“I couldn’t leave her there.”
“It’s neutral territory,” he reminds me in a tone that I don’t care for.
“And that’s the only reason I haven’t gone back there and burnt that goddamn place to the ground.”
“All right,” Colin says with a sigh, “I’ll look into this. I had no idea they were being kept against their will. I’ve always been told the women were willingly there and more than happy with the money they were making. I’ll do some digging and see what I can find out, but for now, stay away from it.”
“Fine,” I say, still pissed but eager to get back to Nina.
“Did you really marry her?”
“I did,” I say, and I make sure he understands me when I add, “and I inked her. She has the full protection of my Bratva, and any attack against her will be seen as a direct attack against me. Feel free to spread the fucking word on that.”
Too pissed to talk anymore, I hang up and walk back into the bedroom. Her big, dark eyes are staring at me from right above the covers. She follows my movements as I cross the room and shake out a couple of pills and open the bottle of water.
“Here, take these and drink some water. It’ll help some.”
She scoots up and takes the pills, managing to drink about half the water before pushing it away with a grimace. I start to back away and then smile when she reaches out for me, grabbing my wrist.
“Will you stay?”
“Of course,zolotse. Give me just a minute.”
She lets go of me so I can brush my teeth and strip out of my clothes. I’d usually just sleep naked, but I’m not about to do that tonight. I toss on a pair of sleep pants similar to the ones she’s wearing and get under the covers. I’m all set to be a gentleman, being careful to put space between us so she doesn’t feel uncomfortable, but then she reaches an arm out and tries to pull me closer.
I roll on my side, careful to keep several inches between her ass and my hard cock, and wrap an arm around her. I’m not a saint. I want more from her. The desire to roughly yank her pants down and slide into the wet heat of her is all I can fucking think about, but I refuse to act on it. That’s not what she needs from me right now.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” she whispers, hugging my forearm against her chest.
“I will always take care of you,” I say, not even having to think about it.
She kisses my hand, and I smile at the sweet gesture. It’s the first time she’s kissed me, and I’m surprised by how badly I don’t want it to be the one and only time.
“What doessukamean?” she whispers.
I laugh, thinking that she must’ve heard it from Ilya when he was teasing Andrei. “You caught that, huh? Ilya was getting under Andrei’s skin by telling him he handled his alcohol like a little bitch.”
“So it means bitch?”
“Yes, or female dog, just like in English.”
“SoAmerikanskaya sukameans American bitch?”
My whole body goes cold at her words because Ilya sure as hell didn’t say that. “Why are you asking? Where did you hear that?”
“That’s what one of the men called me.”
“He was Russian?”
I feel her shoulders give a small shrug in the dark. “I guess.”
“Did he have any tattoos?” I ask, trying not to sound too angry or eager.
“He kept his shirt on. Most of them didn’t fully undress.”
I hold her tighter and kiss her temple before relaxing back into the pillow beside her. “I’m sorry I didn’t find you sooner,” I whisper against her hair. “All I can do is give you my word that I’m going to make every one of those fuckers pay for what they did to you.”
Her voice is heavy with sleep when she says, “It’s okay, Vasya. I’m safe now. That’s all that matters.”
