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It didn’t matter how he’d managed when it was right in front of me and I knew that a single wrong word could spur him into using it. My job could be at risk if I served him knowing that he carried a weapon, but my life was at risk if I didn’t.
“Get the fuck back,” A voice boomed. The man’s hand left my wrist at the same time as Andrei rushed forward and lifted the man, shoving him over the bar. His gun clattered to the ground on my side, and I only stared at it as glasses shattered from the conflict. I couldn’t bring myself to step toward it or move it as Andrei dragged the man out of the bar and through the front doors. He went past the bouncers with a few vague words that had them looking back toward me, and suddenly, I couldn’t wait to finish this shift.
This was too much to handle after everything that had happened this week, but I took a deep breath and forced a smile back on my face as I continued serving my patrons.
It wasn’t until a few hours later when Andrei drove me home in silence that I considered whether or not to tell Viktor about what had happened. It didn’t mean anything, and I knew if I told him, he would never agree for me to go back to work.
I would keep it to myself, I decided. I wouldn’t even see him until tomorrow morning, and by then, I’d be calm and collected enough to spew a lie about the evening going well. I could downplay what had happened if Andrei mentioned it. At two thirty in the morning, there was no chance he was awake. It could all wait until morning.
But when we pulled into the parking garage and strode through the house’s front door, Viktor met me with a menacing gaze and crossed arms that told me he knew exactly what had gone down tonight, and he didn’t like it.
Chapter Seven
Viktor Nikolaev
Andrei had called me when he brought the piece of scum out of the bar, and he explained the situation. It only took one more call to have one of my guys pick him up. He’d be dumped off the shore before morning, and the only thing I regretted was not killing him myself. Hell, it took everything in me to stay away tonight—to let Andrei handle it.
If I’d been there, the night would have gonefardifferently, and I couldn’t afford to handle that right now. Not while I was busy keeping Ciara safe.
It could have ended so much worse if Andrei wasn’t there.
I knew Ciara would be safe with him.
I moved a chair to the entrance room and waited for them to get home. I went through billing reports and scrolled through a few different accounts, getting ahead on work for the following day, but I couldn’t focus on anything as I thought about her being out of reach.
Just before three in the morning when they pulled into the garage, I stood and crossed my arms. I’d compromised by allowing her to work at the bar, but it was over. She wouldn’t go back. If I couldn’t be with her, she wouldn’t be in harm’s way, and I couldn’t commit myself to her job when she was there—not when I had my own shit to keep in order.
They walked through the door, and I stared at her with narrowed eyes. She froze in the doorway, leaving just enough room for Andrei to slip past her and make his way deeper into the house.
“Traitor,” she muttered as he walked away.
Oh, she knew what this was about. Andrei only chuckled, gave me a respectful nod, and continued forward. I didn’t want witnesses to this encounter—not when I knew she wouldn’t take it well.
“You’re up late. Did Sean go to sleep well?” she asked.
“You’re done working there,” I told her, cutting straight to the point. There wasn’t going to be any working around the top or uncertainties.
She rolled her eyes and strode toward me. “I’m not dealing with this after the night I had.”
Then, rather than staying to hear my response, she strode straight past me and toward my bedroom. I didn’t let her take more than three steps away as I grabbed her wrist and whipped her back toward me. She gasped as she slammed into my chest, scowling up at me. “That was not the end of this conversation,” I told her. “You can tell me all about your night if you want, but it’s not going to change my decision.”
The sunshine and light that usually encompassed her features dropped, and she shook her head, trying to pull from my grip. “You have nothing over me. You won’t convince me to do anything I don’t want to do.”
“I have nothing over you?” I asked. “Because to me, it looks like if you leave and cut ties with me, there will be nothing protecting you or your son from dozens of murderers who want to see you dead.”
“You’re right,” she spat, trying and failing to shove away from me. “Then we’ll just go far enough away that nobody will find us.Especiallyyou.”
Her words drove me mad. I’d let her go without a fight the first time, and I spent nearly a decade regretting that decision. I stepped forward, ensuring she stayed upright as I pushed her back into the wall and sandwiched her body there with mine. I had the perfect view down on her tits in the low-cut dress she wore, and I spread her legs with a knee between them. Her dress only went up to midthigh, and her flimsy tights covered her the rest of the way. I’d make sure she never wore this outfit for another man to see her again.
She lookedtoogood in it, and I had a feeling she knew it.
“Solnishko, I don’t know what you think you will accomplish by pushing me. You know you’re the only one who can do so without dying,” I mused, “I think that makes you bold. I will not stand for you disrespecting me, and from here on out, there will be consequences.”
“What is it with you and consequences?” she spat, but I cut her off with a hand around her throat. I felt it bob beneath my touch as her eyes widened.
“You’re not leaving me again. I want you here, and Ialwaysget what I want. You try to use my softness for you against me, but that’s not going to work. I have you right where I want you, and you’re going to do as I say.”
“I grew up being controlled by one domineering asshole who thought he could tell me what to do, and I got away. Do you think I won’t do it again?” she asked, her voice straining against my hand.
