“Um, you good, bro?”
Blinking, he shakes his head. “Yeah, good, sorry. Anyway…How is Misha? I miss that guy.”
“Oh, he’s doing fine. We’re best friends now.”
“That’s great, especially since…Well, I know Mila can be a lot. Hopefully, she didn’t hook you up to her milking machine?”
I choke on my own spit. “Yep, nope, she sure did…didn’t—”
ThankGod,Nikki interrupts. “Are you two going to stop talking so we can practice or what?”
The Santori brothers wait as I skate to the center of the rink. Dropping the puck, I back off to the sideline and watch in awe. I’ve seen these two play on numerous occasions, but I’ve never seen them go up against one another. It’s like watching a battle of fire and ice as they dance around each other.There’s no wonder the Rising Tide is so fucking good.
They go for what feels like an eternity until Nikki finally bests Gabri and gets a shot past both him and Teddy.
“Goddamn, Nikki.Fuck!”
The brothers laugh as they all skate over for a drink of water. Teddy plops down on the bench first, stretching out his legs. “Yeah, he’s a fucking problem.”
“Gabri and I have been training all our lives like you did this summer.” Nikki slaps my back and passes me some water. “Don’t worry, we’ll whip you into shape! Just like we are with our ole brother-in-law. Isn’t that right, Teddy Bear?”
Teddy rolls his eyes. “Yeah, thanks. Your sister’s been loving the improved endurance.”
Gabri chuckles as Nikki mumbles, “Asshole.”
“How are Ellie and the baby doing?” I ask in an attempt to ease the tension.
You can practically see hearts in Teddy’s eyes as he thinks about his family. “They’re doing great. She was so excited that you were joining that she and Nonna are currently whipping up a big dinner for us all. I think she said something about your favorite chicken potpie.”
“Oh man, I can’t wait. Mila had some Michelin-rated chefs in New York, but they didn’t compare to Nonna and Ellie.”
“You never got around to telling me about how your summer was up there. Nikki’s rude ass interrupted our conversation.” He cuts his eyes to Nikki, who’s sticking out his tongue.
“It was a good time. I got to train and party it up with the guys, and I can already tell Misha’s training is going to make a difference in my performance this season.”
It was the best summer of my life. The best time of my entire life, actually. I learned a lot about myself and fell madly in love with your sister in the process.
Chapter 37
“Ihave tosay, pussycat, you are a pleasure to be around when you aren’t acting like a bitch.”
I give Zakhar my best smile and bat my eyes. “I was under so much stress before, but now that you’ve taken that off my plate, I feel like a completely new woman.”
He extends his arm for me as he continues our tour of the gardens. “Yes, you need not worry about all those things anymore. I’ll take care of everything from now on. Your only job now is keeping my son happy, but with this new and improved version of yourself, I think you will do just fine.”
Thatcher on his knees, gagged, blindfolded. Sweat beading on his brow, his hair ruffled. Every muscle in his body flexed, his veins popping out at his restraint. His substantial cock rock solid and weeping, begging for release.
“You’re being such a good boy for me. Just for that, I’m only going to make you wait five more minutes before I sink down onto you. Do you want that, baby? Are you ready to feel my cunt strangling your dick? Will you be able to take it and let me ride you until I’m finished, or are you going to be my good boy and wait for me?”
“Yes, I’m quite confident in my ability to please Oleg. He’ll be in heaven.”Or hell, more likely.
“Good girl,” he says, almost losing his life.Just a little bit longer, Mila, just hold on.
“Now, I don’t know if you remember this section of the garden from your time here. Under your grandfather’s ownership, it was rather run down. We decided to turn this into a greenhouse since the sewer line underneath provides such excellent natural fertilization. Many of the vegetables we eat are grown right here. We try to outsource as little food as possible to avoid the risk of poison. America might not be as bad anymore, but it’s still cutthroat here in the Motherland.”
“Oh, this is lovely. And how smart! I don’t know if I would ever think of such a thing. It’s a shame Grandfather didn’t do the same. His fate might have been much different.”
I actually remember every square inch of this godforsaken fortress. I kept tabs on every weak link within its walls so that one day I could exact my vengeance. This wasn’t the way I intended to accomplish my feat, but when duty calls…Zakhar might think he’s taking me on an innocent tour, but all he’s doing is confirming which parts of this place to utilize when we deploy our takeover.
