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“Let’s go to our room,” Nat says, and she leads me out of the room and down the hall. We walk down a long hallway, and I swear this house cannot get any bigger. We stop in front of a door, and I’ve lost count of how many rooms we’ve passed. Nat opens the door to a very spacious -not surprising- bedroom with a large bed.Plenty of room for two.
Nat goes to a dresser and pulls out some underwear and two large t-shirts. We often had the same choice in bedwear. We both change and get into bed. Nat talks about the first time we met. We laugh back-and-forth, trading funny and embarrassing stories about each other and Alexie, even though the man is incapable of feeling embarrassed. Eventually, we both drift off to sleep.
I’m not sure how much time has passed, but I feel warmth in front of me. I pry my eyes open slightly to see a mass of thick red hair. We are cuddled up together, and I am behind Nat with both arms wrapped around her. There were a lot of sleepovers that ended with us cuddling. I flex my hands a bit as my right hand has fallen asleep. Both of my hands had found their resting spot on Nat’s full breasts.
Nat doesn’t wake up as I flex my hands but lets out a soft sigh. Or was that a moan?Would she be okay with this?I’ve always felt a lot of guilt for not being completely honest with my best friend. For one, I’m bisexual, and I gravitate more toward women. I was always worried about telling Nat because I didn’t want her to get weirded out or think I was trying to hit on her. By the time I realized how ridiculous that sounded, so much time had passed that it seemed even worse to bring it up so late, so I just never did.
The other thing that I never even wanted to admit to myself is that I have feelings for my best friend. I would never act on those feelings if she didn’t feel the same, but how do you tell the closest person in your life that you want to be with them, especially when it was always going to be her and Alexie together in the end?
Now, she’s with multiple men, so does that mean there could be a place for me as well? Nat has never been with a woman or shown interest in one before so am I being naïve to think suddenly things are going to change? What I need to do is stop worrying about it so much and get the courage to tell Nat how I feel. If this past year taught me anything, it’s to not wait because tomorrow isn’t guaranteed.
It’s settled, then. I’m going, to be honest with Nat.
King
Thewomenhavebeenasleep for hours. I saw Katia wake once and readjust, but otherwise, she went right back to sleep. I, however, have been sitting on this uncomfortable ass couch just watching them sleep. I tried to sleep in my assigned room, but I couldn’t, knowing that the scum escaped tonight yet again. Andrei and this Ivan bastard need to be brought down, and I’m not sure that them just being arrested will be good enough for me anymore.
I feel this need to guard Luci, and tonight, that means Katia too. So this is where I’ve sat for hours, just thinking about how much my thoughts and feelings have changed towards Luci. Also, I’m second-guessing if maybe I’m still a good fit for this job because I can’t stop thinking about blowing Ivan’s brains out even though I’ve never even met the guy.
My eyes flutter open to a darkened room, but I can see the sun peeking through the curtains in the room.Shit! I must have dozed off.Snapping my head over to the bed, I see that Luci is still sound asleep in the bed, but she is alone now.FUCK!Trying not to panic, I look around the room when I notice the shower running in the bathroom.Thank God!Katia must have woken up and wanted to freshen up.
A few minutes pass, with me just sitting here picking at my cuticles and occasionally glancing at the sleeping goddess in the bed while fighting myself not to wake her up with my tongue between her thighs. I hear the water shut off, and Katia comes walking out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel. I stand to leave so she can have her privacy when she freezes in place and a blood-curdling scream leaves her.
I panic and raise my hands in a surrender motion, looking in the bed’s direction. Nat flies from the bed, eyes wide and a dagger in her hand.Where the fuck was she stashing that?She takes in the situation and then hurriedly comes to our aid. “What the fuck is going on over here?” she demands.
I open my mouth to apologize to Katia, but she is in pure panic mode. She’s shaking like a leaf, and her breathing is coming out in sharp gasps. Nat is rubbing her back and telling her it’s okay. “Katia, I am so sorry. I slept in here on the couch. After last night, I couldn’t stand that you two didn’t have eyes on ya. I saw you come from the bathroom, and I was just trying to leave to give you some privacy since you’re in a towel,” I explain, my tone leaving no room for them to question me.
“I’m okay,” she pants. “I must not have seen you when I got up to shower. It was still pretty dark in here, and I was still half out of it. When I came out, I saw you get up quickly, and my brain automatically panicked, thinking that you were here to take me or have your way with me. I’m sorry,” she cries.
Nat invades her space, cupping her face and saying, “You have nothing to be sorry for,Kotik. Both of you were just reacting to the events of the last twenty-four hours. King is an asshole, but I promise you none of the people in this house would ever hurt you.”
The fear in that woman’s eyes makes me know Andrei and Ivan need to be put down like a rabid animals and not put behind bars.
Knowing I won’t be able to rest, I decide to just continue guarding the women from the hallway. Dragging a chair from one of the rooms further down the hall, I sit right next to their door just to make sure that no one walks in or out that isn’t supposed to. The girls are chatting inside, and I’m not trying to snoop on their private time. So, I pull my phone from my pocket and start scrolling the news sites. I want to see if there is anything in there about last night.
