Chapter Four
Yuri didn’t ever want to leave Lucy’s side. He was a bastard to be enjoying this, but all he could think was at least I’m with her.
But even if she had let him fuck her--God, he hoped it wasn’t because she felt she had to--holding her prisoner ensured she’d never see him again.
And dammit, now that he’d had her, he never wanted to let her go.
Once you’ve seen the light…
And every minute that ticked by without her brother calling brought her in more and more danger.
Freddo sauntered into the room, looking Lucy over speculatively. “Gimme her phone. I say we send her brother pictures of this.”
His fingers closed to fists, but he forced the growl back down his throat. It was his own fucking fault for leaving her bound to the bed with her skirt up around her waist. She looked like the sex slaves they imported from Russia.
He wanted to throw up. The idea of her being degraded like those poor women, and it being his fault, made him sick.
Lucy scrambled around on the bed, trying work the fabric down with no hands. He didn’t dare go and help her, because he’d never been a gentleman to any woman in the time Freddo had known him and it would tip him off.
Freddo held the phone up. “Say cheese.”
She bared her teeth, but her glare was reserved all for Yuri. Which he fully deserved.
“Come on,” Freddo said. “I got your shitty vodka.”
Fuck.
Leaving her would be worse than abandoning one of his most vital organs, but he didn’t see any way to stay.
Casting what he hoped was an apologetic look in Lucy’s direction, he followed Freddo into the suite and plopped down at the table.
The shot of Belvedere vodka went down like a streak of fire into his churning belly, so he added another, and then another. He wasn’t the type who had trouble staying sharp under the influence. In fact, playing drunk was one of his survival tactics with these idiots.
He poured another round for Freddo and Tommy, even though they looked halfway in the bag already. Getting them drunk could backfire, though, as violence often followed indulgence.
“I’m gonna go fuck her,” Tommy said, lurching to his feet.
He threw over the table, sending the bottles, glasses and playing cards crashing to the floor. “The fuck you are.”
Tommy turned before he reached him, a slow, nonchalant rotation. His eyes were narrowed. “You gotta thing for her?”
“That pussy belongs to me.” He cringed inwardly, knowing Lucy would hear him speak about her this way. “I claimed it. I’m not fucking sharing.” He wrapped a fist in Tommy’s collar and shoved him back against the wall. “Understand?”
Tommy’s lips drew back and he pressed his pistol in the center of Yuri’s forehead. “Back off, Russian. She’s just a piece of ass.”
He didn’t back down. It wasn’t the first time one of these assholes held a gun to his head. Threatening a life was a daily occurence with them. Which didn’t mean he wasn’t in real danger, either. He glowered. “Not. Sharing. Get your own whore.”
Tommy looked past him at Freddo. “Didn’t know he got so possessive about pussy, did you?”
Freddo shrugged, uninterested in the exchange. “He’s fucknuts crazy. Whadya expect?”
Yuri released Tommy and straightened his associate’s collar, like he was sorry he’d lost his cool.
It seemed like an ideal cue to go back to Lucy, so he did.
“What? You gonna bang her again now?” Tommy yelled.
“I’m gonna do whatever the fuck I want with her,” he snarled back and slammed the adjoining door behind him.
He didn’t even have the balls to look at Lucy when he came in. Instead he just sank into the armchair and dropped his head into his hands.
Lucy said nothing, but her breath scraped in and out like she was scared. The silence stretched between them, thick and sticky. Whatever closeness he thought they’d shared had just shattered. Which was just as well.
***
It was an act. It’s all an act, Lucy chanted silently, trying to calm her frantic pulse.
If Yuri had meant any of what he’d just said, he’d be over at the bed, forcing himself on her.
And he wasn’t.
“First time I saw you, I lost my breath.” He sliced through the silence with a broken voice.
She waited but he didn’t go on. “Yeah?” she finally prompted, curiosity winning out over giving him the silent treatment.
“So fucking beautiful, so happy. I couldn’t understand it.”
“Understand what?”
“What made a girl so happy to play music in a nightclub? I thought it had to be drugs or alcohol. But no. I watched. You stayed sober. So you became puzzle for me to solve. How does beautiful girl keep her joy in this world of darkness?” He shrugged. “I didn’t know, but watching—” He lifted his blue-eyed gaze, piercing her with the intensity of it.
“I wanted to watch you every night. For the rest of my life. I knew, Lucya, I could never have you. I am darkness. Six years in Russian mafiya. Nine with...these assholes.” He spread his hands. “I don’t sleep at night, Lucya. You know why?”
She shook her head, throat closing as if a band tightened there.
“Because I know I’m a monster. The monster made by the streets of Kazan. I knew I could never have you. But it didn’t take away the wanting.”
Her nose burned, pressure swelled into her face. Crazy, intense Russian. Did he really feel so strongly for her? She shouldn’t like it, but she did.
“Watching you changed me. There’s someone who threw away all the rules. Became something unique, I thought. Something special. Me, I have to keep this role. I don’t even know who I’d be without it.”
“That’s not true.” Her words came out sounding hoarse. She didn’t know why she had to comfort him, but she did. “You can find a way out of this lifestyle. I believe you can.”
He stared at her like she’d offered a lifeline. “I only believe it when I’m with you.”
“Believe it. And let’s get the fuck out of here.” She couldn’t help but make her plea for his mercy. If he cared about her that much, he should prove it but letting her go.
He got up and stalked over to her and for one foolish moment, she thought he would cut her bonds. Instead he crawled up over her. “I will get you out of this. I promise.”
She wanted to believe him. She really did. But why should she trust him?
“You have a plan?” A girl can hope.
His lips closed into a tight line and he tilted his head to the side and back upright. “I have best plan I can think up in this moment. Not a good one. But you have my promise.”
His intensity scored her. She found herself nodding. Believing him. How could she not when he looked like he would burn himself alive if she asked him to?