness.
This was all it took. He brought me to another high, and I just melted
into his arms, like chocolate under a blazing heat. Who was I fooling? He
had my heart for all these years. It attached itself to this man and refused to
let go. He brought his finger to his lips and licked them clean, the gentle
rumbling noise coming from his chest doing things to me.
I pushed myself away from him and my eyes met his. Those beautiful
pale blues of the clearest skies that I dreamed about for so long. And just
like any clear sky, he could turn grey and thunderous, striking down at me
again. The warning blasted through every cell in my brain, and I knew he
saw it behind my gaze.
“Malyshka,” he rasped but before he could continue a female voice
broke through the moment.
“Vasili, I thought that was you.” A cat woman in a skimpy suit leaned
towards him, giving me a chance to escape.
“Excuse me.”
“Isabella-” I heard his voice follow after me, but I had to get out. I
needed fresh air to clear my head, to break this spell. I rushed out of the
club, and the moment the humid night air hit me, I inhaled deeply. Closing
my eyes, I slowly let the breath out of my lungs. The still, hot air of the
night didn’t help at all.
I opened my eyes to see the bouncer watching me. With a shaky smile, I
said the first thing that came to mind. “Kind of stuffy in there.”
He smirked and there was skepticism in his eyes. No wonder he didn’t
believe me. It was stuffier outside than inside. Ignoring him, I pulled my
phone out of my thigh garter and groaned when I saw the time. It had been
less than thirty minutes since we arrived.
 “It’s going to be a long night,” I muttered to myself.
I hung out there for ten minutes. It didn’t help in clearing my head, but I
decided to head back inside. I couldn’t hide outside forever. I probably
would have if there had been somewhere to sit down.
I will avoid the main area, I concluded. Roaming the side hallways, I
heard a woman’s moaning, a man’s grunting, and I rushed by, hoping not to
see what they were doing. You’d think they would get a room.
Probably what people were saying about me a mere fifteen minutes ago.
This place was huge, I could kill some time exploring because if I went
back to Vasili at the bar, I was doomed. My restraint around him was non-
existent. I still wanted him, as much as I did five years ago. It was time that
I admit it, if only to myself.
“The Den of Sin,” I muttered softly under my breath. Vasili Nikolaev
was my sin, my vice, my everything. And what am I to him? I wondered
walking aimlessly through his club.
I focused on my surroundings and the long hallway with a door at the
very end that was left open. I could see from here lush red curtains over a
big bed. Did people rent rooms here? I narrowed my eyes as I got closer
and closer. The entire room was painted black, screaming with vibes of sex
and sin.
Turn around, my mind whispered but my legs kept walking forward.
The room seemed empty, illuminated by the flickering of black candles.
Now it just needs a tied-up human and the look is complete, I thought
wryly.
I inched closer to the made-up bed with lush red covers that matched the
red curtains above it. The bed was huge, enough to fit five adults easily.
There was something dark and sexy about this room. Curiously, I glanced to
the right and saw a wall full of stuff. My feet quiet on the luxurious black
rug, I made my way to the wall.
Sex toys, I realized. The wall was covered with all kinds of sex toys.
“See anything that interests you?”
I whipped around and found Vasili leaning against the wall, a bathroom
with… Oh my gosh, is that black tile! I had never seen a black bathroom,
nor a room decorated in black and red like this one. It suited him though -
the colors of black and red. Darkness and blood. His darkness pulled me in;
his ruthlessness made my heart bleed.
 He must have been in the bathroom when I came in. If I saw him before
I entered the room, I would have turned around and left. Although what a
view I would have missed!
He stood there in his suit pants, his glorious, mouthwatering chiseled
chest on full display. There was ink on his upper chest. Words, but I
couldn’t quite read them from here. I was certain he didn’t have a tattoo
there five years ago.
My fingers buzzed with the need to touch him. My heart raced in my
chest, and my body demanded to feel his hands on me again. Meeting his
eyes, I recalled how a mere twenty minutes ago, I orgasmed with his fingers
inside me, in the corner of an open bar, in plain view of anyone.
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were here.”
“Who did you think was here?”
Confused, I met his gaze. “Nobody, I guess.”
My fingers balled into small fists, resisting the urge to go to him. He
should really put his shirt on because the temptation was too strong. Those
ripped muscles underneath the tanned skin. I just wanted to touch him and
feel his heat under my palms.
“Ummm, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” I muttered
and forced myself to move from my spot.
“Do you want to know what I was about to do?”
My eyes roamed over his half-undressed state, and I had a pretty good
guess. I almost expected the woman in the cat suit to come out of that
bathroom right behind him. She’d probably be out any moment, and I’d
shatter into a million pieces.
“No.”
“You are not curious to see?”
I met those eyes that I obsessed over since the moment we locked eyes.
It was like my soul recognized something in this man. My body hummed
with life around him, my blood sang with euphoria each time he touched
me. Every living, breathing cell was for him and him alone.
“No, Vasili. I am not curious to see you with another woman.” I was
impressed my tone was calm and unwavering. Truth was that it would hurt -
- like a bitch. Seeing Ryan with another woman was bad, but seeing Vasili
touch a woman the way he touched me would break me. I had no illusions
about it. My mother gave her heart once. In her journal she said afterwards
that she loved, but it wasn’t anything like the way she’d loved Vasili’s
father. I felt the same; Vasili Nikolaev would always be the one that took
most of my heart.
I took two steps and was almost at the door when his voice stopped me.
“I was going to jerk off. Alone. Thinking about you. Those soft moans
of yours.” He let the meaning linger with the silence, the occasional
crackling sound of the candle flicker. I slowly turned around and watched
him walk over to the mini-bar I hadn’t noticed earlier. He grabbed a bottle
and sat on the edge of a bed made for the most delicious of sins. Taking a
big gulp directly from the bottle, his eyes returned to me. “I can smell you
everywhere.” His heavy accent was doing things to me. “You could watch,
like before. I’ll take whatever crumbs you are willing to give me, Isabella.”
My breathing became heavier, my pulse racing erratically, and I licked
my bottom lip. His eyes followed the movement, the intensity in them
burning.
I wouldn’t be able to resist without reaching out to him if I watched him
pleasure himself. He was my nirvana, my addiction. I was coming to terms
with it; I’d never get him out of my system.
I turned my back to him and took three steps towards the door.
“Isabella,” his voice was raspy, a hint of desperation and need in it.
“Please stay.”
I shut the door and turned the lock with a soft click. Facing him, I strode
towards him, our eyes locked on each other. My body craved him. I had
never felt a fraction of this with Ryan. Maybe I wasted his time, or used him
to fool myself. But this week made it abundantly clear, I had never gotten
over Vasili.
I’ve been telling myself for the past five years I was over him. I told
myself that I had to move on. Love again. Trust again. And all along, my
heart kept waiting for Vasili. I stayed away from him, but his shadow lurked
in my dreams, my heart, my very soul.
Slowly moving towards the ghost of my dreams, I kept my eyes on him.
I stopped in front of him, facing him, and although he was sitting, my body
still appeared small compared to his. He could crush me again, but my mind
was already made up.
I was starved for him, for his touch. The last few days were just
glimpses of the passion I could have since he stormed back into my life. But
touches weren’t enough. It was just foreplay.
 He took my arms and tugged me between his widespread legs. His
mouth connected with the thin material of the flimsy bra of my costume,
and sucked on my nipple. A jolt of electricity shot through my body at the
sensation and a loud moan left my lips.
My hands laced through his short hair, my body writhed closer to him,
needing him. It was like getting a dose of medicine to ease the pain of the
last five years. His touch eased all of it, all of those longings. He bit down
on my nipple, and I arched into his mouth. I found myself lowering,
straddling his thigh.
“Vasili,” I breathed out his name. How many times did I call out his
name during those lonely nights, imagining his hands on me as I pleasured
myself? And now he was here, in my grasp.
I started to grind my pussy against him, needy and hot.
“That’s right, Isabella,” he growled. “Tell me how it feels.”
I closed my eyes, relishing in sensation. “I want you, Vasili.”
To hell with everything. I would deal with the heartbreak when it came.
Now, I wanted him, craved him like the air I breathed. If life kept throwing
him my way, I would take him.
His big hands were hungry on me, palming my breast then snaking
down my back to my ass.
“My greedy little woman.” He gently bit into my earlobe, murmuring
Russian words. His hands came to my hips and his fingers dug into the
flesh, tugging me back and forth causing a delicious friction.
My moans were getting louder, I was so close.
“Open your eyes, malyshka,” he growled. “I want you to see who’s
touching you.”
I forced my heavy eyelids open, watching him. With each grind, his
hard cock brushed against me. My hands gripped his shoulders, balancing
myself, our gazes locked. The pale blues burned like infernos, drawing me
in. The sight was intoxicating, mesmerizing.
His mouth crashed into mine, our tongues intertwining. The whiskey on
his tongue made me drunk. He made me drunk.
“Please.” It was my turn to beg.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Nineteen

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

S he didn’t leave. My chest boomed with love. Yes, I fucking loved

her. I have loved her for years, never forgetting that one night
with her.
“Please,” she begged.
“Get on your knees,” I ordered hoarsely, barely holding on to my
control. I wanted to sprawl her on this bed and fuck her hard until she
screamed my name. I didn’t give a shit if everyone heard it. She was mine;
they would know who she belonged to.
She scrambled to obey, kneeling between my legs. Her fingers eagerly
reached for the buckle of my pants, the jingle of it followed by the zipper.
My cock was eager for her; I was so eager for her that I didn’t even
reprimand her for going for my cock before I gave her permission.
Next time, I thought. Right now I craved her with desperation.
“Suck,” I told her and her eyes hazed with lust. She took my hard shaft
into her mouth, her whiskey brown eyes pinned to mine, and there wasn’t a
better sight. Her mouth was like heaven, warm and soft, savoring me like
she was as starved for me as I was for her.
I’d missed her so damn much. Her scent, her softness, those hazed, lust
filled eyes. I watched as she ran her pink tongue from the base of my shaft
to the tip in one long motion. Her tongue was soft on my cock, her mouth
warm. Her head bobbed up and down between my legs, alternating between
licking and sucking. She was perfect. And mine!
A loud groan left my mouth, and my hands fisted into her hair.
 “You are fucking mine,” I hissed, thrusting my hips until I hit the back
of her throat. A shudder ran through me as I slid back out, her tongue
stroking my cock. She was the one for me. She has been it for me for a long
time. I was her first and wanted to be her last.
I haven’t been this hard since that night I took her virginity. She made
me crazy with lust, throwing all my control out the window. Her moans
vibrated through my shaft, igniting the flames further.
Pulling her from my cock and up onto her feet, I gathered her closer to
me, my hands hungry on her exposed flesh. Next, I ripped her flimsy little
Cleopatra bra off and her skirt followed.
“Get on the bed,” I ordered in a raspy voice.
She obeyed without hesitation, and it warmed my chest. After what I
had done to her, she still trusted me, at least in the bedroom.
Her beautiful naked body sprawled out over the red covers. Fuck, I
could spill just watching her pale skin stark against the red around her. Her
dark mane covered part of her breast and my fucking hand actually shook as
I brushed it away. She was so fucking beautiful, it hurt to look at her. I
wanted her with me forever. I needed her with me forever.
“Open your legs,” I growled, my control teetering on the edge. I stood
up, getting rid of my pants and socks. Taking my hard cock into my hand, I
watched her sprawled on my bed. “I want to see what’s mine.”
I stroked my hard cock that ached to bury itself into her pussy. It
remembered her; she was home. Her throat gulped, her eyes locked on my
cock that glistened with pre-cum for her.
Without hesitation, her legs parted and revealed the glistening evidence
of her arousal. Blotches of blush marked her chest and crept up her neck to
color her cheeks. There was a slight embarrassment that flashed on her face.
I kept my one hand on my dick and reached out with the other to brush
the soft skin on her cheek. She leaned into my touch, and my heart
squeezed in my chest.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” I murmured softly. She was the only woman
that made me want to be soft. “I’m going to fuck you, and you are going to
fuck me.” Our gazes met, and the look in her eyes took my breath away.
Need, vulnerability, desire, and something I didn’t dare put a name to… all
wrapped in her soft whiskey gaze. “If you want me to stop, tell me.”
And I would stop, so help me God. But fuck, I hoped she wouldn’t ask
it.
 “I want you, Vasili.” Her voice was husky and soft.
I let go of my cock and moved up her naked body till my frame hovered
over her, both my arms on either side of her head. I leaned my forehead
against hers. “I’m yours, Isabella,” I whispered in Russian. “I have always
been yours.”
She couldn’t understand my words, but I hoped she felt them.
My cock throbbed with need. Her hands wrapped around my neck, her
mouth searching out mine. My kiss was rough, possessive, claiming. Her
mouth opened to me, surrendering, her tongue a soft silk and an unspoken
promise. I ground my hips against her, and she moaned into my mouth,
wrapping her legs around my waist.
“Please, Vasili,” her lips moved against mine. “I ache so bad.”
My entire body was on fire, flames licking every inch of my skin.
For her.
I stared at her completely naked, soft and slender underneath me. Her
magnificent breasts invited me for a taste. Her hands lowered from my
neck, down my chest, and her palms rested right above my heart.
“It’s yours,” I said, my voice hoarse and my accent deep. I didn’t know
if she understood what I meant but her palm remained there. I ran the tip of
my nose along her neck, inhaling that scent of her, a scent I never forgot.
She was my oxygen, my heartbeat, and I didn’t give a fuck about
anything else. I would never sacrifice having her to anyone or anything. I
was done with sacrifices.
I will keep her safe; I will kill anyone that threatens to get near her.
There was nothing to keep me from having her.
“Don’t hold back, Vasili,” she murmured. “Give me everything you’ve
got.”
She arched her back up off of the bed, pressing her pussy against my
cock, letting the tip of it rest at her hot entrance. I thrust all the way in, to
the hilt, and she cried out my name. Her pussy was so tight, her channel
almost strangled my cock. She felt even more amazing than I remembered.
I had to let her get used to my size again, but my muscles shook with the
need to pound into her. Sweat gathered at my brow as I held still, letting her
adapt. She felt so fucking good.
“Don’t hold back,” she spoke softly in my ear. “Anything.”
The pent-up primal need clawed its way up my spine and my control
snapped. This woman broke every single barrier I’d built; the beast within
me broke through with primal lust and overwhelming love for this woman.
I rammed hard into her, her loud moan the best welcome home present I
had ever gotten. My big body pinned her against the bed, pounding into her,
and she took it all. My body on top of hers, supporting myself with my
forearms, my hips kept thrusting into her over and over again, burying
myself into her warm pussy.
“Vasili,” she screamed my name. My ears buzzed, but I didn’t care. I
drove into her hard, relentlessly, lost to everything but the feel of her
underneath me.
“You are mine.” Thrust.
“Mine to fuck.” Thrust.
“Mine to protect.” Thrust.
“Mine to love.” I had no fucking idea if the words came out in English
or Russian. All I did was feel. Feel her pussy clench around my cock, feel
her soft body yield to mine, feel her moans hit my chest.
Our grunts mixed together, her moans the sweetest sounds in my ears.
“I love you, Isabella. I will always love you,” I vowed in Russian. She
felt so fucking good. I didn’t give a fuck about anyone but this woman.
Words in my native tongue mixed with our grunts, words of love and
devotion. I rutted into her mindlessly, deeper and harder.
“Vasili. Oh God, Vasili.” My name spilled from her mouth in gasps and
pants. “Vasili, more.”
I thrust harder, worried in the back of my mind I’d split her open but I
was too far gone. I took her mouth and continued rutting her deeper. I
fucked her all the while we kissed hard and rough, our teeth and tongues
clashing together. I could hardly breathe, my body and mind refusing to
stop.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
The word kept repeating over and over again in my mind. I felt her
tighten underneath me but I refused to stop fucking her hard. She cried out
against my mouth, her orgasm shaking her body, and her pussy closing
around my cock in a chokehold. And I fucking loved it. I kept riding her as
my own climax shot up my spine and I came hard, my cock pulsing inside
her and every muscle in my body tightening. I spilled inside her, my face
buried in the crook of her nape, surrounded by the smell of the ocean and
tanning lotion.
 “Mine,” I rasped in her ear, sated for the first time in over five years. “I
will always love you, malyshka” I vowed in Russian.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

B oom-bum. Boom-bum. Boom-bum.

