Cruel Enforcer by Maggie Cole

29

Kora

Five Weeks Later

Sergey never lets up.He reminds me every chance he gets how much he loves me, and slowly the pain fades to where I can function. It makes no sense to me why I let my mother's lack of affection or my sister's hatred bother me so much. Rationally, I shouldn't grieve them, but I do.

My friends shower me with love as well. I saw a grief counselor Aspen recommended. She saw her when her mother died. The counselor recommended I take time off work for a month. It was something I'd never done before. After a month of weekly sessions, she told me it was time to go back.

Sergey walks me into the office and gives me a goodbye kiss. "Have a good first day back." His phone buzzes. He pulls it out, looks at the screen, then grins. "Nora's in labor."

"Should we go to the hospital?"

He shakes his head. "Boris said it might be a long time. He'll message us when it's time to go." He kisses me again and leaves.

I review my schedule. It's light, and the only appointment I have is with Selena. Most of her settlement assets were transferred into her name. My staff took care of things while I was gone. There are a few loose ends and then she should have no further reasons to ever speak with Jack. Instead of alimony, she opted for a payout so she could sever all ties. I'm glad I get to take care of this last piece with her. It's a form of closure for me.

It feels good to be back at my office, but summer is coming, and it's a nice day. I stare out of my office window and don't want to be here, so I call Selena.

"Hey, Kora!"

"Hi! Can I meet you at your place instead of you coming to the office? Maybe I can check out your roof?"

"Sure. I'm already up here. It's beautiful out today."

"Great. Okay, if I head over now?"

"Sounds great. See you soon."

I hang up, collect the paperwork I need Selena to sign, then leave. It only takes ten minutes with traffic to get to her place. Since Sergey gave me access on day one, I go directly to the roof. I spot Selena in the lounge chair with her laptop.

She rises, and we hug. Concern fills her eyes. "How are you?"

"Doing better. It feels good to be back. Thanks for the nice card and flowers you sent."

She smiles and squeezes my arm. "You look good."

"Thanks." I glance around. "This is really nice." The back of a man running sprints on the turf catches my eye. He has his shirt off, and his skin glistens. "Umm, hello, Mr. Sweaty, Ripped, and Fabulous!" I say low enough for only Selena and me to hear and wiggle my eyebrows at her. "No wonder why you love it up here if you have that eye candy. And now you're divorced, you can partake in the dessert."

She laughs, and her face turns red. "He is hot, isn't he?"

"Scorching."

The man drops to the ground then jumps back up, doing a round of burpees.

"Wow. That's impressive form. I bet he would be a good rebounder for you," I tease.

She elbows me then covers her face. She groans, "Kora!"

"What? If I weren't with Sergey, I'd go introduce—" The man turns, and I stop in dead silence. "Oh, shit."

"What?"

"That's Sergey's cousin, Obrecht."

"Well, that explains the accent."

"You've spoken with him?"

Selena's face turns almost purple. "Yeah."

I tilt my head and whisper, "Have you guys—"

"No! Kora!" Her eyes widen.

"What? It's a legit question. I mean, you're single, he's single...well, I think he is. I can find out if you want."

"No! Do not say anything about Obrecht to Sergey!"

"Why?"

She licks her lips. "It's embarrassing. He's a nice guy who helped me with my plumbing—"

"Helped you with your plumbing!" I tease.

She groans again while laughing. "Kora!"

"You just bought a brand-new condo. What broke? The Ivanovs build quality properties. If something is wrong, you should tell Sergey, and he'll fix it."

"No, it wasn't like that."

"Then how did he fix your plumbing? Or are we talking about 'your plumbing?'" I put my fingers in quotes and lower my voice. I'm enjoying teasing her since everything has always been so serious about her situation.

She puts her hands over her face and shakes her head.

I laugh. "Well? Do tell."

"I wanted to change the sink faucet. The one they had was nice, but I wanted something a bit fancier and to do something to make the place feel like mine. When Jack and I remodeled, he wouldn't let me pick anything. I fell in love with this faucet, but he wouldn't choose it. The one the Ivanovs picked was identical to the one Jack chose, and it kept reminding me of him. The delivery man accidentally sent the faucet I ordered to Obrecht's condo instead of mine. So he dropped it off, and we started talking, and he volunteered to install it for me."

