"It meant something to Kevan when he picked it out for you." Even saying the words gave him heartburn. "Was it a special gift?"
"He gave it to me before Valentine's Day, right before we broke up. I…uh…wasn't ready for that step with him and getting the box with the pretty nightgown sealed the deal for me. I knew it was time to put an end to our relationship."
Learning that she hadn't slept with Kevan soothed his raw nerves. It was a completely primitive reaction, but he couldn't help it. He liked knowing that she had trusted him more than the cop.
Stepping forward, Bianca caressed his chest. "I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Sergei. It was just a pretty chemise in the bottom of my drawer. That's it. I honestly didn’t even think about Kevan when I picked it. I just thought it might look pretty on me."
"It did." He leaned down and captured her mouth. "From now on, I buy all of your sexy, pretty things, okay? If there's anything else in your closet or drawers, get rid of it."
She drew a shape on his pec. "I should be really annoyed by this possessive streak of yours."
"But?"
"I sort of like it."
"Sort of?"
"Okay. I really like it."
"Good." Kissing her again, he swatted her plump ass. She jumped and pressed those luscious tits of hers against him. When he massaged her bottom, she mewled like a kitten. Breaking away from her mouth, he grinned and brushed their noses together. "Go upstairs and wait for me. I'm going to give you a head start while I turn off the lights down here."
"Why do I need a head start?" she breathlessly asked.
"So you can think of a way to make this," he gave the clothes a little shake, "up to me."
With a squeal of excitement, Bianca dashed upstairs. Still amped up with adrenaline and so easily aroused by her, Sergei groaned at the sight of her voluptuous body streaking toward her bedroom. Chuckling at how much fun they were having together, Sergei switched off the lights and checked the windows and doors again.
Pausing in the sunroom, he looked out over the dark backyard. His gaze settled on the dilapidated carriage house that somehow seemed so ominous. That prowler was still out there. What he wanted with Bianca was any man's guess—but Sergei would be damned before he let that freak get anywhere near her.
The daytime detail he had planned to put on her starting tomorrow no longer seemed enough. It wasn't just those racist assholes who posed a threat to Bianca. It was this nameless, faceless being who skulked in the night.
Sergei couldn't decide who was more dangerous.
* * *
Putting one foot in front of the other, Sergei trailed Vivian along her morning jogging route. Not far behind, Danila Cherevin, one of the Nikolai's trusted men, followed in a black sedan. Sergei thought the escort was overkill. They had never encountered any problems while running, but the boss had very specific orders when it came to guarding his wife. Rather than risk his wrath—or Vivian's life—they worked in pairs and made sure she was closely watched.
Although he had assured Bianca he would rather make love than sleep, Sergei was feeling the effects of that choice this morning. Not that he would have changed anything. Even now, he daydreamed about getting balls-deep in her silky wet heat again. Though their evening had started off with her shy and unsure participation, it had ended with Bianca unleashing the confident sex goddess he had always suspected lurked within her.
Pushing aside those lusty thoughts, he concentrated on Vivian's bouncing ponytail. Typically, she was whipping his ass by this point in the run. Although Ivan required him to jog as part of his training regimen, Sergei had always been better at short sprints than long distance. That's where Vivian excelled. Lithe and spry, she had been running cross-country and marathons since her teenage years
But today she seemed to be losing steam much earlier than he had ever seen her. He thought back to their last run. Her pace had been bad enough that he'd caught up with her by the time they reached their usual cool down point. Worried about her, Sergei kicked up his speed.
As he drew near, Vivian stunned him by bolting off the path and racing toward the nearest trashcan in the park. Gripping the sides of the bin, she made a terrible sound and began to vomit. Sergei cringed and put his hand on her upper back, rubbing between her shoulder blades as her stomach emptied. Just as she neared the end of the eruption, she began to dry heave violently. The sound made him wince with sympathy. Whatever she had eaten for breakfast must have been bad.
