Russian Roulette (Russkaya Mafiya) (13 page)

The conversation was harmless; we were just talking about the projects we made in Art class. I made a papier-mâché cow and everyone thought it was adorable. Justin, the baseball player, had shown up with metal art and he had drawn a cow on a field. Everyone thought it was fate so we had to hang our projects next to each other. Justin and I thought it was hilarious because we were both country enough to make cows for a project.

Jeremy didn’t exactly find it so funny; in fact, it was the opposite. When he discovered what my classmates were saying, he got extremely pissed. Then when he saw Justin talking to me, it was his bursting point.

Jeremy walked up to us, pissed, carrying his binder in front of him. He stepped directly in front of me, blocking me from Justin, glaring crossly at him. At that time, both boys were about the same height and build.

Justin had short dirty blond hair and some cute little freckles on his face. He was normally very friendly with pretty much everyone. I remember him being so surprised when he saw Jeremy pissed.

Jeremy told Justin to “back the fuck up off his chick.” He then swung his binder out and clocked Justin right across the face. I thought he and Justin were going to kill each other that day.

The fight got broken up and everyone let it go since the school year was almost finished. Justin didn’t want it to affect his baseball playing (he would have been benched) so he just went on like it didn’t happen. Jeremy would still gaze at him like he wanted to strangle him each time they passed each other at school, but thankfully nothing else happened.

I thought Jeremy had fought Justin because he cared so much; it made him jealous and showed how much he loved me. Not so. In reality, Jeremy was just an obsessive, controlling psycho. I wish I had realized it back then; maybe I wouldn’t have gone through everything else.

The girls sit with me as I call the police and ask to file a report about what happened. I also learn that I need to get a new restraining order through the state of Tennessee, not just in Texas. I wish they would have told me this a long time ago so I could have already taken care of it.

The officers that came to the apartment were nice and understanding about everything. They each gave me their personal cards in case I need to call or if anything else suspicious shows up outside my door. I let them know about the chess piece and calla lily. I now know they were a sick, twisted, sign from Jeremy. He was basically mocking me and I had no idea.

The officers even gave me the number to a friend of theirs, who would submit the paperwork for me to get a restraining order placed on Jeremy. London and Avery also tried to get one placed but when we called and asked, the lawyer said the judge probably won’t be willing to approve it.

I guess since it happened in my apartment, it’s not a reason they should fear for their safety, just mine. What a load of shit. Unfortunately, that’s how the court system works sometimes.

I set to work at cleaning my once-safe haven, which has now been invaded by the person I hate the most.

EIGHT

TATE

The next day

It’s fairly early Saturday morning when my phone starts ringing. I check the screen, hoping it’s my little Krasaaveetsa calling to wish me a good morning. I haven’t stopped thinking of her since I dropped her off.

I’m disappointed and puzzled when I see it’s, in fact, Avery calling and not Emily. I didn’t imagine Avery would actually ever use my number when we all traded numbers that first night at dinner. I really only wanted Emily’s but thought it sounded better if we all traded, plus Cam got Avery’s number, too. Not that he cares anymore.

Cameron’s hung up on London right now. That probably won’t last long, though, it never does with him. Most people think that I’m the player, but in reality, I only date a select few. I might get my dick sucked occasionally, but that doesn’t count.

“Avery?” I murmur, I usually just say “what” but it’s Emily’s friend, so I’ll try to be nicer. I swear, if this is about Cam, I’m hanging up. I don’t do any kind of drama. I deal with enough shit from Konstantin, my father.

She hurriedly rambles, “Oh thank God you answered, Tate. I wasn’t sure if I’d get a hold of you before you guys came over.” She starts whispering, sounding rushed and a little anxious.

“Okay, what’s going on? Tell me Emily’s alright.”

Of course Emily is my main concern. I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t seem to see her enough. She pulls something beastly out of me when she’s near. Emily’s tiny, like a little lamb and just as stubborn as one too. I don’t tell her that’s the reason I call her little pet, though.

God, when she was sleeping next to me naked, it was almost painful to lie next to her. My dick was so fucking hard it could have chipped granite. My balls were floating so full, it’s like they were screaming at me to just fill her up.

