Chapter Ten

The next morning, I find Lina busy in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone. The fact that she is falling back into her routine helps me to think she is coping okay. She sits a plate full of blinis, eggs, and meats in front of the twins and I. We eagerly tuck in. "So, what are we doing today?" she asks as she sits on my lap. She reaches over and steals a piece of ham off my plate while she waits for us to finish our bites.

I wipe my mouth with my napkin. "We have to get rid of Ivan's body. We're heading back to the dacha to take care of him and his car."

Lina stiffens on my lap. "I wish that place was gone. I won't set foot in that house again."

Despite the dacha's appeal, the cellar will always elicit negative feelings for Lina. I reach for her hand and bring it to my lips, placing a soft kiss on it. "Would it make you happy to know I intend to burn it to the ground?"

Lina cups my face and blesses me with one of her gorgeous smiles. "It does, moy lev (my lion)." She says as she stands to take our plates. I watch her swaying hips as she walks back to the sink. My gaze never leaves her as I watch her turn the faucet to the sink on, filling it with water to wash the dishes.

"We are leaving in twenty minutes," I tell the twins. "We need some men to accompany us. Can you guys get that set up?" They nod and leave the kitchen, Ilya giving me a look before closing the door behind him. The fucker is too observant. I get up from my seat and walk up behind Lina, pulling her into my front.

She lets out a nervous giggle, "Moy lev (My lion), I need to get these cleaned up before we go." I pepper kisses all along the side of her neck, holding onto her hips. She moans. Her hands are soapy from the dishes. She reaches back to run her hand through my hair.

"I'm serious Lyubov (love), we can't do this right now." There is a strain in her voice. As if she is saying we can't but wants to.

I reach around her, my hand finds the faucet handle, and with a twist, the sound of rushing water stops. "We can do whatever we want, Tsvetok (Flower). My men will wait until I say we are leaving." I spin her around and then grip her under the thighs, lifting her effortlessly onto the kitchen counter. Lina lets out a needy moan. "Tell me what you need, Tsvetok (Flower). I'll do whatever you need of me."

"I need you to touch me, moy lev (my lion)." Lina takes my hands and places them on her breasts. Her hands move to the back of my head, caressing up my neck. Just as I am on the brink of descending to her pussy, the kitchen door swings open, causing me to pause.

"Brat (Brother), we need to get going." Oleg's voice deeply grating on my nerves. I grumble as I push myself away from the counter.

"Told you, moy lyubov (my love). We don't have the luxury of time right now." She teases, pulling away from me.

I bite my tongue instead of responding to her comment, not wanting to start an argument. Lina leaves the kitchen and heads down the hall to the foyer to get her coat on. I follow behind her, grabbing the car keys of the entry table.

Lina and I drive to the dacha alone. I felt this would be best, in case she has an emotional response to going back, that way it would be just her and I. "Are you sure you can come back here, Lina?" I ask," You don't have to get out of the car if you don't want to. We will try to get this done as quickly as possible." Lina just nods as she is staring out at the countryside.

"You know, the men who took me knocked me out and kept me in the car's trunk. I don't even remember the drive out here. I only remember the drive to the train station with your father and his two men." She lets out a pained breath once she's finished speaking.

I reach across the center console and take her hand in mine. "I won't let anything happen to the two of you, Tsvetok Flower). This house will soon be a pile of ashes." She gives me a small smile and looks back out the window, her reflection still showing the same sadness. After forty-five minutes, we make it to the dacha's turnoff. The twins and several of my men are following behind in three cars. Parking in front of the dacha, my eyes drift back over to Lina. She is sitting back in her seat, a mixture of anger and fear permeating the air.

"Malyshka (Baby), you stay here. I'll be back." I say, leaning over and kissing her cheek. Lina avoids looking at the dacha and stares at the lake while nodding. I hope this place burning to the ground helps in healing her mind. I exit the car and we discuss the plan with the men in front of the house. "We will dump the body in the lake. Oleg and I will handle that with Vladimir. The rest of you will help Ilya and gather anything of importance from inside the dacha. I am talking any paperwork, photographs…you get the idea. Then you will get it ready to be burned down."

Back at the warehouse, Ivan"s lifeless body was brutally dismembered, leaving behind only fragments to confront. I glance back at Lina in the car. She looks empty. Fuck, it just shatters my heart. I regret not leaving her with Mila. Why didn't that cross my mind earlier? I could have saved her from reliving the whole ordeal.

Oleg and I, along with Vladimir, start removing pieces of Ivan from the trunk. We take them down to the lake's edge, weighing them down some with cinder blocks Oleg brought, and throw them in. One by one and after we finish Oleg stands back lighting up a cigarette. I raise my brow at him. "I thought you quit?"

He shrugs his shoulders, blowing out the smoke, and looks back out over the lake. "Lenya, do you ever tire of it?" He asks, flicking the ash into the air. "Do you ever wish the choices you made in life were different?"

"All the fucking time, especially now." I stare at him, wondering what was going through one of my oldest friend's mind. "But then I think without my current life, I wouldn't have Lina. Why do you ask?"

Oleg flicks his butt into the lake. "Nichego(nothing), it's just a lot with Alexei and Mila, always worrying that I won't come home. I understand why the old guys never had wives." He gives a weak chuckle at his words. The thought of having a family when you are a part of the Bratva is a baffling idea. Lina's return has made me realize my constant vulnerability.

Things will change once I am officially the Pakhan. But in order for that to happen, my father must die. The faster I find him, the sooner we all will be safe. "When I am Pakhan, you won't have to worry about that anymore, Oleg," I promise. Oleg puts his arm around my shoulder and we walk back to the house.

