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I cup his bristled cheek with my hand and even though I never know quite how to react or what to say, I kinda know how I feel. I feel heavy but light at the same time, I feel like Rhodie is the biggest thing in my world and yet not big enough. I feel like I want to crack open my chest and let him crawl inside of me so I can keep him safe and warm, but I know if I told him that I would sound like a Stage 10 Serial Killer. I think and feel so many things about him, but none of them have words. Maybe I love you is what you say when you don’t have enough words big enough to describe things.
“I love all my people, like my brothers and Pops. But you-” I frown a little, to make sure I make the words important enough “You are my person.” I look into his eyes and hopefully, he can see what I feel. He’s clever and he can read my eyes. A smile splits his face, and then he settles down with his head between my tits. I run my fingers through his hair until we both fall into a deep sleep.
When I awake the next morning, it’s to Rhodie, fast asleep with the bulk of the blankets on his side, the damn blanket hog. Checking my phone, I see that even though it’s early, it’s not too early to get up and get my day started. Dressing in my comfs, I stare down at Rhodie’s handsome face for a moment. I feel this pressure in my chest when I look at him, and a flutter in my belly, knowing that this hot hunk of man meat is all mine. I lean forward and kiss him gently on the forehead before making sure he’s all tucked in, and then quietly leave our room.
When I walk into the common room, it’s to a few of the brothers eating the delicious-looking breakfast Tabby and Annie have served up. I’ve noticed that the longer I stay here, the less the clubhouse smells invade my senses. When I first arrived, every smell was new to me. Now it sits in the background and fresh smells like breakfast break through. I grab myself a plate of eggs and bacon and park up next to Ana and Sasha at one of the long tables.
“Ana, I wanted to thank you for keeping my brother safe. I owe you one.” Ana looks at me for a moment, head tilted to the side, before a slow smile blooms on her face. She waves a hand at me.
“No need to owe me one. I would have saved that giant asshole, anyway.” I snort and keep eating, although I really want to know how the hell a woman all the way from New Zealand ended up with the Bratva. I must have been staring at her whilst pondering this, because I see her put her cutlery down and turn to me.
“You can ask, you know. I know you want to.” Aw shit, busted!
“Oh shit, sorry about that. I was just wondering how you ended up with the Bratva.” Before she can answer, Sasha does.
“She saved me. I am forever in her debt.” Ana shares a smile with Sasha before taking a deep breath.
“I grew up in care in New Zealand. It wasn’t nearly as shitty as the foster system you have here, but it’s not great either. The longest I ever stayed in a place was 8 years, but they were the best 8 years of my childhood. My foster father, who I called Dad, taught me everything I know about the bush, how to survive outdoors, that sort of stuff. He died when I was 16 and child services would let my foster mum keep me, and that’s when I got moved on. Anyway, his dream was to tour around the US, and somewhere along the line, it became my dream too. So when I turned 18, after aging out of the system, I got myself a job and worked my ass off to raise enough money to travel here. I was at a gas station in Louisiana when these shitty dudes came in throwing their weight around, acting all suss. I figured I needed to get out of dodge, slipped out the back and on the way to my car I could hear weird noises coming out of their trunk. Popped it and found Sasha.” She shrugs her shoulders and I think I might have a girl crush on her.
“It wasn’t quite that clean cut. Another Pakhan with a hate on for Roman kidnapped me to blackmail my husband. Ana risked her life for me and has been Bartashev ever since.” Sasha smiles indulgently at her.
“I may not be married to you freaks, but you’re my family.” She tosses her head back and laughs as Sasha throws a bit of pancake at her. I see Gus walk into the common room and glance at Ana. I watch her follow him with her eyes for a moment before she dips them back down to her food. Sasha catches my eye, and he has a big smile on his face. We’ve had a few chats here and there, and I really like the big man. His personality is the polar opposite of Romans; he’s laid back, almost sunshiny, to Roman’s grump.
“Do you mind if I ask you something about Roman? You can tell me no, if you like.” He tilts his head before raising his eyebrows and smiling. I’m going to take that as a yes, even if he hasn’t said it in so many words.
