“Fine,” he sighed suddenly, stepping back and turning his back on me, I straightened, releasing a quiet breath as my hand rubbed my neck. “Let’s go before it’s too late,” he said, opening the door and I froze, staring at him, confused. “Go where?” I asked, lost. “Running,” he replied as if it were obvious when it absolutely fucking wasn’t. “Uh-uh” I shook my head, stepping closer, “I’m going running with Roman, not…” “Roman can’t anymore. Grigori sent him somewhere, and you’re not going anywhere alone,” he said with a smug smile as I blinked, struggling to process his words. I wasn’t going anywhere alone?
What was I? A child? A prisoner? “I beg your pardon?” I snapped, stepping toward him, lifting my face now burning with anger. “There’s nothing to beg for,moyamalen’kayagadyuka,yet” he replied smoothly. “Just obey me, and everything will be fine”. He flashed a self-satisfied smile and walked out of the room. I stood there staring after him, mouth hanging open, offended, furious. I was going to bury him in that damn forest.
Chapter 13
Sienna
We had been running in silence for more than an hour, my anger still there but no longer blazing. All I had to do was ignore him, and everything would be fine. The sun was almost down now, slowly plunging the forest into darkness. That was probably why, when we reached the fork in the trail, Sasha turned right to head back but I kept going straight, determined to do one last loop. The sun would surely be gone by the time I finished, but I’d manage with my flashlight. I wanted to go back with a calm body and a clear mind, something that was impossible when I was breathing the same air as that idiot.“Hey, hey, hey,” he said, grabbing my arm to pull me back, the force of the gesture made me stumble, and I slammed into his chest with a grunt, his sweat-damp T-shirt sticking to my skin. I stepped back, lips pressed tight, his scent already flooding my senses, he smelled like a man, raw and intensely masculine.Damn it.
“Let go of me,” I said as his fingers still circled my arm. “If you want to go back, go. I’m doing one last lap.” I tried to pull away,but his grip tightened as he yanked me against him, our chests colliding as he leaned down, his lips hovering just above mine. “Stop provoking me, Sienna,” he ground out through clenched teeth and I let out a disbelieving scoff. “Me?! I’m provoking you?!” my hand fisted in his T-shirt as my anger flared.
“Yes. You. You and the way you talk. You and the way you challenge me every chance you get. You and…” he stopped suddenly, his gaze dropping to my chest, barely concealed by my tank top, pressed against his own chest that was rising and falling fast.Oh no. Not there.“You want provocation, Ivanov?” I whispered, locking eyes with him as my hand released his shirt, fingers sliding down his pecs, feeling the muscle tense beneath the damp fabric, then traveling up to his neck, brushing his throat and his Adam’s apple as he swallowed hard beneath my touch. Then I grabbed the back of his neck. “Here. Take this, then” I spat the words as I yanked his face down, pulling mine back at the same time before slamming forward. My forehead collided with his nose. He groaned, releasing my arm and stumbling back, both hands flying to his face as I bolted away at full speed, my own forehead throbbing like hell.
Shit, that hurt.
I ran between the trees, leaving the path so he couldn’t follow me. If I got lost, so be it, worst case, I’d call Roman or my sister and they’d send someone. I leapt over roots, dodged branches and bushes, my eyes and ears searching for any sign of him. Of course he was going to follow me. I’d provoked him. I’d hit him,again. He’d want revenge. That was how we’d met in the first place: me hitting him, him tracking me down to get even, hands around my throat. He was hunting me, and the thought thrilled me.Damn it.I finally crouched behind a tree, breathless. The forest was dark now, night sounds surrounding me, crickets, owls, insects, but no Sasha. Had I actually lost him? I knew I was fast, but this was his territory. He knew this forest by heart;he’d grown up here. Suddenly, I froze at the sound of a branch snapping. He was close. I had to move.
I jumped up and ran again without looking back. Adrenaline surged, my feet barely skimming the ground as I pushed myself faster and faster, but it wasn’t enough. Not against an angry Ivanov on the hunt. His body slammed into mine, his arms wrapped around me, pulling my face into his chest as we crashed to the ground, dirt and leaves sticking to our damp skin. The chase ended there, and by some miracle I found myself flat on my back, his body above mine.
