Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Ollie

I work the whole flight, catching up on what I missed during my trip down to Colombia, but mostly, I'm trying to ignore the beautiful, captivating, infuriating woman beside me. She snores adorably in her sleep, and there's a little bit of drool in the corner of her mouth. I smirk and take a little video. That could come in handy.

I frown when I rewatch the video. She'll wake up with a throbbing arm and a hangover. I'll have to watch for that. I shouldn't feel bad for her. I can't.

Early morning sunlight peeks through clouds as we land at our small, private airport right outside of The Cove. I scrub a hand across my eyes, grateful to be home but fucking exhausted. While Renata slept most of the six-hour flight home, thanks to the drinks and meds, I haven't slept more than a few hours in days.

Still, I have to stay alert. Moving from one place to the next is always when we're most vulnerable.

She needs her sleep, so I don't wake her until we've landed. I hate being the one who drags her back into the present and back to being in pain.

"Renata." Her head's on my shoulder, her beautiful face so peaceful. I feel like a dick. Maybe I could carry her off the plane and get her to the car without waking her?—

"Mmm?" She sits straight up, and her eyes fly open.

Maybe not.

"Why didn't you tell me we were almost here? I like to know these things." It's true—she hates being left out of the loop and surprised. It's partly why her brief captivity before was so maddening to her.

"You needed sleep. How's the arm?"

With a sigh, she looks down as if just remembering what happened. "Still there, I guess. It's fine." She looks ahead when the door opens. "Ride waiting?"

"Yeah. Mikhail said straight to family headquarters." I have to do what my oldest brother and pakhan of our Bratva tells me. I want her alone. I want to take her away from everyone, just the two of us, to the moon if I had to. I blow out a breath. "The closer we are to family headquarters, the better."

She grumbles and shifts in her seat. "Alright, I got ya." She looks groggy and confused. "That was fast."

"Time flies when you're fast asleep." I pull up the video on my phone and show her.

"You made me do that! Delete that, Ollie!"

I snort. "Not a chance. This is prime blackmail material."

She tries to look annoyed but gets this little look where her lips twitch, but her face quickly contorts in pain when she holds her arm. "Ugh, my head. My arm. What the fuck. Little slash like that shouldn't hurt so much."

"It wasn't a little slash, but we'll have you looked at when we get back."

When we exit, the familiar sight of home brings a sense of relief. While my brothers have settled in nicely here, my job hasn't afforded me that luxury. For years I've been a nomad, moving from place to place.

Until now.

I look at the beautiful woman beside me. We're getting married. Does that mean I'll actually get a chance to put down roots?

"Is that your driver?" she asks, pointing ahead to the car that's waiting for us. I stifle a yawn. God, I'm fucking exhausted.

I shade my eyes from the sun and squint. "I think so."

I take our bags and head out while the flight crew begins their cleanup. I'm eager to get her back to my house.

"Where did they decide we're going?" she asks.

"Family headquarters."

Renata nods but doesn't offer much. She's focused on the driver. I can't see him from here, but everything looks legit. That's our car. He's standing in front of us, as is protocol.

I take our bags, and this time, she doesn't argue with me about it.

Good. I just want to get home. Back to safety, where I can drill down security and make sure she's safe again.

"Who's back at the house now?"

"My mother and sister, I know that, but I'm not so sure about my other brothers. We'll have a meeting this morning and decide what's next."

The driver approaches. "Welcome home, sir. Ma'am. May I help you with your bags?"

"I've got them," I tell him. He should know that.

Renata shakes her head and gives the driver a curious look, not meeting my eyes. "Were you already given the location of the safe house by security?"

We aren't going to?—

"Yes, all set, ma'am. Your location is secure."

Renata smiles sweetly. "Perfect." She turns to face me and beckons for me to come closer. Her sweet, warm breath on my cheek, she whispers, "He's not your driver."

I whisper in her ear, "No shit. I'm going to kiss you like we're in love, then pull my gun. You dive for cover. Do not fuck around."

She nods.

I kiss her cheek, her soft, sweet skin to my lips like honeyed butter.

I want her.

I want all of her. It's like the first hit of an addict. One taste, one touch of Renata Carerra, and I need more.

With reluctance, I pull away, my weapon drawn.

The driver takes one look at me and dives into the driver's seat. I pull the trigger.

Glass shatters as he peels away. Adrenaline courses through my veins as I toss Renata my phone. "Call Mikhail, get eyes on him!" I shout as I chase after the vehicle. I shoot again and again, hitting one tire, but the exit is so close, he turns sharply, and all I see behind him is a cloud of dust.

"Mikhail?" Renata's eyes are wide beside me.

"Who are you, and where the fuck is my brother?" Mikhail thunders.

"I'm here," I shout so he can hear me. "I had Renata call you. Our driver was replaced by someone and he tried to kill us. I tried to get him, but he got away. We need eyes on him."

"Aria, did you get that?" Mikhail asks his wife. With Aria's skills, she can find anyone, anywhere, anytime.

