Give Me More (3 page)

Chapter Four

“You’re up for a break.”

Zoey looked at Aunna, one of the girls that worked the VIP section, too.

“I’m good,” Zoey replied.

Aunna shook her head.

“Yvgeny’s orders are that we all take a break every few hours.”

Zoey looked at the man that was her employer, and had helped her when she was at his lowest. He was a good man, even if everything that surrounded him didn’t really seem all that good. And then she looked at Sergei, a man she didn’t know, but one she knew was very dangerous. He wore that danger like a second skin, in the way he held himself, spoke, and although that should have fear claiming her, she just felt this warmth. It was bizarre, insane, even, but it was reality, and one she couldn’t ignore.

There was also the fact she felt his stare on her, knew he watched her, and couldn’t shake the feeling like she was his prey and he was about to pounce.

But there was no fear, no worry over his actions. There was no mistrust like how she felt with Rick. It was strange, and maybe unexplainable, but she knew she couldn’t worry about any of that right now. Zoey had to get her life back in order before she thought of anyone but herself. She needed to have a clear head, and make sure Rick was really out of her life before she even thought about being with another man.

“Go on, honey, take a break in the back, or get some fresh air. It’s crazy in here,” Aunna said as she grabbed drinks off the bar and put them on her tray.

“I’ll be back in fifteen.” Zoey undid her apron and put it behind the bar before leaving the VIP section. But right before she exited out the backdoor this tingling in the back of her neck took root. Looking over her shoulder she saw Sergei watching her, his light blue stare trained right on her.

Fresh air sounded nice, but she didn’t want to risk some drunk out in the back alley. Instead she made her way toward the back offices where the two-way mirror was. The room was large, and for employees only. The mirror was floor to ceiling, and made up one wall. She walked up to the glass and looked out at the club.

No one on the other side of the glass had their troubles hanging on their shirtsleeve tonight. No one cared about what was happening outside of those four walls. They were enjoying themselves, just wanted to let loose, and nothing else mattered.

“They hide their troubles well.”

She turned, her heart in her throat as she looked up at Sergei. And yes, she had to look up at him because the man was impossibly huge. He had his hands in his front pants pockets, his forearms big, muscular. The veins under his golden flesh were pronounced, and she found herself getting a little warmer.

“Their troubles?” she managed to ask.

He tipped his chin toward the glass. “For this one night they don’t worry about anything but the sexual tension and flowing alcohol.” He took a step toward her, and she found herself moving one back, not because she was afraid, but more so on instinct. This man held a lot of power, and it came from him like a blanket wrapping around her and threatening suffocation.

They didn’t say anything else for long seconds, but then he tipped his chin toward the dance floor again. She turned and saw a couple gyrating to the music. The man had his hands on the woman’s waist, holding her close to him. She broke away to start rolling her hips, her arms in the air, her hands in her hair. She looked sultry, sexy.

“For this one night they can pretend,” Sergei said right beside her ear, and his warm alcohol laced breath moved strands of her hair along her neck. She shivered, her nipples hardening, and she tried to keep her composure.

“Maybe they are naturally happy and have nothing to hide,” she said on a breath, her focus on the couple, but her entire body alive because of the close proximity of Sergei.

“No,
Myshka
, everyone has something to hide.” He turned her around, and she pressed her back to the glass. He looked down at her, his big body making her feel small, but also so very feminine. “Do you have something to hide?”

The way he asked her wasn’t offensive, but gentle, caring even. It was weird seeing as he didn’t even know her, but she felt at ease around him, and that should have made her very wary.

“I have nothing to hide,” she lied effortlessly. This wasn’t about her safety, but also her sister’s. Alexa was the only family she had anymore, and although she didn’t think of the past, and the fact they’d lost their mother at a young age, it was hard not to focus on it just being the two of them anymore, especially during a time like this.

“Little mouse, everyone has something to hide,” he said in that deeply accented voice that seemed to play along her entire body. She actually felt like his words were his fingers, moving along her flesh, just barely touching her.

“Then what are you hiding?” she whispered, and immediately regretted it.

Why did I just ask that? This man is clearly dangerous. It pours from him, and he could think I’m challenging him.

But he smirked after she spoke and took a step back. She inhaled deeply, not realizing she’d been holding her breath for those few seconds.

“I have plenty to hide,
Myshka
.”

She had no doubt about that.

Chapter Five

Her innocence was like a breath of fresh air, like the light to his darkness. Sergei was drawn to her inexplicably. Never had he wanted a woman the way he wanted Zoey. It went against everything he knew about himself, everything he’d ever thought he wanted.

He watched her look at the ground and saw the way she fidgeted. She was nervous, but he was used to people being that way around him. The ones that knew him, knew he was part of the Russian mafia, stayed far away from him and the organization. They knew better than to question him, to challenge him. But this tiny female pushed back.