“Gotcha,” he murmured, breathless and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his. They shone with a light I wanted to keep just for myself. I pressed my hands against his wet chest to push him away, but he captured my wrists in one hand and pinned them above my head.
“Let go of me,” I growled, struggling and froze when he leaned down, our lips brushing. “Never,” he said darkly and I swallowed. He leaned in further as I closed my eyes, waiting for the heat of his lips on mine and gasped when they landed instead on the damp skin of my throat, “Sasha,” I breathed. “Sienna,” he answered, his warm breath feeding the heat already coursing through my body. “Let go of me,” I repeated, far less confident now, as his lips suckled the space between my neck and collarbone, one of my most sensitive spots. I moaned, my hips lifting to seek his. He pressed his against mine, pinning me to the ground. “Don’t move,” he growled, his hand sliding along my thigh, slipping under my shorts. “Go to hell…oh,” I choked as his teeth grazed the swell of my chest He was torturing me. Getting revenge in the worst possible way. I clenched my eyes shut, biting my lip, another moan escaping when his hand slid between my thighs. “You know there are bedrooms for that, right?” Roman’s voice suddenly rang out and I froze.
Sasha straightened, hauling me up with him with an ease that never ceased to amaze me. We both turned toward Roman, and I squinted, blinded by his flashlight before he lowered it.
“I’m just saying,” he went on casually, “I wouldn’t want to be in your place, especially with Grigori. Can you imagine? Or worse, the kids…” “Shut up, Roman,” Sasha and I snapped in unison.
Sasha stood, his arm around my waist, lifting me as if I weighed nothing and I stepped away, clearing my throat, brushing dirt from my clothes, useless effort. I needed a long shower. So did Sasha. “What the hell are you doing here?” he growled, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “Elif got worried when you took so long,” Roman explained with a shrug, “I told her you were either strangling each other or screwing behind a tree, but she didn’t want to hear it.” He raised an eyebrow, then turned away. “Can’t wait to tell her I was right”. He laughed as he walked off and I followed with a sigh, not sparing his brother a glance. My entire body was buzzing, my throat dry, my skin burning, especially where he’d touched me.
This was bad.
It was just a slip. A slip I’d been trying to avoid by pushing him away, but it was harder than it looked. Especially when he acted like this.Damn leech.
“Keep running,” he whispered as he passed me. “As you can see, I’ll always catch you” he added, walking backward with his arms open to keep eye contact. “No matter where. No matter how. Always” he promised.
Sasha
“So,” Selina said, looking at her sister. “You fell because of a root, and you,” she continued, turning toward me. “ And you fell trying to help her.” We were standing side by side with Sienna, our clothes and hair filthy, like two kids being scolded.“And I suppose it was insects that bit your neck, Sienna,” Elif commented from the couch, where her husband was massaging her shoulders. She was getting better, thank God. Her thirst for revenge was probably what kept her standing, but that was far better than watching her sink into despair. Sienna raised her hand to her throat, right where my lips had been barely fifteen minutes earlier, and I couldn’t stop a satisfied smile from forming when I saw the marks I’d left there. She shot me a dark look, and my smile widened. “What did I tell you, Elif, either strangling or…” “Shut up, Roman!” I barked, as Sienna shook her head, covering her face with her hand. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her ears and her neck, which were slowly turning red. Her ponytail hung loosely against her nape after our chase and tumble, leaves still tangled in her hair. I had never felt as free as I had during those ten minutes in the forest. It felt like I was discovering new things, new sensations, whenever I was with Sienna. I couldn’t even remember my life before her, as if it had never existed. As if… as if I had only truly started living the day she punched me in the face.
She sighed and rubbed the dirt off her arm and even covered in soil and twigs, she was breathtaking. Even like this, I wanted her, no, I needed her. Like my lungs needed air, my heart blood, my brain oxygen. Sienna was vital to me.
