Page 57 of Paved in Hate

She nods her head and kisses my neck. “I do trust you. I won’t say anything.”

“Thank you.”

Cupping the back of her head, I hold her for a few more minutes before she pulls back and gives me as big of a smile as she can manage with bloodshot eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. “How bad do I look?”

“You could never look bad,ptichka.” I brush the backs of my knuckles along her cheek. “You look sad, baby, and that’s something I hope I can help with, because I never want you looking sad again. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re always happy.” I kiss the tip of her cute nose. “I’ll do anything for you.”

“And I’ll do anything for you.”

I smile and give her a wink. “Anything, huh? Because I could probably come up with a few things.”

The sound of her laughter filling the car makes me feel like I can breathe a little easier.

“I bet you could.” She gives me a sweet kiss, the kind of kiss that only she’s ever given me, the kind that’s filled with love and not a selfish need to get off or to claim me in some way. Katya’s a giver, and I’ve only ever been around women who are takers. I had no idea it could be like this.

Giving her one last kiss, I pull back and say, “Let’s go upstairs. I’m tired of having secrets between us. You’re a Melnikov now. You need to know what’s going on.”

She nods and gives me a smile, but when she starts to reach back for her heels, I laugh and grab her wrist.

“I don’t fucking think so. I’m carrying your stubborn ass upstairs.”

Before she can argue, I get out and walk around to her side. Picking her up bridal style, I kick my car door shut and carry her to the elevator. She laughs and wraps an arm around my neck, knowing there’s no talking me out of this.

Once the doors open, I give her another kiss before carefully setting her down. I help her with her coat and then get rid of mine along with my suit jacket. Taking her hand, I lead her into the living room where everyone is already waiting. I knew Danil would see us on the security feed, so I’m not at all surprised to see he’s gathered everyone together.

“Are you sure about this?” Roman asks her. He’s sitting on the couch with Emily tucked in next to him, one hand resting protectively on her round belly. An image of a pregnant Katya hits me hard, and instead of running away like my ass is on fire, I smile and kiss the top of her head.

“I’m sure,” Katya tells him. “This was the last time I’ll ever see my brothers.” Gripping my arm, she looks up at me. “Can I ask for something?”

“You can ask for whatever you want,” I tell her.

“If you and your brothers are planning on taking out the Lebedev Bratva, will you spare Oksana? She never wanted to be married to Konstantin. It was forced on her, and her life has been a living hell ever since they were married.”

I cup her face and kiss her forehead. “I promise no harm will come to her unless she tries to go against us.”

Her shoulders relax at my promise. “She would never do that. She’ll help you pull the damn trigger.”

I look over at my brothers before sitting down, pulling Katya into my lap. I kiss her shoulder before I start explaining everything.

“My brothers and I are a family by choice. We grew up in Moscow together, but there’s one family member that’s not here.” I point at Roman. “Alina, Roman’s sister, was kidnapped by sex traffickers close to two years ago, and we’ve spent every second since then trying to find her.”

She turns her head to look at me. “You think my brothers are behind it?”

“We know they are,” Danil says. “Simona was taken by the Lebedev Bratva, and I bought her at one of their auctions. The plan was to save someone and see if she could give us any information and then we’d let her go.” He smiles and kisses his wife. “Obviously, those plans changed, but we did end up learning that your brothers were behind everything. Their Bratva was active in the area where Alina was taken, and they’re the only ones powerful enough at the time to have pulled it off.”

“You were behind Stefan’s disappearance?” Katya asks.

I look over at her. “You know about Stefan?”

She nods and leans back against me. “I heard my brothers talking about him. They have no idea what happened to him, though.” Her blue eyes dart from me to my brothers. “I’m guessing he won’t be turning up anytime soon.”

Lev gives a soft laugh. “He will not be.”

“I never met him,” Katya says, “but I know you did the world a favor.”

“We did,” Danil says, tightening his grip on Simona.

“We need to know how your brothers keep track of the women,” Matvey says, speaking for the first time. “How can we find Alina?”

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