I do it again. Circling her with my tongue. Pressing against the tight ring of muscle. Not penetrating, just teasing. Just showing her what it could feel like if she wanted more.
She comes with a cry, and Alexei follows immediately after, buried deep inside her.
We collapse into a tangle of limbs. Victoria half on top of Alexei, half on top of me. All of us gasping. All of us spent.
She makes a motion to move.
I slap her ass lightly. Not hard. Just enough to get her attention.
"Stay," I say. Command and plea wrapped together. "Just stay."
She settles back down. Her weight warm and solid against me. Her breathing gradually evening out.
And I hold her. Finally stop running from ghosts and fear and the truth I've been avoiding.
This is where I belong. With her. With this imperfect, complicated, beautiful thing we're building together.
I'm not going anywhere. And neither is she.
30
MAKSIM
I sit behind my desk, reviewing notes for the meeting that's about to take place. Zakhar occupies one of the chairs across from me, going through his own files. Alexei stands near the window, ostensibly looking out at the city, but I can tell his mind is elsewhere.
There's something different about them this morning.
The twins are usually coiled tension. Alert. Watchful. Ready for violence at a moment's notice. It's the default state they've maintained since we were boys on Moscow's streets.
But today, there's a looseness to them. A softness around the edges that I haven't seen before.
Zakhar's shoulders aren't quite as rigid. The permanent furrow between his brows has smoothed slightly. Even his silence feels different. Content instead of vigilant.
Alexei's restless energy has mellowed into something calmer. He's not pacing. Not drumming his fingers. Just standing there with an expression that could almost be called peaceful.
I know what caused the shift. Or rather, who.
Victoria must still be sleeping upstairs. In whose bed, I can only guess. But clearly, something happened between the three of them last night. Something that left my brothers looking satisfied in ways that have nothing to do with violence or victory.
A pang of something uncomfortably close to envy cuts through me.
I want that too. Want a few hours of her attention. Want to lose myself in her. Want to feel her body against mine and hear my name on her lips and forget, just for a moment, about enemies circling and businesses bleeding and the constant weight of leadership.
But these past few days have been grueling. Every waking hour dedicated to investigating threats, shoring up defenses, preparing for this meeting with Luan Krasniqi. There's been no time for anything else. No space for wanting when survival demands all my attention.
Soon, I promise myself. When this crisis is resolved and we've eliminated the threats against us, I'll take time with her. Make her understand exactly how much she's come to mean to me.
"How's the security guard?" I ask Alexei, pulling my mind back to business.
He turns from the window. "Out of the woods. Doctors say with time he'll make a full recovery."
Relief loosens something in my chest. "Good. And his family?"
"Taken care of. Medical bills paid. Salary continuing during his recovery. The wife and kid have everything they need." Alexei's voice carries satisfaction. "They know we don't abandon our people."
I nod approval, then turn to Zakhar. "Progress on finding Eryan Nis?"
His expression tightens fractionally. The contentment from earlier dimming under frustration. "Not much. I found a connection between his operations and a company called C.H.T. Onix. Registered in the Cayman Islands."