My dick just wants to own her sweet cunt, while I want to claim her as mine forever. I can’t wait until I can finally take her the way I want to. Or when she’s so turned on, she begs for me to take her to bed.

I clear those images as Avery starts talking again, “Emily’s okay right now. Shit, she’s probably going to kill me when she finds out I called you about this.” She groans, frustrated, “I told her to tell you what’s going on with her ex.”

I growl, “Her ex? Who the hell is it and what’s happening?”

“He’s been leaving stuff in her hall, that calla lily you found? That was from him, I guess he left a chess piece at her door too and had ‘Check mate’ carved into it. She calls him
Monster
, Tate.”

Scoffing loudly, “Monster, huh? Has the fuck done anything else?”

“Yes, last night after you dropped us off, we went into her apartment. It was covered everywhere with white rose petals and smelled strongly of men’s cologne. It was so strong it made me gag.” She sighs, taking in a deep breath and continuing, “I thought she had gone catatonic. Emily just zoned out like she was the only one in the room and London was bawling.”

Avery clears her throat, then speaks lowly again, “At first I thought you had set it up as a surprise and I couldn’t understand why everyone was so upset. Then London yelled at her and made Emily tell me what was going on. It’s bad, Tate, like really, really bad. Emily needs to let you help her. I told her you would help, I know you care about her a lot, and even London sees it. Anyhow, I know about you and your family. You can easily handle this problem with your connections. I haven’t said anything, that’s your secret to tell Emily about when you’re ready.”

“Thank you for not saying anything yet. I prefer it if no one knows about that side of me and my family.”

“Trust me; it’s not a goal in my life to piss off the Russian Mafia. So, I told Emily that you could help, but she doesn’t want to feel like she’s using you or for you to get hurt. That girl has such a good heart and doesn’t deserve the crap she’s had to deal with.” Avery speaks so rushed I’m barely able to catch it all and understand everything she says.

I’m not too surprised that Avery figured out my private life since we’ve gone to my club a few times. I’m glad she hasn’t told Emily though. I don’t think Emily could handle it to hear I’m a Boss. She thinks Nikoli’s my close friend, which he is, but he’s also my closest guard.

Especially if she’s already dealing with issues from an ex, she’s not going to want to handle all the crazy shit I go through on the regular. It’s quiet right now, but it never stays quiet for long. It’s also very dangerous for her if anyone finds out I care about her, she could be used to get to me.

It makes me feel so good inside she doesn’t want to use me and she wants to keep me safe. It tells me she really cares about me, that she plans to keep this from me. However, she needs to confide in me so I can help her. I can take care of this without getting it too involved with the Odessa hearing much about it. I really don’t want my father involved or he will be requesting an engagement announced by me; because ‘the next Big Boss needs to have a little wife at home.’ Yeah, that shit will never fly with Emily. I’m going to wait until we are ready to take that step and not be forced into it.

I refuse to let Emily push me away, though. I have to get her to tell me about this. She can be ornery all she wants; I’m going to take care of her.

“Don’t worry, Avery, the Russkaya Mafiya isn’t after you. Thank you. You did the right thing by telling me. If anything else happens before Emily tells me about it, I need you to inform me right away. I’ll have one of my men tasked to keep an eye out over by Emily’s place. Make sure you girls keep the doors and windows locked when you’re in the apartment.”

I yawn, rubbing my hand over my face and grumbling, “I wish she had an alarm or the building had restricted access to guests. Try to get me as many details on this piece of trash as you can. I need to have descriptions in order for my men to be able to keep an eye out. Does he have a Facebook account or something my tech guy can get his picture from?”

My mind’s already spinning a million miles a minute, thinking of everything I need to do in order to get this guy. At least Avery’s starting to calm down after confiding in me. My poor Krasaaveetsa, I bet she was a mess and I wasn’t there to comfort her. Dammit!