While waiting, I hear the girls’ voices get closer to the door. Now, I can hear everything they’re saying, no problem. “I think it’s awesome you have so many men at your beck and call, Natalia. I am shocked, however, to see Alexie getting along with them. Remember when he killed that guy in the alley behind the club for cat-calling you? I think it’s great you have enough room in your heart to love each of them,” Katia tells her.
“Well, that’s the thing, Katia. I have only told Conrad and, of course, Alexie that I love them. I feel the way for the rest of them, even big and scary from this morning.” She giggles.
She loves me?My heart jolts at the thought, and it almost feels like I’ve been electrocuted. I’ve never been loved by anyone, that I can remember anyway. And for sure, no one has ever told me they loved me. I’m not sure if I feel the same for Luci yet. I think I can get there, but honestly, I wouldn’t know what love feels like if it smacked me in the face.Fuck! I’m broken on the inside.
Deciding I’ve heard enough and that I don’t want to keep being a creepy bastard, I pick up my chair and make my way to put it back. Coming out of the room that I borrowed the chair from, I see Luci and Katia exit the room holding hands, making their way down the stairs. I follow behind them, and we make it to the bottom of the stairs just as someone hollers. “BRUNCH!”
We all take a seat at the dining room table after we’ve piled our plates high with food. Once everyone is seated and shoving food in their mouths, Stryker clears his throat, making all eyes snap to him. “Katia, I know everything is still new, and your healing hasn’t even begun yet, however, before we leave Vegas today, I want to hear what you can tell us of your story. Think you can do that?”
Katia nods her head, and then she grabs Alexie and Nat’s hands. They are like her safety blanket, which I can understand since they grew up together. I can also see how fiercely protective they are of Katia. We will all have to make sure she is safe no matter what. I don’t think Luci will survive her disappearing again. While Katia is obviously trying to work up the courage to tell her story, Stryker being the smug asshole he is breaks the silence in the room. “So, Little Fox, do you share Alexie with Katia?”
Conrad and I gasp at his boldness while BJ and Marcela are slack-jawed, staring at him. Nat is glaring daggers at Stryker, but Alexie is laughing his ass off. He then turns to face Katia and uses his free hand to grab her head, and kisses her on the mouth. Before turning back to Stryker with a smirk on his face. “No, Boss-man. We have been best buddies since diapers, and whenZaychikcame along, we became the three musketeers. I would die for Katia, but I could never fuck her,” he says while winking at Katia. She socks him in the arm with a giggle.
“No, Stryker. While I’ve seen this Russian bastard naked a ton of times -since he and Natalia here have no shame when they’re horny- it would be like fucking my brother,” she reiterates, faking a gag at the end of her sentence. Everyone chuckles and Nat squeezes Katia’s hand as she takes a deep breath, readying herself to tell us her story.
“In a nutshell, I was given a loan from Andrei to pay for my beauty school tuition. Three years ago, I started dancing at Pole Palace to increase my wages and pay back the loan quicker at Andrei’s demand. I know, I should have just asked Alexie or Natalia for the loan, but I was too proud,” she says, looking at Nat as a tear rolls down her face. “Then, about a year ago, I was summoned to Andrei’s office, where he informed me he was renegotiating the terms of my loan. I either paid in full with a new interest rate of thirty percent, or I could continue to make payments but only if I agreed to provide the ‘happy endings’ that most clients wanted at Pole Palace.”
Alexie curses in Russian, and Nat vibrates with anger. Katia gives them a weak smile but pushes on. “I declined doing either of those things. I told him I quit and was going to come to Alexie or Natalia to get the money to pay off Andrei. My world went black after I turned to leave. When I woke up, I was chained in a room, and Ivan was there, ready to torment me. At first, it was just with his words, but it got increasingly worse. Eventually, he allowed the guards to rape me, and when I fought back, he beat me until I was barely conscious before watching while the guards finished.”
Nat is now quietly crying, and Alexie has one hand still holding Katia’s, but the other is white-knuckled from the force with which he is squeezing the table. “You don’t have to tell us more if you’re not ready, Katia,” I tell her. I’m not even sure it’s me speaking, but I hear my voice, so it must be me. I can’t stand to hear how this girl was treated, and I can’t bear to see Luci so hurt, either. Katia looks at me, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“No, I want you to know everything, so those bastards get what they deserve. Ivan himself never assaulted me sexually; his abuse was more about pain, cutting me, burning me, and beating me. The only time I ever feared he was going to rape me was the day I was in his torture room, and he had a guard drag someone in with a hood over their head. When he removed the hood, after he chained her up, I saw he colored her hair red and kept calling herMalyshka.He brutally tortured, raped, and then killed her in front of me. After that, I was allowed upstairs as long as I did what he asked, like cleaning and cooking. Then a few days ago, I thought I was being taken to just dance at the lounge here in Vegas as usual, but I was informed I was to be the main attraction at last night’s auction. I have no idea what changed that made them decide to auction me off, but I was put in a cage until it was my time on stage, and…well, you know the rest.”