I listened to Vasili’s heart thundering hard with my cheek
pressed against his chest. It matched my own heart’s rate. I dated
Ryan for almost two years and his impact on me wasn’t a fraction of this. It
scared me how easily this man could tear down my walls. When he took me
like that, I wanted to give him my all and take his all in return.
Dangerous, I told myself.
The room quieted down with our breathing slowly getting back to
normal. I went to get up, but Vasili’s hand wrapped around me tighter.
“Don’t go,” he murmured. I raised my head off his chest and his eyes
were closed, the lines on his face relaxed. In fact, I didn’t think I'd ever seen
him this relaxed. Love for him swelled in my chest. It was always there,
craving him, and now that our paths had led us back to each other, it wanted
him.
I didn’t want to leave his warm arms or this bed. But the past was hard
to ignore. The bitter tears I cried when he threw me away and anguish I felt
when I lost the baby.
“Tatiana might be looking for me.”
“She’s probably going to be wrapped up with Adrian most of the night.”
“Umm, you know?” I couldn’t say I was surprised he knew about those
two. Vasili wasn’t a man you could easily hide things from.
“Yes.”
“How many porn rooms do you have in this place?” I wondered if those
two were here somewhere.
 His chest rumbled. “There are no porn rooms here, and this is the only
room. I only use it for quick change of clothes if I’m in a bind. Nobody’s
ever actually slept in this room -- or anything else,” he smirked.
I glanced around the room. “And the ummm… toys?”
“Sasha’s idea of a joke,” he grumbled.
“So you are not into that stuff?”
His body tensed, and I raised my head to look at him. He could easily
pass for a Viking with his strong, big body, short golden blonde hair, and
those pale blue eyes. The only thing that threw it all off was that permanent
golden tan he had.
“I am,” he answered, and I raised my eyebrow. I thought he’d follow up
expanding on the comment but he said nothing else. Strangely enough,
thinking about using some of those toys didn’t repulse me. At all. In fact, it
was the opposite. Was it just because of him, and because I wanted to please
him?
“I’ll just check my phone to make sure.” I wrapped a sheet around my
body and scooted off the bed, reaching for my phone next to the pile of my
ripped-up costume. Vasili was right. She sent me the driver's number and
gave him mine so he could take me home while she went to Adrian’s place.
I couldn’t blame her; she’s had a crush on him for a while. I was happy
she’d got what she wanted. My sixth sense was telling me Adrian would be
good for her.
I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the ripped-up clothing and
memories flooded back. I didn’t want them. Not right now. But I wondered
if maybe it wasn’t a warning. He shattered me once, he could easily do it
again.
I opened my eyes and met Vasili’s gaze, watching me. He was sitting at
my desk, his big frame probably uncomfortable in the small chair. He had
his pants on, but his tanned chest was on full display. I still couldn’t believe
last night. I have had a crush on him since freshman year; never thought
he’d spare me a second glance or second thought. Till last night.
My body was sore, the sweetest exhaustion settled in my bones after all
the things we did last night. I smiled at him but he didn’t return the smile.
Something in my chest squeezed with worry.
I pulled up the sheet and held it against my chest as I sat up, covering
my naked body. “Is everything okay?”
 “I have to go.” Something was off but my brain was too slow to catch
up.
“Okay,” I murmured, searching his face. He was a hard man to read.
“When-” I pulled my knees up to my chest feeling vulnerable but unwilling
to let life decide whether I should have this man or not. “When can I see
you again?”
“That’s not a good idea.” My heart sank at his words and confusion
settled in.
He wanted me; almost as much as I wanted him. I felt it. “Why not?”
Maybe I should have done the usual and kept my walls up, unwilling to
face anyone’s rejection. But for some reason, with him, I always wanted to
challenge him, push his buttons.
“Why not?” I repeated.
“Because you are in way over your head, Isabella,” he gritted out,
anger in his voice and eyes.
“I don’t understand,” I muttered. I was twenty-one, and yes, it was
unusual that I waited this long to lose my virginity, but now that I did, I
refused to believe I made a mistake. I have known him and had a crush on
him for over three years.
“Isabella, we just fucked,” Vasili’s voice was cold. “Nothing more,
nothing less.”
I stared at him, my wretched heart breaking with each passing second.
It hurt so bad, I found it hard to breathe.
“Why?” I mustered the courage to ask.
“Why what?” He seemed annoyed at my question. In swift movements,
he stood up and went to gather the rest of his clothes that were scattered all
over my dorm room. He started getting dressed, never even glancing my
way.
“Why did you sleep with me?”
“You wanted me, and I wanted you,” he retorted matter-of-factly like he
was talking about the weather. He was more focused on his clothes than me
or my heart that he shattered to pieces with each word he uttered. “Now
that I’ve had you, I’m sated, and I can move on to the next best thing. It was
just a fuck.”
My chest ached, each breath I took squeezing my chest further.
“Besides, you were so easy,” he added. I met his eyes in confusion.
“Your mother took from my family, so I took from your mother.”
 “What are you talking about?”
“You shouldn’t play with wolves, Isabella. Neither you nor your mother
can handle it.”
Move on to the next best thing. It took me a long time to move on. It
took him just a few days. I happened to see a friend with one of those
tabloid magazines and there he was. A big picture blasted on the front page,
Vasili Nikolaev with some drop-dead gorgeous actress or something.
He gave me my first orgasm, my first sexual experience, and my first
heartbreak. All in the span of one night. And it took him just as long, or
should I say short, to move on.
That pain never went away. He spotted the next best thing the moment
he stepped outside. Would he do it again when he got what he wanted? Did
he get what he wanted and was ready to move on now?
I blinked my eyes and steeled my heart. Glancing behind my shoulder at
him, and I found him watching me.
“You were right,” I smiled, but it was my reserved smile. I perfected
that over the last five years. “She left with Adrian.” I looked away from
him, scanning my shredded costume. “I’m going to go. Any chance you
have some clothes I could borrow? Mine are ruined.” I glanced back at him
hoping he couldn’t see the budding fear I was desperately trying to hide.
Silence stretched between us, the passion we shared lingering in
unspoken words as we watched each other. But this time, I didn’t ask for his
next date, or when I’d see him again. I kept my smile on and my heart
closed.
“I’ll take you,” he finally said and got out of the bed, giving me a
magnificent view of his ass. There wasn’t an ounce of fat even on his ass.
Jesus, the man was a machine. He should have at least one imperfection
somewhere.
“No, I just need clothes. She left me the number for our driver so that he
can take me home.”
I watched him pull his pants on and strode to a wall that shifted,
revealing a closet with a full wardrobe and… guns?
“Are those guns?” I muttered my question, my eyes locked on the wall
that held at least five guns there.
“Yes.”
“Is that legal?”
 “Don’t worry, malyshka. They are all registered, and I have a permit for
them.”
I frowned, not understanding why he would need so many guns. The
other day, he had a gun on him too. In all the time I’ve known Tatiana and
seen her brothers, I couldn’t recall ever hearing them mention guns. Was
this normal in the criminal world they were part of? Probably. Didn’t Vasili
mention that in his other businesses his men got hurt? This must be what he
meant.
He was already dressed, walking back towards me with a shirt to wear
and a pair of boxers.
“Why do you have so many guns?” I questioned.
“Stand up,” he murmured the order, and I immediately obeyed,
clutching the sheet to me as if it were a protective shield. He knelt down,
and I stepped my one foot through, then the other into his boxers that would
serve as my shorts since my panties were destroyed. It seemed to be a
normal thing with him, tearing up my panties.
“Open your arms,” he followed up, and I did as he asked, reluctantly
letting go of what was left of my ill-fated modesty. As he buttoned the shirt
up, he met my eyes. “There are some people that want me dead. The guns
are for protection.”
“Oh.” He rolled up the one sleeve, our bodies so close, brushing against
each other. This moment felt intimate, simple. “Why would someone want
to hurt you?” I couldn’t resist asking.
He switched to the other sleeve. “I’ll tell you one day. Not tonight
though.”
I glanced down at myself. His shirt came all the way down to my knees.
I guess it was the best we could do considering the circumstances.
Theoretically, this covered more than my costume even if it felt much more
intimate.
When I raised my head, I met his gaze full of smug possessiveness. “I
like you in my clothes, malyshka,” he bent his head and placed a soft kiss
on my mouth. His finger brushed over the skin on my collarbone. “And I
marked you as mine.”
I went to the mirror to check what he was talking about when I saw it.
Something between a hickey and a bite mark. I met his eyes in the
reflection, a satisfied gleam in them.
 “Vasili, you can’t be doing this,” I scolded him, although there was a
part of me that liked the idea of being marked as his. I’m so dumb. “I might
have interviews and nobody wants to see that kind of stuff.”
He smirked. “Tell them your boyfriend did it.”
My boyfriend? I stared at him in confusion. “Ryan?”
His expression darkened, and his smirk turned into a growl.
“No, malyshka. Not Ryan,” he growled, his hands wrapping around my
waist and turning me to face him. “Me. Vasili Nikolaev.”
“Oh.”
His mouth roughly took mine, biting down gently on my lower lip. “I
want to be your boyfriend, your man, your partner… whatever you want to
call it.”
I should have something to say but all I could do was stare. Those were
the words I wanted to hear five years ago. I would have given my soul to
hear them. But now, I was hesitant to believe them. Maybe he wanted to
hurt me again. And even with the warning alarms blaring in my brain, my
body hummed with the idea of Vasili being my boyfriend. My man.
“Why?” I asked, my voice strangled.
“Why what?” Gosh, this almost felt like déjà vu.
“Why do you want to be my boyfriend now? What has changed?”
I was still that girl I was five years ago. Isabella Taylor, daughter of the
woman that he blamed for breaking up his family. Back then I didn’t know
any of the secrets. Today I knew too many.
“Because I was a jackass.” I studied him, waiting for him to continue.
His light eyes watched me with tenderness and honesty. “You were right
when you said it took two to cheat. It wasn’t all your mother’s fault. My
parents were to blame too. In fact, it was all our parents’ fuck up. I should
have never taken it out on you. As young and innocent as you were, you
saw right through it all.”
The problem was that I wasn’t naive anymore. Five years ago, I had
innocence and lofty ideals. The skeletons of our parents were unknown to
me. Today, I wasn’t as fortunate. I didn’t have the luxury of being blind to
the many mistakes my mother had made. Would Vasili still want me if he
knew about all those secrets?
Eventually, I nodded. Did I really have a choice? Every part of me
ached at the thought of never seeing this man again.
 “If we’re going to do this, we should take it slow.” My heart wanted
him, belonged to him; my brain warned, urging me to be cautious.
Everything was happening so fast, and I was whirling in dangerous
emotions and desires, all centering around Vasili Nikolaev. If we survived
this dating for a few days, a week or even a month, then maybe I’d tell him
everything. “Can we go now?”

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-One

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

T here were so many emotions that skittered across Isabella’s

face but the strongest one that resonated with me was
hesitation, perhaps even fear, to believe my words. I couldn’t
blame her, but fuck, it still agitated me.
I dialed up my club security guy. “Make sure the path to my car is
clear,” I barked the order, mad as fuck.
Honestly, I shouldn’t be mad at anyone other than myself. I created
those walls Isabella put around herself. Five years ago, she gave me
everything, and when she woke up, I threw it all away. To avenge my
mother and partially to protect Isabella. Even before I knew who her father
was, there was a danger to anyone associated with me. She didn’t know all
the reasons why I was so cruel to her the next day. Yes, the biggest part of it
was her mother but also knowledge that she didn’t belong in my world. So,
she hardened her heart and she moved on.
I had to find a way to explain to her what she meant to me five years
ago, and still today. I would not give her up. I’d fight till my dying breath
for her. Everything I did over the last five years, I did it for her. I made my
empire stronger and my wealth bountiful, so I could protect her.
“All clear,” came the confirmation from my security.
I put my hand on the small of her back. “Let’s go, malyshka.”
She nodded, slipped her heels on, and fuck, I was hard again. She
looked like a recently pleasured woman with her dark, messy mane coming
down her back and her flushed cheeks. I did that, I thought proudly. And I
would do that for the rest of our lives if she’d let me.
 We walked through the hallway of my club and towards the private,
back entrance where my Mercedes G-class SUV waited.
The moment I stepped outside with Isabella under my arm, my security
guy opened the passenger door. As she sat herself into the seat, his gaze
flickered to her exposed thigh and jealousy blinded me.
My knife was out of my holster and barely an inch from his eye. “Do I
pay you to watch my woman’s thighs or open the door for her?” I hissed,
anger simmering each syllable.
“O-open the door,” he stammered.
“Vasili, what are you doing?” Isabella’s wide eyes were on me, and I
sensed shock rolling off her body.
“Get out of here,” I barked at the security guy. “You are fired.”
He took off without another glance at Isabella. Smart. I didn’t fucking
pay him to get a peep show. I calmly put my knife back into the holster.
“Vasili, what the hell was that?” Isabella’s voice scolded me. She went
to move her thighs and come out of the car, but I stopped her.
“He was peeping at your thighs and your legs.” Okay, as far as reasons,
this wasn’t that great.
“So?”
“Nobody gets to see that,” I gritted out, realizing how utterly ridiculous
I sounded. “Just me.”
“Okaaaay.” That response reminded me of her freshman and sophomore
year when she managed to get into so much trouble with Tatiana. It was
usually her response to my berating them after bailing them out of messes.
It always sounded like giving in just so she wouldn’t have to hear more
berating.
I smiled at her and shrugged my shoulders. “I’m possessive.”
“Hmmm.”
“I don’t want another man gawking at you.”
Her eyes met mine and a small smile played around her lips.
“You do realize men always gawk at women.”
“I know there’ll be men admiring you, but I don’t want them seeing
your thighs or your pussy.”
An attractive blush creeped up her ivory skin.
“I have your boxers on,” she murmured, her finger trailing circles on the
skin of my hand that still rested on her thigh. “He wouldn’t have seen
anything.”
 “I need to know my men will respect you and never try anything with
you.”
She shook her head, and I wondered what she was thinking. “I don’t
understand you, Vasili.”
I shook my head. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her I loved her
and it made me blind with jealousy, but instead, I kept the words in. She
wasn’t ready to hear them.
“I’ll take you home now.”
I shut the door and went around the car to get behind the wheel. If I
wasn’t careful, I’d push her away with my possessiveness -- and my
ruthlessness. Isabella has never seen that merciless, violent side of me. In
the last few days, I’ve given her glimpses of it, but they were far from the
whole picture. Considering how she grew up and how her mother kept her
sheltered, she might run if she got a full view of it. I had to be careful.
She kept quiet while I drove. I wondered if she regretted what happened
between us. I didn’t expect her to find her way to the room, even less to
stay. She gave her body without holding back, just like five years ago. And
I did the same. She held nothing back, giving me her pleasure, letting me
know I owned it. She owned my pleasure too and has been the only woman
ever to dissolve all my control in the bedroom without effort.
Did she feel it too?
Five years ago, I knew she felt it. She wanted me again and asked to see
me again. She gave me her virginity. Today, she only gave me her body, but
I wanted her soul and heart too.
We got to Tatiana’s place too soon. I would have much rather taken her
to my place, especially with the threats lurking around, but I had guards
watching my sister's place. She'd be safe here.
“Thanks for driving me,” she muttered, reaching for the handle, her
eyes soft on me. “Good night, Vasili.”
She went to open the door, but I grabbed the nape of her head, pulled
her to me, and took her soft, welcoming lips into a possessive, rough kiss.
She instantly opened her mouth and my tongue found hers, playing a soft
dance of teasing and exploring.
When I pulled back, her eyes were hazed with lust and the arrogant,
selfish side of me was glad. I wanted her thinking about me as she slept
tonight, imagining herself sleeping in my bed. Because that was exactly
what I would do - dreaming of her in my bed, seeing her face first thing
when I woke up.
“Good night, malyshka,” I murmured against her lips.
I exited the vehicle, went around and opened the door for her. I resisted
the urge to press her against me. If I pulled her into me, I’d stay with her all
night, crowd her. So I remained glued to my spot, watched her walk inside
and before she entered the house, she threw a glance over her shoulder, our
gazes meeting. I couldn't stop the grin from forming, happy she felt the pull
between us. It has been there from the day she called me Mr. Nikolaev,
assuming I was Tatiana’s father.
We had three years of foreplay till I lost the battle and took her as mine.
I was stupid to think the revenge against her mother would quench this need
for her.
Then I learned the truth about what had happened, about my half-
brother and the threat the Santos family posed to Isabella. Unintentionally, I
had brought them closer to her. I feared seeing her hurt or even worse,
losing her forever. Just like I lost my father. So I did one of the hardest
things in my life, I sacrificed her again and what we could have had to keep
her safe. Months after I had learned that it wasn’t her mother that broke my
parents and that Isabella was possibly the woman meant for me, I gave her
up again. For her own good.
But now, I was stronger, richer, and more powerful. She was back in my
life. I would keep her safe at all costs. From Benito King and his minions,
and from Raphael Santos.
I went back into my vehicle and started down the driveway when it
occurred to me I hadn’t seen a single guard. What the fuck?
Making a sharp U-turn, another vehicle came down with tires
screeching and almost ran into me. He swerved to the right, avoiding hitting
me by barely an inch. The door flung open wide and Sasha came out with a
gun in his hand. Instantly alarmed, I reached for my secret compartment
and pulled out my gun along with extra bullets.
“What is going on?” I questioned him, jumping out of my car.
“Raphael Santos is here, coming after Tatiana.”
At the same moment, I heard a loud bang and a scream coming out of
the house. The blood in my veins froze, the fear of losing Isabella
multiplying it.
 “She’s with Adrian.” I couldn’t believe my voice was calm and
unwavering while my heart clenched with fear, pumping blood into my
brain at excessive speed. “Isabella is inside”
Both Sasha and I started running, taking shelter behind a large oak tree.
The front yard of Tatiana’s home erupted in bullets showering all around us.
There was a pounding of footsteps. Sasha and I shared a look while he
waited on my order. The moment I nodded, we both turned and fired. The
first bullet hit its mark, striking the enemy in the neck, blood splattering
over the siding of the house. Sasha hit his friend at the same time and now
they were both sprawled onto the ground.
A loud scream, Isabella’s terrified scream, pierced through the air again.
“Take the right side; I’ll take the left,” I hissed, fury boiling inside of me
unleashing the beast.
I scanned for additional targets, hiding in the shadows. The full moon
highlighted the dark shadows of the enemy just enough to allow me to see
them. Thank God! With precision, as if my life and Isabella’s depended on
it - because they did - I started shooting. Another man down.
More bullets rained our way, but I couldn’t afford to lose sight of the
shadows, not for a fraction of a second although the big brother in me was
tempted to check on Sasha. I chased after the target, firing another shot at
him. He fell onto his knees and without stopping, I put another bullet in his
forehead.
“Ah, suka blyat.” Son of a bitch. I heard my brother curse, and it was
my confirmation he was alright.
More bullets. Another shadow behind the tree. Aim. Shoot. Man killed.
Glass shattered and Isabella’s voice reached me. “Vasili, man on your
left.”
Instinctively, I followed her warning. A man on my left had his gun
pointed at me, and with swift movement, I ducked while reaching for my
knife. The blade of my knife bit into his skin, and I sliced his chest wide
open. Then I sliced his throat and pushed him off. He fell down onto the
ground, gurgling and choking on his own blood. I had no time to waste on
him. I grabbed his gun and ran for Isabella.
“Vasili,” she called out, fear coloring her voice. It gutted me to hear it,
but I focused on the direction her voice came from. It helped me with
estimating her location. Pool area.
 I ran and my step faltered, finding Raphael Santos with his hand
wrapped around Isabella’s throat and the other pointing a gun at her temple.
Her eyes were big on her face, clawing at his hands, trying to gasp for air.
“You fucked up, Nikolaev. Should have left my father alive.” Raphael
Santos could be a cruel motherfucker when he wanted to. Sasha fucked up
big time by starting this shit.
“Raphael, let her go,” I growled. The horror on Isabella’s face reflected
the terror I felt in my heart. I couldn’t lose her. I wouldn’t lose her. I refused
to lose her.
Sasha came up from my right, his gun pointed at Santos. The fury at
seeing my woman being choked to death and a gun pointed at her head
made me want to kill every member of Santos’s crime organization. At this
moment, I was tempted to kill my brother too because he fucking started it.
“P-please,” Isabella kept pushing against Raphael. “I c-can’t breathe.”
“That’s the point, sweetheart,” he retorted, looking her over. “Nothing
personal. Thank your brothers here for it.”
Her eyes darted to me in surprise, but she didn’t correct him. Shit, I
wasn’t sure if I was glad or not.
“She’s not our sister,” Sasha told him. “Use your eyes, fucking moron.
Or read People. You’d know then this woman is not our sister.”
“Enough,” I growled at my brother. “Show respect.” Sasha’s taunting
and blunt disrespect would not help Isabella. I returned my focus to Raphael
Santos. “Sasha speaks the truth. This is not Tatiana.”
Although I wouldn’t tell him who she was. I knew from the men I
executed that Raphael knew of his sister. He just didn’t know specifics -
like how she looked, who she was, her name. I had an inside man within
Santos organization confirming that. But they knew I had been hiding his
sister’s trail for the past five years.
Raphael’s eyes returned to Isabella and observed her pensively. Maybe
he was comparing her physical features with ours. Everyone knew Nikolaev
family members had pale eyes and blonde hair features. Isabella couldn’t
look any more different from us. Or was he seeing something else?
His hand’s grip loosened, and I could see Isabella inhaling deeply for
the oxygen.
“Who are you?” Raphael questioned her, his eyes on her. Inwardly, I
cursed myself. I should have taken Isabella to my house. I promised her
mother to keep Isabella safe from the Santos family, and there she was in
his grasp.
His men had their guns pointed at her, my brother, and me. The odds
were bad but that wasn’t what worried me. It was ensuring Isabella came
out alive. She was my priority.
“Tatiana’s friend,” her voice trembled. She was barely able to speak.
“We went to college together.”
A silent relief spread through me, and I sent a prayer of thanks that she
withheld her name. My sources told me that Raphael Santos searched for
his half-sister relentlessly, but he didn’t have a single picture of her. He was
looking for her blindly.
“Do you work for them?” He tilted her head, observing her with a frown
creasing his eyebrows. Like he was trying to solve a puzzle. If he knew how
important she was to me, he could decide to make her the payback. Or if he
realized who she was, he’d take her with him.
“She knows nothing about our business,” I chimed in, emphasizing the
last word. It was true, and he would understand the meaning behind it.
Isabella’s eyes shifted between the two of us in confusion.
“I- I don’t work in real estate,” she murmured, her voice still slightly
shaking. “I’m an ER physician. I-I was just visiting.”
If I asked Isabella to convince Raphael that she knew nothing, she
couldn’t have said a better thing. My company owned real estate but wasn’t
exactly in a real estate business.
“Let her go, fucker.” Sasha was starting to get on my nerves. If we got
out of this intact, I’d have to beat his ass. He was getting out of hand.
“And you fucker,” Raphael gritted out, “-should learn to listen to your
big brother and keep your fucking mouth shut.”
Of course, my brother was always so trigger happy. But Raphael had
fast reflexes and was an excellent shot. He shot my brother. Same instant, I
pointed my gun at Raphael, with a precise aim ready to pull the trigger. He
knew I never missed, although for the first time in my life, I feared pulling
that trigger because Isabella was in the vicinity of my target.
“We can call this even. For my father,” Raphael announced, his eyes on
me. He wasn’t a fool. Probably knew Sasha killed him.
“Fucking Colombians,” my brother moaned, bleeding on the ground.
My damn idiot brother could be on his deathbed and he’d still find his last
breath to curse at Santos.
 “You are still alive, you fucking Russian, which is more than can be said
for my father,” Raphael growled. I couldn’t argue with that point. “You
should be kissing my ass and thanking me.”
“You wish I’d kiss your sorry ass,” Sasha hissed, although I was more
inclined to think it was from pain than anger.
“Let the woman go, Raphael,” I spoke to my enemy, my gun still
pointed at him. Just one bullet and he’d be dead. But I wasn’t willing to risk
it, not with my woman within an arm’s reach of him. “We can call this
even.”
“Not by a long shot! But I don’t need a fucking war with you right
now,” he grunted. “I’ll let her go. My men have their guns aimed at her
head and your brother’s. Try something stupid, and she’s dead.”
“Point taken.” I would never risk her life like that.
He removed the gun pointed at her and let go of her neck completely.
“Go to him, woman.” For a brief second, Isabella stood there, as if she
was scared to move; expecting it to be a trick and then someone would kill
her anyhow. I didn’t like the way Raphael's eyes studied her.
“It’s okay,” he urged her. “Nobody will hurt you.” She blinked and
looked my way. I nodded, trying to assure her without words. “Nobody is to
shoot at the woman,” Raphael added loudly and thank God, she finally
moved.
One step. Two steps, and when she realized nobody was in fact
shooting, she ran towards me and I opened my arms, my heart thundering in
my chest and my ears. My Isabella. She threw herself into my arms, her
body trembling. All the years I tried to keep her safe and now I pulled her
straight into the underworld.
This was never supposed to be her world; it was the reason her mother
kept hiding them.
I wrapped my free arm tightly around her but kept my gun aimed at the
Colombians, just in case.
“Don’t make me regret this, Nikolaev.” Santos’s threat lingered in the
air, and he disappeared into the night along with his men, leaving behind
bodies, shattered glass and my bloodied brother.
“It’s okay, malyshka,” I comforted her. “They are gone.”
Her eyes came up to me. “What was that about?”
“Revenge.” It was the closest to the truth I could tell her right now.
 Without any other questions, she turned her attention to my brother
bleeding on the floor.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Two