“I don’t think so; he’s been in jail, and I guess he got out early. Emily pulled out a pistol last night and said she refuses to let him hurt her again. I can’t believe she has a freaking gun! I know he has hurt Emily really badly physically as well as emotionally and you know how small Emily is in the first place. She thinks that he’s going to kill her this time. In fact, she’s pretty sure of it. Plus all these creepy messages point straight to death. He’s so fucking weird leaving these cryptic messages in the hallway. I’m really freaked out for her. I don’t want anything to happen to Emily.”

“Alright,” I respond calmly, even though I’m blistering mad inside, “just try to stay with her so she’s not alone. I’ll pick up Nikoli and I’ll head over there with him and Cam. That fuck head won’t be touching my girl.”

I hang up and feel like my stomach may explode, just the thought of Emily hurt, makes me want to make this trash feel my wrath. I didn’t become a Boss by being innocent. I became a Boss by hurting people.

I don’t get it how some fuck can harm Emily. She’s so sweet and cares about everyone. Hell, I was a total ass to her several times in the past, she gives me her attitude back, but she always forgives me so easily, each time. You would be a fool to hurt someone like that. And to hear he physically hurt her? It makes me want to gut him.

I’ll catch that fucker and I’ll break his knees first. I’ll teach him to not touch my Krasaaveetsa, and then I’ll gut him, like the piece of shit, filthy pig he is. I’ll do this all on my own with just a few guys.

If I have to, though, I’ll have every single member of the Odessa Mafia and Solntsevskaya Bratva looking for him if need be. He won’t get far, and then I’ll play with him. He’s a fucking mouse being hunted; he just doesn’t know it yet.

I get dressed quickly, updating the guys what’s going on and driving over to her place.

We decide to circle around Emily’s apartment building a few times to see if anyone looks suspicious. After a few slow laps around, we don’t find anything. However, that would have been too easy with Nikoli right there, to help me bag this filth up.

I wonder how Emily would feel about maybe coming and staying with Cam and me, until I take care of this problem. I’ll have to talk to her about it. Cam might be a trust fund kid, but he trains with me. He can hold his own and is a pretty tough fucker. I know he would never let Emily get hurt if I weren’t around.

That’s another thing to think about, though if Emily does stay with us, she’s bound to find out about me. I’ve been able to brush off some of the mafia responsibility, but not all of it. I try to keep my personal life away from business, but we definitely talk about things that have to do with the business at my house, too.

The guys and I make our way to the apartment and we can hear the girls from outside in the hall. It sounds like they are giggling about something in there. I’m happy to hear a little bit of happiness after the shit they’ve just dealt with. “…and then he put his tongue…”

I glance at the guys, “That’s London; let’s go inside before I hear details I don’t want to hear!”

I knock on the door loudly. I wouldn’t mind listening if it was Emily talking about me, but I’m not wanting to hear about Cam’s tongue skills. If it’s even Cam she’s talking about, who knows.

The door opens with Emily answering it, and they all appear beside her.
Good.
I’m glad to see London and Avery are staying close to Emily.

I push through the group, heading inside, chastising, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, Emily. You should always ask who it is before you answer the door. What if I was some psycho?” I ask this on purpose because I want to catch her reaction.

It works; she sucks in her breath and turns pale when she processes what I say. God, I’m such a dick, but I have my reasons. I gaze at her tenderly, begging her with my eyes and body to open up to me.

Emily only has one couch and a chair since her place is so compact. Nikoli sits next to Avery on the black couch and starts kissing all over her neck. They remind me of two teenagers. I’m glad Niko is getting a little down time though, that guy is always following me around, on alert. I do pay him pretty well to be my guard, but he must get bored sometimes.

London sits on the chair and Cam sits on her lap and squishes her. She yelps, giggling and he finally lets her up. He pulls her to sit on his lap.

Both my boys seem to be a little taken with Emily’s friends. I’m glad, but if it doesn’t work out, shit could get awkward. They better not fuck up my chances with Emily.

I step closer to her, “What is it, baby, what’s wrong? You look upset.”

Emily turns, shaking her head a little and walks away.

I follow her into the kitchen. She’s trying to look busy, but she’s shaking. Emily tries to hide her body’s reaction to my questions, but I can definitely tell that she’s anxious.