Ilya and his small group efficiently cleared the dacha of anything significantly important. As we walk toward the front of the house, I notice Lina is leaning against the car's hood. She makes eye contact with me. "I want to be the one to light the match." Her eyes are glassy as if she has been crying.

"Konechno. (Of course)" It was the very least that I could do for her. To give her the ability to destroy the place that holds so much of her pain.

"Everything is ready to go, Lev (Lion)," one of the younger men announces.

I take Lina by the hand and with the matchbook in the other; we stand before the house. I strike the book and pass it over to her. "From the ashes, we will reign, Moya L'vitsa. Szhech' dotla. (My lioness. Burn it down.)"

With a deep breath, she tosses the matchbook, whispering something that I cannot hear. We stand back, watching the dacha engulf in flames. I pull her back towards the car, to keep her safe from the licking fire.

The house burns steadily for the next few hours. Luckily, we let the local authorities know we were doing this so we wouldn't be bothered. I send Ilya and Oleg back with the men, so only Lina and I remain, watching the place of her pain burn. We lean against the hood of our car and I hold her tightly in my arms. There is no need for words, so we remain silent. I let her cry in the safety of my embrace.

The only emotions I feel are anger and betrayal. I gave my life to my father's Bratva, and this is how I was repaid. My poor zhena had to suffer because my father couldn't have someone else do his killing. The bittersweet taste of revenge will be amplified by the satisfaction I derive from watching him die. I'll keep true to my word and while he lies there bleeding out on the floor, I will make moya zhena scream my name, showing him just how insignificant his life is to me.

It's late, and getting cold out by the lake. The frigid spring air forces a shiver out of me, and I know Lina must be cold too. The house is all but a pile of dimly lit embers. I can tell Lina is getting tired, I can feel her weight leaning into my chest. "Come, Tsvetok (Flower). Let's go home. We'll grab some food on the way back."

She leans forward and yawns while her arms stretch above her head. "Khorosho (Okay). Let's go. I am done with this fucking place. Promise we"ll never have to come back here again."

"Never again," I promise her.

We make a quick stop at a Chinese restaurant for carry-out on our way back home. Lina's latest craving is Chinese food, and I am more than willing to get it for her. Once we are back home, we shower quickly and set ourselves up in the living room. With a comedy movie on the television and a roaring fire going in the fireplace to warm us up, we sit on the floor watching the movie and eat our very late dinner.

I text the twins to inform them we arrived home safely. Oleg just sent a thumbs up emoji, while Ilya asked if we fucked on the ruins of the dacha. I laugh and show Lina his message. "Damn… a missed opportunity," she giggles, noodles hanging out of her mouth. She slurps them up and puts her container down.

"That doesn't mean we can't do it right here, though?" She says, with lust in her eyes.

Lina crawls over to me, her hips swaying as she does. It's so seductive, the way she looks at me like she is going to devour me. She seats herself in my lap and reaches down for the hem of my shirt, pulling it up slowly and tossing it aside. Her palms rest on my pecs. "I want you now, Lenya. Hard and fast. I want you inside me. Can you do that for me?" Before she even has the chance to say anything else, I lift her and gently toss her onto the couch.

I yank her pants down, then bury my face in her pussy. She is dripping, and I drink up all of her juices. I slowly tease her entrance with my tongue, diving in and out. "I said fast and hard, moy lev. Not slow and sensual." She whines, wiggling back and forth. I suck her clit into my mouth and she lets out a sharp moan. I intend to make her squirm as long as possible. As I feast on Lina's pussy, I pull down my joggers and give my cock a few slow strokes, running my thumb over the head spreading the bead of precum all over.

Lina looks down and sees me, cock in hand. She grabs a fistful of my hair and tips my head up. "Muzh (husband), that cock should be inside me right now, not your hand." I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her to the floor.

I take two of the pillows from the couch and place them on the floor. "Lean over those, on your hands and knees."

The khoroshaya devochka (good girl) Lina is, she follows my direction and leans over.

With her ass in the air, I dive right back into her pussy. My tongue licks and teases her clit. Lina moans into the pillow, "Lenya—Please. Oh—please."

I pull back, "Please what, Tsvetok (Flower)?" Lina shifts back and forth, searching for my mouth on her aching clit.

"Lenya, please, I need you inside of me. I need you to fuck me. Pozhaluysta, detka (Please, baby)." I line my cock up with her entrance and slam inside her. My hands grip her hips as my thrusts become desperate.

"I love watching you squirm under my tongue. Now I want to hear you moan, Lina." She meets me thrust for thrust, rocking back into me. "Come on, detka (baby). Let me hear you."

I reach around her and start playing with her clit. I know I will not last much longer, so I am pulling out all the stops to get Lina there with me. Lina is screaming into the pillow, eagerly meeting my thrusts. "Even angels can be bad, isn't that right, Tsvetok (Flower)?" My hand comes down on her ass cheek with a satisfying crack. That was all it took for her to unravel. Her pussy clenches my cock so tightly, my fingers still circling her clit. I come with one last deep thrust, groaning as I empty myself inside her.

I keep Lina on her knees so she won't put too much pressure on the baby. As I pull out, the mixture of our cum drips down her thighs. I flip her onto her back, and scoop the dripping cum and push is back inside her pussy. I lean down, placing a tender kiss on her clit. Such love and devotion are present in her eyes. I leave a trail of kisses from her clit over her bump all the way to her lips. Kissing her so tenderly. "Lina, you are my everything. Everything. It was that illusive love at first sight with you, malyshka (baby)."

"Lenya, you believe in love at first sight?" She giggles, poking fun.

"Words cannot capture the way I felt when I laid eyes on you, Lina. I fell so hard and so fast. Every day, from now on, my sole purpose in life is to remind you how much I love and adore you. I'll never stop telling you."