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

S asha was slumped on the grass, his face pale but he managed a
smile.
“I’m good,” he muttered.
“No, you are not.” Dropping to my knees, I searched for the wound that
was rapidly bleeding. Vasili was next to me, but he let me do my thing
while he pulled out the phone. I assumed he was calling the police or 911.
I found the bullet hole near his collarbone. I traced my finger over it and
found a lump against his skin. The bullet might have hit the bone. And
judging from the amount of blood, I hope it didn’t hit an artery too.
“Adrian,” I heard Vasili’s voice. I raised my head to find him speaking
on his cell phone. “Don’t bring Tatiana home. Keep her with you; keep her
safe. We were hit.”
Sasha’s eyes drooped, and I pushed against the wound, to keep him
from bleeding out.
“Stay with me, Sasha,” I whispered to him. “Open your eyes.”
“Just need to rest.”
I raised my eyes to Vasili. “He’s losing a lot of blood. We need to take
him to the hospital.”
I peered back at Sasha, noting his color was starting to become a sickly
grey. Vasili lifted his brother off the ground and called out to me. “Let’s go,
malyshka. You are not staying here.”
I followed him without question. I wouldn’t want to stay here after what
had just happened. I didn’t feel safe without Vasili. The last twenty minutes
were the worst of my entire life and terror still shook my bones, but I
refused to dwell on it. Keeping Sasha alive was more important.
“I can’t go to the hospital looking like this,” I muttered to him, although
it was a stupid comment. Sasha was bleeding out and I worried about going
to the hospital barefoot, wearing boxers and a man’s shirt.
“It’ll be fine,” he assured me.
Eyeing Sasha’s wound, I noted blood was seeping out too rapidly.
“Vasili, do you have a knife?” I needed to stop Sasha’s bleeding and the
only thing handy right now was my shirt. He handed me his knife without
question. I grabbed the hem of my shirt and cut through it, ripping part of it
off, then applied it onto his wound, all the while keeping up pace with
Vasili’s stride.
My hands were getting bloody, but I didn’t care. While holding one
hand on his wound, with my other I checked his pulse. It was still there.
“We need blood,” I murmured to myself. In my mind I was already
preparing for everything that he would need the moment we hit the hospital.
“Oxygen, surgical team. Fluids.”
“Keep him alive, malyshka,” Vasili’s voice startled me. He placed
Sasha’s body in the back of his big Mercedes, and I climbed right in to keep
pressure on his wound. Nothing mattered right now, just to keep Sasha
alive.
Vasili was behind the wheel, his tires squealing.
“Sasha, keep breathing,” I murmured to him, hoping he could hear me.
“Just hang in there. We’ll be there soon.”
His breathing was shallow.
“How far is the hospital?” I asked Vasili. I was crammed down on the
floor of his back seat and couldn’t see out the window, but I could tell he
was speeding in the way the car swerved left and right with each turn.
“Five minutes.” That’s good. Five minutes. We could do this. Carefully,
I unbuttoned his top two buttons and I pulled the shirt away. The sticky
fabric was soaked with blood. I peeled it off and sucked in a breath at the
sight of blood seeping from the wound.
“How is he doing?” Vasili’s speeding Mercedes swerved again, taking a
sharp corner, and I held on to Sasha’s body to prevent him from tumbling
onto the floor.
I pressed the cloth back against the wound. “I’m hoping it’s a flesh
wound. That’s better than the alternative.” It could have hit a vital organ,
which would have been a lot worse. “We really need to get that bullet out.”
He didn’t reply, but I could tell he was worried. I was too. We drove for
the next five in silence when suddenly the vehicle pulled to a stop.
Before I could even move, the door to the backseat opened and Vasili
helped to pull me off the floor and out, then lifted his brother without effort.
Vasili started running into a large mansion that looked nothing like a
hospital but I didn’t have time to question him.
I rushed after him, trying to keep up. Vasili carried his brother up the
marble stairs, then down a long hallway before stopping in front of a large
door. I quickly opened the door, leaving blood marks on the handles.
He entered the room and laid Sasha on the hospital bed. I took a quick
moment to glance around the room to see what I had to work with. The
room was large, with a hospital bed in the center and all kinds of high-tech
medical machines. The stainless-steel cabinets with glass doors displayed a
full supply of medical accessories, medication, and anything else you could
possibly need to save a life.
“Tell me what you need,” Vasili’s voice was firm, his eyes on me
looking for guidance.
“He needs a blood transfusion to start with,” I told him, heading to the
sink in the corner of the room. I scrubbed my hands, sanitized them,
grabbed a pair of gloves, and went to my patient.
Vasili handed me blood bags of O negative and I pulled the IV pole,
hanging one. “IV kit.”
He went to the nearest cabinet and handed me the supplies. Taking it out
of his hands, I searched out the vein in his arm and started the IV. Next, I
cleaned out his wound and without any time to waste, I focused on the task
at hand.
Vasili was forgotten next to me, as I went to work on his brother. First, I
numbed the area with lidocaine. Then, I cut through Sasha’s flesh with the
scalpel I found on the tray that had miraculously shown up next to me. I
made the incision just big enough to allow me to grip the bullet with a pair
of forceps and pull it from the hole. I placed it in the stainless-steel bowl
and cleaned out the wound. I looked to see if I could tell where all the blood
had come from, but it seemed to have stopped so I relaxed. After stitching
him up, I reached for the sterile gauze, placing it over the wound and
wrapping it up.
 I swapped the empty blood bag with another full unit and added another
bag of fluid. Eyeing him, I felt he would be fine. We just had to make sure
his wound didn’t get infected. Sasha’s pulse was getting stronger and his
skin, although still pale, wasn’t clammy and sickly.
I glanced at Vasili who remained with me the entire time, the worry
edged on his face.
“All done,” I told him, the exhaustion I’d fought the entire night finally
creeping in.
There was awe on his face and something else, but I was too tired to
ponder on it. This night had been an unexpected, front row, eye opener to
Vasili’s world. Despite the violence witnessed, he didn’t scare me. He felt
safe.
He took my face with both of his palms and pressed a kiss onto my
nose.
“Thank you, malyshka,” he murmured. “You saved him.”
The gesture was simple but loving. I had so many questions about what
happened tonight, who was that guy and why didn't the police come, but
wasn’t sure where to even start. The man was the same one I ran into earlier
today when I bought the painting. I had a feeling everything about tonight
would change things between us.
“Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see how tonight goes.” My eyes darted to
Sasha’s sleeping form. “I’ll watch him throughout the night.”
“I can have one of my men watch him.”
I shook my head. “No, I want to do it. Just let me take a shower and get
out of these bloody clothes.”
His hand brushed around the skin on my neck, and I couldn’t control a
slight wince. His expression darkened, fury and fear in his eyes. The fear
surprised me. He struck me as someone that wasn’t afraid of anyone.
“I want to kill him for hurting you,” he growled in a low voice, anger
simmering with each and every word.
“It’s just bruised,” I murmured softly. God, his protectiveness made me
love him even more. “Are you okay?”
He chuckled. “He hurt you and you are asking me if I’m okay.” He
shook his head, disbelief written on his features. “You are too soft,
malyshka. Too good for me.” His words were low, his accent thick. I didn’t
understand what he meant, but before I could ponder on it, he continued,
“Let me take care of you,” he retorted in a soft voice. His lips placed a
softest of kisses on my bruised neck. “Stay with me. It is the only way I’ll
be okay.” When he spoke like that, I could almost convince myself that he
cared deeply about me. “I won’t let those men hurt you. I’ll protect you, I
promise. Better than I’ve done tonight.”
I believed him, and oddly, he made me feel physically safe. Vasili’s
world was vastly different from mine. Tonight made it plenty obvious. This
lifestyle that Vasili led was similar to my father’s and what my mom had
tried to keep me out of. I was blind to the mafia violence until tonight. Or
maybe I didn’t want to see it before. But with him by my side, I didn’t fear
that world.
Entirely different fears plagued me.
There was a fear of letting go, having him breach the walls of my heart
only to shatter it again. The first time, it was painful. And this time around
there was a secret I kept. Could I forgive him? Would he forgive me? Even
assuming we got past all that, I wasn’t sure if I could survive it if he
decided to throw away my love again.
I wanted to be all in, but Vasili’s battles in his mafia world crossed paths
with my father who happened to be his enemy. My mother’s journal
highlighted how merciless Nikolaev could be and her betrayal could easily
become my sin to pay for again.
I nodded, despite the warnings and fear of getting hurt. A relief washed
over his face, and it made me wonder how much he exactly cared. Because
I cared for him too much. He wrapped his hands around me, and I realized
both of our shirts were soaked with blood.
“You don’t have any injuries, right?” I murmured, lifting onto my toes
and burying my head into his neck. I had to push all the worries out of my
mind for tonight. I would cherish that I was alive and with this man.
Everything else I’d worry about with the next dawn.
“No. The blood is Sasha’s.” Inhaling deeply, I savored his scent. That
uniquely wonderful scent that was always Vasili. “Let’s go get cleaned up.
I’ll have someone bring in a couch here, and I’ll stay here with you.”
“You don’t-”
He cut me off with a kiss onto my mouth. “I’m staying wherever you
are. No sense in arguing.”
I sighed but secretly my heart swelled. “I’m too tired to argue, and there
is nothing I would love more than to stay with you.”
 I caved too easily to this man. I could blame it on my state of
exhaustion, but the truth was that I wanted to be with him. There was
nowhere else I’d rather be.
“Ahhh, malyshka. Finally.”
He led us both out of the room. At the door, he stopped and called out in
Russian. Within the same second, a large guy came out of the shadows. He
was tall, almost as big as Vasili, and the resemblance between the two
struck me as odd, but what captured me most were the number of tattoos. I
had never seen a guy with tattoos on his face. He had two on the left and
right side of his face, one under his eyes and one above his eyebrow. The
expression on his face was stoic, although when he spoke up, I could hear
concern in his voice.
“How is he?”
“I think he’ll pull through.” I offered him a smile, although he barely
looked at me. “He lost a lot of blood, and his collarbone was nicked by it,
but it could have been worse. He should recover nicely and only have a scar
to show.”
The guard nodded, his lips curved into tiniest of smiles. “Thank you.”
“Anytime,” I murmured, wondering if he was close with Vasili and
Sasha. Something about the way he cared seemed more personal than just
caring about your employer. His eyes were pale blue, like Vasili and
Sasha’s, although his blonde hair was darker, making a stark contrast. Even
his facial features kind of reminded me of Vasili. There was a scar marring
the middle of his upper lip, but it didn’t take away from him at all. If
anything, it added to his aura - beautiful, in a dangerous kind of way. And
deadly!
“Can you keep an eye on him while we wash off, please?” Vasili asked
him, interrupting my studying of the man.
“Of course.”
“Thank you. If his breathing changes or pulse slows down or speeds
up,” I told him, “-just come and get me. No matter what. Okay?”
He nodded and rushed past us into the room with Sasha. Once he was
behind closed doors, Vasili led me down the hallway, in the opposite
direction from where we came from when we first got here.
“Who’s that?” I questioned him. For some reason, I felt he was
important.
 “That’s my half-brother.” My head snapped to Vasili and I almost
tripped, face planting onto a marble floor. Luckily, he caught my arm and
held me up.
“I didn’t know you had a half-brother,” I murmured. “How old is he?”
“Thirty-five.”
I frowned, confused. Tatiana had never mentioned a half-brother. Her
father passed away about ten years ago. What had she told me about her
mother? I seemed to remember her telling me she passed away when she
was a baby. But her half-brother’s age was in between Tatiana and Sasha.
Was he half-brother from father’s side or mother’s side? There was a
nagging feeling in the back of my brain, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. My
brain was too tired and too slow right now.
The moment we arrived at the opposite side of the house, I forgot about
Vasili’s half-brother. Wide mahogany double doors stood there, with two
guards, both at attention and staring at me.
“You can go; thank you.” Vasili dismissed them.
I watched his guards disperse and then turned to face Vasili. “Why do
you have guards at your door?”
In the last few days, I learned more about Vasili than in the first few
years that I’d known him and Tatiana. Who was he really besides a wealthy
and handsome billionaire? Ruthless criminal? I had a feeling I knew the
answer all along but refused to acknowledge it.
The moment we entered through the doors, my eyes traveled across the
vast suite. No, scratch that. Not a suite. It was like a full-blown penthouse.
“Is this your wing or something?” I probably looked ridiculous eying
everything while still dressed in his shirt, stained with Sasha’s blood and
barefoot.
He chuckled. “No, this house is mine. But this wing was set up to
accommodate the need for privacy.”
I shot him a look. “Why do you need privacy in your own house?”
“I have other men staying on the property and using the rooms in the
house,” he explained. I raised my eyebrow but said nothing. I’d let him
explain whatever he wanted. “Because of my position in the Nikolaev
empire, people want me dead. The security I keep around my family is a
necessity.”
We strode through the large living room, a decent sized kitchen, and I
peeked into a room to find a large bedroom with a king size bed. Vasili
seriously had an obsession with black and red. The bedroom was painted
black and had red accents on the walls. And the bed, holy moly! It was even
bigger than the one in his club.
“Hmmm.” I could barely stand on my feet from the long, exhausting
night and here I was imagining all the things he could do in that bed. I could
pretty much picture him propped like a king in the middle of that bed,
touching himself, his large body on full display.
Shit, now I was turned on.
I forced my eyes away from the bed and locked on the wall in the
furthest corner of the room. Taking a sharp inhale of oxygen, I blinked my
eyes. I didn’t even realize I took steps into his room, towards that corner till
I was right up on it.
It was a stand to tie up a woman, and a wall full of sex toys. From silky
wraps to tie your wrists, nipple clamps, and stuff I had no idea what it was
for.
Note to myself, need to research sex toys.
“I guess you weren’t joking when you said you were into it,” I muttered
under my breath.
“No, I wasn’t joking.” His voice was right behind me, his eyes on me
guarded, studying me. “What do you think about it?”
A choked laugh escaped me. “About what? Being tied up?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Any of it, all of it. Whatever interests you.”
My gaze shifted to this man. It felt like this man, this Vasili Nikolaev
was the man I had sensed lurking underneath his cold, grumpy exterior and
smooth manners from the moment I met him. Except he never let me in.
But now, for some unknown reason, he opened the door and let me glimpse
inside. What changed?
We both looked like a mess, our clothing bloodied from the night’s
events. I should be scared, but yet, I wasn’t. When his enemy had his hand
wrapped around my throat, choking the life out of me, my only thought was
that I wanted more time. More time with Vasili.
I didn’t care about the rejection from five years ago nor about the bitter
anger at him after I lost the baby. My one, shameful secret I never told
anyone about. Tatiana learned I was pregnant the night she took me to the
hospital, the night of my miscarriage. I made her promise not to say
anything to anyone, to keep this one secret between us. And she did. Except
she never realized it was Vasili’s baby I lost until the other night at the club.
 But when life flashed in front of my eyes, none of that mattered. I just
wanted more time. To love. To live. To give and to take.
“Will you show me?” It was the only response I could come up with.
The way his eyes flashed, I knew he didn’t expect that kind of answer
but was thrilled about it.
“Yes, but not today.” He pressed his mouth on mine, hungry and
worshiping. “Let’s take a shower.”
He led me through a door that I hadn’t noticed till now. A large,
luxurious bathroom spread in front of us and again the black title made it
shimmer under dim lights, making promises of dark deliciously sinful
things this man could do to me.
“You really have a thing for red and black, huh?”
He chuckled. “We can change it if you dislike it. I really have a thing
for you, more than anything else.”
My lips parted and I stared at him in shock. Like he didn’t just tell me
something that shook me to my core, he turned on the shower and stripped
the shirt and his boxers off of me and then stripped off his own clothes.
Today Vasili Nikolaev was the man I sensed underneath all his rough
exterior - caring, passionate, loving, protective and possessive.
I should have looked away but instead found myself gawking and
dreaming of what could be.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Three

