Alexandr's Reluctant Submissive (32 page)

“I’d tell him sooner than later.”

“He’s going to go crazy overprotective,” Rya said with a slight whine in her voice. “I just got him to the point where I can leave the house without him having a nervous breakdown.”

“Yeah, he probably will be.” Lightly running her nails over the smooth concrete of the bench, she studied Rya. “But you also know that he’s going to be over the moon with happiness, and will be a great father. You’ve seen how he is with Tatiana and Petrov’s grandchildren, he’s a natural.”

A smile curved Rya’s full lips. “Yeah, he is, isn’t he? He has so much love to give.”

“I know it’s impossible, but try to stop worrying so much. It’s easy to fall into obsessing about things you won’t be able to control about your pregnancy.”

“Shit, I’m already worrying if the baby will want to go to college in the US or in Russia.” Rya laughed and fondly rubbed her belly again. “God, if this is what my mom felt like when I was growing up, no wonder she blamed me for all her gray hair.”

“Excuse me, ladies,” Maks said in a loud voice from not too far away, “but Alex wanted me to tell Jessica that it will be time to start getting ready soon.”

Both women groaned, then looked at each other and laughed before Jessica yelled, “We’ll be right there.”

“Why,” Rya said while standing up and brushing off the back of her dress, “does it take six hours and a team of people to get me ready? I mean, I used to be able to clean myself up just fine back home. I didn’t need two hair stylists, a makeup artist, a clothing stylist, a nail technician, and all their assistants to get dolled up. And I’m so damn tired all the time. Wonder if they’ll let me sleep in the chair and just move me around like a doll.”

She looped her arm around Rya’s waist and gave her a squeeze. “I know how you feel. At least after the big introduction-to-society party we’ll be able to relax…ish.”

Laughing, the women made their way to where Oleg and Tatiana were waiting for them farther up the path, and as they walked, Jessica reveled in the sublime feeling of being surrounded by a loving family, of finally being home.

By the time Jessica had a chance to sit down at the gigantic party Petrov and Vera had thrown for them, her feet were throbbing to the beat of her heart.

The evening had started out with a magnificent feast for their three hundred guests, followed by Petrov, then Alex giving an inspiring speech about the future of the Dubinski
Bratva
while she stood at his side. The navy beaded gown she wore was lovely, but it weighed a ton and her back hurt from standing so long. At least she didn’t have to stand through the half-dozen speeches from various criminal lords.

But now, standing here listening to some man from Vietnam prattle on about his tech stock holdings to her, the whole lower part of her back was super pissed off and her feet throbbed. Thankfully, Vera must have seen the strain on her face, because she gracefully extracted Jessica from the people she was talking with and led her to an elegant powder-blue sitting room. Rya was already there in her gorgeous crimson gown, sprawled out on the couch with her shoes off and her feet propped up on the delicate mahogany coffee table at the center of the seating area.

Collapsing on the couch across from Rya, Jessica sighed and kicked her heels off with a blissful groan, “Thanks for the rescue, Vera.”

The older woman smiled. “You looked like you were about to fall asleep.”

She massaged her temples, wanting to rub her eyes but not daring to mess up her expertly done makeup. “I’m sure the Vietnamese technology industry is a fascinating topic, but my feet are killing me.”

Rya wiggled her toes. “Think I could sneak away to go take a nap with the kids?”

The children had made a brief appearance earlier for everyone to ooohh and ahh over earlier in the evening. Tatiana had, of course, eaten up the attention and twirled around in her emerald-green party dress with her hair artfully curled, smiling at anyone who looked at her. Most people were eager to meet the little girl, but with Krom and Oleg standing guard over her, Jessica didn’t need to worry about anyone messing with her. If anyone got what they deemed too close, they’d quickly, and professionally, let them know to back off.

“Maybe I could trade places with Gwen,” Jessica mused. “Bet it’s nice and quiet in the children’s wing.”

Vera chuckled, “Where do you think my husband is?”

“I thought he was out there in that madhouse somewhere?”

“No, he’s down with the children on the pretense that they can’t go to sleep without him saying goodnight.”

