Chapter 22 - Yefim

All I have to do is get her out of here.

I glance around the party, trying to spot the man she was talking to.

I never knew what he looked like until now. But I know his name.

I know his name all too well.

"Tia, we need to leave right now."

"What is going on, Yefim?" she asks, nervously, looking around too and not understanding what has me so alert.

I don't have time to explain anything right now.

I take her drink from her hand and dispose of it. It's time to move.

I know I'm dragging her. I know I'm holding her too tightly. But I'm too worried to let her go. I can't let anything happen to her, and right now, we are right in the fucking lion's den.

Even when we've pushed through the crowd of graduates and made it outside, I still don't feel relaxed. We are still on their property.

I yank her car door open.

"Get in. Now. Quickly." I'm constantly watching my back, waiting for someone to run at us from behind. But so far, nothing.

It doesn't mean we've escaped. Not until we get home and we are safely inside the house. Then I will make some phone calls.

I need to tell my brothers. But there is no time. Not now. Right now all I have to do is get Tia out of here.

I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to her, and I plan to keep that promise.

Once she is in the car, I run to my side and climb in, still watching my back. I expect them to come out of nowhere and everywhere.

The engine growls to life and I skid on take-off, heading for the security gates.

I'm holding my breath as we near the gates. I'm waiting for the guard to pull a gun, tell us we can't leave—something, anything—but he doesn't. He just opens the gates, and we drive out.

I feel as though we've escaped death somehow.

Tia is shifting nervously in her seat next to me, but I don't have to pay attention to that—I have to focus on whether or not we are being followed.

The security gates to Vitali's estate close behind us, and no one comes out. No one follows us.

I press my foot down hard against the accelerator and scream away from the house.

***

I've been driving for about five minutes when Tia finally speaks.

"Yefim, please tell me what is going on."

"Giorgio Vitali. Your friend's uncle. He is the man who you owe money to. He is the man holding your debts, and the man who ordered an attack against me and threatened you."

"No—" She looks stunned to her core. Her mouth is gaping open as she stares at me in shock. "But I've been friends with Clara for years."

"Clara might not even know about the debt. It's her uncle, he might not have told her." I shrug, still watching the rearview mirror. Still expecting all hell to break loose.

"I can't believe it." Tia shakes her head, her mouth tight, her shoulders slumped.

"Sorry, Tia." I feel bad for her. Her friend. Her graduation party. It's all a mess now.

"He offered me that job. So that means—he wasn't really impressed with my grades or anything, he was just trying to manipulate the situation somehow." She sighs sadly.

"I don't know for sure, Tia. I mean, you did graduate top of your class. Maybe it was a real job offer, but at the same time, he clearly has no problem threatening your life or mine. He's not a good man."

She nods, staring straight ahead, watching the street lights reflect on the damp road as a misty rain starts to fall, making everything glow.

"What happens now?" She asks after a long while.

"We get home, we get safe. Then I want to talk to my brothers and tell them what happened."

I look over at her and my heart breaks for her. Reaching out, I run my hand over her thigh. "It's going to be okay. I know today was a special day for you. Don't let that asshole take away your celebration, baby girl. You graduated. You did so well."

She shrugs, then sighs. "Does any of it matter?"

"Of course, it does."

"What would have happened if we'd stayed?" she asks, glancing at me.

It's the one thing I have been trying not to think about. What would have happened if he'd managed to get Tia alone somewhere? What would he have done to her? He knows she is married to me. He knows he would have huge leverage if he managed to get his hands on my wife.

No, I can't think about it. It pierces my lungs to think about it. It makes my chest feel tight and the air feel too thick to breathe.

"Nothing happened. Okay? We got away. We're almost home. Don't think about things like that. We know who he is now, and we just have to stay safe. But nothing happened tonight." I squeeze her thigh, trying to reassure her.

The rest of the drive home we are both quiet and lost in thought.

Every nerve in my body is tense and filled with dread at the idea that he almost did get Tia alone. But I have to stop myself from thinking about it, the same way I told her not to think about it.

We pull up into our driveway, and I see the guards standing by the gates and near the front door. Everything looks normal. Everything looks safe.

I climb out of the car, telling Tia to sit tight for a moment.