"On it. We've got a drone on Seventh, and I can tap into the security cams on the interstate in one… two… Come to Mama, baby. "

I look wildly around the parking lot. I need to get her the fuck out of here immediately.

"We need a car."

"Viktor's ten minutes out. Keep her covered until then, Ollie."

Renata frowns. "Wish I had a gun too."

"There's no fucking way I'd give you a gun."

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do? Stand around and look pretty?" She looks down at herself in disgust. "As if I even could, covered in blood, my clothes all ripped, my hair like a neglected, abused Barbie doll."

Jesus. Women. They focus on the wrong damn things.

"No," Mikhail snaps on speakerphone. "Do what he fucking tells you. Hang up and get cover. Now. "

He disconnects the call, and she throws her hands up in disgust. "My God!"

I scan the area.

"There. Over by the hangar. Follow me."

"Yes, sir. Whatever you say, sir. "

Not drunk anymore. Good. She'll feel every smack when I give her the spanking she so obviously deserves.

"Why are you being so miserable?" I ask her, tugging her hand down so she sits on the pavement beside me.

Frowning, she doesn't answer. I didn't expect her to.

She's not usually so difficult. While I'd hardly call Renata Carerra submissive or compliant, she's rarely so exhausting.

She sits beside me cross-legged on the pavement, playing with her hair. Fuck, but it's sexy watching her delicate, graceful fingers sweep the hair off her neck and begin to braid it.

"I don't want to talk, Ollie. You have no idea what I've just been through. Let's stop with the third degree."

I grit my teeth. "You're right; I have no idea what you've been through. Our only goal right now is to stay alive until our ride gets here."

"Why?" she snaps.

"Why stay alive?" I look at her in surprise.

"Jesus, no," she says, shaking her head. "I've got that sorted out. I like being alive." She gives me a sidelong look and swallows hard. "At least most of the time, anyway. I've had my moments."

What does that mean?

I nod, listening, but I'm still hung up on I've had my moments. It's a stark reminder that there's so much more about Renata that I don't know, and I want to know it all. I have to.

"I meant, why do we have to wait for a ride? We're sitting ducks here. My brother's not like Javier, you know. I mean he—he wasn't like Javier."

A look of panic flits across her face. I play it off like she didn't just fucking admit he's alive.

"What was your brother's method?"

"Javier was all about strategy and manipulation. He had his tentacles far and wide and thankfully burned all his shit to the ground before he got to power. My brother was wild and reckless." She stammers a bit. "He'd…he'd strike hard without thinking about the consequences, and anyone who's taking over for him would be the same."

"I get your point about us being sitting ducks and all that. I don't want to sit here any longer than you do. But I trust Mikhail with my life and now yours. So I'm not interested in doing anything that will put either of us in danger."

She frowns. God, she's beautiful when she frowns like that.

Correction. She's beautiful no matter what she says or does.

"We're staying here. It's the safest bet."

She wraps her arms around her legs, her eyes darting around the space outside the hangar.

"Is this what my life is going to be like?"

I stand beside her, my weapon drawn. She seems so small sitting beside me. I feel like I tower over her.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugs a slim shoulder and shakes her head. Unruly hair dances over her back and shoulders, and she swallows hard. "It's just… I hate feeling like I'm out of control. Like someone else is managing my life for me, yet that's exactly what happens when you boss me around and tell me what to do."

I can't risk taking my eyes off the view outside the hangar, so I scan again before I crouch down so I'm closer to her. The coast is clear. If we were at a regular airport, we'd be fucked, but luckily for us, we can do this kind of thing here.

I'm going to be married to Renata. It doesn't matter. She'll be mine whether she likes it or not.

"Ollie—"

I look at her. When her eyes meet mine, the guarded wall around my heart cracks. I feel it crumbling. A part of me wants to do everything in my power not just to protect her, not just to make her mine… but to make her fucking happy.

Jesus. I'm a goddamn pussy.

"What?" I snap, sharper than I mean to. I look away.

I can tell the moment she shuts down. Her eyes shutter, and her jaw clenches. She looks away as if she's given me the taste of her vulnerability and needs to snatch it back now.

"Forget it." She turns her face completely away from me.

I want to force her to look at me, to tell me what she's really thinking.

"Stop playing fucking games with me, Renata. Tell me what you were going to say."

"It doesn't matter."

Jesus.

"I'm not fucking playing this game." I want to shake her, but my need to get her to pay attention doesn't outweigh my need to protect her. I keep my eyes in front of me, staring so I don't miss a thing.

"Is this what you'll expect me to do? Shut up and do what you tell me?"

I clench my jaw. "When your safety's at risk? Fuck yeah."

"This is gonna be one fun marriage, isn't it?" The spark in her eyes is a warning sign, but I've never been one to heed those.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" A shadow moves to the left in front of me. I cock my gun, but a second later, a pigeon bobs its creepy head and walks along in front of us.

