Possess Me by Michelle Heard

Chapter 30

 

Everleigh

 

My God.

Now it all makes sense. Rosalie’s guards. The estate. All the freaking guards.

I’m right in the freaking heart of the bratva.

Dear God, I can’t believe after being so careful, I let this happen!

I run to Rosalie’s house, and bursting into the living room, I go straight for Vincent.

I grab him off the floor and swipe my handbag from the couch.

“Mommy!” Vincent exclaims. “You made me drop my cars.”

“Everleigh? Is everything okay?” Rosalie asks just as Alek appears in the doorway.

Feeling cornered, my eyes dart wildly between Alek, Rosalie, Viktor, and Alexei.

“Let me leave,” I beg. “I won’t tell anyone anything about the bratva. I’ve kept quiet for four years. I have a child. Please, don’t hurt us.”

“That’s enough!” Viktor snaps, and my gaze zooms in on him. He holds up a hand. “No one’s hurting anyone. Let’s all calm down.”

The nightmarish two months of torture and starvation are all I can think of.

“Mommy,” Vincent cries, rattled by the volatile situation.

I can’t let my baby go through the hell I went through. I have to protect him.

There’s no reasoning. There’s only panic and fear.

“I just want to go home,” I plead.

Rosalie comes closer to me, and I give her a wary look.

“You’re safe, Everleigh. We’ll never hurt you or Vincent. Let’s just take a deep breath. You can go home in a minute. Right, Viktor?”

“Everleigh’s not leaving,” Alek snaps.

“Son, you have to calm down,” Alexei mutters. “You’re scaring the shit out of your woman.”

“Everleigh,” Viktor says to get my attention. When my eyes dart to him, he continues, “As the head of the bratva, I promise none of my men will ever hurt you again. You’re safe.”

The head of the freaking bratva. God.

I don’t trust a word coming out of his mouth and take a step closer to the sliding doors.

When Alek approaches me, Viktor snaps, “Give her space, Alek. She’s going to go home. You can follow her.”

Alek’s eyes flick to Viktor’s. “I’m not letting her go.”

Jesus.

The men lock gazes, and the air trembles from the intensity between them.

“It’s an order,” Viktor growls. “Let her go home. You can follow her, but you will remain calm around her and the child. You will not kidnap them.”

Alexei steps closer to Alek. “I’ll go with to keep him in line.”

When I rush past Alek, I feel him right behind me. My heart leaps to my throat as I hurry to my car. I yank the backdoor open and quickly place Vincent in his car seat.

My poor boy is sniffling, his face filled with confusion.

When I shut the backdoor, and I open the driver’s side, Alek’s hand grips hold of the metal. He moves into my personal space, crowding me with his body.

I’m a trembling mess as my eyes fly to his face, but when I see the heartbreak etched into his attractive features, I feel rotten.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I-I…” I shake my head and give him a pleading look. “I’m sorry, Alek. I can’t be around the bratva.”

He lifts his hand to the back of my neck, and leaning forward, I feel his breath over my ear as he whispers, “I’m never letting you go, Everleigh.”

Dear God.

“Alek,” Alexei says with a tone that sounds awfully dangerous. “Let go of her.”

Alek pulls back, and his eyes lock with mine. “I never stopped loving you.”

My heart.

I give him another pleading look. “I’m just going home. We’ll see each other again. I promise.”

Thankfully, Alek moves a few steps back, but then he looks at my car, and his eyebrows furrow. “The blue sedan. I wasn’t hallucinating seeing you.”

God, I can’t stand much more of this. It’s breaking my heart. I feel for Alek, but I have to ignore my heart and think of Vincent. I can’t allow the bratva near my son.

Climbing behind the steering wheel, I pull the door shut before quickly starting the engine.

As I start to reverse, Alek jogs to a G-Wagon and gets into the vehicle.

I make a quick U-turn in the wide driveway and see Alexei join Alek before I drive toward the iron gates.

I nervously glance at all the guards, and when I pull into the street, I keep watching my rearview mirror.

Alek sticks to my butt as I drive toward Pasadena.

“Mommy,” Vincent says in an exhausted voice. “Why were you fighting with those people?”

“I wasn’t fighting with them, baby. I’m sorry we upset you, but we were only excited to see each other again.”

God, I need to tell Vincent his father is alive.

A headache starts to pulse behind my eyes, and by the time I pull into my driveway, I feel drained of all my energy.

I climb out of the car, and as I open the backdoor, the G-Wagon stops in front of my house.

I worry about Alek’s obsessive behavior. I understand today was a shock. I’m still trying to recover from everything myself, but what do I do if Alek doesn’t back off?

What do I do if he tries to take Vincent from me?

I lift Vincent out of the car, and placing him on my hip, I shut the door.

Alek comes walking up the pathway while Alexei leans against the G-Wagon, watching us.

With Alek’s eyes burning on me, I head to the front door and unlock it.

I glance at him and say, “I just want to get Vincent settled.”

