AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come,” he coaxes his voice steely and rough. “Let’s rest. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
“I’ll go with you, Maxim, but once we are back at the port I have a life to get back to.”
He draws me into his arms and leads us back to bed. Neither accepting nor acknowledging what I’ve said. With an arm around my waist, he tucks me beneath his chin and holds me. It’s not long before his chest rises and falls with even breathing.
I don’t belong to anyone. And definitely not to a mafia man. I was stupid to think a one-off would be a good idea. I wanted to feel and man did he deliver in spades, but men like him don’t stop at making their women feel good. They want to own them and one mafia king known as Maxim Novak is as possessive as they come.
I trace the pad of my finger over the snout of a dragon slumbering over his right shoulder.
I wish things were different. I wouldn’t mind having an obsessive lover who devoted themselves to me and only me.
But honestly, I see myself as Cinderella caught up in a fairy tale where this princess has to go back to her one-bedroom castle and slip into her maid’s uniform before sunup and I don’t have much time left. I don’t belong with him. If anything, his world wants to see me dead.
Wrapped in his bodily warmth makes it hard, but I manage to stay awake until I hear the captain throttle back the motor and dock. I wait another ten minutes to make sure Maxim doesn’t wake.
I press a light kiss to his lips and feel a zing of electricity. I brush it off as left-over endorphins. My ears are still warm from the sweet murmurings of wanting to see me round with his child. But in the real world I know that isn’t going to happen.
I grab my shorts and bathing suit and make quick work of pulling them on in the muted light of the cabin. I make my way portside and slip silently off the massive yacht. The guard at the gate lets me out and I don’t dare look back for fear of running back to the man who saved my life.
Dangerous thoughts of needing his brand of passion have my feet dragging but I push on until I have the lights of Miami in sight. It takes me half an hour to reach my tiny one-bedroom apartment and as soon as I am inside, I sink to the floor, tears in my eyes.
* * *
Maxim
Iwatch as my siren sneaks off the back of my boat and runs down the pier.
I take out my phone and pull up a starred contact. “Follow her. Time how long it takes the East Syndicate to find her and call me the second you pick up the tracker nearing her location. Make sure nothing happens to her. She’s already carrying Novak blood. Anyone fucks up, it’s their balls in a jar on my desk.” I hang up.
I’ll let her think she’s gotten away for now but it won’t be long before she’s back in my arms, in my bed, and round with my baby.
Nine
Vannah, One week later
Islip the key into my father’s lock and ease inside the dark space. I’ve been staying low for the past few days at his place and it seems to be paying off. Well, knock on wood. So far so good anyway. No Maxim and no East Syndicate. The former doesn’t know where to find me given he doesn’t even know my last name and the latter thinks I’m tucked beneath the waves.
Well, screw them both!
I toss my keys on the table beside the front door, the sound echoing off the bare walls. It’s eerie not seeing family photographs or smelling his favorite cigar lingering in the air after dinner.
Nostalgia for how things used to be rips at my heart as I strip out of my uniform letting it drop to the floor.
“Shower, food, pack another couple of boxes and then bed.” I got this.
I’ve kept the lights off and use my phone’s flashlight feature to keep from drawing attention while I try to sell the place. Nosy neighbors are a real thing to fear. So far, I’ve kept Serenity at bay as she waits for the arrival of her newborn but it won’t be long before she hunts me down. I had to take a day’s worth of docked pay for the day I missed. I didn’t try to sell them on the fact I was tied up and being dumped in the middle of the ocean. I don’t think they would believe me.Ibarely believe myself.
I kick a box out of the way and stack a few others. After a few calls, I finally found a real estate agent willing to sell the place as is. She’s due tomorrow and assures me the dreamy staircases and massive libraries will put money in my bank account fast. I like that. I’ll take a hit on the asking price because of the nail holes and unpolished banisters. But I’m sure the ritzy two-story marble-covered villa will net me enough to start over in California.
In nothing but black panties and a matching bra, I pad barefoot toward the stairs. The bottoms of my feet are the only cool things about me but a cold shower will help. The AC unit broke long before I moved in and a Florida summer is akin to living in the bowels of hell. I make a turn at the foot of the stairs to double-check the windows and make sure everything is locked down tight. I can just sleep in the freaking shower tonight and then maybe beg a repairman to take a look at the two-decade-old broken unit at the back of the house before the agent arrives. I gather my uniform and check the tips I earned from jobnumero uno.
Err…twenty bucks probably won’t pay even half of the repair bill. I take out the tips from jobnumero dosand ditto.
Shit. Why did my dad have to move us to Florida?
I release the tight bun holding my hair from my face and let it fall around my shoulders. The relief is instant.
Maybe Serenity’s offer isn’t so bad after all, but knowing the East Syndicate is possibly lurking around I can’t risk bringing danger to her doorstep.