The wind outside the hangar is the only sound as seconds stretch into minutes.

"Nothing about this is easy, Renata. None of it. You know that."

She hugs her legs tighter. "I know that. But you take a difficult situation and only make it harder."

She's not wrong. I've always done that. Not on purpose, I know, but I can't help it. It's who I am.

I remember the first time I came home after Mikhail and Aria's wedding. She was forced into marrying him, and they were enemies at first. She was pregnant by the time I really got to spend any time with her, and Mikhail doted on her like she was made of spun glass. I still remember standing in my mother's dining room, nursing a drink. Mikhail sat at the head of the table, having a heated discussion when Aria walked into the room.

Mikhail's entire focus shifted to her. He held a finger up for Aleks to hold his thought. She walked to him and stood beside him. He rested his hand on the small of her back and inclined his ear to her so he could hear whatever it was she whispered to him.

Something hit my chest with the force of a freight train. Mikhail had changed. He'd met a woman who'd changed him, and he would never be the same.

Later, I talked to him about it. "What happened to you?" I asked. I couldn't keep the bitter tone out of my voice. Mikhail was my idol, the one I looked up to, and seeing him cave to a woman felt like a form of betrayal. That wasn't what we did. It wasn't how we were taught. It wasn't who we were.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

I shook my head and shoved my hands in my pockets. "She says ‘jump', and you say ‘how high'. What the fuck, Mikhail?"

I half expected him to deck me or at least shake me down and tell me to mind my mouth or something shitty like that. The old Mikhail would have. Instead, he only half smiled. "One day, you'll see. Until then, telling you won't make much of a difference."

"What do you mean?" I asked. It felt like some shitty "when you're older, you'll understand" speech.

"Mutual respect for your wife isn't a form of weakness. It takes a real man to learn humility and meekness. A good leader—leader of the home or leader of the Bratva or leader of a country—knows that bullying is a form of cowardice, not strength. A true leader learns from everyone. A good man knows he's nothing without the strength of a woman beside him."

I felt frustrated. Angry, even, that he'd lecture me, but I did truly want to know what the hell had changed.

"I'm not talking about bullying," I snapped, still so fucking angry.

"I am ," he said, steel in his voice reminding me that he was still in charge.

Yeah, I didn't forget that. But I don't know if Renata betrayed us. I do know that her best friend doesn't trust her anymore, and she's orchestrating this so that she doesn't get away from me.

"Did you put an offer in on a house yet?"

My gaze snaps to hers, then back to surveillance.

"A house?" I never told anyone else I was looking for a house. It felt sacred. Special. Something only the two of us knew and talked about.

"Yes," she says softly, not meeting my eyes. She's playing with a strand of her hair, twisting it around her fingers. "The last time we talked, you were looking at houses. You said you were ready to put down roots and thought you might put an offer down." She swallows. "You particularly liked the one with the Brazilian rosewood floors and those quirky little stained-glass windows."

How does she remember those details?

"No," I say, shaking my head. The sound of a car approaching makes us both go silent. My phone beeps with a text. "Got a little distracted with an escaped hostage."

Mikhail: Ride approaching. Sent cuffs for Renata. Cuff her on the way here

"That's our ride."

"Why not?" she asks, standing. "Why didn't you put an offer in? It's one phone call."

I frown, watching the approaching car. "I don't want to put down roots only to pull them up again, and I wanted to see what my wife thought about moving before I did."

I don't want to talk about me. I don't want to talk about us. I have to cuff her and bring her in.

"Your wife?" she asks sharply, meeting my gaze. The car comes to a stop in front of us.

"Yeah," I mutter. The driver opens the door and hands me a set of cuffs. I don't want to talk about this. "Now come here."

Renata looks puzzled.

I hold her in front of me, her hands on my chest. "You said your brother's watching. I want him to know exactly what's happening next."

"So we are going to a safe house?"

"Fuck a safe house. No. We're going to make your brother come out of hiding. We're going to piss him off and throw down the gauntlet. You game?"

Her eyes spark with excitement, though she can't hide her fear either. "Hell yes, I'm game."

I thread my fingers through her hair and cup the back of her head. Our breaths mingle. The chemistry we had before felt like an old dream, something poignant and meaningful but fading with every breath that I took.

But now… with her so close to me, our wedding on the horizon, and my need to claim her pushing me forward, I lower my mouth to hers and brush her lips with mine.

I stifle a groan. She tastes as good as I remembered—sweet and addictive, like whiskey on the rocks after a long, hot day.

I lick her tongue, and she lets out a low moan. I slide my hand along her lower back and draw her to me. I want her so close that I don't know where she begins and I end. Her lips are soft and her body pliable as I deepen the kiss, losing myself in the heat of the moment, her body next to mine, our connection undeniable.

I pull away when our driver clears his throat. Shit . I lost myself there.

I have to stay alert.

She's pressed up against me, momentarily disarmed. I snap the cuffs on.