Chapter 14

fourteen

Avery

I'm sitting on my dingy sofa wearing only Sergi's shirt, doing my homework. This month has been hard, trying to keep him away, and I've missed him like crazy. Seeing him today at work, then meeting his cousin, who is not only beautiful, but an amazing person overall, was the highlight of my day. I know I should have told him what really happened, but I can't, I can't have him looking at me differently. I need to leave the past where it belongs, behind me.

I'm halfway through my homework when there's a knock at my door. I furrow my brows, confused at who it could be. Sergi already told me he most likely won't see me tonight. Its why I came back to my apartment. I tip toe over to my door and peek through my peephole. My breath gets caught in my throat, and I quickly unlock the door, swinging it open. My eyes widen. "Oh my God, Sergi!" I gasp, my eyes watering as I grab his arm and pull him inside, instantly checking to see where he's hurt.

His shirt and arms are covered in blood. He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me tight, my ribs protest but I ignore it and I start to shove him away to look for his wound.

He shakes his head and rasps, "It's not mine, baby, it's not mine." I feel tears slide down my neck and I lean back, grabbing a hold of his face with both of my hands, and wipe his tears with my thumbs. My heart is racing. "Its Phoebe's; she was attacked." Tears spill from my eyes, and I hold him close to me, trying to stay strong for him. He kisses my neck, and rasps, "She's in surgery, and I couldn't stand around waiting. I needed to see you. Please, baby, help me forget, just for a little while, please." He sobs and I nod, crying.

He lifts me up and slams me into the door, and I ignore the pain in my side as he kisses me fiercely. He keeps a hold of me with one hand while his other unbuckles his belt and shoves his jeans down so he can remove his cock. I'm not wearing panties, and I've never been more thankful for laundry day. He places his hard cock at my entrance, and slams into me.

I gasp into his mouth. Thankfully, I was wet for him, because he's not thinking. He slides out, then thrusts forward hard, going quicker and quicker. I know I won't come, he isn't here with me, making sure I get my pleasure; he's lost in his head, and I'm too concerned for him. I just kiss him as he slams into me over and over, while my ribs protest, causing me more pain with each thrust. But I ignore it and let him use me. Five minutes later, he slams into me one more time and groans out loud, coming inside me. I hold him tight to me. He leans his head in the crook of my neck and breathes me in as I hold him. His phone rings and he answers it without pulling out of me.

"Yeah," he rasps, and I hear a faint voice say, "It's bad, Sergi, you need to come back. She may not make it out of surgery. Al needs us both." Sergi clears his throat. "Okay, I'm on my way." He hangs up, then slowly pulls out, making me wince, but he doesn't notice. He sets my feet on the floor, then leans forward and kisses me gently as he puts himself away. "Go get dressed, baby, I need you with me." I nod and lean on my tip toes, kissing him again. Despite the heartbreak that shines through for his cousin, his eyes hold love for me.

I quickly get dressed in jeans, leaving his shirt on while ignoring my throbbing ribs, and shove that came loose during the door banging up in a knot. Once I have my shoes on, he grabs my hand, locks up my apartment, then we head toward the hospital.

We make it in record time, and we head to the waiting room, where his family is. Sergi walks us over to a man sitting on the floor. His bright blue eyes are red, and there are tear stains on his cheeks. His hair is a mess, like he's grabbed and pulled it several times. I tense as we get near; he's covered in blood. Sergi lets go of my hand, then kneels down, asking his friend, "Anymore news, brother?" The guy shakes his head while tears fall down his face. I think this is Alexandr. Sergi leans down, pressing his forehead against Alexandr, his brother's. I gasp, my heart hurting for the man I love as he says, "She's the strongest person I know, she'll make it out of this."

Alexandr nods.

"Have you called Basil and Juan?" Sergi asks, and Alexandr shakes his head. Sergi clears his throat. "Call Basil. I'll tackle Juan, okay?"

Alexandr nods, and Sergi turns back to me. He takes my hand and brings me to a couple who look like Alexandr, his parents I think.

"Dimitri, Maria, I would like you to meet my girl, Avery. Could you keep her with you until I get back? I just need to make a few calls." They looked shocked at first, but the woman, Maria, smiles at me. It doesn't reach her eyes, though. She's guarded. The man, Dimitri, just nods. He's dressed in a suit and is kind of intimidating.

I clear my throat. "It's nice to meet you both. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

They both give me small smiles. I feel so out of place, but I know I need to be strong for Sergi, who leans down and kisses my forehead.

"I love you, baby. I won't be long, okay? These two people are basically my parents, so they'll look after you until I'm back." I nod, then watch as he turns to go outside, and I swallow hard as I take a seat next to Maria.

"How'd you meet our boy?" Dimitri asks as another man comes toward me. He looks like Alexandr and Dimitri, so I'm guessing this is Damian. I clear my throat again and say quietly, not liking the attention, "He came into the coffee shop I work at one evening, looking extremely grumpy. We flirted a little, and I had hope I'd see him again…until he answered his phone saying, ‘hey sweet girl,' and I thought he was seeing someone." I smile a little at the memory while Damian chuckles and holds out his hand.

"I'm Damian." I smile at him and shake his had as he says, "I'm guessing he was talking to my daughter."

I smile wider. "Yep. She's adorable, by the way."

His brows rise to the top of his head. "You've met her."

I swallow. "Only on FaceTime. There was something about causing a war if she met me first?" I say it like a question, and Maria snorts as the men shake their heads.

Damian looks at me. "Sergi doesn't normally have relationships. He's like my brother so, naturally, I should have been the first to meet you, not my daughter, and not Phoebe." He says her name with a sad smile. He continues, "But I am glad he has you."