—
I reread the document in front of me again and again, hardly believing it. The merger contract. Signed and stamped by Tremblay. His voice echoed from my phone lying on my desk, “I don’t get it either,” he grumbled, while I quickly scanned the pages one by one, making sure everything was in order. “Viktor backed out, and the other Council members jumped on their phones to give me their approval for the merger.” Why such a sudden change? What the hell had happened? Afight between the Yelsky cousins? Or had Vassili made a fatal mistake? I didn’t know what was going on, but the Ivanovs had the upper hand again and I fully intended to use it. My office door opened and Roman walked in, a strawberry milkshake in hand. “So, how’smoybratdoing?” he greeted, sitting down in one of the chairs across from my desk. “What are you doing here?” I asked, frowning, he never left Elif’s side when he had nothing else to do. “Grigori and Nikolai are at home,” he sighed, propping his feet up on the coffee table. “Selina’s having more and more contractions as the delivery gets closer, and Elif is still fragile, you know.” I sighed, sinking back into my chair. We’d agreed that at least one of us had to stay at the house until things settled down. Security came first. Speaking of security… “Any news on the shooter?” he straightened, dropping his feet, suddenly serious. “No. He vanished before our men reached the apartment,” he said darkly. “He left no trace except this.” He pulled something from the inside pocket of his jacket and placed it on the desk. A bullet casing. I picked it up, turning it between my fingers, examining it. “From a SR-25 round,” he said and I looked up sharply. “SR-25?” “Yes. Like the SR-25s we bought to replace our Dragunovs,” he explained, referring to the sniper rifles we’d decided to upgrade.
“You don’t find that kind of weapon just anywhere,moybrat. Either the shooter has damn good connections, or…” “…it’s one of ours,” I breathed, slumping back in my chair.
Fuck. If that was true, if the man who killed Maria was one of us, then hell was about to rain down on the Bratva. “Shit,” I muttered, elbows on the desk, rubbing my face with both hands.
“Yeah. Total shit,” Roman agreed, finishing his drink with teeth-grinding slurps as he struggled to get the last drops through the straw. “It’s even a shitstorm. We might have a killer and a traitor in our ranks who just murdered Elif’s closest friend. We’ve got assholes grinding their teeth because Niko married anItalian and gave our name to the only Rasili heir. We still have no leads on Vassili’s side business trafficking kids. The Italians want Sienna and Selina dead. And on top of it all, the merger iskaputt.”
I closed my eyes, as everything spiral into chaos. “Let’s not be so pessimistic,” I sighed, lifting the file in front of me. “The merger isn’tkaputt. It went through”. A slow smile curled my lips. Roman shot upright, flinging his empty cup over his shoulder. “It went through? Like, it’s done? Like Yelsky and Vassili can go fuck themselves?” “Like you don’t have to hold back with their men anymore at the slightest misstep,” I replied, raising an eyebrow. “Yes!” he shouted, jumping to his feet. “Fuck yes! I’ve gotta tell the others, they’ve been waiting for this.” He was already halfway out, referring to his Karatel men as I nodded quietly. Now we just had to uncover Vassili’s business. One problem at a time. Eliminate them, one by one. We weren’t Ivanovs for nothing. We weren’t at the head of the Bratva for nothing.
—
“Thank you, Velma,” Sienna said as Velma served her breakfast the next morning. I filled her glass with orange juice, sitting across from her and she thanked me too without looking at me, which instantly pissed me off. Since our… since what had happened in the forest two days earlier, she had been avoiding me even more harder than before. Refusing even to meet my eyes, despite all my attempts to get closer. I pressed my lips together, handing the pitcher to Roman, my gaze fixed on Sienna as she ate silently beside her sister. Under the table, I extended my leg and brushed her foot with mine and she froze, fork halfway to her mouth, but kept her eyes down on the table. We’d see how long she planned to ignore me. I set my glass down slowly as my foot slid up her shin, lifting her skirt. I saw herswallow, drawing a sharp breath as she set her cutlery down. Conversation buzzed around us, the family eating, completely unaware. A corner of my mouth lifted into a smile as I reached her knee and gently pushed it apart. She closed her eyes, tilting her head slightly to the side, moistening her lips as she shifted restlessly on her chair. Suddenly, her hand struck her fork, which fell to the floor with a clatter, making her sister jump. “Sorry,” she murmured, leaning forward to retrieve her cutlery. I pressed my hand to my mouth to stifle a chuckle as my foot slid higher along her thigh.
“Fuck,” I growled, pulling my leg back abruptly, my knee hitting the table as a sharp pain shot up from my ankle. “Sasha?” Elif called out, and I noticed that everyone was staring at me. “Sorry, cramp,” I muttered, nervously scratching my chin, my gaze landing on Sienna, who had straightened up, a smug smile playing on her lips. Had she really just driven her fork into my ankle?Yes. Deeply.