The massive coming out party was being thrown at Petrov’s country estate, basically a massive mansion with some impressive acreage to the east of Moscow. They were staying the weekend with Petrov and his family, and even though Alex’s job never really ended, they’d managed to spend some time together as a couple with his family and friends. She smiled at the memory of playing poker and drinking with Petrov and a group of older men last night, their obvious flirting with her more charming than anything else.

Jessica groaned, really not wanting to move. “So Alex is out there alone? I should go find him.”

Rya leaned her head back on the couch, her eyes closed and the silvery eyeshadow on her lids glimmering in the soft light. “He’s fine. He’s got Ivan and Dimitri with him. Let them do their male-bonding bullshit. You know half those sexist pigs out there would never actually talk about anything important in front of a woman. Our poor little brains couldn’t possibly handle it.”

Sighing, Vera nodded. “Unfortunately, that is true with man men, but it gives us an advantage. If you are quiet and blend into the background, men will often talk about things they should not in front of you. Is better to be the poisoned thorn on the rose, yes?”

Though she was pretty sure something was lost in the translation, Jessica nodded. “Still, I hate it when they talk to me like I’m a moron, or some pretty pet that has to be spoken to in a slow voice.”

The door behind Vera opened and Jessica looked up with a smile, expecting it to be Alex.

Instead, a man she’d never seen before in a black gasmask tossed something into the center of the room and closed the door behind him. She screamed and tried to run to the window to maybe break it and get rid of whatever the smoke was that filled the air, but within moments she was sinking to her knees.

The last thing she saw was Rya feebly trying to fend off the man in the mask.

Alex knew something was wrong the moment Maks approached him. The other man’s face was pale and his blue eyes were wide with shock while sweat beaded his brow. Breaking away from the group of men he’d been speaking with, Alex had to resist the urge to run across the room. Never show fear in front of your enemy, and while most of the people in this room were his allies, he knew there were wolves in sheeps’ clothing among his guests.

He caught Dimitri’s eye and his brother quickly followed him, with Ivan in tow. They met Maks in the middle of the room and Alex’s stomach dropped when he studied the other man’s face. Whatever Maks had to tell him, it was bad.

Beneath the golden lights of the massive chandeliers, Maks said in a tight voice, “You need to come with me, now.”

Members of his Black Tier guard spilled into the room, flanking him on all sides as he quickly followed Maks. “What is going on?”

“Not here.” Maks voice cracked. “Not here.”

Once they were in the hallway leading to the kitchens with their guards sealing it off at each end, Maks turned to him and placed his hands on Alex’s shoulders, squeezing tight. “Brace yourself. Jessica, Rya, and Tatiana have been taken. Vera is unconscious and Petrov—Petrov is dead.”

A ringing filled his ears and he found himself holding Maks off the ground by his suit while Dimitri roared in rage. “What the fuck happened?”

Ivan wrapped his arms around Alex, forcing him to drop Maks. “Easy, my friend. We will learn nothing if you kill him.”

Maks remained on his knees, his whole posture curved in defeat. “We found an empty gas canister in the room where the women were. Their guards were incapacitated, drugged not killed. We aren’t sure what happened with Petrov, but he was in the children’s room and had been shot multiple times. Gwen was also shot, but it was just a graze and she’s getting medical treatment. She managed to shoot and kill two of the men who came for the children before the gas they used made her unconscious.”

With raw pain coloring his every word, Dimitri said, “Do we know who took them?”

“I—yes.” He took a deep breath. “Your father has them. He left a note”

Dimitri had his phone out an instant later and put it on speaker as it rang.

“Hello, Dimitri,” came Jorg’s weak voice. “I have been expecting your call.”

“Where is she!” his brother roared.

“Dimitri,” came their father’s frail voice over the speaker, “calm yourself. They will not be harmed.”

Alex grabbed the phone from his brother. “I will kill you for this.”

Jorg’s weak laugh sent chills down his spine. “I am already dead. I can taste it, can feel it creeping up on me, but it does not matter. You will speak with me in person before I die, both of you, now. Come to the Winter Manor. Do not bother to try and take my home by force, you will be wasting precious time.”

