Chapter Three

 

Nikolai pushed his way past the throng of people in the gallery. A woman began to open her mouth, but her male companion wisely shut her up.

“Do you have any idea who he is? He’s the Pakhan, the boss of the Petrovic Crime Family,” the male said.

Nikolai ignored the whispers and continued searching for Risa. A bad feeling started in his gut after reading the information Matthew sent him about Stevenson. Scum like that weren’t even men. They were nothing more than pests, incapable of change. Nikolai had seen the darker side of humanity. With Risa, he refused to take any chances, so he called out three of his trusted men to come with him.

One of them returned to him with a familiar sequined black purse. “Found this in the ladies’ bathroom, boss,” Mikhail said.

Nikolai took it from Mikhail and opened it. Gun and pepper spray inside. Good girl, except where was Risa?

“Spread out, ask if anyone saw her recently,” he ordered his men.

“Risa? I saw her and John leaving the gallery. They went out back I think,” said Cindy, one of Risa’s friends, when Nikolai questioned her.

He went in the direction she indicated, only to find himself at a back door. A muffled scream made him shove the door open. His worst nightmare had come to life. Nikolai had made sure no harm ever came to Risa over the years, but now?

Nikolai went to that eerie and quiet place where human conscience didn’t cripple him. He didn’t remember moving. Nikolai closed one hand over Stevenson’s scrawny neck and yanked the lowlife bastard away from his angel.

That was what Risa was to him. Light to his darkness.

Tonight, Nikolai had come to one bloody revelation. He couldn’t allow any other man to put their grimy hands on what rightfully belonged to him. Screw honor and doing what was right and decent. Nikolai had never had a good bone in his body. Bad blood ran in his veins, as with his father and grandfather. Dan wouldn’t want his daughter to end up with a bastard like Stevenson.

Risa needed a real man. A firm hand. Him.

Stevenson tried to fight him off, but Nikolai barely felt the blows. They felt like swats made by an ant to a giant. He clobbered the fucker and didn’t even feel tired as his fist crashed into Stevenson’s face. A spray of blood from Stevenson’s broken nose hit Nikolai.

That only fueled his lust for violence.

“Nikolai, stop! Please. You’ll end up killing him.”

Risa’s voice woke him up, yanking him from the place where he went when he killed. Nikolai found himself back in the alleyway, one fist holding onto Stevenson’s shirt, while his other one remained raised to Steven’s face, bruised and covered in blood.

Dead silence. Nikolai saw his men had followed their boss here. Anatoly watched the back door, Egor the alley. No doubt Vadim was bringing the car over. The worst part of all this was seeing Risa’s shocked and pale face. She looked like she’d been drained of blood.

Shit. All those years he’d kept her away from what he did for a living was all for nothing. Tonight, she’d seen him at his worst. A monster in human skin. He released Stevenson.

“Is he dead?” Risa whispered.

She didn’t take a step back from him or the bloody mess he’d made on the ground. Good girl. Nikolai knew she had steel in her spine, possessing enough guts to shame some of his toughest men. He just didn’t want her to see him like this, damn it.

He flared his nostrils, finally looking at her up and down. Nikolai took off his jacket. No way in hell was he going to let anyone else see her half-naked. She didn’t argue or push him away when he placed his coat over her shoulders.

Sensing she needed space, he put some distance between them. God knew all Nikolai wanted to do was offer her comfort.

“Nikolai? Can you please answer my question? Is he—”

“No. He’s breathing. See?” Nikolai rose to his feet. Risa stared at his bloody hands, but couldn’t seem to meet his eyes. “Risa, look at me.”

She finally did. He couldn’t get a read on her, but she took a few hesitant steps towards him. Nikolai neared her, pulling her close into an embrace, shocked by the wetness on his face. Tears. Risa, his tough angel who didn’t take shit from anyone, was crying. The last time he’d seen her do that, was when they put Dan into the ground.

Nikolai really ought to finish this bastard off, but not in front of her. He needed to see her home, clean her up, and tuck her in bed. His business could wait. Nikolai planned to take a few days off and spend time with her.

Make her his so no one would else in this city would have the balls to do what this Stevenson tried.