“Roman is the Pakhan, the big boss. Why is it he’s at ease cooperating with Marx and Gus? Shouldn’t they be having a big alpha pissing contest over who is the boss of our current enterprise?” I’ve been wondering about this for a while. Roman came with his family to lock down here when, in reality, he could have stayed at home with his men. I’m not silly enough to think that Roman doesn’t have the means to take down Kraykowski on his own. Sure, it may have taken longer and yes, working together is more efficient in the long run. However, he doesn’t really need any of us.
“What makes you think Roman is an alpha?” Sasha asks, breaking me out of my thoughts. My eyes shoot to his and I see a small smile play on his lips. I look at Ana, the same smile on hers. I’m interrupted by a kiss on my temple and Rhodie’s big hand smooths over my hair.
“Hey baby, how’s that fine ass of yours today?” I smile up at him through my eyelashes before pinching him in the ribs. He laughs as he wanders off to find breakfast, and I turn back to find two sets of eyes on me.
“Uh, what?”
“Nothing girl, just that’s a fine man you have,” Sasha answers. I follow his line of sight to Rhodie, ribbing his brothers in the kitchen. He must feel my eyes on him as he looks up at me and winks.
“Yup, he sure is, and I’m gonna own that ass one day.” The table around me laughs and then we all jump when the door to the compound swings open and slams against the wall.
“What the fuck!?”
Chapter 18
Pops
Ihave just finished arranging my captors into a lovely little vignette, even if I do say so myself. It was pure luck that it was these idiots who picked me up on the side of the road yesterday morning. I mean, I did put a little more stoop into my posture and made my gait a little more pronounced to fool these guys into thinking I was the feeble old man I was portraying.
I thought it was going to take a little more acting on my part to convince these pussies to kidnap me, however; it turns out that Kraykowski is a little more organized than I would have thought. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum had a whole ass folder on my Tuesday, so a quick ID check and they thought they’d hit the jackpot kidnapping the Tombs patriarch.
I could hear the excitement in their voices as they dumped me in the trunk. Then they walked me, unblindfolded, I might add, into their hideout, an old storefront on the main street of Rose Grove. Rookie mistakes, really. After that, they chained my ankle to a metal bed leg in the back room, giving me enough chain to wander about but not escape. I could see their pride shining plainly on their faces as they saw their plan coming to fruition. These fuckers thought for sure they were gonna level up in the villain stakes. I almost felt guilty when I picked the lock from around my ankle and then lured the first guy to his death. By the time I dispatched the second guy, I was more irritated at their lack of care. I mean, it was so easy; they were almost begging to be killed. Next time, they’ll give me better captors.
I check my watch and the weapons that they never confiscated from me. Thanks to their loose lips, I know Kraykowski will be here in around half an hour to interrogate me, so I ready myself. I look at the bodies that I have artfully arranged, propped up in chairs around the small card table, facing each other, cigarettes smoldering in the ashtray.
For all intents and purposes, it looks like these guys are playing cards. I’m almost giddy at the reaction Kraykowski is going to give me. I wish I had some cameras set up in here. I don’t have time to arrange anything, so I’ll just have to download his expression directly through my eyeballs into my brain. I take up my position in the shadows of the storeroom. From here, I have an uninterrupted view of the entrance and my dead guys without them seeing me. It’s also the perfect place to take out any security he may travel with.
I think back over the events of the past week. If I had my way, I would have bided my time a little, try to get some more information, but for the life of me, I just don’t think I could have put up with those two any longer. Maybe you could blame it on the “woke” youth or the gays or something, but goons in my day were proper bad guys. These two were so fucking soft I bet they would cry to their mommies had I let them live.
I hear a car pull up to the curb, and two doors slam. Kraykowski would be one, and I’m guessing he only has one guard with him. The odds are in my favor today.
The front door opens and I know this is more than likely to be the guard. He does a cursory look around the room before nodding back to Kraykowski, who enters and shuts the door behind him. They both walk over to the table and the guard grunts something before hitting Tweedle Dum on the shoulder. The body slumps sideways and the guard jumps to attention, but before he can move, I’ve come up behind him and shot him point blank in his head with the gun I stole from Tweedle Dee. Kraykowski is across the table, he goes to raise his gun however I shoot fucker out of his fist before I slide over the table, kicking Tweedle Dee in the face, causing him to hit the ground, before I pop up and pistol whip the hell out of Kraykowski, knocking him out cold.
