She leans in and kisses the palm of my hand before saying, “I’ll wait for you in the car, Vasya.”
I kiss her gently before she walks away, not even sparing her parents another look. Goddamn, every day that woman grows stronger, and every day I spend with her has me falling a little bit harder for her. I’ve never fallen for any woman before, but Nina’s impossible to resist.
“What are you going to do?” Richard asks, pulling my thoughts back to him.
“He might run,” I warn Andrei and Ilya in Russian before taking my knife out, the same one I’d used on Igor. Sure enough, as soon as Richard sees the sharp blade, he bolts for the hallway. Ilya grabs him with a laugh and shoves him roughly into a chair.
“Oh my god,” Jessica whispers. “Are you going to kill him?”
I study her, noticing the complete lack of horror that one would expect when a spouse’s life is in danger. “Would you care if I did?” She hesitates, so I prod, “Come on, be honest now, Jessica.”
Her silence is answer enough. I turn back to Richard. “Damn, Dick, that’s got to hurt. I don’t think she gives a rat’s ass about you.”
“Are you going to kill me?” His voice is shaky, but he’s keeping it together enough for now.
“I promised your daughter I wouldn’t. She is the only reason I’m not stringing you up by your tiny goddamn balls from this gaudy chandelier,” I say, using the blade to point to the monstrosity above us. “How the hell you created such a beautiful, caring woman, I’ll never fucking know, but I do know that it’s not because of you but in spite of you that she is the woman she is. You don’t fucking deserve her.”
When I nod to my men, they come closer, one on either side of him, and grip his shoulders and arms so he can’t move. The man actually fucking whimpers when I lean close and bring the blade to the skin of his cheek.
“You deserve to die for what you did, but I never go back on my word, and I gave it to Nina, so instead I’m going to leave you with a present. I’m going to cut your face. Badly.”
“No, please don’t,” he whines, tears already streaming down.
I ignore him and continue. “Because I want you to remember what you did. Every time you look in the mirror, I want you to think about what you did to your daughter and that it’s only because of her kindness that you’re alive.” I tap his cheek hard enough to cut. A spot of red immediately blooms. “I’m going to be watching over you, Dick, and if you have any sort of cosmetic surgery done to repair the damage, I’m going to come back here and slice your balls off, if I can fucking find them. Do you understand?”
He whimpers and nods his head. “Please don’t do this,” he begs again.
“Your daughter said the same thing after they auctioned off her fucking virginity and gave her to a monster.”
He pales at that and is about to say something but Andrei covers the man’s mouth right as I press the knife in deep, muffling his screams as I cut a deep gash from his eyebrow to his chin. The flesh splits easily, and as much as I’ve tried to keep myself in check, the flash of teeth and gums, lets me know my rage did come through a bit.
“Oops,” I say, right before Richard passes out.
The blood is coming out fast, drenching his shirt and staining the nice cream carpet beneath him. I look over at a very pale Jessica.
“You should get him to a doctor. I’m guessing I don’t need to tell you to keep your fucking mouth shut about who did this. I’m not so sure a woman as vain as you would be able to handle a permanent scar on your face. What would all the other housewives think?”
“I won’t say anything,” she quickly assures me.
“Let’s get the boxes and get the fuck out of here,” I tell my men in Russian.
When I get back in the SUV, Nina eyes me, but I’ve already washed off the blood, so there’s nothing to see. She doesn’t ask me any questions, just reaches over and pulls me into a tight hug, burying her face in my neck.
“Thank you,” she whispers against my skin, and I know I’d gladly kill every motherfucker in this city if at the end of it I get to feel her arms around me and hear her breathy thank you.
I kiss her temple, and when she sits back in her seat, I dig the list out of my pocket and hand it to her. “Cross off his name,zolotse.”
Things feel different between us now. I can tell she’s still holding back physically and not ready to take the next step, but she’s thinking about it. Her eyes give her away, the way they run over me when she thinks I’m not paying attention, the heat in them whenever I cup her face and lean in close. I love that she trusts me enough to let those feelings start to surface.
When I come out of the bathroom after getting ready for bed, I hear her quick intake of breath and look over. She’s eyeing my bare chest, and I realize it’s the first time she’s seen it. The other night she was drunk and it was dark, and every other time she’s seen me, I’ve had a shirt on. I step closer, letting her look at me as much as she wants. I’ve never been shy, and I like seeing her flushed cheeks and the desire in her dark eyes.
“Those must’ve hurt,” she finally says, keeping her eyes on my tattooed chest and abs.
I laugh and get into bed. “You get used to it, I guess.”
She rolls onto her side and lifts a trembling hand. “Can I?”
I grab her hand and kiss it before laying it on my chest. “You can touch me anytime and anywhere you want,zolotse. You don’t ever need to ask.”