"Did he do it shirtless?"

"No!" She flings her hand on my arm. "It was sweet of him to do."

"Yes, very sweet," I agree and try to keep a serious face.

"Okay, please don't tease me in front of him. He's jogging over."

We turn, and Obrecht soon joins us. "Kora. I thought that was you. How are you?"

"Doing better. Thanks. And I never got to properly thank you."

He scrunches his face. "For what?"

"Sergey told me you and Adrian kept DeAndre and Terrell away from me at my mother's wake." My chest tightens, thinking about the funeral and after.

Obrecht's ice-blue eyes pin mine. "No need to thank me. You're family now."

I blink hard, and there's an uncomfortable silence. I'm a bit choked up at his statement and smile.

He finally says, "What are you doing here?"

I recover. "I'd ask you the same thing, but it seems you live here?"

He runs his hand through his thick, sweaty hair. "Yeah. I moved in a little over a month ago. Maksim talked me into the penthouse and gave me a good deal."

"Aww. Maksim showed you his soft side, did he?"

Obrecht chuckles. "Something like that."

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah." He glances at Selena. "Hey, Selena."

She beams at him, and a small flush fills her cheeks. "Hi."

"Okay. I need to get ready for work. It was good seeing you, Kora. I'll see you later, Selena."

"Okay," she says.

"Bye."

We watch him disappear through the doorway. I turn to Selena. "When is later?"

Her face turns the color of a tomato again. "I just got divorced."

"Skylar would tell you a divorce is the number one reason to get back on the horse."

"I can see her saying that."

"Yep. Anyway, I brought the forms for you to sign. Has Jack tried to contact you?"

"No. I'm going to keep my number and address unlisted. I bought the condo under a trust. Your office recommended it when you were out. I didn't name it anything related to my name."

"Very smart." I pull the forms out.

She signs, and we talk a little more. Then I leave, go back to the office, and finish up my day around three. My counselor wanted me to ease back into work and not spend eighty to one hundred hours working anymore. Part of my therapy was starting a new journey. And now that I have Sergey, I don't want to work that much.

I decide to pick up some groceries and make Sergey dinner. I started cooking when I took the last month off and discovered I love it. Something about it feels good for my soul. There's a new recipe I wanted to try. It's called Okroshka, or Cold Summer Soup. Sergey said it's one of his favorite Russian dishes, so I secretly hope to perfect it.

By the time Sergey comes home, the soup is in the fridge cooling off. The recipe says it's better the second day, which I overlooked before I got to the bottom of the recipe.

He comes into the kitchen and kisses me. "What are you making?"

"I made Okroshka but didn't notice the disclaimer until the end."

His eyes twinkle. "You made Okroshka?"

"Yes."

He gives me a chaste kiss. "Good woman."

I laugh. "You haven't tried it yet."

"I'm sure it's going to be delicious." His phone buzzes, and he drags it out of his pocket. He grins. "It's a girl!"

Happiness fills me. "Are they ready for visitors?"

"Yes, Boris said to come."

Sergey and I go to the hospital. All of the Ivanovs and Anna and Aspen are there. We all get to hold Shannon. She has Nora's fiery red hair and green eyes, but I see Boris in her, too. "She's beautiful."

Sergey strokes her head. "Yes, she is." Something passes in his eyes I haven't seen before. I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's loving and happy mixed with something else.

When we get home, I go into the closet to change. When I come into the bedroom, the lights are off, and the fireplace is on. Sergey is staring out at the Chicago skyline. The lit buildings and streetlamps give a faint outline of Lake Michigan.

I wrap my arms around his waist.

He caresses my fingers then spins to face me. His brown eyes drill into mine. It's intense, and flutters fill my stomach.

I nervously say, "What?"

He raises my hand to his lips, kisses it, then drops to his knee.

I slide my fingers in his hair, assuming he's going to rip off my pink silk robe and do something deliciously naughty to my body, but he doesn't.