Walking over the guards, men I know well, I check on how the night has been. "Anything happening tonight? Anything to report?" I ask my head of security.

"No, sir. Nothing happening tonight. It's been quiet. Is there something we need to know about?"

"Just keep an extra eye out, please. We had a small issue tonight. I don't think anyone followed us, but I'd prefer if the men were on high alert."

"I'll send out a message to everyone on duty, sir. I'll report absolutely anything that seems out of the norm."

"Thanks."

I walk back to the car and open the door for Tia.

"Come on, baby girl. Let's get you inside."

She climbs out and takes my hand as we walk up the stairs, into the house, closing the door behind us and finally feeling safe.

Tia hops into the shower while I make us each a hot chocolate. Then I have a quick shower after her. She's already in bed, sipping her hot chocolate when I get out, just a towel wrapped around my waist.

I'm walking over to the closet to get some sweatpants when Tia calls me over.

"Yefim," she says, softly.

I turn towards the bed and sit on the edge near her.

"I'm scared," she says. "I feel—sort of—watched. I don't know how to explain it."

"I think it's perfectly normal, Tia. That man was kind of spying the entire time. You've come face to face with him now, and I think it makes him more real. But no one can get to you here." I reach out and touch her face. "I promise you, I will keep you safe. My family will keep you safe."

She pulls the blankets away from her body. "Please come and lie with me. I really don't want to be alone."

I glance down at my towel—damp, not ideal. But when I stand up to go and get those sweat pants, Tia reaches out and takes a handful of my towel, tugging at it so that it falls away.

"Come and lie with me," she says again.

My body begins to tingle with anticipation.

I pull the blankets further off her. She's wearing her oversized tee shirt.

When I lean over her and run my hands over her legs, I quickly find out that she isn't wearing anything beneath it.

I lie down on top of her, caressing her face, leaning close to her so that our lips touch, but we don't kiss, we just feel the warmth of each other's skin.

She runs her hands down my back, wraps her legs around my waist.

Then she pulls me close and presses her lips against mine, her tongue inside my mouth and my cock throbbing hard against her pussy.

Slowly I rock my body against hers as our kiss deepens. The slow intensity of our caress becomes a little more urgent, a little more heated. Her hands knot in my hair as she lifts her hips up against my cock, rubbing herself against me, inviting me to push my cock inside her.

I wrap one arm behind her back, lifting her so that she is arched against my body.

Then slowly, very slowly, I push my cock into her pussy.

Against my mouth, I feel her sigh. A heavy, warm breath of desire and pleasure as I slowly fill her up and stretch her open.

I push myself all the way inside her, then wait, feeling her pussy pulse over me, not moving, just letting her take in every small movement my cock makes inside her.

Then I begin to rock back and forth—tantric, methodical, almost meditative as we listen to each other's breathing, feel each other's skin, taste each other's lips.

When I do pull away from our kiss and stare down at her, her eyes are wide and glittering in the soft light. She looks too beautiful for words.

"I will protect you until the day I die, baby girl," I whisper.

"I know you will," she replies softly.

And to know I have her trust, to know she has given me that, it explodes inside my heart, filling me with something I don't understand.

As I move back and forth, my hips rocking, my cock thrusting in and out of her pussy, I realize what I thought was obsession, what I thought was a deep desire to own her, has actually been love all along.

I love this woman.

I love everything about her. Every full curve, every soft bit of her skin, her hair, her smile, her laugh, her tenderness.

I am in love with her.

My heart begins to hammer against my ribcage, threatening to break free. I begin thrusting harder, faster. She cries out and tilts her head back against the pillow as I drive myself into her, pushing, thrusting, fucking her as though she belongs to me. Because she does. She is mine.

Tia's nails dig into my back as she grips my body, gasping and moaning with each thrust. Her legs lock tighter around me, and her pussy begins to suck me in as it pulses over my cock.

I'm so hard, so ready to explode, but I'm waiting for her.

Her legs start shaking.

I pull her back upwards, holding her against my body, arching her, fucking her.

She screams as her orgasm hits her, wave after wave of intensity.

My cock explodes inside her, as her pussy locks over me.

I am in love with her.

I can't believe I didn't see it before.