I smile sadly at him. "To be honest, he kind of saved me. Without him, I'd probably still be living day by day, just going through the motions."

He nods, grabs my hand, and squeezing it. He turns and heads back to a very pretty woman, who's asleep on the chairs. He picks her up and puts her in his lap. That must be Sofia. I look back at Damian's parents and smile slightly.

Maria gives me a warm smile and states, "How do your parents feel about Sergi, then?" My heart stops. It's an innocent question, but I really don't want to talk about my past. I just smile politely, and Dimitri narrows his eyes, clearly reading my smile as fake. "I don't have any; they passed years ago." Maria's face drops, while her husband still looks at me with suspicion. I quickly excuse myself for the bathroom, and they both watch me leave. My heart rate spikes higher as I get to the bathroom. I throw water over my face, and sigh.

I give myself a few minutes of reprieve before going out again. I bump into Dimitri, and I gulp; he scares me.

He stands tall, his arms crossed over his chest, as he states coldly, "You're hiding something." I start to shake a little. "You can either tell me what it is, or you can leave. I won't have anyone hurt my family."

My eyes widen in shock. He doesn't even know me—the absolute nerve of him. I grow a backbone and state, "Fine, I'll just let Sergi know I'm not feeling good." I start to walk away when he grabs my arm and I tense. There are too many flash backs shooting into my mind.

"That also means you stay the fuck away from my son."

On one hand I'm angry, angry that he thinks he has the right to keep me from the love of my life, but on the other, I am thrilled this man sees Sergi as his son.

I reply, "You need to let go of me right now." He narrows his eyes and does as I ask, and I state, "Who I am or what my past is, is absolutely nothing to do with you. And the same goes for my relationship with Sergi."

I go to leave again when he says, "Do you really think he would stay with you after I tell him he needs to leave you? What I say means more to him than a little fling with someone who just wants the title."

I look at him confused, what title? He must see the confusion on my face because he scrunches his brows. And I get brave.

I shove my shirt up a little and turn around so he can see the burn marks and scars. I hear his intake of breath, then I drop my shirt, and turn back to him.

"You don't deserve to know me or my past just because you think I'm a bad egg because I can't speak of my past, and because I don't want the man I have fallen in love with to think I'm tainted. I'm petrified he'll throw me away—he has become the reason I breathe. I was four years old when I walked into the trailer where I was living and I found my junkie mother dead on our sofa, her neck slit open. And do you want to know who did that to her?" He's gone pale. Good, I hope he feels fucking guilty. "The man she tried to pass off as my biological father. My actual biological father accepted her bullshit and left me to be burned, starved, and hit every day by a woman who was supposed to love me. He refused to take me in when she died, despite my looking exactly like him, even down to the violet eyes. I was bounced around to eight different foster homes, starved, beaten, forced into child pornography, then nearly raped at nine years old. But that's when a wonderful police officer, Tony Gibson, found me trying to run away. He and his wife adopted me. But my adopted mother died of cancer not long after I moved in with them. When I was sixteen, the man I saw as my father, the person who became my best friend, who ensured I'd be set for college and not have to worry about debts or loans, died from a heart attack in my arms. After his funeral, I fled before they could put me back in foster care. I lived in my dad's SUV for weeks, before I found someone willing to rent me an apartment in midtown, where I've been since, trying to fulfil my promise to the people who chose to become my parents."

His whole body is vibrating, and I decide to add insult to injury, not able to stop now that I've started. "Oh, and last month, my professor tried to kill me. He broke my rib, and I had surgery because it punctured my lung. Turned out my professor was the brother of the foster parent who tried to rape me and is doing forty years in prison for it. I didn't tell Sergi, the love of my life , because he was already under pressure because of Phoebe. You have no right to question me or my loyalty to the man who's become my world, when you have no idea what the hell I've been through. What I've just told you is only half of the stuff I've had to deal with. And, news flash, a few weeks is a fling . We've been together for five months, and I'm practically living with him. He's been slowly moving my stuff over to his place, thinking I wouldn't notice."

I hear a gasp and turn to see Maria standing behind me with tears in her eyes. I look back at Dimitri. I cover my mouth in shock when I realize I just told him of my horrors. I shake my head and rasp, "You can't tell Sergi, I don't want him to know. If you don't believe my story, then contact Mrs. Reeves, with Child Protective Services in Seattle. She'd been my social worker since I was four." I turn to walk away, then stop dead in my tracks when I see a man I haven't seen since I was three. I'm glad he's walking the other way. More tears fall as Dimitri comes to stand beside me. He furrows his brows at me, and I state, pointing to the man, "You see that man there." He clears his throat and nods. "His name's Peter Petrov, he's my biological father. This is the first time I've seen him since I was three or four years old." He looks at me with wide eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I don't feel like being around you people anymore. Sergi said you were all amazing, but right now, all I see is a cruel man trying to tear down the only thing that keeps me going. I would appreciate you not coming near me again."

Guilt instantly forms in his eyes, but I ignore him, and walk away, heading to the waiting room, hoping Sergi is back. When I stick my head out of the other door that connects with the entrance of the hospital, I see he's the with Alexandr, hugging him. My eyes brim with tears, feeling like I'm going to lose him and that maybe it would be better that way. I would never make him choose between me and his family. When he notices me, he walks over, and I wrap my arms tightly around him, holding him for dear life, praying I never lose him. I lay my ear against his heart. I notice Dimitri and Maria looking at us, but I ignore them and close my eyes. I hold onto my love even tighter as he kisses my head.