Owned By The Bratva King by Jagger Cole

21

River

His chest iswarm against my cheek. I turn, grinning in the morning light as I kiss his skin. He grins as he looks down into my eyes. Slowly, I slide up his body until my lips can taste his. And once they’re there, I never want them to not be there.

Maybe it’s cliched, but I do feel different. I feel… a little older. A little more sensual and sexy. I feel a throb of desire in my core that I’ve never felt before. I also feel sore from the half dozen times we’ve made love since last night. But it’s a wonderful kind of sore.

It’s the sort of sore that reminds me of everything. It reminds me of the ways this man made me ache and moan for more. The way he’s touched me and tasted me. The way he fucked me, like he was claiming me.

And he was. Just as much as I was giving myself to him.

I murmur softly as I kiss him. His muscled arms circle me, protecting me; pulling me close. I can feel his cock throb against me, and I pull back with a giggle.

“You can’t seriously want to go again.”

He grins and shrugs casually. “You can’t seriously be this arousing.”

I blush and bring my lips to his again. I might be sore all over. But I’m not tired of having him. I will never be tired of having this man, that much I know for certain.

But his phone dings. Yuri’s face instantly stiffens. He hisses as he rolls away from me and springs from the bed. He yanks on a pair of underwear and grabs a gun off the side table, and my heart thuds.

“What!?”

“That’s the front door motion alarm,” he snarls as he bolts from the room. I’m right behind him as I yank a robe on, chasing him down the sweeping staircase and into the huge foyer. Yuri growls as he yanks the door open… just in time to see a dirt bike roaring back down the driveway through the woods. He bares his teeth and raises the gun. But the rider is way too far away by now.

“Yuri…”

He glances back at me with concern. But then his eyes drop to where mine are looking. At his feet in the doorway, is a small black box. He frowns as he bends to pick it up. He glances back down the driveway with a grim look.

“No one is supposed to know we’re even here,” he growls. He turns to lower his gaze to the box. He starts to open it as I step close to him.

“Stay back, kiska.”

My heart seizes. “Why?”

His grim looks says it all.

“If it’s a bomb, don’t freaking open it!”

His jaw grits as he drops his eyes to the box. He brings it to his ear, frowning. Then slowly, he rips the tape off the top. There’s no explosion. But I frown when he pulls out a… something.

“What is that?”

“It’s a voice memo recorder,” he says cautiously. He turns to me. “I don’t know what’s on this, kiska.”

I smile thinly. “Only one way to find out, right?”

He nods. He twists the little USB stick in his hand before he steps inside and shuts the door. He turn back to me and pushes the play button on the side.

“No! No, please! Please! I’ll do what you ask!”

Horror explodes inside of me. And when my eyes slide up to Yuri’s, I see the same anguished disbelief in his.

“No…” he chokes.

“Don’t! Don’t hurt me! Whatever you want, I know he can get it for you!”

The terrified, sobbing voice on the recording is Belle. Belle as in my best friend and Yuri’s daughter.

“Please! I’ll do whatever you ask!”

Yuri’s face turns to ash. And yet, I frown. I stare at the voice recorder in his hand, trying to actualize the thought that’s twisting at the very edges of my head.

“Hang on, that’s—”

“I’ll kill him,” Yuri snarls as he whirls and bolts outside, dropping the recorder. He yanks his gun out as he storms towards the Range Rover out in the driveway. But I pause to pick up the recorder and play it again as I frown.

“No! No, please! Please! I’ll do what you ask! Don’t! Don’t hurt me! Whatever you want, I know he can get it for you!”

Yuri jumps into the SUV. But suddenly, it clicks for me.

“Wait!”

I rush out the door and fling myself in front of the SUV as he guns it to life.

“Wait! Hang on!”

“River! Please!” He roars, waving his hand. “Move.”

“It’s fake!”

He revs the engine, even with my hands on the hood.

“Yuri, listen to—”

“I lost her for eighteen years, kiska,” he hisses. “I’m sorry, but I won’t lose her—”

“It is fake!” I scream. My fist pounds down on the hood with a bang. And suddenly, he’s focused. His mouth thins.

“What do you mean fake? That is clearly her—”

“It’s from a movie!”

He freezes, eyes narrowing. “What?”

“It’s from a movie,” I gasp, relief washing over me.

Yuri stares at me.

“It’s a movie, her new one that hasn’t been released yet. The one where she’s a photo-journalist that gets captured after a Taliban ambush.”

The car turns off, and the door swings open as Yuri steps out, looking grim.

“You’re sure.”

“I’m one-hundred-percent sure. I’ve watched it with her like ten times. Here…”

I push the play button again.

“No! No, please! Please! I’ll do what you ask!Don’t! Don’t hurt me!”

I pause it.

“They’ve spliced the audio tracks together. But right here, there’s another whole spot of dialogue with one of the wounded Marines. And then a whole flashback scene to her grandfather teaching her how to use a camera for the first time.” I look up at Yuri with a grim face. “They cut that part out and went right to this for the effect.”

I push the play button again.

“Whatever you want, I know he can get it for you!”

The recording turns off. Yuri and I stare at the little device, then up at each other.

“Semyon,” he growls thickly. He shakes his head as his blue eyes narrow dangerously. “This is crossing a fucking line.”

I shiver. He’s not wrong. A mafia war is one thing. Sending your rival a fake recording that sounds like their own child is being tortured is fucking appalling. But then I frown.

“That’s weird.”

“What?”

I shrug. “The movie hasn’t been released yet is all.”

Yuri scowls. “Meaning?”

“I just mean, there’s a copy in the production studio, probably under lock and key to avoid leaks. And then one at Belle’s house. That’s it.” My brows knit as I look up at him. “How the hell did Semyon get his hands on it?”

Yuri’s mouth thins as he steps towards me and pulls me into his embrace. “I don’t know, but I’m about to find out. Straight from the horse’s mouth.”

We walk inside with his arm around me. In the kitchen, I start the espresso machine as he puts his phone on the counter and dials on speaker.

“Da, boss,” Maksim’s gruff voice rumbles from the phone.

“Can you talk?”

“Yes,” Maksim says, switching to English at Yuri’s lead. “I’m out. They…” he grunts. “They found the body last night. Semyon’s having a fucking meltdown.”

Yuri’s line thins. “The fallout has already hit me.”

“Shit.”

“A line has been crossed,” Yuri growls. “The plan we once talked about?” He glances up at me, his jaw tight before his gaze drops back to the phone. “Pull the trigger.”

Maksim growls. “Full green light? It’ll mean me outing myself pretty clearly with the Belskys.”

“I know, but that time is over. Shut him down, Maksim. All of it. All of our forces. I want the hammer to smash through his fucking skull.”

“Consider it done,” Maksim hisses. “Let me get the other avtoritet on the phone. We’ll be ready to start hitting Semyon’s interests within the next two hours.”

“Good,” Yuri grunts. “I’ll speak to you soon.”

When he hangs up, he looks up at me with a haggard, hard look. I slip close to him, and I tremble when I feel his hands slide over my hips to pull me close. He lowers his mouth to mine, kissing me.

“So, war?”

He nods.

“It was always going to happen sooner or later. But Semyon’s pushed my patience too far. That recording might be fake, but the implication is over the line. And then…” he frowns, reaching up to cup my face. “Then there’s you. He crossed me too far with taking you. So yes, kiska,” he says gently. “This is war.”

I tremble as I pull close to him. “Now what?”

“Now, we wait.”