Second Best (Volkov Bratva Book 1) Read online

  Again, Aurora was different. She’d yet to use my money on anything. The clothes she’d gotten were the ones I brought for her.

  “Yes,” she said, cutting through my thoughts.

  “Then let’s go and talk.”

  She nodded her head, but I hadn’t moved. “You need to step back.”

  “I will, but it’s going to cost you,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Kiss me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me,” I said. I could have taken the kiss. Aurora wouldn’t fight me. The training her family had thrust into her was hard for her to ignore. She’d let me do anything to her. This was our world. Women, unfortunately, were nothing more than a commodity. A price someone was willing to pay. For Aurora, the Bratva paid in peace as did her family.

  “You want me to kiss you?” she asked.

  “Yes. Like you mean it.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Simple. Kiss me like your life depends on it.”

  “That’s not a good reason to have a kiss.”

  “It’s the only reason you need. We’re not leaving until you kiss me.”

  “You’d keep the restaurant open all night just so I’d kiss you?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “You’re bluffing.”

  “I own the restaurant. They’d do as they’re told.”

  She licked her lips, and I saw her struggling, but I’d won. She just needed to realize I had and there was no point in fighting it.

  I wanted that tongue on mine.

  For a few seconds, nothing happened. She stayed perfectly still, and I kept her trapped. I had no problem holding her here. This worked for me because I had her close to my body. The soft curves of her breasts calling to me.

  Slowly, almost too slowly for me to appreciate, she put her hands on my chest. Her touch light, soft. She slid her hands up to cup my face. Aurora touched my face and let me go.

  I saw the fight in her gaze and I stayed perfectly still, giving her the time to make all the moves.

  She cupped my face and waited.

  Did she think I’d kill her for touching me?

  I’d done so in the past, but this was different. I’d asked her to kiss me. I wanted her touch, but she was treating me like a bomb about to go off.

  Even with the heels I’d given her, I was still much taller than her. She had no choice but to go on her tiptoes, which brought her body flush against mine, and fuck me if that didn’t feel good.

  The soft press of her tits.

  I wanted to grab her.

  Instead, I held myself perfectly still as her lips brushed across mine. The touch was fleeting, and she pulled back.

  “Not good enough.”

  “It was a kiss.”

  I was done playing games. Grabbing her ass, I sank my fingers into her hair and tugged her close. I slammed my lips down on hers and ravished her mouth, taking control, giving her the kiss I truly wanted.

  She released a moan, her fingers sinking against my shoulders as she held on to me. It wasn’t enough. I traced the fullness of her lip, and she opened up, deepening the kiss. Then I lifted her up on the counter, spreading her thighs so my cock was close to her.

  As much as I wanted to continue, fucking her in the bathroom of a restaurant wasn’t what I had in mind for today.

  I jerked away.

  The dress had ridden up. The slits were open, exposing her thighs. She touched her lips and shook her head, getting to her feet.

  She nearly fell to the floor, but I captured her, not letting her go until I was sure she was balanced.

  “I’m fine.”

  “I ordered dinner for you. Let’s go and eat.” I held my hand out. She took it.

  Sergei was outside of the bathroom. Again, I hated the way he looked at my wife. I made a note to look into a replacement bodyguard for my wife. I wouldn’t kill Sergei for having a little crush, if that was even what he had. I wasn’t a fool. I was very much aware of the bonds that formed between wives and bodyguards. They were always around each other. They became friends and for some, it turned into a relationship.

  Not all husbands liked their women fucking the help, though. For me, it wasn’t Sergei’s social standing that was the problem. I simply didn’t want him or any man touching my wife.

  She belonged to me.

  I’d taken her virginity. All of her firsts, and every encounter after that all belonged to me.

  I wasn’t going to give her up.

  Back at our table, I nodded for the waiter to bring out our dinner. Staring at Aurora now, her lips swollen, her hair a little disheveled, she looked everywhere but at me. The fire no longer in her eyes, but now, I wanted to talk.

  “Your father had nothing to do with the attack. He didn’t send those men.”

  Her gaze landed back on me, exactly where I wanted them. “Oh.”

  “Yes. It would seem the men who attacked the party had formed what they felt was an elite group of soldiers.”

  “I don’t understand.” Her frown was cute.

  “To put it simply, the soldiers that worked for your father, and the other Capos, decided they didn’t like taking orders. They formed their own group, considering themselves the best of the soldiers. They weren’t, which is why they were let go with ease. We don’t make it a habit of driving out our best soldiers.”

  “Why attack the party?”

  “They didn’t like the Bratva connection. They attacked the party as it contained the two of us.”

  “They were intentionally going to kill us?” she asked. “They attacked and hurt people. Killed people because of us.”

  “Our marriage is a peace treaty. It is what stops the streets from running red with blood. They hoped to kill us to void the peace treaty, or to make us believe they’d attacked, voiding the treaty and starting up a street war.”

  “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “You wanted conversation. You asked what I’d been doing this week. This is what I’d been doing.”

  I’d never talked work with anyone outside of who I dealt with.

  Aurora sat back. “Does that mean there are more soldiers out there? No one would attack and leave themselves vulnerable, would they?”

