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CHAPTER 22
Naomi
I rolled my neck and shook out my arms, feeling the coldness of the mat underneath my bare feet. The weather sucked outside, another rare day where rain came down in sheets and the sky was gray even though it was nearing noon, but I was glad not to be in bed watching it.
When Gavril had woken me this morning and said he wanted to show me some self-defense moves that I could use if and when I was ever threatened again, I’d jumped on the chance to do so. It wasn’t that I felt like I couldn’t fight back, but clearly Gavril had been able to protect himself all his life, and surely he knew a better way than I did.
Or at the very least, what he knew had been gained from practice and not some class.
Jon was coming back. I felt in my gut that he wasn’t going to just walk away and forget he ever saw me.
That, and he knew I was pregnant. I imagined that would fuel his plans even more.
I wasn’t going to be his victim any longer. I was tougher than that. After all, I was married to the pakhan of the Belaya Bratva and carrying his child.
If that didn’t make me strong, I wasn’t sure what would.
Gavril entered the gym area, which was really the basement of the mansion, and I drew in a breath, my mouth going dry at the sight of him. He was dressed casually, his T-shirt tight across his broad chest and on his arms while his legs were encased in those joggers that he preferred whenever he was with me.
But it was the gleam in his eye that had me smiling the most. “You ready?” he asked.
“As ready as I am ever going to be,” I offered up.
Gavril smiled, and my stomach quivered. “I’m going to show you some basic hand to hand and how to break holds that you could encounter. If we have time and you feel up to it, I will show you how to throw a few knives.”
“Sounds frightening,” I laughed.
Gavril continued to smile, but there was a lethal edge to it now. “You aren’t frightened by anything, Naomi. You are tougher than he is. You are stronger than he is. You are fucking smarter than he is.”
I felt his words pierce the very center of my soul. Gavril was right. I was all those things, and I had let Jon reside in my mind because of fear. Until I learned that he had no hold over me, I would never be rid of that fear. That was the mantra that my therapist and Ilsa had told me repeatedly.
Once again, he had instilled the fear that I had forced out years ago, and it was time to do so again. “Give me your best shot,” I challenged my husband, a spark sliding through me.
“The first thing you need to learn is that the vulnerability of your enemy is your greatest strength,” he started, balancing on the balls of his feet. “The eyes, nose, groin, and throat are places that aren’t typically protected in a fight. If you go for one of those areas, then you are more likely to disable your opponent before you even get started.”
“I’ve heard that before in Krav Maga,” I told him. Of course, now it would be too difficult to do some of those moves with me being pregnant. Just this morning, I’d realized that I had a small bump now, making it a crashing reality that I was carrying a tiny baby inside me.
I honestly still couldn’t believe it.
“Good,” Gavril replied. “A heel strike or elbow strike is probably your best bet if someone is coming toward you. I’m assuming you know how to do those?”
I nodded, surprised at how patient Gavril was being with his teaching.
“Show me,” he answered, coming toward me suddenly. I pulled out the training that Ilsa had forced me to learn, and while Gavril deflected my actual blows, I felt the natural rhythm that I remembered.
“Good,” Gavril coached, pleased. “You are fast.”
“I might not be in a few months,” I added softly. “In fact, I might end up waddling before it’s all over with.”
Gavril’s eyes flickered down to my stomach, covered by the racerback tank I had chosen to wear today. “Perhaps, but you will still be able to defend yourself when I cannot.”
Somehow I doubted it would be often when I really started to show. I carried his entire plan inside me. If something happened to me, Gavril wouldn’t get the Krasnaya on his side.
But I wasn’t about to put our child in any sort of danger from Jon or anyone else that wanted to hurt Gavril or me. This child couldn’t defend itself, which meant it was left up to me to make sure that I could still defend myself no matter how big I got.
“What?”
I looked at Gavril, realizing my mind had wandered off. “I was thinking about protecting our child.” Everything was bigger than us now. No matter whose blood ran through our child’s veins or the fact that it was not Orlov blood, it still deserved two parents that could protect it from harm.
Gavril’s jaw clenched, and he stared at my stomach once more. “No one will ever come close to you when I’m around. No one will harm you or our child.”
“And when you aren’t around?” I asked softly.
“This is why we are going to do this today,” he said tightly. “Because though I hate to admit it, there are times that I can’t be here.”
I knew that it pained him to admit to the fact, but unless he was going to lock me in my room and guard the door for the next seven months or so, then it was the truth.
“Let’s practice someone sneaking up on you,” he said after a moment. “The bear-hug attack. It’s likely the one that is used the most when it comes to helpless women.”
A shiver of fear slid down my spine at the thought of Jon grabbing me from behind. I would never see it coming, and that terrified me. That, and I would be completely disgusted to have him touch me.
So I turned around, waiting for the moment that Gavril would put his arms around me. I didn’t even hear him coming, his footfalls so silent even on the creaking mat that when he finally reached me, I barely had time to let out a squeal before his arms were around my waist. “Break the hold,” he coached in my ear as panic started to rise in my chest. “Don’t let the fear get to you. You can do this.”
I forced myself to clear my mind and thought about my options, remembering all the training that Ilsa had given me.
I could do this.
With a yell, I bent low at the waist, throwing off Gavril’s heavier frame momentarily so I could start swinging my elbows to make room. I heard him grunt as one of my elbows collided with his face, and I stopped immediately, turning around to face him. “Oh God,” I breathed, reaching up to touch his face. “Are you okay?”
His eyes were full of laughter as he picked up my hand from his cheek and pressed a kiss to the middle of my palm. “I’m fine. You did good, Naomi, better than I thought you would.”
His praise warmed my insides. “Thank you.”
He stepped back, smoothing his hair with his hands. “Let’s see what you do with a chokehold, all right?”
Fear rose in my throat, but I forced it down. This was another level.
Not only that, but Gavril’s hands could easily squeeze the life out of me. After all, they had with another woman before, and he had cared about her greatly. For someone to do something like that and not in the heat of passion, but in survival mode—I couldn’t imagine what it would take.