“You took our women, my child, and killed Petrov so we would talk to you?” Dimitri’s voice broke on the last word and Alex was only vaguely aware of Luka quietly speaking on his phone. “Petrov’s death was not supposed to happen. He was not supposed to be there. For that I am truly sorry.” He coughed harshly and Alex wished he would die while they were listening on the phone. “I have a helicopter landing on the back lawn. Alex and Dimitri, you will get in, no one else.”

He didn’t even bother arguing with the old man, not wanting to do anything that might upset him and push him into harming Alex’s wife and daughter. The burning ache in his chest deepened and he was aware of Dimitri shaking next to him. This was their worst nightmare come to life and he struggled against the overwhelming darkness that wanted to swallow him whole.

He couldn’t lose them, not again, not because of his father.

It would break him.

In a haze, he followed Dimitri outside, the aforementioned helicopter waiting for them.

Maks grasped his arm and shouted above the spinning blades, “We have spies in Jorg’s home. They have confirmed that the women are there and are unharmed, but still unconscious. Oleg is with them.”

He could only nod, then turned away and followed Dimitri. Once they were in the helicopter, piloted by a man he didn’t recognize, his thoughts were consumed by not just the kidnapping, but by Petrov’s death and what that meant. He was now the head of the Dubinski
Bratva,
one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the world—and yet he couldn’t stop his father from taking his family.

Their headphones were equipped with microphones and speakers, but he didn’t use it to speak with Dimitri, sure anything said wouldn’t be private between them.

The look of pain and rage on his brother’s face must have reflected his own and he watched the world fly by, the occasional light of a house breaking up the darkness of the land below.

A battered Oleg met them at the landing area, his right arm in a sling and his eye swollen shut. As soon as they were far enough away from the helicopter to be heard, Oleg shouted, “I just saw the women, they are alive, but under heavy guard.”

Aware that Oleg had been in the room with the children and Petrov, he said in a tight voice, “What happened?”

“It so quick, I am not sure. Someone must have been working with your father to get them past all the guards because they walked right in. I think they were surprised to see Petrov, but they were ready for myself and Krom. They gassed the room and went for us first. Petrov managed to get a few shots off, and they returned fire. Is he all right? I saw him go down and Gwen retrieved his gun, getting in a few shots of her own before I passed out.”

“Petrov is dead,” Dimitri said in a hollow voice.

Oleg stumbled. “What?”

Ignoring Oleg, Alex began to jog to the marble double staircase leading to the entrance of his ancestral home. The sooner he got to Jorg, the sooner he could get Jessica. Dimitri must have felt the same way because they were soon full-out running through the vast halls of the former palace, not stopping until they reached the doors leading to their father’s room. Armed guards that Alex didn’t recognize stood out front, but they stepped aside as soon as they saw Alex and Dimitri barreling down on them.

The man on the right lowered his gun. “Mr. Novikov, Mr. Dubinski, only you may enter.”

Alex shoved the door open, surging into the big room that held their father’s hospital bed and the large amounts of equipment used to keep him alive. A low moan broke from him at the sight of Tatiana laid out on the wide green-velvet sofa that had been placed next to Jorg’s bed. She was on her stomach with a deep pink blanket pulled up around her, and he could see her little back moving up and down with her breath. Her hand was curled beneath her cheek and she appeared unharmed.

Across the room, two of Jorg’s trusted men stood with their guns trained on Alex and Dimitri.

He started to go to her, ignoring the monster watching him from the hospital bed and his guards.

“Wait,” Jorg breathed out. “Do not disturb her yet.”

“Fuck you,” Alex snarled, but stopped when Jorg pulled out a gun from beneath the covers and pointed it at Tatiana.

“You will listen to me,” Jorg wheezed, his hand shaking, and Alex wasn’t worried about his own life but feared Jorg’s trembling would cause him to accidentally pull the trigger.

Holding his hands up, he backed away until he stood at Dimitri’s side. “Do not punish them for my leaving the
Bratva
.”

Jorg set the gun down atop the white sheets covering him, his hands almost skeletal. The cancer had eaten him away to next to nothing and Alex was reminded of an American movie with puppets he saw a long, long time ago, where the nemeses of the film were these emaciated-looking vulture-like creatures that were rotten to the core, yet surrounded themselves with luxury and wealth. That was what his father reminded him of, a dying vulture intent on devouring every bit of life he could before death claimed him.