Page 16 of Cruel Russian Monster
Lev already had enough on his plate. If he found out it was another Bratva faction behind Katya's kidnapping, there was no telling what he’d do.
One of my jobs as his underboss was making sure he returned home alive every damn day.
To his wife. To his kid.
And that was a job I took personally.
After returning to the office, I took a quick shower and told Tomas to take me home.
Unlike most Bratva leaders, I didn’t keep a swarm of security around. Tomas acted as both my security detail and my driver. He came in at a set time and left most days in the evening to be with his family.
I liked my privacy.
Lev’d been on my ass lately, telling me it was time to tighten things up, especially with all the attacks. But it wasn't happening. Not now, when Vera was under my roof. Tomas was loyal to me; he'd take my secrets to the grave. And for that, I paid him generously.
Surprisingly, even without guards, Vera hadn’t tried to run. She got up every morning, made breakfast, and even left dinner in the oven for when I got home. Of course, I checked the cameras first to make sure she hadn't poisoned it. But I still caught myself smiling as I watched her on screen, dancing and singing into a damn wooden spoon.
One morning, I got up early just to see her in the kitchen. Usually, I waited until she’d gone back to her room with her breakfast on a tray. But that day, she had cut her finger, and I didn’t think. I just ran in.
Without hesitation, she let me check her wound. I wiped the tears from her eyes and told her that I'll need to stitch it. She didn't argue, she just nodded. The woman I kidnapped and forced to marry me trusted me to stitch her wounds…that gutted me. Fuck.
After grabbing the first aid kit and numbing the area, I stitched her up. I’d patched up enough of my men and myself to handle it without setting foot in one of our clinics.
Still, that gentle look in her eyes when she whispered “thank you”—real and unguarded—it stuck with me. Her hand in mine…the other on my chest…our lips inches away from each other's…
I shook the thought away.
I didn’t marry Vera to play house. I married her to keep Artyom from tearing our damn faction apart. And soon, he’dfind out, he and every damn Bratva brother across the U.S. and beyond, that Vera Rykov was now Vera Safin.
Yet somehow, playing house was exactly what crossed my mind then. It was only four in the afternoon, and I was already on my way home to check on her.
Tomas dropped me off, and I entered the house quietly. But the closer I got to Vera's room, the louder her shrieks came.
With my gun now in my hand, I rushed in and found her in the bathroom. I froze.
The sink tap had snapped clean off, and water was gushing out onto the tiled floor. Vera stood in the middle of it, hands pressed desperately against the broken pipe, soaked from head to toe.
I put my gun away and stalked over to her, the water splashing me as I placed my hands on the cabinet door. She stepped out of the way, giving me enough room to open it and reach for the shutoff valve. I twisted it until the water finally stopped. As I rose to my feet, the cabinet door shut itself. The knees of my pants and the back of my jacket were wet.
Vera finally stepped away from the sink.
Her satin pajama top was plastered to her skin. Thin straps clung to her damp shoulders, and the cold air from the AC had her nipples pressing visibly against the fabric, taunting me.
“How the hell did this happen?” I snapped, my voice sharper than I intended.
I knew damn well she couldn’t have broken it on purpose. But I needed to feel something, anything, other than the raw, dangerous urge to pin her to the counter, rip that top off, and suck those perfect nipples until she moaned my name like she used to.
At first, she looked startled.
Then the fire came as anger flared in her eyes.
“I came to use the bathroom. Then I needed to wash my hands. I turned the tap, and the damn thing broke right off! That’s how the hell it happened.”
“And you thought using your hands to stop the water was the best plan of action? Instead of shutting it off at the source?” I lifted an eyebrow.
“I was startled! I wasn’t expecting it,” she shot back. “Maybe you shouldn't buy those cheap ass taps! And try to install it yourself. And maybe, it wouldn't have broken off the way it did.”
I smirked. “I think you did it on purpose. Yanked off the tap, and wore a top that could easily become see-through. Are you trying to seduce me, Vera?”