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

I sabella stood naked in front of me, in all her glory but it was her
eyes and her mouth that had me losing my senses. No pretense,
not trying to be sexy. There was an undiluted desire in her eyes,
matching mine.
“If you keep watching me like this, I won’t be able to hold myself back.
You are tired, and I’m a beast ready to rut you again.”
She took my hand, and we both entered the shower together.
“I’m not too tired.”
I shouldn’t give in. She needed to rest, but the beast inside me wanted
more of her, wanted her submission. I wanted to bend her to my will, leave
marks on her pale, smooth skin, control her pleasure, and own all her
moans. And most importantly own her heart.
She hasn’t said anything earth shattering, but I sensed a slight shift in
her. I hoped it was in the direction I was heading. This woman was
amazing, everything I needed. The way she cared for Sasha, shoving her
own traumatic experience away, showed me just how strong she was. She
took care of my brother; it was now my turn to take care of her.
I reached for the soap and lathered it on my hands, and slowly I roamed
her body, exploring it. She followed my lead, her bottom lip between her
teeth.
“You must work out a lot,” she murmured, her fingers feather-light.
Unlike my rough hands that left red marks over her ivory skin.
My erect cock pressed against her and a tiny gasp left her lips, her eyes
fluttered shut.
 “I love your body,” I purred, under the stream of water. “It’s soft,
beautiful, and perfect for me.”
She peeked through her lashes, her eyes lingered on my abs, her fingers
trailing each muscle. “Hmmm. I love your body more.”
Her touch was soft, her fingers tracing the tattooed words on the right
side of my chest. The shower water glistened over her body, making her
body slick.
“This is new,” she murmured. She leaned closer, her eyes reading the
words.
The world we knew
Won’t come back
The time we’ve lost
Can’t get back
The life we had
Won’t bleed us again.
As she read in her soft voice, my heart pounded against her fingers.
Those words were meant for her. I got it after I learned all the secrets that
enveloped our parents. My end goal was always to get her back. Isabella
Taylor Santos was my end game.
“Yes, it’s new.” I watched her hungrily. My next admission would either
have her running or seal her fate to me. “I got it for you.”
Surprise flashed in her deep brown eyes. Her lips parted, and it took all
my restraint not to fist my hand into her hair and take her mouth.
I watched her swallow, her delicate neck moving with the motion.
“I love it,” she whispered, leaning into me. Three words and her fate
was forever tied to me. Her lips lingered over it, and then she lowered her
mouth onto the tattoo, her tongue making lazy circles over it while the
small hmmm noises vibrated in her throat.
“Hold on to me,” I rasped, grabbing her ass with both my hands and her
arm wrapped around my neck, steadying herself. I lined my cock up with
her entrance, both of her legs wrapped around my waist as my cock slid all
the way inside her.
Her moan echoed in the shower and my fingers gripped her ass, digging
into her soft skin. I held her up as she rode me, her arms around my neck.
Our bodies were slippery, grinding against each other, skin on skin.
Her hot pussy clenched around my cock, her moans echoing in my ear,
and it was the best aphrodisiac ever. I pressed her back against the tiled
wall, fucking her hard, pounding into her, each thrust ripping a louder
scream out of her.
She was close, I felt it in the way her pussy clenched around my cock,
like a vise.
“Oh my God… oh God… Vasili.”
Her eyes squeezed shut, the expressions on her face of pure bliss, and it
was so fucking sexy to watch her; her submission to me complete.
“Fuck, malyshka,” I teetered on the edge. “Come for me.”
As if her body needed that command, she exploded around me, her
body shuddering in my arms, melting each piece of my heart so effortlessly.
It was the best sight ever. I wanted to do this forever with her, and with
another thrust I exploded, my own orgasm shaking me to the core.
I felt it through every single bone and fiber. What this woman did to me
could end me, and I’d die a happy man. She was my aphrodisiac, and I
couldn’t live without her. I was a fool to think I ever could.
I held her in my arms, the water raining on us as we both panted in the
aftermath of our lovemaking. And it was lovemaking, not just fucking. I
had never felt better.
“That was-” Isabella’s breathless voice had me searching out her face.
She was flushed, her eyes shining like diamonds, “fucking amazing.”
I grinned, pressing a soft kiss on her lips. “Stay with me and we’ll be
fucking amazing forever. Together.” Her eyes fluttered shut and her lip
trembled causing alarm within my chest. “What’s the matter?”
I watched her throat move, unable to speak. Her mouth parted but no
words came out, then she swallowed hard. I took her chin between my
fingers, alarmed that maybe unintentionally I had caused her pain again.
“What’s the matter?” The worry swarmed my chest, alarms going off.
“Please, tell me.”
Her warm chocolate brown eyes opened and she gave me a shaky smile.
“It is stupid.”
“Tell me.” I didn’t care how stupid it was, I wanted to make it better.
“I thought that guy would kill me, and I’d never be able to do this with
you again.”
Her admission tore at my heart. First because she was in that position
because of me, and second that her thoughts were of being with me at that
time.
“He will never get to you again,” I vowed. “I won’t let him.”
 The trust in her eyes was enough to bring me to my knees. Her mother
was right, Isabella was too soft but in all the right ways. If Lombardo
Santos would have gotten his clutches on his daughter, he would have
destroyed that in her. So would have his eldest son, Vincent. I still had
reservations about Raphael Santos, but so far, the dealings with him struck
me as fair. Still, I was an untrusting bastard even though my sixth sense told
me Raphael was a completely different man from his father and his older
brother.
Lombardo would have probably married Bella off to some cruel
motherfucker, for his own personal gain. I have been hiding Isabella’s trail
from them for the past five years. Sasha might have done me a favor when
he killed the bastard.
“I saw him earlier today,” she murmured. “Or I guess yesterday since it
is way past midnight.”
It was what sent me into a rage and made me blow up on Adrian. I’d
never forgive myself if something happened to her. She was under my
protection, had been since the moment I laid eyes on her. I fooled myself
into thinking she was nothing to me. She has been everything to me that
second we locked eyes and her small hand reached out to me to shake it in
introduction.
“I know,” I murmured gruffly, grazing her skin with my nose. “It was
the reason I acted like a prick when I found you. I was worried to death that
someone had snatched you.”
“I guess the rumors in college were true,” she muttered.
Her mother kept her out of this world and here I was dragging her into
it. I should have done a better job protecting her. Would this soft woman
forgive me if she knew all I had done?
“Let’s get you to bed,” I said instead. I was a bastard for taking her
again. She was tired and had a long day. “You look tired.”
She nodded and quickly shampooed her hair and then rinsed off. But I
could see the wheels in her brain spinning, thinking it all through. How
much did she know about Santos? I heard her mention it the day I stalked
her at her mother’s hospital. But her mother told me she kept that a secret
from Isabella.
Within the next ten minutes, we were both showered, changed, and
ready for bed. There was just something so sexy in watching her move
around my bedroom, brushing her teeth over my sink wearing my shirt. I
had pajama pants on and no shirt. I usually slept nude so even this was too
much clothing to sleep in. But Isabella looked like a little goddess with my
shirt on and barefoot.
“Okay, let’s go check on Sasha,” she said, her gaze on me. There were
dark circles under her eyes and purplish bruises were stark against her skin.
I wanted to carry her, but I knew she’d object so I settled for taking her
hand.
We headed back towards the side of the house I kept the medical room
in. That was the job I wanted Isabella to take. She didn’t know it but she
applied for it. I called it a private clinic, and I guess it somewhat was.
We entered the room, hand in hand, and I was happy to see that a large
couch had been brought in already, with pillows and a large blanket. I
would have rather had her in my bed but that would happen soon enough.
“Hi there,” she greeted my half-brother. Her half-brother. I made a
promise to her mother on her deathbed. I found him a year after her death.
Bitter, angry, beaten down, and damaged… all because of my mother. She
took it out on an innocent kid. It was a miracle we came to terms, but he
was a Nikolaev. He carried the name now and he was family, regardless of
what had happened. I would always have his back. “I’m Isabella, by the
way.”
He knew who she was. Alexei had been watching over her from the
moment he learned he had a sister. In a way he felt closer to Isabella than
Tatiana, although officially he just met the former. In his eyes, Isabella was
alone and under threat from Santos. I had no doubt that if it came down to
choosing Isabella’s side or the Nikolaev’s, he would choose his sister’s.
And it didn’t bother me one bit.
“I’m Alexei.” His voice was hoarse.
I watched him eyeing Isabella as she moved around Sasha, checking his
vitals. He was too young when he was taken from his mother, but he knew
how she looked from photographs. Isabella resembled her mother a lot. He
looked after her from the shadows. But she didn’t know about him. She
would have to be eased into it.
Isabella pulled at the bandage to check on Sasha’s gun wound. I leaned
against the wall, letting her do her thing, watching the two siblings. It was
interesting how different Alexei responded to Isabella versus Tatiana. In a
lot of ways, Tatiana and Alexei were similar. Both grew up without either
parent around so they had emotional scars and hid them under a thick layer
of assholeness.
But with Isabella, he watched her protectively, the emotional
detachment he usually had around everyone slightly loose around her. Like
he wanted that attachment with her. This might be good for him. Sasha and
I were unable to offer that attachment. We were too fucked up ourselves;
growing up in a family that runs a criminal underworld would do that to
you.
“I’m going to clean it out and re-bandage him. Okay?”
“You’re the doctor,” Alexei grumbled, his eyes never wavering.
She wasn’t perturbed though. She just smiled at him and went on
changing Sasha’s bandages all the while Alexei watched her every move.
“You’re good at this.” His voice was gruff, but he was also impressed.
“Thanks.” Her eyes searched out mine. “We’ll check in the morning for
infection, but so far, it is looking good.”
Abruptly, Alexei stood up and strode to the door.
“You good?” I asked him in Russian. I couldn’t help but worry about
him, just as I did with Sasha. It took him a year after I found him to finally
start easing up around us, but he never really opened up. The scars ran too
deep. My fists balled up just thinking about the fucking hell he had gone
through because of my mother. And I was dishing revenge on her behalf. I
had never been so fucking wrong.
Alexei’s childhood was brutal, thanks to my mother. She dumped him at
the Boston Bratva doorstep. He was tortured and abused from a young age,
with enough scars under his ink to cover ten men. Eventually, he became a
contract killer, a hunter, and worked best alone. In fact, Cassio King
admired him and wanted him on his team, but Alexei’s darkness refused to
be part of anyone’s team. He hunted and avenged. If my mother wasn’t
dead, I was inclined to think I’d finish her off myself. I wasn’t good at
therapy shit, so I helped my brother the only way I knew how. By teaching
him effective torture skills. So he’d make those men he hunted pay.
“Yes, just hard to think of her being Lombardo’s daughter and my
mother’s daughter.” His reply was in Russian too. It was one thing he and I
agreed on, we’d keep her safe.
He disappeared through the door, and Isabella slowly strode to me, her
bare feet soundless against the marble floor.
 I opened my arms and she walked right into them, her small arms
snaking around me. We stood there; two hearts beating to the same sound
and the soft beep of the machine the only noise breaking the silence.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Four

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

I ’m so tired.
Through my sleep deprived brain, I heard men’s voices
speaking Russian. Or was I dreaming about it? I was in that spot
between sleep and barely coming to awareness. Deep men’s voices, a warm
chest underneath me.
I buried my head into that chest, inhaling deeply the scent. “Shhhh,” I
mumbled, sleepily.
A strong, warm chest rumbled under my cheek. The scent was Vasili’s. I
pulled the blanket over my head, trying to ignore what was going on around
me even as my whole body snuggled closer to him.
Sasha. The thought pierced through my brain, and I jolted up, almost
falling off the couch and onto the floor.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Vasili’s hands wrapped around me, holding me steady,
so I wouldn’t fall off the couch.
“Is Sasha okay?” My eyes darted around and found Alexei sitting in the
chair next to Sasha’s hospital bed. Sasha was propped up, his color good.
“I’m good,” he answered. “Thanks to your expertise.”
He tried to move his shoulder but winced.
“Don’t move that shoulder,” I ordered him. Placing my feet on the floor,
I quickly stood up
I leaned over Sasha, and in quick, careful movements checked on his
bandage. It looked good, no signs of infection. He would heal up just fine; I
just had to make sure he didn’t move that shoulder.
 Sasha grinned like he had the best night of his life and not gotten shot.
“What’s the verdict?”
“No infection, and it looks good,” I told him. “But do not move that
shoulder. Understood?”
“So bossy.”
“I’m serious,” I scolded him. “If you want to go around with a shoulder
that hurts for months, be my guest. Move it. Otherwise, listen, and you'll be
back to normal in a month.”
“Sasha will listen,” Alexei grumbled. Why was he always so grouchy?
My eyes darted out the window to find the sun high up in the sky.
“What time is it?”
Vasili chuckled. “It’s almost noon.”
My eyes snapped to him. “Why didn’t you wake me?” I complained.
“You needed sleep.”
“Shit,” I mumbled. “I have an interview today.”
“You do?”
He raised his eyebrow. “Yes, I have to be there in two hours.” My eyes
traced down my state. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“Say shit one more time,” Sasha teased. “And it might actually become
shit.”
I rolled my eyes and spat right back. “Shit.”
The way he laughed reminded me of our days in college. This was
really bad timing. I needed this job. In my head I tried to line up the most
efficient plan.
“Okay. I can stop and get clothes on my way there,” I muttered to
myself more than anyone. “Get dressed in the store, and boom. I’m ready.”
I raised my gaze to find three sets of eyes watching me. “Can someone
drive me?”
“Isabella, your interview… it’s here.” Vasili wasn’t making any sense.
“What do you mean?”
“This is the private clinic,” he replied. “Remember, I asked you to work
for me. This was it. And you applied for the position too. Alexei runs the
clinic but wants someone with a strong ER background to take it on.”
Alexei’s arm folded on his chest. “You fit the bill. Want it?”
My brain was too slow this morning. I stared bleak at him, blinking
several times, trying to process it all. “Like here?”
Alexei smirked. “This is where the clinic is.”
 “So no interview?”
“After last night, you passed.”
“Hmmmm.”
This was not how I expected my morning to go. Vasili watched me
curiously, his gaze warm, and I was half tempted to go snuggle back against
him. As if he read my thoughts, he patted a spot next to him. I literally
could feel my cheeks flaming. His brothers were here, but my feet moved
on their own and I sat back next to him.
“So what does hmmm mean?” Alexei asked.
I chewed on my bottom lip, unsure if it was smart to work for Vasili and
his brothers. What would happen when things ended between us?
“I’ll think about it,” I told him. “It’s a bit too much to process on an
empty stomach and without coffee.”
“Fair enough.” He stood up and helped Sasha up. “Speaking of food,
let’s have lunch. Isabella, you can have breakfast if you prefer.”
I nodded but couldn’t help but stare at Alexei. It made me wonder.
When my mother passed away, I had to go through all her possessions.
There were so many secrets she harbored my entire life. But this… he
couldn’t be. Her journal concluded the son she had with Vasili’s father was
dead.
“How old are you, Alexei?”
He gave me a strange look, but didn’t answer right away. I felt like the
air in the room stilled, tensed somehow.
“He’s thirty-five.” Sasha was the one that answered, the only one
oblivious to the tension.
My chest squeezed. He was the right age. The son my mother had, that I
never knew about till after I buried her. Alexei was around the right age. It
is ridiculous, I tried to tell myself. There was no way.
“Let’s go and eat,” Sasha interrupted my silence. “I’m starving.”
“Yeah, me too.” Alexei and Sasha left the room, leaving Vasili and me
alone. I was hungry but also worried about the nudging feeling in the back
of my mind that I kept ignoring. There were too many coincidences. Did
Vasili’s father take my mother’s son away from her? I never knew how
much she suffered till I read through her journals. Her anguish and worry
for her baby. But through her pages, she mentioned Vasili’s father, Nikola,
looked for him too. Was he so cruel that he deceived her? Pretended he was
helping when in fact he took her son.
 “I had your clothes brought in this morning,” his voice startled me out
of my thoughts.
“Oh.” I guess I wouldn’t have had to stop at the store after all… if I had
the interview. “Thank you.”
“What’s on your mind, Isabella?”
My mother’s last few days flashed in my mind. The pain and suffering
she was reliving while on pain medication, her thoughts of present and past
blurring. Those last few days gave me a glimpse of how much she’d loved
Vasili’s father. Nikola. She kept calling for him. It gnawed at my heart not
being able to ease her pain. Without pain meds, her body suffered. With the
pain meds, her mind was in agony. There wasn’t a winning situation.
If Vasili and I were going to do this, we had to talk. He was right when
he said we needed to talk. About everything. I was just scared where it
would all lead.
I opened my mouth to ask him about Alexei but his phone rang.
He glanced at it, as if he was ready to dismiss it, but when he saw who it
was, his whole expression darkened.
“What?” he answered the phone, fury steaming off of him.
Whatever the person on the other line said, it didn’t ease him at all.
“Fine. Where and when?”
It took another ten seconds and he ended the call, a string of curses
leaving his lips. Some were in English and some were in Russian.
“Is everything okay?”
He nodded, though I was sure nothing was okay. “Let’s go get dressed.”
“Okay.” I would be lying if I said it didn’t bother me that he refused to
confide in me and expected me to tell him what was weighing on my mind.
“Where are my clothes?”
“My room,” he murmured, placing his lips on my neck. I immediately
tilted my head, to allow him better access. With him, my body reacted
before my mind even processed anything. “I always want you with me.
Remember that.”