  “You’re right. They recruited more soldiers who were not happy with the alliance, as well as people, mostly ex-military men, who are not good at taking orders. They created a small army within a matter of weeks, if not months.”

  “So we’re in danger right now as we’re having our meal?”

  I nodded. The truth was, even without the small army, I was in danger every single second of my life. She didn’t need to know that. So far, the dinner was going well.

  “I don’t know how you can be so calm.”

  “Easy. They’re not the first people who’ve wanted to kill me and I have no doubt they won’t be the last.” I sipped at my wine.

  Our dinner arrived.

  The waiter left.

  “You’re … amazing,” she said.

  I smiled. “Why?”

  “I’m freaking out and I don’t have the first clue what is going on or even why, and yet, this just seems all a little surreal. You’re a strong man, Slavik.”

  I didn’t pay attention to the compliment.

  All my life, I’d lived with the threat of being killed. It was not new to me and fighting to survive was second nature.

  “How was your week?” I asked.

  “Boring. I didn’t do anything quite as exciting as you. I used the pool. Cooked myself some food. Read. That’s about it.”

  Just as I was about to say something, a couple stopped by our table.

  I recognized Andrei Belov. He controlled section two of cities under Ivan’s control. He was a brigadier like me and answered to the Volkov Bratva. With the attack, Ivan had organized a meeting with all of us to take place in my territory, seeing as this was where we were attacked.

  The woman on Andrei’s arms was his i
ntended. Her name escaped me.

  “I thought it was you, and you were not wrong. This place is amazing,” he said.

  “I only have the best.”

  “Bethany, I’d like you to meet Slavik Ivanov and his wife, Aurora.”

  “It is so nice to meet you both.” Bethany shook my hand and turned to Aurora. “We need to organize a lunch or a shopping trip. I would love to do both.” She put her hand on Andrei’s chest. “I know we’re going to be leaving soon, and it’s so hard to make friends here. What do you say?”

  Aurora smiled but didn’t say anything.

  “My wife is available tomorrow. I’ll make the arrangements with you, Andrei.”

  “Call it a date.”

  Andrei shook my hand and they made their excuses to leave.

  I wasn’t like Andrei. To look and to listen to him, men believed his position of power was unfounded. What they didn’t know was he had a mean streak and in fact, I wouldn’t wish my worst enemy to be alone with him when he was on the warpath.

  Ivan Volkov did not pick soft men to run his cities. It was why he’d gotten six of the best, divided up his cities into sections, and we ruled them all.

  “Do I have to go to lunch?” Aurora asked.

  “Yes. It would be rude not to and he’s a friend. You’ll be safe.”

  “It’s easy for you to say.”

  “What is the problem?”

  “She doesn’t really want to have lunch with me.”

  “Did I see her talking to someone else?” I asked.

  “You don’t understand. It’s fine.” She waved her hand in the air, dismissing me. Whatever had happened in the bathroom was gone, and I was pissed off Andrei had interrupted my dinner.

  Chapter Seven

  Aurora

  Maybe I had prejudged Bethany because I actually had an enjoyable lunch with her. She was a nice woman. Came from a media background. Her parents were more than thrilled with her marrying Andrei Belov. The arrangements had already been made and the wedding set for December. Not too far away, and she was excited.

  During all of her talk of her wedding, not once did she invite me, but I figured it had something to do with Slavik and the whole Bratva thing.

  We had lunch several times a week. I invited her to dinner. We talked about everything and nothing. In fact, I’d been that heavily involved with Bethany, I had nearly forgotten about the uncomfortable conversation with Sergei.

  He was there all the time, watching and waiting.

  Each day, I had a new date with Bethany.

  She’d be returning with Andrei to wherever he lived. I couldn’t recall where, but it was in one of the cities. I was never good with locations.

  “You and Bethany seem to be hitting it off,” Sergei said.

  “Slavik wanted me to be nice and have dinner. She’s only here for a couple more days and then she’s leaving.”

  Sergei nodded.

  What also played on my mind was the kiss I’d shared with Slavik in the bathroom. There was no one to talk to about it. I wanted to know what a kiss like that meant. Was it normal to share one so intense? Every time I thought about it, my lips tingled, and like now, I touched them.

  Would it be so wrong to give in to him?

  We hadn’t had sex.

  My period had started a few days ago, so that meant no baby. To have a baby you did have to do it regularly, right?

  Talking to my mother was useless. She never came to the phone. Isabella was always talking about a party she’d been to and what fun she had. Me, I’d been left with Slavik, confused.

  The only place to go would be the internet, and trying to figure out the truth was way too complicated. Also, my searching had sent me to a porn site. If Slavik had a way of checking through what I looked at, there would be questions.

  Even our sex didn’t match up to the porn videos.

  Sergei parked the car outside a cute Italian place. I’d read the reviews, and they were amazing. I called Bethany up immediately.

  I arrived at the table and took a seat. Bethany was ten minutes late, but she arrived. She wore a low-cut dress that stopped above the knee. She was so beautiful.

  I got to my feet, kissing her cheek as we’d started to do. This was the first time I’d ever had a girlfriend, and it was glorious.