"I love you."

I smile. "I love you, too."

"I'm not good with words, sometimes."

"Since when? You always say the right things to me."

He slowly exhales. "Marry me."

My heart stops beating. "Did you—"

"Yes. Marry me. I promise to love you until the day I die. I want you to be mine forever and everyone to know you're mine and I am yours."

A tear falls down my cheek.

"Say, yes. Please."

I start laughing and wipe my cheek. I lean down and meet his lips. "Yes. Of course I'll marry you."

He kisses me. It's possessive and dominant and incites every soul-stirring emotion I have. He pulls back and holds up a pink diamond ring. It's brilliant in color, flawless, and set in platinum with another perfect clear diamond on both sides of the pink gem.

I gape at it.

He chuckles. "You should see your face right now." He slides it on my finger.

"It's..." I hold my other hand over my mouth, studying it.

"The moment I saw it, I imagined it on your finger. I've been trying to figure out how to ask you."

More tears fall, and I kneel next to him. "It's perfect. I love it, and I can't wait to marry you."

He grins. "Yeah?"

"Yes."

He kisses me then rises and picks me up. "I'm ready to get you naked in nothing but your ring."

I laugh. We spend all night wrapped up in each other. Sergey's stomach growls.

I sit up. "Let me grab something for you. We never ate dinner."

"I'm ready for your soup."

"It hasn't been a day yet."

"It only needs a few hours. It should be good by now."

"Okay. You stay here, and I'll serve you in bed."

His eyes gleam. "Is this going to be part of your wifely duties? Cooking for me and servicing me in bed?"

I stroke his balls. "If you're lucky."

He pulls me on top of him. His face turns serious. "I think you should stop taking your birth control."

My stomach flips. "I'm thirty-nine soon. What if I can't get pregnant?"

He tucks my hair behind my ear. "Then we'll deal with it and be fine. But you'll be an awesome mother."

"You think so?"

He snorts. "Without a doubt."

A smile plays on my lips. "So you want me to have your baby?"

"If it's in the cards, yes."

Sergey's baby. Another jolt of happiness sears through me. I've always wanted a family, but I really want one with him. I have no doubt Sergey will make a great father.

"Okay. I'll stop taking it."

He slaps my ass. His sexy, cocky expression appears. He teases, "Good. Now go serve me."

I give him a peck on the lips and reach for my robe.

"Nope. Naked."

I toss the silk on the floor. "Naked it is." I hold up my hand with my pink diamond and wave as I walk to the door.

"Perfection," he mumbles.

I giddily go into the kitchen and open the fridge. I reach for the bowl, and thick arms go around my waist. I get tugged back so quickly, I drop the bowl. The glass shatters everywhere. I scream, attempt to fight back, then stop moving when a knife comes to my neck.

"Kora!" Sergey yells

A musky scent overpowers me. Nausea swirls in my stomach. The knife's flat blade is cold against my throat, almost as if it's been in a freezer. A chill sweeps through me.

Sergey runs into the kitchen and freezes. Fear fills his eyes. They dart between me and whoever is holding me.

The stranger restraining me and Sergey exchange aggressive words in Russian.

My chest tightens. Oxygen becomes harder to inhale. Shivers overpower me. The man's arms tighten, and his palm moves over my breast. I scrunch my face as my skin crawls from his touch. His erection grows and digs into the bare skin on my back. He flattens the blade over my nipple, and I cry out, afraid he's going to cut it off.

Sergey screams at him, and the man laughs.

More conversing in Russian takes place. It feels like forever, but he finally stands back and slices the knife over my left bicep.

I scream in pain and fear, and he shoves me on the ground. He puts his dirty boot on my back. Blood pools on the floor.

Stay calm.

He puts more of his weight on my back, and I wince in pain. I barely scream. My lungs feel crushed.

He's going to kill me.

I can't move my head. All I see is my pink diamond, shining in front of my eyes. Sergey and he continue to talk in Russian.

Fear of death mixes with visions of Sergey's and my future. I see blood, a wedding, and a baby as the foot of the thug on top of me crushes me further.