Unless…
He hastily pieced together the signs. Her sickness, the way she hadn't been ordering a glass of wine with lunch, her early bedtimes, Nikolai's overprotectiveness—they all fit together to form one very clear result.
"Hey! Is she okay?" Danny ran across the green grass to join them at the trashcan near the bench and tree. In his hands, he held a bottle of water and a package of wet wipes. "Here. I thought she might need these."
Sergei twisted open the cap on the water and pressed it into her hand. "Here, sweetheart. Take this."
She accepted the bottle and rinsed her mouth before taking a few slow sips. Danny handed him a couple of wet wipes that Sergei used to swipe her face and the back of her neck.
"The car is right over there." Danny gestured to the spot where he had illegally parked. "We should get her home."
Drinking some more water, she wagged a finger. "I need to cool down and walk or else I'll start to cramp."
"I don't think that's a good idea. You're sick. You need to go home."
She frowned at Danny. "I'm not sick. I'll be fine."
Sergei pursed his lips as Vivian shoved by them and headed for the path. He tapped Danny's shoulder. "Take the car three blocks and wait for us."
"If she says no?"
"I'll pick her up and throw her in the backseat myself." Pushing away from Danny, Sergei jogged toward Vivian and finally caught up with her. She had her hands resting on her head as she walked. He noticed her pallor and the drawn lines around her mouth. "You should get in the car and rest. You don't have to prove anything, Vivian."
She glanced up at him. "You sound like Kolya."
"He's right. If you're pregnant, you should be careful."
Vivian stopped dead in her tracks and narrowed her bright blue eyes at him. "Did he tell you?"
Sergei shook his head. "I put together the clues." Curious, he asked, "Why the secrecy?"
She started walking again so he matched her pace. "I just wanted something that was ours and only ours for a little while. No offense," she glanced at him, "but with you and Danny following me everywhere, I never get to keep anything to myself. I wanted this to be for us and only us for a few weeks."
"I get it," he assured her.
"And then, you know, Erin and Ivan were about to get married, and Benny and Dimitri are still waiting for their baby girl to be born," she continued. "I didn't want us to announce our happy news and take anything away from them. They deserve to have their special moments in our group of friends without having to compete with news of another baby."
Sergei wasn't surprised that she was thinking of Erin and Benny's feelings. Sometimes he worried that she thought about other people too much. Considering some of the discussions he had overhead between Nikolai and his wife, the boss thought the same thing.
"Also…." She drew out the word and seemed to be wavering between completing her thought and keeping it to herself.
"Also?" He prompted carefully, certain she needed to get whatever was bothering her off her chest. They had developed a close enough friendship that he could read her that easily nowadays.
She finally answered him. "I think Nikolai is trying to shore up defenses to make sure I'm protected while pregnant. I get the feeling he's uneasy about blowback from that mess in January. I want to keep this quiet as long as possible so he has time to do whatever it is he needs to do."
Sergei wasn't fully apprised of the arrangement between the married couple when it came to the boss' private business, but he
assumed Nikolai wasn't telling her everything. Vivian was smart enough to fill in most of the blanks. With a father like Romero Valero, one of the most infamous and violent men of the underworld, she had learned about the darkness in the world the hard way.
How much did she know about the Night Wolves problems heating up right now? After the way the skinheads had beat up the two dancers, it was clear the Night Wolves knew Besian and Nikolai had been behind framing them for the murders Grisha had committed. Did they also suspect Vivian had been the one to hand over the incriminating evidence that caused the Feds to raid them and free those trafficked girls?
Suddenly, Nikolai's behavior over the last couple of weeks made sense. Sergei couldn't even imagine how much stress the man had been under trying to make sure his wife and unborn child were safe. After the upheaval during the winter, Nikolai could no longer pretend that the people he loved were untouchable. Grisha had shattered the old rules. Everyone feared it might soon be open season on the families of the men mired in Houston's seedy underbelly.
