Chapter 50

Yaroslav

I ’m in the shower when I hear someone enter the room. I turn around, ready to strike, only to realize it’s Kim. Somehow, she’s here. She stands there naked in all her glory and my eyes hungrily drink her in. I examine the new slopes and curves of her body, her figure is fuller now, in bloom.

She gazes into my eyes and wordlessly steps into the shower with me. The beads of water trickle down her body, trailing a path along her smooth skin to her most intimate places. Her nipples harden and so does my cock at the sight of her. She moves closer, placing her hands on my chest, and traces her fingers lightly over my body before taking my cock firmly in her hands. Almost possessively, as if to say, ‘You’re mine’.

She looks deep into my eyes, her hands rubbing up and down my cock with assured, firm strokes that almost make me explode right there and then.

“Yaroslav,” she murmurs, biting her lip in that unbelievably sexy way that drives me insane.

I kiss her deeply, exploring her tongue with mine as I feel her body press against mine, the water sending every inch of our skin alive with sensation. When the kiss breaks away, she sinks to her knees, taking my fully erect dick in her mouth. It feels so fucking good I feel like I could cum at any second. She slowly takes the entire length of me in her mouth. Looking at her like this I can’t believe how sexy she is.

“Cum for me, Yaroslav,” she commands, and I do.

I’d do anything this woman asks of me.

It’s at this moment I wake up. I’m alone in my new home in Orlando, Kim is hundreds of miles away still. My bedsheets are sticky. Great, I’ve had a wet dream, like a horny teenager. With a growl of frustration, I get up and strip the bed, throwing the evidence into the laundry hamper. I take a long, cold shower, hoping to wash away the lingering horniness from my dream. I can’t get Kim out of my mind.

Our brief reconciliation in the car on the way to Gillihan’s barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to do with Kim, and still want to do. I long to be with her properly again, to take our time. We didn’t even remove our clothes. It hasn’t escaped my notice which means Kim still hasn’t seen me naked since the accident that put me in a coma .

Will she find my new, scarred body hideous? Will her attraction fade once she sees my mutilated, puckered skin?

I sent Kim away to recover, to not give my feelings for her away to the mole, and because I didn’t trust myself around her. If I’m being honest, I also sent her away as I wasn’t certain that she could be trusted. I wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t pick her grandmother over me and send Bogdan Sharkozi information, even with me knowing he sent her here to spy. It seems even with her gone I can’t escape her.

I can’t escape my feelings for her. Nor, it seems, can I change them. There’s no point pretending or running from it any longer. I have to face facts. I am in love with Kimberly Walsh. Regardless of her feelings or motivations, that isn’t going to change.

I’m totally fucked.

What I need is advice from a friend. But right now, I don’t know who’s my friend or enemy. I run through the shortlist of my closest confidants and family. Despite the large number of men working for me, the list is remarkably long. Trust isn’t something that comes easily nor is handed out readily by Bratva bosses.

David should be the obvious choice, he’s my brother after all. If there’s anyone I can trust isn’t the mole, it’s him. I know in my heart he wouldn’t betray me. But that doesn’t mean I want to talk about my feelings for Kim with him. For starters, he’s totally biased and will take Kim’s side. He’ll get overly excited and have us married and playing house within five minutes. A case in point is the fact that he went to visit Kim yesterday. Plus, he’s still there, and I need to speak with someone now. So that’s a no.

Uncle Innokentiy is the next closest family member I have. But, in all honesty, while I respect him as my elder and family member, we’re not what you’d call close. Nor does Innokentiy do feelings, especially not for women. He’d see my love for Kim as a weakness and discourage it. However, given Kim’s pregnancy and what he’s already said to me, I know he, too, would push for a wedding before the baby arrives. Plus, given the state of his marriage, he’s hardly the poster child for relationship advice. So he’s also a no.

Thomas Gillihan is my newest friend, surprisingly easy to talk to, and I know he isn’t the mole for certain. Why would he jeopardize his own deal with me? Plus, as one of the select few who knew about the drop-off location change, he could have screwed the deal if that was his goal and didn’t. But he’s also a new business associate and not someone I want to know my every secret or weakness. He’s already most likely well aware of my feelings for Kim, but I’d rather not be more vulnerable with him than necessary.