Sergei liked that.

“I should get back to work.” Zoey lifted her head and looked at him, and he realized he could drown in the amber depths of her eyes and be happy with the outcome. She licked her lips, and he watched the act, feeling his cock harden. She was innocent, very vulnerable. He kept telling himself that. It was very clear she wasn’t like any of the other women he’d been with. He watched her walk away from him, and he took in the scent of her. She smelled fresh, like lemons and soap. It was refreshing given the stench of sweat and arousal that filled the club.

Turning and staring out the glass once Zoey was gone, he watched the bodies crammed together. They were like cattle, oblivious to what was really out there, the monsters that walked beside them, fucked them … could kill them before they even knew they were about to die.

He stepped away from the glass and went back into the VIP section. Once in the room, Sergei sat back down at the booth and focused on Zoey again.

“How about we get back to business?” Nikolas said in Russian.

All of the men were at the table, their glasses full. The conversation became serious as they discussed the reason Sergei, and half of the men at this table, had come from Russia to America.

There was business to be done, and traitors to be flushed out within the organization.

“We found a traitor in the Bratva. They’ve been stealing product and selling it on their own.”

“Who?” Sergei asked.

“Three foot soldiers,” Yvgeny said.

“And you needed us to come all the way to America to finish the job?” Sergei lifted a brow.

Yvgeny leaned forward, and all the other men focused on the two of them.

“You were specifically called here by Boris, you know that,” Yvgeny said, his expression hard, unyielding.

Yeah, Sergei knew the head of the America operation had called him, and he knew why, even if it had never been specifically said.

“You’re the best in these situations,” Maksim said.

“Boris wants this taken care of by you specifically,” Pasha replied.

Sergei leaned back in the seat. Although they could have easily said this in a more secured area, without having waitresses and others around, Yvgeny owned this club, his staff didn’t speak Russian, and there was surveillance at every turn.

“And there’s also another reason,” Yvgeny said, and that piqued Sergei’s interest.

“Oh?”

“One of the foot soldiers … you know him.”

Now that did have Sergei’s interest rising.

“I’d know if I was aware of a traitor.” He noticed several of them men glancing at each other.

“One of them is Pavel.”

Sergei felt his entire body tighten. He curled his hands into fists and looked among all the men at the table.

Pavel, a man he’d known since he was a teenager, one that had grown up in poverty, violence, and had wanted to rise in the ranks of the Bratva. He’d considered Pavel a friend back in the day, but once Pavel had come to America a decade ago they’d lost contact, had others responsibilities within the organization.

“Pavel’s had issues always,” one of the men said, and there was a murmur of agreement.

Yes, he had. With drugs being a hard factor in many of their lives when they were younger, surrounding them, trying to control them, it was only the strongest that could resist the lure. Sergei had been one of those that hadn’t taken the temptation of escaping where his life was headed. This was his reality. It always had been, and always would be.

Pavel had been weak.

“I’ve been called out to kill a man I once saw as a friend,” Sergei said without forming it as a question.

Yvgeny nodded. “Unless you want someone else to do it, which I’m sure you know won’t nearly be as gracious.”

No, it wouldn’t.

“You’re respected in the Bratva, and because of your loyalty Boris is giving you the opportunity to take out the traitor, and a man you once called a friend.”

Sergei looked down at the table. He felt no remorse over what had to be done. Pavel might have been a friend at one time, but the Bratva came first. The Bratva was in his blood, and he’d kill for it without a second thought.

“Tell me where he is and it’s done.”

****

It was late, Zoey was tired, and as much as the exhaustion settled into her, she was thankful for the reprieve of her thoughts and worries. Yvgeny and the other men had stayed at the table for long hours, speaking to each other in Russian, their expressions fierce at times.

She tried to push anything that had to do with Sergei out of her mind, but for whatever reason that was easier said than done. That man had controlled her thoughts and he didn’t even know it. Hell, she didn’t even know why she felt that way toward him. She knew nothing about him aside from the feeling of danger that came from him. But even with all that she felt no fear, not toward him or Yvgeny.

She finished cleaning the tables, counted out the tips, and breathed out when she could finally call it a night.

“Night,” she called out to the other two people working the VIP room, and left out the employee exit. She searched the main floor for one of the guys to walk her out to her car, but the floor was dead, and she didn’t see any bouncers.

You’re paranoid. You need to start standing on your own feet and stop worrying about someone being there to help you.

Heading out the back hallway and exiting into the alleyway behind the club, she tightened her hand on the strap of her bag.

The sound of her shoes hitting the pavement seemed overly loud, and although there was ample lighting even in the alley of the club, it still had a creepy factor to it, although that might very well be her nerves and the fact she was tense in general.