An unexpected vision of a pregnant Bianca danced before him. Before that moment, considering any woman pregnant with his child had sent him into a panic. He had always been extremely careful in his dalliances to avoid exactly that outcome…but he couldn't deny that there wasn't something oddly intriguing about sharing such a connection with Bianca.
He could just imagine her sweet, smiling face and round, high belly. Enjoying the daydream, he pictured the two of them kicked back on that big, comfortable couch in front of the den fireplace. She would have her head resting in his lap while he caressed the curve of her belly and they talked about decorating a nursery or picking baby names.
Another thought, this one more horrifying, struck him cold. A man with a shaved head and dark tattoos attacked Bianca outside her bridal boutique. Pregnant, she would be too clumsy and slow to escape. His eyes closed briefly, and he swallowed hard, forcing down the bile threating to erupt from his throat.
God! No wonder Nikolai had been on edge. Sergei wasn't even close to reaching a point where the good parts of his daydream could become a reality—but Nikolai was living it. Nikolai loved Vivian so deeply. No doubt he loved that baby growing inside her just as much. The boss must have been consumed by the need to keep them both very safe.
"I won't say a word to anyone. This secret stays here."
She smiled gratefully. "What about Danila?"
"We'll tell him it was something you had for breakfast. He won't question it. Even if he does guess, he knows better than to say a single word."
She nodded. "I trust him."
"We'll take care of you, Vivi. You don't need to worry. Just concentrate on the baby and we'll do the rest."
Vivian slid an arm around his waist and hugged his side. "Listen to you! You big, soft Russian marshmallow!"
He snorted and pulled her ponytail. "Marshmallow, huh? If I'm so soft, you better tell your husband to pull the money he'll be betting on me in a couple of weeks."
Her arm fell from his waist. "Does Bianca know?"
His jaw tensed. "No. I haven't told her yet. I had the weekend off from training, but I start this evening. She'll wonder what I'm up to."
"You need to tell her, like, tonight."
"She won't approve."
"No, she won't," Vivian agreed, "but she really likes you. If you're honest with her now, she can process her feelings before the tournament. She'll want to be there for you."
"Like hell!" Sergei shook his head. "I don't want her anywhere near that place."
"Okay, so, maybe not physically there, but she'll want to support you, especially considering the reasons you fight." She must have caught the way he shifted uncomfortably. "Sergei, you did tell her about your mom and brother, right?"
"I mentioned them, yes, but I didn't go into details." Before Vivian could push him on the issue, he reminded her, "You didn't tell me that Bianca's brother was killed by a guy with ties to nochniye volki!"
She rolled her eyes. "You didn't ask for specifics. If you want all those gruesome details, you need to talk to the girl who was actually there when it happened."
Sergei didn't enjoy the thought of baring his secrets to Bianca or asking her to come clean about hers, but it needed to be done. They were early enough in their relationship that the foundations needed to be built on solid ground, not on a bed of shaky, shifting lies. "I'll tell her tonight."
"Good." They walked in silence for a few minutes. "So it's going well between the two of you?"
He laughed. "As if you haven’t been calling and texting her fifty times a day to ask?"
She thumped his arm. "I have not! I decided to stay out of it—"
"By asking me how it's going right now?"
"Forgive me for being curious about two of my favorite people."
"Okay," he said with a chuckle. "It's going well. We're making it work."
"I'm really happy to hear that. You two look good together."
"I like to think so."
Danny's idling car came into view, but he tapped Vivian's shoulder to stop her before they got any closer. She glanced up at him expectantly. "Yeah?"
He nervously rubbed the back of his neck and finally worked up the courage to ask her something a bit awkward. "Where would I go to buy some really nice, like extremely classy, lingerie for Bianca?"
An amused smile stretched Vivian's mouth. "Oooh! This sounds exciting!"
He groaned. "Come on, Vivian. Don't make fun of me."
