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There was no use in arguing when he took that final tone, so I leaned against him as we strolled down the beach. We passed a few other couples and got some looks due to my outrageous dress, but since it was Miami, no one gave us much attention. Pretty soon we were on a secluded stretch and Ivan tugged me toward an empty lifeguard station.
“Shall we sit and enjoy the sounds of the surf for a while?” he asked, his hand moving from my waist to my hip.
I licked my lips and nodded as he led me behind the tower. I laughed when I saw what waited there, and shouldn’t have been surprised because it was Ivan, but I was. He pulled me down beside him on the thick blanket, and took the champagne bottle out of the ice bucket sitting at the edge. There was also a tray of strawberries and mango slices, both my favorites.
“How did you do this?” I asked. “We didn’t plan to come here.”
“My men are good for more than just security and trash cleanup,” he said with a smirk. He held up his phone. “Whenever you looked away. I could have been messaging my mistress for all you noticed.”
The idea of that sent a wash of fury over me and I guess it showed on my face because he threw back his head and laughed. Holding out a strawberry, he pressed it against my pursed lips.
“You’re the only woman in my life, Reina. You’re my queen, remember? Now, open that pretty mouth for me.”
My lips parted to accept the strawberry as satisfaction replaced my sudden anger. “As long as you know it,” I said, snapping my teeth down on the juicy berry. “You may be the king of the Bratva around here and I’m just a nobody from Kansas, but I’ll find a way to make you pay if you ever share this with anyone else again.”
I kept his gaze as I slid my hand up his thigh to press against the thick bulge that rose with my touch. My satisfaction grew at this small bit of power I had over Ivan and leaned closer.
“Never,” he said, his lips crashing against mine.
We were rolling on the blanket, grappling each other and making out like teenagers when we heard shouts of laughter coming from up the beach. I tapped his shoulder and sat up.
“We should act civilized,” I said, patting my swollen lips and trying to cool down.
Ivan stared at the group of young men walking along the shore, his jaw tensing. As they got closer I could hear snippets of their loud talk and I recognized the accent. I was around it constantly now. These men were Russian as sure as Ivan was growing more agitated.
I edged closer to him and he calmly reached for the champagne bottle, but made no move to pour us any. “It’s fine, Reina,” he said.
Well, considering I hadn’t asked, I decided it wasn’t fine. “We should go,” I said. “We can cut through the hotel and walk on the street to get back to the car.”
He shook his head, his eyes never leaving the group.Let them pass by.This was our night. As they drew parallel with us, I decided there was no way they could even see us, far up the sand and half hidden in the shadows of the lifeguard stand. I was wrong, and they turned to head toward us.
Ivan jumped up, whisking me behind him, one hand wrapped around the neck of the champagne bottle, the other working his phone. I looked around for his goons, the one and only time I would have been glad to see them, but it was only darkness all the way to the hotel far up on the other side of the strand.
The group reached us and stopped, staring at Ivan, who stared back. There were five of them, all dressed in jeans and t-shirts, and young. Maybe even younger than me. One of them stood ahead of the small pack, his chin jutting forward and a sneer on his face.
“Don’t you have a home, Ivan Morozov?” His accent was much heavier than Ivan’s almost imperceptible one. “You have to fuck your whores outside like the dog you are?”
Oh no. I almost felt sorry for the kid. Almost. Ivan shook his head.
“You’re making a mistake, Anton,” he said, his voice so icy I hugged my arms close to my chest. “You shouldn’t be embarrassing your father like this.”
The other guys looked at each other and shuffled back a little. They seemed to have some smarts, or self-preservation at least. Anton, their clear leader, didn’t. He leaned forward, his face a stony mask of hatred.
“I think my father would be proud of me for taking the initiative,” he spat. I didn’t like the sound of that. I didn’t like it at all when Ivan remained silent as Anton laughed bitterly and continued his tirade. “It’s about time we put your fucking family where it belongs, and he knows it.”
I clenched my teeth to keep from whimpering and clutched the back of Ivan’s shirt. The idiot Anton made a show of leaning around Ivan to leer at me. “She’s pretty, your little whore,” he said.
Ivan swung the bottle and cracked the kid in the side of the head with it and I couldn’t say I was displeased. Anton staggered, clutching his ear as his friends surged forward. Before I could scream, we were surrounded, but not by Anton’s crew. Four men I recognized convened around us, closing ranks in front of me and on either side of Ivan.
Anton’s group dropped back almost to the water’s edge, but stupid Anton cradled his face and continued to glare at Ivan, and now his small army.
“Choose wisely,” Ivan said. “I’ve heard it’s a far worse fate than death to lose a child.”
My hand went to my stomach and I smothered a gasp. Ivan barely glanced at me before turning his dark stare back on Anton. “I won’t dishonor the truce between our families,” he continued. “Don’t be stupid and end that truce.”
Ivan and his men stepped forward as one and there was a brief flash of dawning comprehension on Anton’s face that he was about to get his ass kicked all the way to West Palm if he didn’t cut his losses. Clearly enraged and embarrassed, he tossed out a few more curses as he backed away to join his friends, who were practically running away up the beach.
All the adrenaline drained out of me as soon as Anton and his gang were out of sight. I kept my hand on my now churning stomach, unable to shake Ivan’s words. I was already so attached to this baby, who was barely the size of a plum. How could I survive if something happened to it? Ivan sent his men back into the darkness where they’d materialized and I slumped into Ivan’s arms once we were alone again.