Reaching into her bag, she fished around for her keys. She smelled the trash from the dumpster she passed, heard the people on the other side of the wall around the corner, and picked up her pace. Just as she rounded the corner, a dark shadow had her pace slowing and her heart jackhammering in her chest.

“You should have had one of Yvgeny’s men walk you out,” the deep, accented voice said.

As strange as it was she felt herself ease at the sound of Sergei’s voice. She rounded the corner and saw him standing there, his hands in the front of his suit pants pockets, his focus on her. The shadows played along his face, concealing half of it, and making him seem even more dangerous than normal.

“I couldn’t find anyone,” she answered.

He turned and faced her, his side still on the wall as he rested against it.

“It’s not safe to be out alone, especially at a nightclub.”

Yeah, she knew that, but what other options did she have? “It’s too late to worry about the ‘what ifs’.” Zoey swallowed, feeling the intensity in Sergei’s expression.

“May I walk you to your car?” he asked, and she was actually surprised seeing as he didn’t strike her as the gentlemanly type.

“Okay.”

He pushed away from the wall and went to stand beside her. He had his suit jacket on now, and when he pulled his hands out of his pocket the side of the lapel moved out of the way slightly. She saw the gun holster that snaked around his shoulder before she saw the silver gun that was attached to it.

Adjusting her purse strap, which she did more because she was nervous than anything else, Zoey breathed in deeply and gazed up at him when he stopped right in front of her.

“You don’t even know me,” she found herself saying softly. The sound of the people around the corner was loud. They were leaving, their drunken stupors making them obnoxious.

The feeling of her heart beating wildly in her chest made her feel like she was on the edge of a cliff.

“Where’s your car?” he asked, his face hard, almost cold in appearance, although she could imagine he was always like this.

Clearing her throat, she pointed over to the staff parking. “Over here.” She started walking toward the vehicle, very aware of how close Sergei was to her. Did he know about her situation? Had Yvgeny told him anything? It would make sense seeing as Sergei had taken this sudden interest in her.

They stopped at the car Yvgeny was lending her, and she held her keys in her grasp tightly. “Thank you,” she said, but was looking at the ground, feeling nervous around this big man. And then she felt his finger under her chin as he tilted her head back so she could look at him. His touch shouldn’t have felt so good. It was barely a brush of his finger on her skin, but her heart beat faster, her throat tightened, and she had this tingling sensation move through her veins.

Am I losing my mind?

He started running his finger over her jawline, and she was surprised at the concentration he seemed to have on the act he did. It felt like an eternity since she’d felt any kind of gentleness from a man. Was she so desperate for it that upon meeting the first guy to show her any interest she was falling into this “trap”? She should have been smarter than this. Zoey was trying to get her life back on track, and had no time for personal matters like this. Being with anyone without knowing what was going on with Rick was a huge mistake, yet here she was … enjoying this.

His finger on her skin was soft, barely a brush. Humiliation and fear of her own desires slammed into her, and she took a step back. “I’m sorry,” she found herself saying, although she didn’t know why she was apologizing.

Before she said anything else to embarrass herself, or before she couldn’t stop herself from this going further, she smiled at him. But she knew it was tight and probably didn’t reach her eyes. Zoey got in her car, cranked the engine, and giving Sergei one more look because she felt awful leaving like this, she lifted her hand in a wave. The corner of his mouth lifted, and she figured that was probably as close to a smile as she’d get.

Then she left, because she couldn’t think straight right now, and falling into bed and forgetting about what she wanted personally, and what she needed to do in reality, were waging war inside of her.

****

Sergei watched Zoey’s car turn out of the parking lot and disappear down the street. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a cigar. After cutting the end and putting the cigar between his lips, he lit the end and puffed on it. He watched the strip of road where her car disappeared to, even though he could no longer see her. Sergei sensed someone coming up behind him, and it was Yvgeny’s voice that sounded in the darkness.

“You’re not going to let this go,” he said without forming it as a question. Yvgeny stepped up beside him, and Sergei glanced at the other man.

“No, I’m not going to let this go.” He wanted her, but for some reason, it wasn’t just about having her under him. He couldn’t lie and say he didn’t want her body, but that wasn’t all Sergei wanted. Maybe it was because he despised men that hurt women? Maybe he wanted Zoey so much because when he looked in her eyes he could see how distant she was in her life. Whatever it was, it had Sergei more determined to have her and keep her close.

“The motherfucker that hurt her needs to be found, because he’s going to pay for what he did.”

Yvgeny grunted in agreement.

“And I’m not going to walk away from her,” Sergei said after he let the cigar smoke filter out of his mouth.

“Be careful with her,” was all Yvgeny said.

Sergei may be merciless to his enemies, cold to the bone when it came to it, but he knew how to treat a woman right, to show her she was in good hands. He wanted Zoey, and he’d have her. He’d show her that not all men laid their hands on a woman. He’d show her that even if he was a killer, he could treat her like his Queen.