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Chapter Twenty-Five

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

I left Isabella with Alexei and Sasha at my home. It felt right

having her in my home, seeing her with my brothers and
protected by our family and our men. What happened yesterday
at Tatiana’s place was a breach in security, the worst kind. Santos’ men
should have never been able to breach the parameter so easily. They fucking
eliminated every single man guarding that house. It meant, they knew
Isabella and Tatiana would be gone, and they cleaned up all evidence of
their killing before they expected them home. It was a lucky fucking chance
that Adrian took Tatiana to his place and I brought Isabella home. My heart
froze each time I even thought about what would have happened if she
came home alone.
Adrian met me halfway to my rendezvous point where I would meet
with Raphael Santos. He left his car parked and got into my car, with his
weapons. My driver carried us on towards the destination.
“Tatiana safe?”
“Yes.” He was tense. So was I. What happened yesterday was a major
failure in our security system.
“What happened?” There was no need for elaboration; he knew what I
meant. “Isabella could have been killed. Twice in twenty-four hours.”
The terror on Isabella’s face, in those soft brown eyes; it would forever
stay with me. It should have never happened. First in the city and then in
Tatiana’s home. How did Raphael get close to her?
“Cassio’s guy hacked into our network.” I knew it was hard for Adrian
to admit it, even harder to know that there was a guy out there that good.
Adrian was one of the best in this business.
Cassio King was an up-and-coming Italian mafia boss. Through the
years I watched him make allies in the most unlikely places with the most
unlikely men. He didn’t discriminate - from bankers to politicians. Irish,
Colombians, Russians, various Italian families. It didn’t matter. Raphael
was one of his allies as well and that was the odd thing. Cassio never
approached his father, nor the eldest son. He bypassed those two, going
directly to Raphael, and I had to wonder why.
But I had to give it to the guy. Cassio King played it well. He gathered
his own strong allies throughout the years, never raising alarm with his
father, Benito King, because he didn’t go for the top dogs in the food chain.
He went for the best dogs in the food chain. And he always had his men’s
back too. It was more of a partnership than what his father ran, which was
failing miserably. His father was one cruel motherfucker.
“Raphael is on his team,” I told him. Five years ago, shortly after
Isabella’s mother passed away, Cassio asked me in on his partnership deal,
but I wasn’t interested. I wanted no part of anything that involved the
Santos family. It was for Isabella’s protection.
I should have known Raphael Santos was too smart. He might have
mistaken Isabella for Tatiana, but it played in his favor because now he
knew who she was. Cassio’s guy must have helped him dig up information
on her, all while we were sleeping.
“How many men do we have at the location?” I asked Adrian. If shit
was about to go down, we better be prepared.
“Twenty. Our best.”
“I might as well tell you now,” I started. Raphael already hinted we’d
discuss family and Isabella. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what that
meant. “Isabella is Lombardo’s daughter. Raphael is her half-brother.”
Adrian’s head snapped to me, shock on his face. And he was rarely
shocked. “You are fucking with me!”
“No, I’m not. Raphael didn’t know it last night, but he knows it now.
She is not theirs though! No matter what, she is to be under our protection.”
“Even if it means war?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” It was the reason Adrian and I worked well together. He never
tried to reason with me, and it was the same with him. We weren’t
impulsive like Sasha. When we came to a decision, it was because we
thought it through.
“Alexei and Isabella are half-siblings,” I explained. “If something
happens to me, Alexei knows what to do and how to protect her. I feel
better that Lombardo and Vincent are dead; Raphael is a better man than his
father. But I made a promise that Isabella would not fall under their
clutches. I intend to keep it.”
The car came to a stop. Our meeting spot was an abandoned warehouse,
fifty miles out of the city. Some days I really felt too old for this shit.
Isabella’s words of having children and a beach home played in my mind. I
could see her teaching our children to surf, walking around barefoot on the
tile floor, the sounds of the waves washing ashore carrying through the
house.
Maybe I could convince Alexei to take over? He was more involved
than Sasha and had a niche for it. I wanted to enjoy the rest of my life with
the woman I loved by my side and raising our children together.
“Ready?” Adrian asked.
I could see Raphael Santos from here, in his white suit. His dark hair
was a stark contrast against it, and I almost hated that it was the same shade
as Isabella’s hair. It was a reminder that if shit hits the fan, I would be
attempting to kill her half-brother. Our parents really did a good job of
fucking things up.
“Yes.”
We both exited the vehicle and strode to Raphael without any words.
Stopping ten feet away from him, I unbuttoned my blazer just in case I
needed to access my weapon fast. Raphael followed the movement and
knew exactly the reason behind it.
“Thank you for meeting me.”
“Welcome.”
“Isabella Taylor is my sister.” Well, he didn’t beat around the bush,
that’s for sure.
“Half-sister.”
“She is a Santos. She should have grown up under our protection.”
“No offense, Raphael,” I gritted, trying to control my anger. “Your
father and your brother weren’t exactly the protective kind. Her mother hid
from your father to protect her daughter.”
 “Her mother hid from your father too,” he hissed. “Your parents started
this shit.”
The worst part was I couldn’t even dispute it. My father fell for a young,
beautiful woman and took her to bed, regardless of the fact that he was
married. Then my mother stole her son and had him put through a
nightmare of a life. That pushed Marietta Taylor into Lombardo Santos’
clutches.
“Did we come here to discuss the past, and who fucked it up the worst?”
“I want her in my life.”
“Not going to happen.” I wasn’t even sure Isabella would accept my
criminal connection.
“I could protect her.” He tried really hard to keep his cool but his accent
grew thicker as he got angrier. “Dios mío, Vasili. Benito King knows about
her. He has his minions after her.”
“I will protect her.” He was pissing me off, but it was good to know he
wasn’t willing to let Benito King get his clutches on his half-sister. I wasn’t
so sure that Lombardo or Vincent Santos would have done the same.
“Does she know?” Raphael switched the subject. “Does she know about
me?”
“Santos, what the fuck do you want?”
“I want to be part of my sister’s life.”
“I repeat. Not. Happening.”
“It is not your decision,” he growled, anger finally resurfacing. “She is
my last blood sibling. Familia.” I said nothing, both of us staring at each
other with our jaws pressed tight. I was pissed; he was pissed. I couldn’t
even say I blamed him. I would have wanted the same thing. After all, I was
in his shoes when I found out about Alexei. Yes, I had Sasha and Tatiana
but blood was blood.
“I am giving you a courtesy warning, Vasili,” Raphael finally broke the
silence. “I saw yesterday that she cares about you. I regret the way we met,
but I want to make it right. I have other wars to fight. I don’t need to
escalate the one between us, but I will. We could end this war now. You’re
choice. I want Isabella in my life. I want to apologize for hurting her and
have the chance to start over. ”
“And if she doesn’t want to?” It was a strong possibility, after yesterday,
Isabella would want nothing to do with him.
 A flash of regret passed his face, but he quickly masked his expression.
“I’ll respect it. But I want to be the one to explain. I want to meet her when
you tell her. Today.”
He was eager. It might play to my benefit. There were still bruises on
Isabella’s neck from last night’s encounter with her half-brother. Yes, half-
brother. I’d emphasize that half for the rest of my life. Alexei would be her
brother. Raphael would be her half-brother.
“Fine,” I told him and surprise flashed on his face. “We’ll meet in the
home you raided last night. In two hours. You should be familiar with the
address.”
“Thank you.”
“Tell me one thing. How did you know she was your half-sister?” I
asked him.
“I should have known right away she wasn’t your sister. But I kept
seeing her all day with your men, so I assumed she altered her appearance.
After last night, I went home and curiosity had me digging up information.
She seemed important to you.” I should have kept a better poker face. It's
too late now. The fact that Isabella was the most important person to me had
been impossible to hide. “The connection didn’t hit me till I saw her birth
certificate. Her mother was my father’s side thing. She wanted his help and
he used her. One day she disappeared. He only found out a few years back
she had a daughter by him. A kid from her hometown reached out.” It had
to be the kid from the hospital. They talked about Santos. “Except he was
useless in terms of telling my father where she was or what she looked like.
Isabella didn’t stay in touch after her mother died. And here we are.”
“Here we are,” I agreed. “I’ll see you in two hours. Try something
stupid, and I don’t care what it costs, I’ll have you killed.” It wasn’t a
threat, it was a promise.
“Don’t worry, Vasili,” he grumbled back. “I wouldn’t damage my
chances with my sister by hurting someone she obviously loves.”
“Half-sister,” I reminded him in a growl but couldn’t help but hope. Did
he see it in her that she loved me?
We left Raphael behind and headed back towards the city, my driver
speeding down the highway. I wasn’t sure how I’d explain to Isabella that
we would meet with the man that tried to kill her. Fucking mafia and
criminal underworld. One day we kill each other, the next day we forge
alliances. Nobody in their right mind would understand that.
 “Tatiana wants to talk to you,” Adrian interrupted my thinking. I wasn’t
really in the mood for it. “She says it’s important. About Isabella.”
“Tell her I’m calling her.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed up my sister. She answered on the first
ring.
“Vasili?”
“Yes, what about Isabella?” Silence followed, which was
uncharacteristic for my sister. “Tatiana?”
“How is Bella?”
I frowned. My sister and Bella talked all the time. I would usually be
the last person Tatiana would call to ask how her best friend was doing.
“She’s strong,” I told her. I didn’t think Adrian would share details of
Raphael choking the life out of Isabella or any details of last night. But you
never knew what the fuck men did when they fell for their women. Just
look at me.
I pressed the mute button and quickly asked Adrian. “What did you tell
my sister about last night?”
“I kept it short. Raphael tried to take Isabella thinking she was her, but
you and Sasha got to her.”
I nodded and unmuted the line. “Tatiana, I don’t have time for dramatics
today. If there is something you need to say, spit it out.”
I heard a deep exhale over the line. “Sasha said he woke up to you and
Isabella sleeping together.”
“So?” She remained quiet and I felt my skin tighten. “Is that a
problem?”
God, I hoped my sister wouldn’t start some shit now. They have been
best friends forever and they better not have some stupid pact. No brothers
or stupid shit like that.
“Don’t hurt her again.” My heart thumped with ache and my breath
stilled.
“She told you?”
“No, she never said anything. When she stopped coming around, I
blamed it on her probably hearing stuff about you. But I figured it out when
she went off on you the other day.” I had no idea what to say. Was Isabella
heartbroken when I left her? She didn’t act like it. When I saw her on her
graduation day, she barely even glanced my way. The gift I got her, I saw
her discard it in a trash can without even opening it. “Vasili, I shouldn’t tell
you this, and I might lose my best friend for it, but I owe her this.”
“You are not making any sense.”
“Remember five years ago when I asked you for a new car.”
“Yes, you and Isabella got into some trouble and the fucking car looked
like a murder scene.” I could still remember Tatiana’s pale face from that
day. She refused to tell me what happened. Even to Sasha who was more
understanding.
“It was Isabella’s blood. She almost died.” I stared in front of me, not
seeing anything around me but those old images of all that blood soaked
through the carpets, seats.
“What happened?” My voice was hoarse and my heart thundered in my
ears.
“She was pregnant.” The sharp pain pierced through my chest, and my
breath cut through my lungs. I recalled yesterday the fleeting expression of
sorrow, and suddenly it made sense. “She was four months along. I didn’t
know. I should have picked up on it; she was tired all the time, sick and
pale, but I missed it all. We were cramming for exams after her mother
passed away, so I just coughed it all up to exhaustion. Till I found her in the
middle of the night, in her own pool of blood. I was sure she’d die.”
Tatiana’s voice shook, but it was nothing to the images that swirled in my
mind. Isabella was doing it all alone, and it was my fault. No wonder she
held back. She was pregnant with our child, and she never even told me.
Why would she when I discarded her after that night. All the words I
threw her way!
“Why didn’t the school call?” I asked her, my voice rough. “I was the
emergency contact for your room.”
“She didn’t want to go to the campus hospital. She begged me not to
call anyone and to take her to a city hospital. I carried her to the car and she
passed out. She was out for two days. They said if she’d come ten minutes
later, she would have bled to death. Now I know it was stupid. That delay
could have cost her life. But it was such a shock. I didn’t even know she
was pregnant.” For the first time since I forced her back into my life, I
couldn’t help but regret it. Because I abandoned her when she needed me
the most. “It was hard for her after she lost the-”
Tatiana’s voice broke, but I couldn’t comfort my little sister. I sat numb,
my heart thumping against my chest, but it felt hollow. Someone I was
supposed to cherish and protect was instead hurt in the worst way possible.
“She struggled to move on. She pretended she was okay, but in the
middle of the night when she thought I was asleep, I heard the way she fell
apart. If you are toying with her, I swear, Vasili, brother or no brother, I will
never speak to you again. Isabella forgives too easily, but I don’t. If I knew
back then that it was yours, I would have killed you myself. She didn’t
deserve that.”
Nothing quite highlighted how badly I fucked up as getting scolded by
my little sister.
“No, she didn’t.” Fuck, I never realized how badly I hurt Isabella. When
she fell asleep in my arms last night, I held hope we were headed for our
own forever. Now, I wasn’t so sure. How could she ever look at me and not
remember how much she lost. “Did the doctors say why it happened?”
“They said something about the placenta. I don’t know. The doctor said
so many things and most of them went over my head. They did a surgery,
but couldn’t save the baby. All I know is that Isabella was out cold when we
got there, and I’d promised her before she passed out that I wouldn’t call
you. I was more worried about Isabella living through it than I was about
her not wanting you to know.”
The thought of Isabella almost dying shook me to my core. My world
without her would be empty. Five years without her were torture, but what
kept me going was knowing she was alive and well. Isabella’s mother was
right. Her daughter was too soft, too forgiving. Even after everything she
endured, she let me touch her. A bastard like me didn’t deserve it.
“Don’t worry, sestrenka. I’ll make it right.” Even if it kills me.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Six