"I'm not." She patted his arm. "I'll take you to my favorite shop after we shower and change. I've gone there with Bianca so I know they have her measurements on file. It's a very high-end place. You'll find plenty of beautiful things for her."
Considering Nikolai only allowed Vivian to buy the very best, Sergei was assured of the finest quality for Bianca. He had no doubt it was going to be outrageously expensive, but she was worth it. Besides, he had promised to replace the nightgown he'd torn from her body that first night. After that mess with Kevan, he never again wanted to think of any other man when he peeled away the frilly, silky things she liked to wear. He wanted to know that it was something he picked especially for Bianca that she wore for him.
While he guided Vivian across the street to Danny's idling car, he wondered at the overwhelming possessiveness he felt toward Bianca. He'd had plenty of girlfriends before her and never once had he experienced such a surge of greediness. It surprised him considering he had shared women in bed—sometimes with other women and sometimes with other men—on at least half a dozen occasions. He hadn’t experienced the slightest bit of jealousy during those encounters.
The idea of letting another person touch Bianca the way he enjoyed touching her made his heart seize. His fingers curled into tight fists. Hell. Fucking. No.
He remembered Ivan once telling him about the moment Erin had walked into his life. His trainer and mentor had confessed that Erin ensnared him with one simple, easy smile. Ivan swore he had known the moment he brushed tears from her face that she would be his—always and forever.
But Sergei's intense reaction toward Bianca perplexed him. From his very first date as a young, innocent teenager to now, he had only ever felt this level of possession with Bianca. He had dated some beautiful, sweet, lovely women over the years, but only Bianca made him feel this way.
Deep down inside, he suspected the answer was simple enough. In fact, it was a four-letter word that he'd never uttered to anyone except his family. Instead of gripping him with dread or panic, the realization settled upon him like a warm embrace.
Fairly certain that Bianca needed much more time, Sergei decided to keep this discovery to himself. He didn't dare confess the depth of his affection just yet. She was still so skittish and might reject him outright.
Things like this couldn't be rushed. After waiting five months for her to let him into her life, he could find the patience to wait a little while longer. The last few days had proven that Bianca was well worth the wait.
>
Chapter Nine
Checking my rearview mirror, I switched off the ignition and slid out of my car. I glanced around the quiet, upscale and incredibly private neighborhood where Vivian lived. I expected to see the maroon sedan or the slate blue truck I swore had been following me all day, but the street was clear. Deciding that the visit from my prowler had put me on edge, I chalked it up to paranoia, headed up the sidewalk and rang the doorbell.
When the ornately carved door swung open to reveal Nikolai, I smiled nervously. Although he had never been anything but kind to me, he had an intimidating air about him. The sleeves of his crisp dove gray shirt were rolled up to his elbows, revealing a swath of tattoos I had never before seen. A couple of them were similar to the marks decorating Sergei's skin, but I suspected Nikolai had dozens more than the Russian heating up my sheets.
Doing my best not to stare at his arms, I met his inviting gaze. "Hi, Nikolai."
"Hello, Bianca." He stepped aside and gestured toward the entryway. "Please come inside. Vee is in her studio. She's waiting for you."
"Great." I walked by him but didn't go any farther than a few feet behind him. He probably wouldn't have minded if I had headed straight back to the recently converted home studio space, but I wouldn't have felt comfortable getting too casual in his home.
After he locked the door, Nikolai motioned for me to walk with him. "How is business?"
"Wedding season is in full swing so it's pretty wild around the shop."
"We're fully booked at Samovar with rehearsal dinners and catering orders. I can imagine what your schedule must look like."
"I'd rather be working my tail off than begging for business, you know?"
"Oh, I know."
The faint thump of electronic music filtered through the closed French doors sealing off the studio. He reached for the handle but didn't immediately open it. Instead, he glanced at me and asked, "How long have you had this problem with the prowler?"
Surprised by his interest, I replied, "Um, you know, just a few weeks. Why?"