  “Sorry I was late, Andrei, well, he didn’t want me to leave.”

  “Oh, are you living with Andrei?”

  “Yes.”

  This was another part of how different we both were. Her family was happy with her traveling with her husband. The engagement ring was on her finger, and to the rest of the world, they were going to be married. Bethany had confided in me that Andrei wasn’t her first boyfriend. She’d gone to an all-girls school and had met a guy there. She wasn’t a virgin.

  A lot of details to take in, but I hadn’t shared a single secret with anyone. Part of me was scared for her.

  My virginity for my wedding to Slavik had been a necessity.

  I didn’t know if she loved Andrei, not that love played a part in my own marriage. Once again, Slavik kept his distance. He came home and slept beside me, but the only reason I knew that was the dent on his pillow the next morning.

  Thinking about my marriage, I felt cold.

  There was no love, nor was there any passion. Little by little, I felt like I was dying inside.

  Bethany distracted me, telling me about a movie she’d watched. I liked how she talked a lot. It filled the silence. Our meal came, and I noticed she always pushed her salad around the plate.

  Her cell phone went off, and she glanced down at the screen and groaned. “I’ve just got to take this. I’ll be right back.”

  Again, I was used to her taking calls through our lunches.

  I wasn’t hungry.

  The waiter came to the table, and I saw Sergei watching me.

  “I’ll be back in a moment.” I needed to use the bathroom and with Sergei close, he’d watch the table to make sure none of our stuff was stolen.

  I went to the bathroom, washed my hands, and when I chanced a look in the mirror, I saw … sadness.

  After pinching my cheeks to add a little pink to my complexion, I left the bathroom, coming to a stop when I saw Bethany just down the hall near the kitchen.

  I approached.

  “No, please keep talking to me. Anything to stop this from dragging.”

  I stopped.

  What was dragging?

  “Andrei made me ask her to go to lunch, and the last few weeks, that is all we’ve done. She eats all the time, and I’ve never known anyone so dull in all my life. Honestly, I can’t wait to get home. We can go and have some fun. Aurora wouldn’t know fun if it bit her in the ass, and let me tell you, she’s so ugly. Slavik is hot. He’s dangerously hot, he deserves someone so much better than Aurora.”

  Biting my lip, I stepped away, leaving her as she continued talking about me.

  I headed back to the table, feeling kind of numb. The waiter came and asked about dessert. I told him no and asked for the check.

  Looking over at Sergei, I wanted to burst into tears. I’d been so desperate for a friend I hadn’t read the signs.

  I was empty. I’d eaten lunch and yet my stomach cramped.

  My throat started to burn.

  Bethany arrived, and as I looked at her now, I realized the signs I’d been ignoring over the past few weeks. She always arrived late. There was no invitation to her wedding.

  “What did I miss?” she asked.

  She smiled at me, and part of me thought about playing along, but the truth was, I was so tired of this dance.

  The waiter arrived.

  I saw the cost and paid it with the cash in my wallet. “I’ve had a call. I’ve got to go. Sorry to cut this short.”

  She looked shocked, but I got to my feet, already leaving. She wasn’t used to me being the one to end our time together. Always the damn same.

  “I’ll call you,” she said.

  I didn’t sa
y anything.

  Sergei took the lead, heading out of the restaurant ahead of me. The car was already waiting, so I guessed he’d called ahead. He opened the backseat passenger door, and I climbed in. Sitting back, I took a breath, wiping at my cheeks to make sure the tears wouldn’t fall.

  “Take me home,” I said.

  I rarely thought of Slavik’s apartment as home.

  He didn’t question me.

  I stared out the window.

  Boring. Ugly. These were words I was used to. They shouldn’t hurt me anymore, and yet, I thought Bethany had started to become a friend.

  There was no friendship there. At least I heard the truth before I got too attached.

  No friends.

  This was how I was just going to have to live my life. People didn’t like me. Simple as that. No matter what I did.

  Fine. I wouldn’t make friends.

  The drive was a blur.

  When he parked the car, I shot out of it, going straight to the elevator. I didn’t give Sergei a chance to catch up. The doors closed and the elevator took me up. No one stopped the elevator in its tracks, and for that, I was relieved.

  I had a key to the door and I let myself in, tempted to lock the door, but I refused to cause more of a scene.

  Gently, I put my bag down and went straight to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and saw the bottle of water.

  I’d been starving myself these past few weeks. Working out at the gym. The gym.

  I rushed to the bedroom, changed out of the skirt, sandals, and crop top into a pair of gym shorts and a shirt. When I was changed and ready, Sergei came into the apartment. He was panting.

  “You didn’t wait for the elevator?”

  “I’m to keep you protected at all times.”

  “Yeah, well, this is not one of those times.”

  I made to go around him. He stepped in my way. He was out of air, but he still thought he could take me on.

  “I’m going to work out. I need to go to the gym.”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “None of your business. Your job is to take care of me. Consider your job well done.” I reached out, patted him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. I’m still alive.”

  “Aurora, you’re hurting.”

  “I’m not. I’m completely fine. I’ve got no reason to be upset or hurt. I’m alive. I’ve told you that.”