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

A drian and I pulled up to my compound, finding Alexei cleaning

his weapons on the front step. Adrian went straight to organize
positions for our men.
“Getting ready for a war?” I asked my brother. He might have been in
my life only for the past four years, but it felt like he was part of me my
whole life. Alexei and my character were more alike than mine and Sasha’s.
I sat next to him and met his surprised look. Without him saying
anything, I knew he thought I’d run to find Isabella. I wanted to, but after
what I just found out, I was fucking scared.
I was scared she’d tell me any second that she couldn’t stand me.
“What do you know about Cassio King?” I asked my brother. My
brother was an outsourced enforcer whenever others failed. He was one of
the best and did a few jobs with Cassio King over the last ten years. Their
business relationship started before I found Alexei. While I knew Cassio
from afar, my brother would know him as a close associate. Those two used
to hunt and kill men together.
“He’s got honor. Better than his bastard father.” He looked up at the sky
pensively. He didn’t know it, but it was something our father used to do.
“He is fair, his alliances are strong, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one of
these days he overthrows his father and half-brother, Marco.”
“Can he be trusted?”
“Can anyone in our world be trusted?”
“Point taken.”
 “Although, I think he is trustworthy. He stands behind the people who
stand with him.”
“You still keep your connections with him?”
Alexei raised his eyebrow just a bit, almost like a twitch. “Why?”
“I need to know if Raphael Santos is trustworthy and would protect
your sister at all cost.”
“What the fuck, Vasili? We agreed she’d stay with us.”
That was before I learned that I left her to deal with the result of our
night of passion alone and almost died. But if I told this to Alexei, he might
murder me himself. I was convinced Isabella would never stay with me
long-term.
“Humor me. Just in case Isabella doesn’t want to stay with us, I want to
know she is safe under Santos’ protection.”
“I’ll keep her safe.” Alexei was as stubborn as me too.
“I know, but it doesn’t hurt to have back up plans. Isn’t that what you
always tell me?” And he was right. In this world of ours, multi-layers of
backups were needed. Isabella was born into this world, though nobody
knew it. Just her mother.
“I’ll give Cassio a call.”
“Thank you, brother.”
I stood up and headed for the entrance when my brother’s voice stopped
me. “I think Isabella knows something,” he switched to Russian. “She kept
asking about my parents and birthday.”
“Maybe she is curious.”
“I don’t think so.” I’d give it to my brother. He was always short and to
the point while our other brother tended to talk the days away. “She is
changing Sasha’s bandages. I think we might have to shoot some of our
men so she can be busy caring for them. She is driving Sasha crazy.”
My lip quirked with amusement. It was probably what made her a good
ER physician. She liked to stay busy.
I headed for the medical room, and sure as shit, I found her there fixing
my brother’s bandages.
“Jesus, Sasha. Would you please stop moving?!” I could hear irritation
in her voice.
“It has only been four hours since you changed my bandage.”
“You will heal faster if you don’t get an infection.”
“God, can you go work on Alexei?”
 “Is he hurt?” I could see from my spot here, concern on her face.
“I’ll shoot him for you, and you can fuss over him.”
Isabella’s face turned into one of scolding. “Something is seriously
wrong with you.”
“Do you torture all your patients like this?” She pulled tighter on his
bandage and a grunt left my brother’s lips. “Okay, point taken.”
“You are a damn grouch when you are injured, Sasha.”
I grinned, she was right. He always has been cranky when injured
because he hated if anything hindered his mobility.
“I am not grouchy.”
“Yes, you are.”
“And you are grouchy when Vasili is not around.”
She frowned, an attractive blush creeping up her neck. “That doesn’t
even make sense.”
“I got you though.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“So how long has it been going on with you two?” Isabella’s attention
was on cleaning up the station and ignored his question. “I know you heard
me.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“I woke up to you two cuddled up on the couch, in my sick room.”
She met his eyes and rolled them in annoyance. “In case you haven’t
noticed, there was only one couch here. Should I have slept on the floor or
maybe on your hospital bed?”
“I wouldn't mind.”
“Well, I would,” she grumbled.
“I just have a hard time imagining you and Vasili. You are so nice and
he is so,” my brother searched for the right word. “So grouchy. And you
called him old.”
“Aren’t we all old?”
“I’m not. I’m barely thirty-eight.”
Fucking liar. He was turning forty this year. Isabella knew it too.
“Well, you are barely thirty-nine years old,” she retorted dryly. I
grinned. “So what’s your point, Sasha?”
“Why didn’t you slap Ryan Johnson when you ran into him banging that
chick? Reporters were all over that. Your calm composure as you walked
away after finding him in a compromised position.”
 “Jesus, Sasha. Your change of topics will give me whiplash.”
He just grinned. “Why, Bella? You knew he deserved it. I could go and
rough him up a bit for you. You can’t let people step all over you and then
let them get away with it. That’s my fear when I see you with Vasili. He’ll
swallow you whole.”
Thanks for the vote of confidence brother!
Isabelle’s eyes went out the window.
“I don’t know why I didn’t lose my shit, Sasha. I wondered it myself
when I got back to my place.” She took a deep breath in and exhaled.
“Funny thing was that as I left the hospital, I was annoyed that he texted me
that day to meet him. For a while there, I debated pretending I didn’t see the
text. But I forced myself to go, and then when I saw it… I was just too
damn tired. My last patient that day had died, and I watched his mother fall
apart because she lost her only son. Yes, it sucked that Ryan finally got
caught cheating and that he humiliated me in such a public way. But in the
grand scheme of things, did it really matter?”
“I guess it didn’t matter. Not if he only made it to ten percent after two
years.”
“I can’t believe you remember that conversation,” Isabella mumbled
with a smile. “Tatiana and I were so hammered that night.”
It must have been one of the times that Sasha got them out of trouble.
Sasha’s next words confirmed it. “You two together caused havoc in D.C.
during your college years. And how could I forget. You broke the man’s
nose for attempting to forcibly kiss you. The police officer thought you and
Tatiana were crazy. You sat the cop down and tried to explain to him what
each percent means in your most serious, drunk voice.”
Isabella chuckled. “Well, he might have a daughter one day. It is
useful.”
“Who came up with that shit? You or my sister?”
“I think we both did, after the first college party we attended. Every boy
wanted to get their hands on us so we set some ground rules.”
“Did anyone ever get to one hundred?”
“Of course not. Don’t you remember, one hundred was marriage, kids,
and a van. Although I think an amendment is in order. SUV in place of a
van. Nobody wants to drive a van.”
I strode into the room, interrupting their conversation. “I might have a
van around here somewhere.”
 Sasha and Isabella shared a horrific look with a twinkle in their eyes.
They always got along great. Isabella has been part of our family from the
start, if only I wouldn’t have been so blind with the revenge. “You should
not admit that, brother.”
My eyes lingered on Isabella, soaking her in. She didn’t look away, but
she didn’t approach me either. That reservation in her, it made sense now.
“Sasha, go get an update from Adrian. We’ll be moving in thirty
minutes.”
Without another word, my brother left. Soaking up her appearance, I
knew her beachy smell, the feel of her body, the sound of her laugh and
softness of her eyes would cling to my heart forever. She had burrowed
beneath my skin without any effort and tattooed herself onto every cell of
me. I might have been the one to speak those cruel words to her five years
ago, but the joke was on me. Until I died, this obsession wouldn’t ease out.
It only got stronger with each breath.
“Is everything okay?” Isabella’s voice was tentative, as if she expected
me to shut her down at any moment.
I strode to her, like a dying man needing his fix, and she was the only
one that could bring me back to life. Wrapping my arms around her, it was
killing me to think of her small, soft body bleeding out in my sister’s car,
losing something precious we had created that night.
And she had to go through it alone.
“I love you, Isabella.”
I felt her stiffen in my arms and my heart squeezed painfully, preparing
for her rejection. But no sound left her lips. Slowly, her body relaxed, and
she tightened her hold on me. I wasn’t sure if this was better or worse.
“You smell so good.” Her voice rumbled through my chest. Was this her
soft rejection?
Fuck, I can’t let her go. If I was a better man, I would. After everything,
I should have let her go but everything inside me fought against it.
“I want you to be mine, malyshka,” I rasped, and for the first time in my
life, my voice shook with fear.
She lifted her head from my chest and met my eyes. There were so
many unspoken words between us, even more in those shimmering eyes of
hers. I wanted her to talk to me, tell me all her worries and fears. I had to fix
all the wrongs I had done.
 Her hands framed my face, holding eye contact as she lifted on her toes
to reach for my lips. She was still too short so I bent my head, like she was
the last drop of water I’d ever get. I felt her soft mouth skim over my lips
with a tenderness that would be my undoing.
She may have been giving me tenderness, but was it forgiveness too?
My actions from all those years ago, even how I pushed Ryan out of the
way, felt like a hot iron wedging itself between us, building a tall fence
topped with deadly spikes.
No more secrets. Tatiana was never meant to share what had happened
to Isabella, but I was glad she did. It might give me a chance to ask for her
forgiveness and earn it.
“Tatiana told me about the baby.”
Her body went taut, and before she even took a step back, away from
me, I sensed her invisible walls coming up. The hollow ache in my chest
grew with each heartbeat. She stole my heart eight years ago, an eighteen-
year-old girl with big brown eyes and a mischievous glint.
Is this your dad? Those were her first words I heard from her kissable
lips.
I fought the attraction from that very day till that Halloween night, her
senior year and lost. I lied to myself, justifying it was my way to get back to
her mother. But if it was, I wouldn’t have waited over three years to get her
into bed.
“Please talk to me, Isabella.”
She had said these same words to me before; after the very night I took
her virginity. How ironic that I threw them in her face, and now I was the
one begging her to talk to me.
I watched her swallow hard, her chest rising and falling the only
indication she tried to keep herself together.
“I should have been there for you.” I searched out her eyes, prayed
she’d see I meant it. “I was so fucking wrong. From the start.”
“Please don’t.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but it felt like a scream.
“I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you. Despite the fact you
assumed I was Tatiana’s father. You are right; I’m too old for you. I don’t
fucking care. I don’t care who your parents are, nor mine. I want us. If I
wasn’t such a stubborn dick and admitted to myself you’re my end game
after fantasizing about you since your freshman year, maybe I could have
saved us all these years of loneliness, and our baby. And if you give us a
chance, I’ll be making it up to you for the rest of our lives.”
The words poured out and with each second that she stood still, my
heart shook. This wasn’t the ruthless Vasili Nikolaev, mobster of New
Orleans. This was her man and whether she wanted me or not, I’d be hers.
She saw this man from the moment our eyes met.
“Please, malyshka. Don’t throw us away.”
Our gazes locked, her glistening eyes drowning me. There were so
many emotions in those glimmering eyes - sorrow, loneliness, regret. It was
that last one that was killing me. It wasn’t looking good for me.
“The baby… it was nobody’s fault. Just wasn’t meant to be.” Her voice
was feather soft. She had every right to blame me for her loss, for putting
her through it, but that wasn’t Isabella.
Longing tore through me. I wanted children with her. I wanted her. But
this almost felt like she was telling me we weren't meant to be.
“Maybe, but we… you and me, Isabella, we are meant to be. I want to
have kids with you, be wherever you are. You are my heart. I want to see
you surf, watch you teach our children to surf. Fuck, I want you to teach my
old ass how to surf.” The first glimpse of a smile came to her lips and hope
shone in my chest like the brightest ray of sunshine. “Please give us a
chance. You told me five years ago, it wasn’t just a fuck for you. It wasn’t
for me either. You were and still are everything to me.”
Goddamn it, I wanted to hear her tell me she’d give us another try. I
wouldn’t be a selfish and greedy bastard and ask her to love me. Not till she
was ready. But I wanted another chance.
“You might not need me, malyshka, but I need you.”

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Seven

OceanofPDF.com
 ISABELLA

T he sight of this man filled me with such heavy longing. He

was here, right in front of me, offering himself, asking for a
future together. The words I had long wanted to hear were
spoken, but the grip on my throat refused to let any words pass my lips.
What held me back?
I loved him, there was not an ounce of doubt in my heart about it. I gave
him my heart a long time ago. Five years ago, it was easier to take a risk. I
was too young and naive, the pain of heartbreak unknown.
He loves me.
Would he say that if he knew who my father was? If he knew my
mother, spilled secrets about his father to his enemy. Granted, she did it in
her efforts to get help in finding her son, but knowing Vasili, he wouldn’t
find it forgiving.
The throb in my chest grew along with my despair. Something I wanted
desperately was so close, within my grasp yet unobtainable. Because of our
parents' mistakes. He said he didn’t care who our parents were, but did he
care what they had done?
My heart was unbearably heavy, each beat rebelling at the decision I
had to make. I looked away, unable to see the hurt my next words would
cause. I had to get them out and be done with it, but my throat refused to
make a sound. My entire body knew they would result in the same
devastating pain I experienced five years ago.
But it wasn’t the same, was it? I was stronger now. And I certainly
wasn’t that young girl that crushed after her best friend’s brother for over
three years.
I swallowed. “Vasili, I-”
The door to the room burst open and Alexei’s head poked in. “Want the
good news or the bad news?”
“What is it, Alexei?” Vasili’s eyes never wavered from me, and I could
already see it in them, he sensed which way we were headed.
“Okay, good news first. Cassio King vouched for Raphael Santos. Said
he’d protect his family to his dying breath. Bad news is that if we don’t
show up for this meeting, he’ll move heaven and earth to get to her.
Another fulfillment of a dead parent’s wish. His father made him promise
with his last dying breath.”
I tensed slightly at hearing Santos' last name. Was the man from
yesterday part of the Santos family?
“Couldn't our damn parents just do things right from the get go, so we
are not stuck cleaning up their messes?” Vasili growled. His words
surprised me. It was exactly how I felt.
Alexei just shrugged his shoulders. “It would seem not. Plenty of parent
fuck-ups to go around.”
I couldn’t help but keep staring at Alexei. After my mother died and I
went through her possessions, I found a birth certificate for a son she had
ten years before me. She named him Alexei. He fit the same age bracket.
Did Vasili’s father bring him to be raised with his siblings? Then why did I
never see him or hear about him during my years with Tatiana?
“So why did I never hear about you before, Alexei?” The question came
out before I could stop myself. This conversation was easier than the one I
had to have with Vasili.
Pull the band-aid. Fuck that. Whoever came up with that logic was a
damn idiot.
“Probably because Vasili found me only about four years ago.”
My eyes darted between the two, hoping one of them would elaborate.
When neither one of them said another word, I cleared my throat
uncomfortably. It was never in me to be nosy, but an inner instinct urged me
to keep prodding at it.
“Why? What happened?”
Alexei came in, shut the door and leaned back against it, folding his
arms. I watched his forearms, every inch of his skin there covered in ink.
He sure likes tattoos! I raised my eyes and focused on his face. His eyes
went to Vasili, his eyebrow slightly raised and muttered something in
Russian.
“Can’t you say it in English?” I challenged him.
Those two shared a glance, and Alexei answered. “I told him that I
thought you know.”
“Know what?” I questioned him. I needed this to be crystal clear.
“Vasili, brother,” Alexei started, his eyes remaining on me. As if he was
watching me for some reaction. “Why don’t you tell my sister,” a sharp
gasp sounded off my lips, “-how you found out about me?”
“What?” I suspected it but hearing him say it, it made it sound crazy.
“Are you really-?”
He nodded at my unfinished sentence.
“I visited your mom while she was in the hospital,” Vasili’s voice had
me turning my attention to him.
He visited my mother? I didn’t believe him. She would have told me
someone came to visit.
“How did I not know? Or see you? I was there all the time.” I eyed him
suspiciously. Although I remembered how my mother kept telling me she
saw Nikola, Vasili’s father.
“I timed it right and only went into her room during your breaks.”
“You visited her more than once?”
He nodded his head. “Yes. The first day, I went to gloat.” I narrowed my
eyes on him. “Yes, I was a dick, Isabella. And stupid. But what I found out
was that your mother and my father had a son together. Alexei. My mother
was not the best mother, nor the best wife. But she was downright cruel to
her enemies, and your mother became her enemy. She took from my mother
something that she considered hers, my father. What was worse, my father
loved your mother. I’m not sure he ever really loved mine.” Jesus, all of it
sounded like a big freaking mess. A damn fucked up version of the
Hallmark Channel movie material.
“Anyhow, two years after Alexei was born, my mother had him
kidnapped and hidden. He’s had a hard life, but despite every effort your
mom or my father put into it, they couldn’t find him. Your mother told my
father it was my mother that took the child, but he refused to believe it.
After a few years, your mother grew desperate. She went to my father’s
enemy and struck a deal. If they helped her, she would help Lombardo
Santos.” I swallowed hard, realizing Vasili knew a lot more than I thought.
“But Lombardo also had a weakness for beautiful women. Your mother
became his mistress, and once she fell pregnant, she feared his wife would
do the same thing that my mother did so she ran and hid.”
“She really had a bad habit of sleeping with married men,” I muttered
more to myself than them.
“I couldn’t agree with you more, sister.” Alexei’s voice was gentle, and
I couldn’t stop staring at him. He was my brother. Well, half-brother, really.
And he was Vasili’s half-brother too. Vasili and I had no blood relations,
thank God, but the shared connection was uncomfortable.
“You don’t seem surprised, Isabella,” Vasili noted, his pale gaze on me
sending shivers down my spine.
“After Mom passed away, I went through all her stuff and packed it up.
I found her journal and a box with baby boy keepsakes and baby pictures.
She mourned for her son’s loss and cried for the love she shared with
Nikola… umm, your father. It was quite a surprise, all of it.” And she
feared Lombardo Santos most of all, but I kept that to myself.
“I can only imagine,” Alexei muttered. “When Vasili found me, he gave
me information overload.”
“How bad was your childhood?” I swallowed hard because I wasn’t
sure if it was something I should ask.
Something about the way his eyes flashed told me that it had been bad -
- really bad --, and my heart bled. I have a brother.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. I wished there was something I could do to
help. The scar on his lip didn’t compare to the invisible scars he carried.
“It’s in the past,” he grumbled.
“Do Sasha and Tatiana know?” It was odd that Tatiana never mentioned
him, but I didn’t exactly come around a lot over the last five years.
“They know he is our half-brother.” Vasili seemed slightly agitated, and
I wondered why. Did he not want to tell me about my connection with
Alexei? “They don’t know about his connection to you.” He sighed.
“There’s more, malyshka.”
“What?” I asked nervously.
“Did your mother ever tell you about who your father was?” he asked
quietly, searching my face.
With a shaky breath, I prepared myself to tell him the truth. Then,
realization struck me. He knew about my connection to Santos, and it
dawned on me. Vasili said he loved me. He knew I was his enemy’s
daughter, and still, he swore he wanted to spend the rest of our lives
together. To love me. To have children with me. To learn surfing. I could
hardly believe it. This man I’d loved for almost a decade wanted me. Loved
me despite everything that told him he shouldn’t. My chest warmed at all
those thoughts, and my insides actually shook with the revelation of them.
I wasn’t aware I was grinning till Alexei said something. “Why are you
smiling like that?”
I turned my eyes back to Vasili and stared at him across the room, his
hands in his pockets. When had he moved across the room? And why? He
looked like I was about to deal him a death blow. His yellow hair shone like
gold with sunshine rays through the window, but he looked like a dark
angel with that tanned skin and dark suit.
I ran across the room and threw myself into his arms, my hands clasping
around his neck. “You knew?” There was a confused look in his eyes. “You
knew about my connection to Santos, and you still said all those words.”
My mouth pressed against his neck, my face burying into the crook of
his neck. “I love you too,” I whispered, my whole body shaking with
emotions. He felt so right, always had.
“Fuck,” he murmured, his mouth hungry on mine. “I was sure I had lost
you. That I blew all my chances with you.”
His big hands took my waist, and he pulled me in to kiss me deeply. I
sighed into his mouth, that familiar warmth spreading all over my body.
“Vasili, it has always been you. You were my first, and I want you to be
my last.”
He made a noise of satisfaction in his throat, and my insides melted. “I
love you, Isabella Taylor Santos. I want you forever. Marry me. I’m not
getting any younger, and there isn’t a single minute I want to live without
you.”
I stared at him, at a loss for words. Then I remembered Alexei. I turned
my head in my brother’s direction but he wasn’t there.
“He left the second you threw yourself into my arms.” Vasili’s nose
grazed along the skin on my neck, nipping gently. “Malyshka, I’ll be a good
husband.”
My palm caressed his cheek softly. “I know you will. The best husband.
And father.”
His grip around me tightened, and I knew this was as hard for him as it
was for me.
 “Yes.”
He searched out my eyes. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll marry you.”
He groaned in satisfaction and took my mouth in a deep kiss, stealing
my breath away.
“Fuck, I want to marry you today, but unless I want war on my hands,
we probably have to go and meet Raphael Santos.”
I slid down his body and took a step back. “What do you mean?”
“Raphael Santos wants his half-sister,” he accented the last word, “-in
his life. He wants to apologize and explain what happened yesterday.”
I frowned. “Not sure if there is anything to explain. He tried to kill
Tatiana.”
“No, he almost killed you,” he said darkly. “I promised we’d meet with
him and he can explain, but everything else is up to you.”
He ran a thumb across my cheek, his eyes somber but a soft smile on his
lips.
“He won’t hurt you. I will be there with you, and Alexei asked around
with some of his mutual friends. While Lombardo and Vincent Santos were
bastards, Raphael Santos turned out to be a decent man. People speak
highly of him, and I have to admit he has been a lot better to deal with than
his other family.”
“Wow, two brothers on the same day,” I muttered.
“And a soon-to-be husband.” Vasili smiled and interlinked our fingers.
“Ready to go meet your other brother?”
I nodded and with his fingers interlocked with mine, we walked out of
the medical room. I have known Vasili for almost ten years and it was the
first time we acted as a couple. And I have never been happier.
As long as this man held my hand, I’d go anywhere with him.

