Page 90 of Lord of the Underworld

Pulling her hand down, I rest it over my cock and the wet spot on my sweatpants. "You made me come in my fucking joggers." I bite her ear. "I haven't done that since I was a teenager."

Laughing helplessly, Oksana kisses my tattoo, one of my bandages and then my mouth.

The last rays of the afternoon sun are reaching golden and red fingers into the bedroom, illuminating her blonde hair, making her glow.

Almost an angel.

Taking my phone off the bedside table, I rest it on my chest. "You were listening when my grandfather and father were here."

Cringing slightly, she asks, "How did you know?"

"I could see your reflection in the terrace windows," I say, kissing her forehead. "So, you know what was done to the hunters, and several of the men involved in your kidnapping."

She looks up at me, her lips pressed into a flat, angry line. "Far more importantly, the men involved in torturing you."

"Then you know there's a surveillance camera inside the shipping container," I say. "When they realize they're stacked in the cargo hold of the ship with fifty other containers and no one to hear them screaming, I suspect it will be compelling viewing." I hold my phone up. "Would you like to watch a few minutes with me?"

Now, my soft, pink-cheeked angel turns into the Queen of the Underworld, her eyes darkening to slate gray and I see the fury simmering there. Her smile is small, and vulpine.

"Just a few minutes," she says. Delicate or not, Oksana is unafraid of seeing or even doing what it takes to make our families - to make us - safe. I can share with her all of me and she will never look away.

She scoots a little closer to me as I pull up the video feed and press play.

***

moya milaya - Russian for my sweetheart

Chapter Forty-One

In which we meet The Six.

Oksana…

Two months later…

"How is Anka?" Caroline asks.

I know she and Anka had a very good time laughing and talking together at my impromptu bachelorette party, and they'd exchanged phone numbers. "She's good. I'm happy that she's coming back to Chicago with us. Her father understood that it would be better for her to be away from Moscow for a while."

"And how are you?" Iris asks gently.

"I'm okay," I say. "And I mean it with my whole heart. Everything is perfect because Vadim survived, and that's all that matters." I can hear clattering in the background as more of the cousins try to get in on the Zoom call.

Ava, ever the medical professional, asks, "How's his recovery going? His PT?"

"Good." I laugh a little. "He's so determined to regain full use of his leg after that…" I can't say it again, and they already know how badly he was injured. "He's gotten to the point where even his physical therapists told him he needed to take a break."

"I'm glad," she says warmly. "If you need any support finding a good PT in Chicago, I can start making inquiries at Northwestern Medicine, they're the best hospital in the Midwest."

"So, what does everyone think about this new tribunal Andrey came up with?" Iris says.

"I find it surprising that so many family heads have already agreed to it," Violet says wryly. "Because shining a light on anything in our world is considered fairly horrifying. Though I'm sure they're all eagerly envisioning passing judgement on someone else."

"Isn't any rat bastard who is abusing his family going to do everything he can to keep them from filing a complaint?" Dasha asks.

"It can be done secretly," I say eagerly. "Yvette flew into Moscow and met with Andrey and me, and we went through some different options. It's not going to fix everything. This is a violent world, but I'm beginning to wonder if we're any different than the world at large. If we can at least establish that abuse is considered disgusting instead of culturally accepted, that would go a long way toward making women's lives better."

"Hear, hear!" Rose says, tapping her wine glass with Dasha's. It's 11 PM in New York and they're just getting started, I suspect. "I'm still pushing the idea of getting the Morozovs to buy a huge apartment high rise here in New York and making it for women residents only. Every unit would be sold out within the hour."