“He’s dead,” he told Risa. “No way in hell I’m letting this fucker walk. This isn’t the first time he did this, you know. He’s been arrested before.”

She rubbed at her eyes. “Nikolai, you can’t. Leave him to the police.”

Nikolai considered his options. She’d never tell on him, never betray him. Nikolai knew that without a doubt. All the cops in this city were under his payroll. He could stage an accidental death in prison.

“Letting the cops handle this? Poor baby. You still believe there’s good left in this world?”

Risa gave him a little shove. She looked pissed off at him. There it was. The fire in her eyes he loved so much. “I’m not a baby. I’m a grown woman.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he said calmly. “We’ll need to have a very long talk.”

“What, so you can ground me?”

“Don’t test my patience, not now,” he warned.

One cop car arrived at the scene. Two officers got out. Nikolai recognized Chief Holcomb, who was accompanied by a rookie he didn’t know. The Petrovic Family had ties with the local coppers and he paid Chief Holcomb handsomely, but the rookie had the guts to take out his gun. Holcomb quickly shoved the fool aside.

Nikolai warned the Chief to stay put with his glare. Good police dog.

Risa wasn’t done. “Don’t tell me you’re going to put me over your lap and spank me. Wait a minute. I think I’ll enjoy that.”

The imagine of Risa, deliciously naked and positioned over his lap, her plump and rosy little ass tempting him, rose up in his head. He clenched his jaw.

“Boss, the car’s here,” Anatoly announced.

Nikolai spotted Matthew pulling into the alleyway, right behind the police car. He put his hands on Risa’s shoulders and steered her to the car. As he helped her in the backseat, he leaned in close to whisper, “Tonight changed everything, angel. You’re right. It’s about time I stopped treating you like a child.”

Certain Risa was safe inside, he walked up to Holcomb. Nikolai wasn’t in the mood to make pleasantries tonight, so he only jerked his head to Stevenson’s unconscious form on the ground.

“Arrest him. Wait for further instructions.” With that, Nikolai turned his back on the police and joined Risa in the car.

****

Risa kept stealing glances at Nikolai the entire ride home. Both of them might be seated in the backseat, but he put some space between them on purpose. She wished she could take back her words earlier.

John must’ve put something in her drink, which explained why her head felt so fuzzy, but now, the drug seemed to clear. Reason returned to her.

She’d acted like a brat, but then again, she tended to act all defensive when pushed to one corner. Sometimes, Risa wondered if he’d spoiled her too much because he never denied her anything. How did she repay all his kindness and generosity?

By acting ungrateful, bitchy.

Nikolai must’ve noticed her stare because he returned it. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he merely clenched his jaw. Risa hated this version of his anger the most. He never once raised a hand to her, but she’d witnessed how he’d dealt with his men. Nikolai possessed two kinds of anger. The hot and cold, and right now, she preferred if he shouted at her, lectured her rather than this chilly, silent treatment.

His steely gaze looked her up and again. Despite the air-conditioning, she felt warm all over. He reached over, only to begin buttoning the suit jacket he placed over her shoulders just now.

Risa mulled over his words earlier. What had Nikolai meant by them? She shouldn’t have goaded him.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted. “For just now. I wasn’t thinking straight. I think John put something in my drink. I didn’t notice. I was too busy focusing on greeting my guests.”

Nikolai made an almost animal growl in his throat. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you, angel. Especially after everything you’ve been through tonight. Forgive me.”

She touched his hand. “There’s nothing to forgive. It’s all my fault. I cut my dress—”

“You what?” he thundered.

“I didn’t think John was capable of that,” she faltered. “I thought you forgot about me, about my exhibit. I invited John out of last-minute desperation, but I didn’t think of him that way. All I wanted was—”

She halted.

“Finish your sentence.”

He wanted to hear the truth? Fine.

“You. Always you.”

He moved closer and cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him. “Angel, I want you, too, but I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because your father trusted you to my care. I’ve stayed away, hoping you’d find someone your age, but every guy you’ve come across is not good enough for you. You deserve better.”

“None of the boys I’ve ever dated would ever measure up to you. Don’t you understand, Nikolai? Ever since I was sixteen, I’ve loved you. I kept hoping it would die, fade away, but it’s the exact opposite. I want you more than ever.”