OceanofPDF.com
Chapter Twenty-Eight

OceanofPDF.com
 VASILI

W hen we got to Tatiana’s place, Raphael Santos was already

there. And he was alone, leaning against his black Land
Rover. Unless he had his men lurking in the shadows, he
was trying to show good faith. He wore a white suit with black shirt
underneath, looking every bit the Colombian he was. Again, I noted his hair
color resembling Isabella’s. I always thought Isabella had her mother’s hair
color, but it was really her father’s. She had her mother’s pale complexion.
“Wow, this place is cleaned up,” Sasha muttered grudgingly.
Reluctantly, I let him tag along. I would have preferred to have him parked
at a remote spot where he could put his sniper skills to good use without
running his mouth. But getting rid of Sasha was like peeling off a damn
tick. You needed tweezers, or a fucking weapon.
My lip quirked, noting Raphael erased all traces of yesterday’s fight.
Even the window that someone crashed into was repaired. Smart move on
his part. He didn’t want reminders of what happened yesterday. He really
took starting fresh to a whole new level, aiming to impress his half-sister.
“Why are we letting Isabella meet the bastard anyhow?” Sasha
questioned.
She stiffened next to me but said nothing. I took her hand in mine. We
didn’t tell Sasha anything. We would let him find out during this reunion.
Unlike Raphael, I had thirty men in position and another five vehicles
behind me. I took Isabella’s safety seriously.
I left Adrian with Tatiana, along with ten other men. And nobody knew
where Adrian’s place was, not even me. So I knew she was safe. Alexei was
with us too, but characteristic of him, he spoke little or not at all. He’d kill
anyone that even looked wrong at his sister.
The moment the car came to a halt, the doors opened.
“Stay next to me,” I told Isabella, raising her hand and brushing my lips
over her knuckles.
“I will.” She was nervous. It was written all over her. I couldn’t blame
her. There was a lot of shit that happened over the last few weeks.
Truthfully, things have been brewing in her life from the moment she was
born, but the cruelty of the underworld wasn’t something she would ever
get used to. Not because she was raised outside of it but because of who she
was. Her soft, forgiving personality would have been squashed and her light
extinguished if she grew up among men like her father. Even my own
father, and he was nowhere near as cruel and heartless as Lombardo Santos.
I exited the car first and she followed right behind me, her small hand in
mine. Her eyes traveled to her half-brother, casually leaning against his car.
He greeted her with a smile. Raphael tried his darndest to appear non-
threatening.
“Hello, Isabella. Thank you for meeting with me.” His Colombian
accent was thick, and it was the only thing betraying his emotions. His face
was an unmoving mask.
“Hello,” she answered stiffly.
My woman would not make this easy on him, and I was fine with it.
Fucking more than fine.
“Let’s make this quick, shall we?” Sasha chimed in. “This is the
dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Fucking head of Florida underworld wants
to apologize to the woman for almost choking her to death. We should let
her choke you to death, with our help.” Sasha grinned happily at his own
dumb suggestion like it was the million-dollar idea.
Raphael’s gaze darkened and his eyes locked on my brother’s form,
threatening all kinds of pain to Sasha. If he wanted to beat Sasha, I probably
wouldn’t stop him, but I knew he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to scare
Isabella. He’d given her enough reason to fear him last night. Instead, he
just continued staring at my brother, fire burning in his eyes. The throb of
the muscle on his neck and his pressed jaw were his only betrayal.
“He’s my brother.” Isabella’s voice cut through Raphael’s and Sasha’s
staring contest. It was almost comical to see both of their heads snap in
Bella’s direction.
 “You told her?” Raphael growled.
“What?” Sasha asked at the same moment, surprise and shock coloring
his voice.
Isabella’s shoulders straightened, portraying her strength. The only
betrayal to her nervousness was her hand gripping mine in a tight squeeze. I
gently squeezed back, letting her know I had her back.
“Nobody told me,” she answered Raphael’s question, leaving Sasha in
the dark. Eventually my little brother would catch up. “I’ve known it for a
few years now.”
“How?” Raphael was suspicious. I didn’t blame him. Men in our world
didn’t play fair.
“The first time I learned my mom had something to do with the famous
and ruthless Florida cartel leader,” she accented the word cartel, letting him
know she clearly didn’t approve of it, “was when she was in the hospital,
under the influence of her meds.” She exhaled and continued, holding her
big brother’s gaze. “After she died, I packed up our house and found her
journal. I read it and learned-” she cleared her throat, her gaze going to
Alexei and then returning to Raphael. “Well, I learned a lot. But that’s how
I know about you and who my father was. I also know that my father was
cruel and evil, and my mother never wanted me around him.”
Silence followed and the meaning of it lingered. It was as if everyone
stopped breathing. This knowledge was a shock to everyone but Alexei and
me. I still remembered that feeling when I learned who her father was.
Three decades of fighting, and now, I would marry Lombardo Santos’ only
daughter.
“What?” Sasha asked again, a dumbfounded expression on his face. I
started to wonder whether it was smart to have brought him along. I prayed
he didn’t do something stupid, like kill Raphael. Although I had to admit, it
was kind of comical to see him push his hands through his hair, like he
thought he was losing his mind.
Raphael, on the other hand, was tugging on his tie, like it was too tight.
Isabella’s eyes remained on him, silently challenging him to contradict her
statement.
“You are right,” he finally commented. “My father and my older brother
were both cruel bastards. I didn’t agree with their methods nor their
approach to things. But I’m not my father, Isabella.” He shoved his hands
back into his pockets, but his eyes remained on his sister. “This world is
different, rough, brutal, and unforgiving. Vasili and his men are not much
different from me. But I promise you that I would never hurt you.”
“You fucking choked her,” Alexei growled. “Her neck is covered in
bruises, made by your hand.” Alexei’s lips curved into a scowl and his body
shifted, as if he was ready to attack. “And I don’t give a shit whether you
thought she was Tatiana or not. Hurting either one of them was
unforgivable.”
I agreed with my brother. But I had a feeling Isabella’s soft heart would
give Raphael a chance.
“And you Alexei never hurt anyone, right?” Raphael spat right back. “I
see you have been hiding under Nikolaev’s skirt, killing for hire for Vasili?”
Isabella’s head snapped to her other brother. “Don’t you fucking preach to
me, Alexei. When you fucking track people and kill them for money.”
I growled. “Alexei is my brother. And Isabella’s.”
It was Raphael’s turn to look surprised. Alexei was advancing on
Raphael, ready to pounce on him. Those two were probably evenly
matched, but if I tried to stop Alexei now, it would only cause him to
fucking attack his sister’s other brother faster. Sasha was right next to
Alexei ready to join in and Raphael had a knife pulled out of his holster. I
guess the bastard really did come in alone because if he hadn’t, I was sure at
least a warning shot would have been fired by now.
Isabella pulled her hand out of mine, and I immediately followed her
movement. Fuck if I would let her have even an inch of space; not among
all the fucking idiots on this lawn.
“Can we all calm down?” Isabella cut in between Alexei and Raphael,
each one of her hands pushing against their chest. I did the same with
Sasha.
“Behave yourself, Sasha,” I warned him in Russian.
“Bella-” Alexei started but she cut him off.
“I don’t care what you have done, Alexei,” she murmured, gently
rubbing his chest. “I know you would never hurt women and children. I
only care that you survived, and I know you did what you had to in order to
do that.” He nodded, and for the first time since I found my brother, there
was a small light that entered his eyes. He never thought anyone could love
him, knowing what he had done. What he had to do to survive! But Bella
was right, everything he did was for his own survival. My malyshka turned
to her other brother. “And you, Raphael Santos,” she started and he tensed.
It was fucking awesome to see her command both of these killers with just
her words. “I might have purposely kept myself ignorant of this world you
all live in, but I know the reputation you have versus the one your father
and brother had.”
Raphael’s face tensed, taking her words as a conviction, but before he
could say anything Isabella continued.
“I know you are against human trafficking and despite you trying to kill
me yesterday-” Raphael’s eyes lowered to her slender neck where bluish-
purple bruises colored her pale skin. “I’m giving you another chance. But
you better not try hurting Tatiana or me.”
Surprise flashed in Raphael’s eyes, but he quickly got himself together.
“You have my word, sister.”
“And you can’t hurt Vasili either,” she quickly added, a big smile
spreading across her face. “We are going to get married. And you can’t hurt
Alexei and Sasha. Okay, how about we say you don’t hurt anyone that
works for the Nikolaev family or is connected to them.” Her eyes returned
to me. “Am I missing anyone?”
“Nyet,” I murmured, pulling her into me. “How about a truce?” I locked
eyes with Raphael. “It would seem we all have something in common, my
future wife. What do you all say?”
“I guess, if we must,” Alexei muttered grudgingly.
Sasha agreed too. “At least we ended up with the two best Santos.
Although I have to tell you, Raphael. Isabella outclasses you by millions.”
Raphael ‘s eyes traveled to his sister. “I agree. She certainly does.”
“I can’t believe I ended up with two big brothers.” Isabella shook her
head in disbelief, a small smile playing on her lips. “Actually, it will be
three with Sasha.”
Surprisingly, Sasha chuckled. “Girl, I have been your big brother from
the moment you and Tatiana started freshman year. Don’t forget, I’ve seen
you both drunk and almost arrested for indecent exposure.”
“What?” Raphael, Alexei, and I asked in unison, growling.
Isabella smiled sheepishly and then met my gaze. “I was hoping you’d
come and rescue us, but Sasha ended up showing up. We were both in a
bathing suit, swimming in the campus fountain. We were decent!” she
mockingly glared at Sasha.
I shook my head. Those two probably aged me more in their college
years than all my years of running the Nikolaev underworld empire.
 “Nobody is allowed to see you in a bathing suit.” Yes, I was jealous as
fuck. Maybe it would never ease, but my woman didn’t seem to mind it at
all. I still remembered how fucking hot she was wearing that white bikini
when I ran into her by Tatiana’s pool. Anyone with two eyes in their skull
would want my woman. But Isabella Taylor Santos, soon to be Nikolaev,
was mine.
“Okaaaay.” There she went again, but she smiled seductively, her hand
lingering on my chest, right above the heart that belonged to her.
“This is just disturbing,” Alexei muttered under his breath. “Seeing my
little sister messing around with my big brother.”
“Ugh, Alexei,” Isabella rolled her eyes. “When you say it like that, it
really sounds gross. Vasili and I are not related. At all.” Her eyes traveled to
Raphael. “Vasili and I are not related at all.”
Raphael smiled, and it might have been the first time I saw a member of
Santos' family actually smile affectionately.
“I know. It just sounds weird since you and Alexei are half-siblings.”
Raphael tried to make her feel better and she nodded, accepting his
explanation.
“No, Isabella and I are siblings,” Alexei protested. “We had the same
mother. You and her are half-siblings.”
“She and I had the same father,” Raphael objected. “We all know it is
the sperm that creates the baby. So technically, she is more my sister than
yours.”
“Okaaay.” Isabella said again, clearing her throat uncomfortably. “We
shall not have Thanksgiving dinners together. Maybe we can alternate.” She
pretended to think about that. “Kind of like a shared custody thing. What do
you guys think?”
“No!” Both Alexei and Raphael agreed on something, finally!
“We will learn to get along,” Alexei grunted. He wasn’t too pleased to
share his sister with her Santos brother. “Right, Sasha?”
Sasha rolled his eyes but mumbled his agreement.
Raphael nodded his head in agreement too. “However, there is one thing
I have to bring up.” Everyone’s eyes returned to him. “Alphonso Romano
and Benito King learned about Bella, and it might be best to keep her
identity hidden.”
“Too late.” It pissed me off to have that bastard even speak her name.
“Alphonso Romano had two men after her.” Just the memory of that night
and knowing those two scumbags, little errand boys got so close to Isabella
and Tatiana, had me seeing red. “They almost drugged Isabella.”
Raphael tensed. “Do you have their names?”
Yes, having Raphael on Isabella’s, as well as Nikolaev's side, would
make us stronger. I didn’t care about the riches, as long as my woman and
my family were safe. It seemed we’d all have to learn how to play in the
same sandbox after all.
“They are both dead.” I told him.
“Shipped in a pretty little pink box to Alphonso Romano,” Alexei
chimed in. Isabella’s eyes widened, unaccustomed to hearing such casual
words about killings. As soon as her brother realized what he said, he
quickly added, “That man kidnaps and sells women. He’s evil to the core.”
She nodded, but she still seemed slightly disturbed. I rubbed her back in
comfort, wishing I could spare her the ways of the underworld. But if she
was to be strong and safe, there was no better way than to have her know
what we were up against.
“That man has to be brought down,” Raphael muttered. “Both Alphonso
and Benito. Before they fucking kill more women and children.”
“Agreed.”
“There are some plans in the works,” Raphael continued. “I can’t reveal
them right now. Those two don’t know that I found out about Bella’s
existence. So it might be best if we keep my connection with Isabella soon-
to-be Nikolaev and the knowledge of our blood relations in tight circles.”
Isabella looked at him in surprise. “Why?”
“Because in order to cut those snakes, Alphonso and Benito, and
destroy their business, they have to believe that I support human trafficking.
I’m working with Luciano Vitale and Cassio King along with the rest of the
group on a plan. I trust those men with my life.”
Isabella tensed.
“But you won’t let him get his hands on any women, right?”
“I swear to you, Isabella,” he locked eyes with her, and there was
sincerity in them, “-I never moved human flesh and I never will.” She
believed him, trust shining through her eyes. This was what her mother was
worried about. Her soft and trusting nature. It wasn’t misplaced with
Raphael, but there were many in our world that would take advantage of it.
“Now that you are on Alphonso’s radar, he won’t quit. That bastard would
sell his own daughter, if he had one. What I’m doing will save you and
many other daughters and wives.”
“I’ll keep you safe,” I vowed. The fact of the matter was that now that
she was on Benito’s and Alphonso’s radar, this was the safest place for her.
And I believed she knew it. “Besides, I want to marry you as soon as
possible. So those bastards know whose wrath they’ll have to endure if they
touch a single hair on your head.”
She chuckled. “I can’t quite decide whether that is scary or romantic.”
“Romantic,” I told her. “Besides, we waited long enough. I should have
married you five years ago. Instead, I was a jack-”
She placed her cool fingers on my lips, her body leaning into me. “I
think it all worked out the way it was supposed to.”
Yes, this woman was too forgiving, and I would keep her safe for the
rest of our lives, making it up to her.

OceanofPDF.com
 EPILOGUE

OceanofPDF.com
 Isabella - Six Months Later

Come Join Us in
The Den of Sin
To Celebrate the Marriage of
Vasili Nikolaev and Isabella Taylor