That leaves my two oldest, most trusted friends, Artem and Vova. Both are, I suppose, suspects and could be the moles, but I doubt it. However, Vova is a no since he’s as thick as two short planks and has the emotional skin of a rhinoceros. I doubt I’m going to get any useful advice from him.

Which leaves Artem. Of the two, he’s the most sensitive, not that he’s overly in touch with his feelings, but against Vova it’s not hard. In the past, I have always been able to count on Artem to give me level, well-reasoned, and impartial advice. I trust that he will be discreet and as unbiased as he can.

With that decided, I go to look for Artem. Like me, he’s an early riser and I find him on the beach patrolling the grounds.

“Morning, Boss,” he says, holding his hand over his eyes to shield the bright morning sunrise as he sees me approaching.

“Morning Artem, will you walk with me? I could use your advice,” I say, coming right out with it before I lose face.

“It would be my honor, sir.”

“Thank you, Artem. Though, for now, let’s drop the formalities and speak like the friends we are. Not as boss and employee,” I state.

“Understood.”

I walk away from the house, closer to the shore and further down the beach, away from prying eyes and ears. Artem patiently waits for me to speak, he knows me well enough to realize that pushing me to talk will have the opposite effect.

I don’t know where to start, eventually, I just say, “It’s about Kim…”

“What about her?” Artem asks slowly, as though worried to guess.

“Do you think I can trust her?” I ask, studying his face for his gut reaction.

“I assume you are looking for an honest and frank discussion, not for me to say what you want to hear or are worried might be true?” Artem says.

His bluntness and astuteness make me glad I chose to speak with him over the others.

“Yes. I do,” I reply truthfully. “As Pakhan, too often people say what they think I want them to. Even though I might not always like to hear hard truths, how can I trust people or grow the business if I do not listen to the advice and opinions of my men?”

Artem nods, seemingly satisfied with my answer. “Good, well then, in that case, I think you can trust her.”

I’m a little surprised by this, given his previous question I’d assumed he was about to say the opposite and was worried it would piss me off.

“Despite everything?” I ask incredulously.

I don’t need to go into details, Artem knows the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and the doubts I’ve had since I first met Kim.

“Yes, I truly believe that Kim is a nice girl who got caught up in something she couldn’t even begin to understand and yet she’s taken it all in her stride and proved herself to be a loyal friend and stronger than any of us gave her credit for,” Artem replies with conviction.

“But why would she stay? If she’s truly innocent, why didn’t she run for the hills the second things got dicey? Heck, the first fucking day we met someone tried to blow me up.”

Artem gives a small chuckle, “Well, I’m not saying she has the best common sense or self-preservation, but it’s clear to me why she stayed.”

I stand looking at him expectantly and he rolls his eyes slightly before elaborating. “Because she’s in love with you, dumbass. It couldn’t be more obvious.”

Hearing those words my heart somersaults. “I think I’m in love with her too,” I blurt out before I can hesitate and not say it.

“I know, that’s been pretty fucking obvious for a while,” he replies with a grin.

“So, what should I do?” I ask, praying he has the answers.

“If you decide Kim’s the one for you, you’re committing to that fully. Being with you is a risk for both of you. You have to declare that she’s with you and that touching her is declaring full-on war with us. We will have to go to war with Sharkozi for what he did.”

“We’re already at war with Sharkozi,” I reply.

“True, but this will bring it out of the shadows. It won’t be a secret anymore that we know what Sharkozi has done, or that we’re the ones who have Roman,” Artem warns.

“I know. I think it’s time we stopped playing games, Sharkozi can’t get away with this any longer.”

“I agree,” Artem nods. “So, what’s next.”

“First, I bring Kim home. After that, we need to weed out the traitors in our midst and rally the troops to rescue Emma Walsh and find Noah Walsh. Then, I finally kill Roman Sharkozi.”

“After that, we go to war,” Artem finishes my sentence.

“I intend to destroy the Sharkozi Family, they will be a distant memory. It’s time for the wolf pack to hunt and stake our claim as leaders in the US.”