He nods and follows me into the house. I go to the living room and place Vincent down on the couch. “What do you want to watch, baby?”

“Shrek,” he mumbles sleepily.

While I switch on the TV, he lies down and gets comfortable.

The movie starts to play, and I press a kiss on his chubby cheek before I walk to where Alek is waiting.

Not once did his eyes leave us.

“Let’s talk in the kitchen,” I whisper.

When I enter the room, I switch on the coffee maker and get two cups ready.

I turn around, and pressing my back to the counter, I lock eyes with Alek.

“Are you calmer?” I ask.

He nods and cautiously takes a step closer. “It’s starting to sink in you’re really here.” Again he moves a couple of inches closer. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

Needing to address what he did in the cottage, I say, “Don’t ever lock me in a room again.”

He nods. “I won’t. I was desperate to keep you with me.”

My heart softens, and as we stare at each other, I ask, “What happened to you after that night? Did you go for the training you mentioned?”

He nods again. “I thought you died, Everleigh. I sent Misha to the field, but your body was gone. There was only blood. It drove me insane.”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “If it’s any consolation, I had no intention of leaving you until your father shot me. That changed things for me, and I had to get away from Russia after I woke up in the hospital.”

He steps closer again, a pleading expression tightening his features. I move forward, and wrapping my arms around his waist, I press my face to his chest.

His arms engulf me, and he almost squeezes the life out of me. “It was so fucking hard, Everleigh,” he murmurs, his voice filled with pain. “I lost my mind, and this is the first time I feel whole again.”

I rub my hand up and down his back to comfort him, and remember how they tore the skin from him with that whip.

God, this is the one person who understands what I’ve been through.

He’s the only man I could ever love, and feeling his arms around me transports me to the dark room where we clung to each other.

“I missed you so much,” I gasp, unable to stop my love for him from bubbling to the surface. “I haven’t stopped loving you.”

He pushes me a little back so he can see my face. “But?”

I shake my head, a sob sputtering from me. “But I have to think of Vincent now. You’re still with the bratva, and I can’t have them near my son.”

“Our son,” he corrects me. He tilts his head, and lifting his hand, he cups my cheek. “Alexei talked some sense into my head on the drive here, and I understand you need time.”

This time is my turn to say, “But?”

“There’s no way I’m letting you go, Everleigh. Especially now that I know we have a child.”

My shoulders slump, and I close my eyes. “Don’t do this to me. Please.” I open my eyes again. “Your world tortured and almost killed me. I won’t survive it a second time.”

“There won’t be a second time.”

I take a step back, my voice rising as I say, “You don’t know that, Alek.”

His features grow harder, and there’s confidence in his tone. “The estate is the safest place for you and Vincent.” There’s a flash of grief when he says our son’s name. “I’ve completed my training, and I’ve worked my ass off to become one of the best. You will be safe with me. I can protect you.”

I shake my head. “I can’t take the chance.”

Anger creeps into his eyes, making the golden flecks shine. “What do you expect me to do?”

“I’m not saying you have to forget about us.” He already starts to shake his head. “Alek, you can visit Vincent once in a while. I won’t stand in the way of you building a relationship with him, but there can’t be anything romantic between us.”

He lifts a hand to his hair and grabs a fistful of the long-ish strands. “No.” He keeps shaking his head. “No.”

“Stop saying no and put yourself in my shoes,” I cry.

He gives me an incredulous look. “Am I the only one who remembers what we shared in that room? Why was it so fucking easy for you to forget me?”

“I didn’t forget!” I step closer to him and grab hold of his shirt. “I can never forget, Alek, but I had to move on for our son’s sake.” I suck in a shuddering breath. “In a perfect world, I would run into your arms and never let go. I’d get to have you and Vincent. But we both know this world is far from perfect, and Vincent will always come first. Before you and before me.”

Alek’s hands are trembling as he lifts them to my face. He brushes my hair back with his palms, his eyes flitting over me with desperation.

“I love you, Everleigh. Don’t tell me I can only see our son occasionally and that I have to keep my distance from you. There’s a lot I can endure and survive, but living without you isn’t an option.”

“You’re making this so hard for me,” I whimper.

Like we used to do in the dark room, he presses his forehead against mine. “I’ll give you time. I’ll try to be patient, but will you at least try to fight for us?”

I can tell any other man to go to hell, and I’ve always used my love for Alek as an excuse. But, standing in front of the man I love, it’s hard pushing him away.

“I can’t fight for us while you’re in the bratva.”

Anger flashes in his eyes again. “The only way out of the bratva is death. Losing you is death.”

“You’re not losing me. We just won’t be romantically involved.”

“That’s the same fucking thing, Everleigh,” he snaps.

I suck in a deep breath. “Let’s take a break from this conversation. I have to get dinner ready.” I give Alek a nudge. “Spend some time with Vincent.”

Reluctantly he nods, and I follow him to the living room where Alexei has made himself at home on the couch watching Shrek with my son.

God.