W e were married. It was the two of us against the world. We

had said our vows, left our past behind, and looked forward
to the future. With the reception in full swing, my husband
and I made our way to the back of his nightclub.
Tonight, we’d head for our honeymoon, just the two of us. And then
we’d spend a month in Key Largo. Vasili surprised me with a beach house
and a new surfboard. Our retirement place, he said. It made me chuckle to
think of Vasili retiring, but I’d lie if I said I wasn’t thrilled about the home.
I’ve always wanted to raise a family there.
But right now, I couldn’t wait to feel his hands all over me.
“Vasili,” I stopped right before the room where he took me for the first
time since college. “I have to tell you something.”
“Regrets so soon after the wedding, malyshka?” he asked half-jokingly.
“Never regrets,” I muttered as I turned around to face him. “I’m
pregnant.” The light flashed in his eyes and before my next question left my
lips, he beat me to it.
 “Are you happy?”
My free hand fluttered to my lower belly. I was only six weeks along,
but I couldn’t be happier.
“Yes,” I admitted. “I know that you’ve told me that you wanted
children, but we never talked about the timing. I wasn’t sure if you-”
His lips sealed mine, stopping any more words from pouring out of my
mouth.
“I’m beyond happy,” he murmured against my lips, his hand moving to
caress me right below my stomach. “You make me happy, malyshka. I want
to have a whole soccer team of babies with you.”
Relief swept through me, along with a swell of happiness and my lips
curved into a smile. “Well, a whole soccer team might be a bit of a stretch,
husband. But I wouldn’t mind a big family.”
I pulled him into the room. Now, the whole universe was set right. I
loved this man, he loved me, and we’d have a big family. We already had
the beginnings of one with Alexei, Sasha, Raphael, Tatiana, and Adrian.
And now, we’d be adding another one in a little over seven months.
The moment we were in the bedroom, the door slammed behind us,
Vasili locked us in to ensure privacy and then turned us towards the wall
with the mirror. There was one thing that never eased in our relationship.
This intense hunger we had for each other.
I kept my gaze trained on Vasili’s reflection as he stood behind me to
unzip my dress. Warmth graced my skin each time his fingers brushed
against my back and each touch fed the craving I constantly had for him.
The elaborate wedding dress floated down to a pool at my feet. I
stepped from the dress, leaving my shoes behind. He never even spared it a
glance, his pale eyes focused on my body only. The look in his gaze was
one of reverence and love, the only thing I wanted from him since the
moment I met him. His gaze briefly lingered on where our baby was
nestled, setting off butterflies in my belly.
The strapless white bra followed, then his hands reached forward. He
filled his palms with my breasts, squeezing then kneading, driving moans
through my lips and fire through my veins.
“I love you, Isabella Nikolaev,” he rasped into my ear, his hot breath
tickling my skin.
My neck tilted to the side, allowing his mouth to connect with my skin.
It was my surrender, and he rewarded me with feather light kisses down my
neck.
“And I love you, Vasili.”
My voice shook, just as it did when we said our vows in church earlier
today. My emotions for this man were strong and they unraveled me in so
many ways. He didn’t need weapons to control me. He just needed my
heart, a heart he has had since the first time I saw him even if he didn’t
know it and I refused to admit it.
I pressed my back against his chest and shivers shot down my spine at
his warmth. The couple in the mirror was such a contrast - my bared body
against his expensive, Brioni tux; my dark hair against his blonde; my pale
skin against his tan.
Watching his hands roam my body, while his mouth was on my skin,
licking and nibbling, our gazes locked in the mirror, was erotic as hell. This
man was all I ever wanted or needed. The only man my heart craved from
the moment we met. He was the reason behind every single heartbeat of
mine.
I turned around to face him, to offer him my lips. I needed to taste him.
While our mouths molded together into a kiss and our tongues collided, I
pushed the tux jacket off of his shoulder in rushed, eager movements, then
started undoing the buttons on his shirt. Once finished, I took it off and
dropped it to meet his tux jacket and my wedding dress at our feet. His belt
came next, my fingers fumbling in the attempt to undo it while he ran his
fingers over my hard nipples.
“Oh, Vasili,” I breathed. “I do love your body.”
His dark chuckle met my ears, but it didn’t bother me. He knew I loved
his body, heart, and soul. I loved every hard inch of him. There was nothing
about him I would ever change.
I pushed down his pants, and he kicked them off his feet, along with his
shoes and socks. He stood naked next to me towering over my slight frame,
hard and ready to be inside me.
Raw desire lurked on his beautiful face. “I want to tie you up and fuck
you till you scream my name,” he groaned. Then a moment of hesitation
crossed his face. “Will it be safe for the baby? I don’t think I can be gentle
with you, malyshka.”
“Do it. You don’t have to treat me like glass.” I was stronger for him,
because of him. He was the only man I trusted to tie me up. Instantly, the
flames lit up in his pale blue eyes, darkening them into the colors of deep
blue lagoons.
My gaze drifted to the wall that captured my attention six months ago. It
seemed appropriate that our story began five years ago on Halloween night,
and it was another Halloween night that brought us back together. Maybe
the universe worked in mysterious ways after all.
All our words, actions, and experiences brought us a step closer to
today, shaped us into who we were now.
Perfect for each other.
He raised my left hand to his lips, kissing each one of my knuckles with
gentleness. The wedding band shone with diamonds against my slim
fingers, but it paled against the love I felt for him. The desire burned like
the fires of hell inside me, in the best way possible.
“Tie me up, husband,” I repeated.
He took my hand and guided me to the back of the room where all the
toys stood. He grabbed a pair of fleece lined cuffs as well as a black silk
scarf, then led me back to that enormous bed.
“If at any point it gets to be too much,” he rasped, “-just tell me. Okay?”
I nodded and offered him both of my wrists. We had talked about his
darker desires but hadn’t actually done anything up to this point. I suppose I
should have been nervous but I trusted him with my heart and body. Why
would I not trust my husband with my mind and emotions? He would
always allow me choices. My choice would always be him.
He secured one of my hands into a leather cuff and attached it to a hook
on the headboard. Then he followed the same method with the other.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he murmured, his hot breath on the side
of my neck sending goosebumps down my spine. “And mine.” He gently
covered my eyes with the strip of silk and suddenly, I was completely at his
mercy. “Still with me, malyshka?”
I nodded and after a soft kiss on my lips, he continued down my neck
and across my chest, teasing first one nipple and then the other with his
tongue. The absence of sight made me concentrate on the feel of his mouth
against me, and it was incredible. All my senses heightened with the loss of
my sight. He continued his trek down my body, hesitating at the edge of my
panties, whispering something in Russian.
“You won’t be needing these,” he growled, his big hands pulling them
down my legs and off of me completely. All the while I felt his mouth
trailing over my hot skin heightening the lust I was feeling for this man.
Gently pushing my thighs apart, I felt him nestle between them, his hot
breath caressing the folds of my pussy. My heart thundered under my ribs,
excited to see what my husband had in store for me. After giving me a long
lick, he buried his face between my thighs, his tongue delving into my folds
and seeking out my clit. A shot of pure, languid fire burst through every
single inch of me, from my toe to the tips of my hair.
He sucked my sensitive nub mercilessly as his arms wrapped around my
thighs to guarantee his complete control over my movements. His fingers
spread open my pussy lips, exposing me even further, leaving me
vulnerable to his whim.
“Vasili,” I cried out as he proceeded to eat me out. An orgasm ripped
through me with little warning, my thighs involuntarily trying to come
together on either side of his head. Holy shit, I’d never felt anything like it.
I wanted to touch him, feel more of him, but being cuffed to the bed, my
movements were limited, I couldn’t even watch him as he did the most
spectacular things to my body. The sensations were almost too much, an
overload of pleasure, and he was relentless, intent on making me come
harder.
“Fuck,” I rasped, as another ripple of pleasure shot through my spine.
White lights burst behind my eyelids. “Vasili!”
He chuckled darkly but continued feasting on me, lapping at my juices.
This felt amazing, unlike anything I’d ever felt before. Every single inch of
me was hypersensitive, delightful shivers shaking me to the core.
Vasili finally crawled up my body and settled his hips between mine. I
could feel his hard erection nestled at my opening as he gathered me close,
his mouth just below my ear.
“Ready, malyshka?”
He was giving me a chance to refuse him. A last chance. There was no
way I’d do that now. If anything, I wanted more. He made me greedy for
more of this.
“Yes,” I breathed in anticipation.
Lining his cock up with my entrance, he plunged into my pussy with
one hard thrust. A scream rippled through me and my body jerked, arching
off of the bed. My head fell backwards, his face buried in the side of my
neck, murmuring words in Russian.
 He started to move inside me, hard and fast. He fucked me, and it felt
amazing, the restraints completely forgotten.
“Holy shit,” I breathed out, my body reaching for another orgasm. He
pumped into me hard and deep, fast and ruthless. It felt so damn good, the
white lights bursting behind my closed eyelids again. Everything and
everyone was forgotten, just the two of us in the heat of passion.
The only sounds filling the room were our moans and groans, flesh
slapping against flesh. He grabbed a fistful of my hair, arching me further
against him, my breasts flattened against his chest as he pounded hard into
me.
“Mine. Mine. Mine.”
His strokes pummeled into me deep and rough as I writhed against him,
the sounds of my restraints creaking as they pulled against the headboard.
“Yes. Oh my God, yes!”
Another orgasm shot through my veins, the fire igniting through my
blood. This pleasure was too much and at the same time, not enough.
Everywhere he touched me, he left a trail of flames. As if encouraged by
my moans, he continued thrusting raw and hard, through my orgasm.
“Want me to stop?”
“Fuck, no. Don’t you fucking dare.”
I came hard, and a cry shuddered through me as the intensity of what he
was doing to me fucked with my emotions. He came right behind me,
following me off the cliff and spiraling into an abyss of pleasure. Every
ounce of my being shattered for him, only for him to put me back together
again.
In the aftermath of our mind-blowing passion, the Den of Sin was left
with only the sounds of our labored breathing. My body felt separated from
the rest of me as the sweetest exhaustion enveloped me. I felt like I was
floating above us, not quite conscious as my brain fuzzed in and out in the
most exquisite bliss I’d ever known. This pleasure he gave me could easily
become my addiction. But only with him.
“You okay, malyshka?” His mouth nuzzled me as he undid the cuffs,
one at the time and gently rubbed my arms to be sure the circulation was
okay. With care, he removed the scarf from my eyes. Caressing my cheek,
he searched my face to be sure I was alright.
“Yes. That was amazing,” I whispered in a sigh, sated. “We’ll have to
do that again,” I softly chuckled, nuzzling into him.
 “For the rest of our lives,” he vowed. “I love you, malyshka.”
He settled beside me on that big bed, spooning me protectively from
behind. This man, this lover, had been the owner of my heart for nearly a
decade. It had taken that long for the skeletons of the past to be purged,
allowing us to finally banish the evils of the previous generation. It wasn’t
easy, but we’d come through it all and were stronger for it. I snuggled
closer into his strong body and sighed.
“I love you too, Vasili. Always.”

THE END

Want more of the Nikolaev men? Or Raphael Santos? You’ll see them
all in my new series, Belles & Mobsters.

For a preview to the Belles and Mobsters Series make sure to keep
reading. Check out the prologue to Book One in the series, Luciano.

OceanofPDF.com
PREVIEW OF BELLES & MOBSTERS: LUCIANO

OceanofPDF.com
 PROLOGUE

“M y wife.” As he whispered those words into my ear, his

warm breath seared my sensitive skin. He pumped into
me with slow, powerful thrusts. My nails dug into his
muscles, the grip tight and every sensation within me burning with need.
His voice was cocky and possessive. “Say you are mine.”
Just like the night we met, his gaze sent a blaze through my body and
heat brushed through every inch of my skin. His gaze on me was like a hot
and cold brush over my skin.
“Yours,” I vowed.
The moment our eyes met in his club three months ago, the air rushed
out of my lungs and my life has been spinning in all the right directions. My
body jolted with a strange electric sensation when his hazel green gaze
watched me, the cockiness and arrogance written all over his face. But I still
couldn’t resist the pull. I have been his from the moment we locked eyes
across the room in that nightclub.
Right now, I ached for him, needing more of him. His everything. I had
never thought I could belong to someone so completely. But I was his,
every piece of my heart, soul, and body. I was all his.
His groans vibrated against my ear and through every little piece of me.
From the tip of my toes to the strands of my hair.
“Please, Luciano,” I begged breathlessly.
He knew what that meant. He read me like an open book. He sped up
his rhythm, his sculpted, inked body thrusting hard, in and out, filling me up
again and again. Each time, touching places deep inside of me. My nails
raked his shoulders, my cries for him getting louder with each thrust. He
rutted me hard and relentlessly, deeper and rougher. Exactly the way I
needed him.
My hips rolled beneath him, meeting his every thrust. He made my
body burn, the flames of desire licking each inch of my skin. I didn’t care
about anyone or anything. Just him. He’d ruined me for anyone else. My
heart was his. I was a fool to think I’d ever escape untouched by him, in one
way or another. He had taken my heart and my body, like a thief in the
night.
“Fuck. I can’t get enough of you,” he grunted, thrusting hard, pounding
me like the ruthless beast he was. And I loved every second of it. Relished
the feel of him losing control inside me. His fingers dug into my hips,
holding me in the manner that would enhance both of our pleasures the
best. He knew my body better than I did.
An intense orgasm burst through me, a scream leaving my lips, and my
entire body went taut. My nails dug into his back as my pussy spasmed
around his shaft. He thrust again; once, twice, before he followed me right
over the cliff.

A trailer blocked my view of the E ast R iver . F rowning , I hoped the

driver would speed up and pass us by so I could get a glimpse of the view.
This was my favorite part of going into the city, going over the Brooklyn
Bridge and the views stretching across the river. I kept watching and
waiting, but the tractor trailer maintained its speed, parallel with our driver,
and I missed it. It was snowing lightly and temperatures were cold, so cold
that I heard on the news that the river froze. But because of this driver, I
missed it.
On my way back, I hoped silently. I’d catch it on our way back if it
wasn’t too dark.
I glanced over at Luciano to find him watching me. My husband. It still
seemed surreal to find myself married. And to this man.
Images of what we had done before we showered to get ready for our
date played in my mind, making my cheeks hot. I was sure the blush was
permanently stained there with things we’ve done since we got married. He
always managed to make me blush. Like a permanent side effect every time
he looked at me, touched me, or spoke to me.
Has it only been three months? It felt longer. I never expected to fall for
him but here we were. I have fallen in love with my husband. It had been a
rough start, an unexpected start, but somehow it had all worked out.
“You are staring at me,” I scolded him on a soft chuckle.
“You love it when I watch you.”
I bit on my lower lip, to hide my smile. He was right. Regularly, I hated
being the center of attention, but when he watched me, it was different. I
felt like the most beautiful woman in the world, and everyone faded out as
he stared at me with eyes the color of cool moss in early fall, right after the
rain. I loved his eyes. There could be a harshness, a ruthlessness, in them
but also such incredible passion. Hopefully, I’d see love glimmer in his
hazel gaze one day as well because I knew without a doubt I was falling for
my husband, despite our rocky start.
It was his eyes that captured me from the very first moment. The
moment our gazes locked across the club, the night of my graduation, he
had turned my world upside down. In a good way, despite the fact I didn’t
think so at first. The way those hazel eyes watched me, hungrily, made my
insides shudder in delight. God, I hoped one day our kids would have his
eyes.
My husband was handsome, his face fit for GQ magazine, not a mobster
world. Except when he was furious, ready to make his enemies suffer. Then
his mobster side came right out. My family was on his revenge list, not that
I could blame him. Although I didn’t know what exactly they had done to
him, I knew firsthand how cruel, heartless, and evil my grandmother and
uncle could be. My uncle, Alphonso Romano, ruined numerous lives,
costing many men their precious daughters and their wives.
He almost ruined my life until I found haven in the unlikeliest of
people… this ruthless mobster, covered in ink.
Luciano pulled me closer to him and all thoughts of my family
evaporated. Bending his head, he showered kisses against my neck,
whispering the naughty things we would do the moment we got back home.
Shivers of delight ran through my spine and desire pooled between my
thighs. My body burned with an inferno only he knew how to set off. He
knew it would be on my mind throughout dinner. We hadn't even gotten to
the restaurant, and I was ready to go back home.
 We were on our way to Maurizio’s. It has become our default restaurant
date. There was nervous energy pumping through my veins. Everything
between us had happened so fast, and truthfully, our whole marriage started
as leverage against my family. I had been his willing victim, seeing a way
out for me and my best friend. Yes, he forced me down the aisle, but I
wasn’t blind to the benefits in taking that walk. Protection from my uncle
and grandmother.
And somehow, we ended up here. We never talked about the future or
our plans. Hopefully, he would be happy about our future together as much
as I was.
Luciano swept me up from his night club and straight down the altar. It
sounded so much better than labeling it as a kidnapping. Three months ago,
I would have preached caution to any girlfriend that acted like this. I would
have called it Stockholm Syndrome and the start of a very unhealthy
relationship. But now, I could understand falling head over heels for
someone. Besides, unintentionally and unbeknownst to him, he saved me. If
he hadn’t taken me when he did, the fate my uncle had prepared for me was
horrid. And now, I could help my best friend Gabriella too. Things were
finally looking up.
The driver pulled up in the back of the restaurant, which was reserved
only for the restaurant owner and Luciano’s team. After the car was parked,
Luciano stepped out and held his inked hand to help me out. I took it with a
smile.
“You look beautiful,” he murmured, his eyes mesmerizing me.
“You don’t look too shabby yourself.” Truth was, he looked so
handsome. Women always gawked after him, and today, I was sure it would
be no different. But it wasn’t his good looks that captivated me. It was his
over-the-top possessive and protective personality. Since my parents died, I
had not had that. My best friend and I pretty much had to look out for each
other. Nobody else cared what happened to us, and if my uncle’s plan had
succeeded, both she and I would have been sold.
The back door of the restaurant flew open, and Maurizio’s son Mauro
stormed out frantically. His disheveled hair was the first thing I noticed.
Roberto’s and Massimo’s furious expressions were the next. They were
right behind him.
“We were hit.”
 The words slashed the cold January air, but it didn’t compare to the way
my blood froze as I watched Luciano spin around and push me up against
the car. Before I could even process what happened, Roberto and Massimo
had their guns aimed at my head.
“You betrayed me,” Luciano spat at me, the affection dissipating from
his hazel eyes, and now all I saw in them was hate.
“W-what?” My heart thundered, every fiber in my body was drenched
in fear. His burning gaze turned into one of frigid fury, matching the cold,
grey day around us and flurries coming down.
Cold fear gripped me. How did he go from his hot, hungry gaze to this
cold rage? I struggled to process it all. Luciano’s hard, towering body
locked me against the car, the freezing metal of the barrel of his own gun
pressed hard against my temple.
“You betrayed me!” he shouted.
“I-I didn’t.” My voice shook, my words fumbling in a stutter.
“You are the only one who knew besides my men. I fucking trusted
you.”
My vision blurred, my breathing heavy. I stared at him, praying he’d see
the truth in my eyes.
“Please, Luciano!” I whispered as a snowflake landed on my eyelash. It
felt heavy, my face frozen from the cold and terror. “I didn’t betray you.” I
breathed in, my lungs hurting from the frigid cold air.
“I’ve had shipments coming here for weeks. We were never hit. The
week I tell you, we are hit.”
“Luciano, please listen,” I begged in a small voice. “I didn’t betray you.
I love you!”
He laughed, his face twisted in disgust at my words. At me. At my
declaration of love. It was the first time I spoke those words to my husband.
The barrel of his gun pressed harder against my temple and my whole
body shook. From fear. From the cold. And the look of disgust in his eyes.
“Let’s play a little game,” he growled, a menacing smile on his face.
Slowly he pulled the gun from my temple while Roberto and Massimo held
their aim on me. He opened the cylinder of the revolver, eyeing it, counting
the number of bullets before spinning the cylinder and flicking it closed.
“Russian roulette. Shall we?” He pressed the barrel of the revolver back to
my temple.
 The whole scene played out like it was happening to someone else; like
it was a bad movie.
“Should I kill you now?” he bellowed, rage clear on his face. “I should
have expected something like that from someone of your caliber. After all,
the Romano family excels at backstabbing.”
I stared at him in confusion and hurt. How could he think that of me?
Less than an hour ago, he was inside me and made love to me.
“Luciano-” Massimo cut in.
“Shut the fuck up!” he roared at him. His gaze never wavered from me
and those words almost felt aimed at me. “Any last words, wife?”
I watched those eyes that I loved so much, my heart shredding into tiny
pieces. It felt like shards of glass tearing at my skin, except the pain tore
through me, inside me, leaving invisible scars in its wake. A tear rolled
down my face, its trail turning to frost almost immediately. Just as I felt my
heart freeze with each of Luciano’s harsh words. I was too scared to move,
to wipe it clean.
Despite my shattering heart, and suddenly bleak future, I felt anger rise
within me. It was better that way, it kept my walls up that I should have
never lowered for him. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself; he wasn’t
worth my love. He wasn’t worthy of me. But the words got stuck in my
throat.
Then he pulled a trigger.
Click.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I want to thank my friends and family for their continued support. To my

alpha and beta readers - you are all amazing. Thank you to Susan C.H. who
always has my back and picks me up with her humorous comments. You
are amazing and I don’t know how I’d get through some of these without
you!
To Jessica F. and Christine S. - you ladies rock! And to my gang,
Nicole H. and Emma J. - where would I be without you. Then there is Mia
O. and Jill H., and a countless number of others - THANK YOU!
Thank you to Ashley B. for managing everything when I get lost in my
world full of schemes, adventures and happily ever afters.
My books wouldn’t be what they are without each one of you.
To my editor, Rachel at MW Editing. Your questions made my stories
so much better.
To my rockstar cover designer Eve Graphics Designs, LLC. My dear
V - you make my stuff shine! Thank you!
To the bloggers and reviewers who helped spread the word about this
book. I appreciate you so much and hearing you love my work, makes it
that much more enjoyable!
And last but not least, to all my readers! This wouldn’t be possible
without you. THANK YOU!
Thank you all! I couldn’t have done any of this without you!
Eva Winners

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