Owned by the Badman (Russian Bratva #1) (31 page)

M
AXIM HAS BEEN DISTANT.
Four months have passed since finding out that I am pregnant with our second child, and it seems my husband is either freaking out, or telling me the truth, when he says that work is taking over his life.

Today, we find out if we are having a boy or a girl, and Maxim is late. He promised he would be here, but like many of his broken promises of late, he is not. I sigh and scoop Maksimilyan into my arms. He is so heavy these days that it hurts to carry him around, but I know soon he will not want me to hold him at all, so I am relishing the moments while I can.

The appointment is short. I only understand half of what the ultrasound technician has said to me. I understand the word for healthy and then I cry when I heard
devotshka
escape her lips. It means we are to have a daughter.

It would have been much easier if Maxim were at the appointment to interpret, or if I would have asked Alex to come; he has been the one to join me at all of my appointments since Maxim hasn’t been able to, but I was sure Maxim would be here today.

I can’t help the uneasy wave of disappointment, heartache, and fear that washes over me at this missed appointment. I feel like I am losing my husband again—a husband that I have only truly had for a very short time in our marriage. I don’t want him to leave me again; it would hurt too badly to know he goes to other women’s beds, to know that for whatever reason I am truly not enough for him.

Once I’ve fed Maksimilyan and he is asleep in bed, I decide to wait on the couch for my husband’s return. This is it. The fear of the unknown is choking me, making me unable to breathe, let alone sleep peacefully at night.

Decisions will be made, and I will not sit back any longer.

I made a point to come here for my husband, my children, and my marriage. I will no longer be ignored. Eventually, at two in the morning, he stumbles inside of our apartment and he is drunk. I try to keep the sting of tears at bay. I try not to think about the hurtful words Klavdia spewed about how he would end up treating me once he earned back my trust. They are ringing awfully true, and it hurts so badly.

“Where have you been?” I ask, my voice trembling.

Maxim’s head shoots up and he looks at me, shakes his head, and leans against the wall to focus.

“Gregori had news about the group. I talk to him about a few other business matters. Why are you still awake?” His tone is stern, and I hate it.

“I had a doctor’s appointment today,” I say and search his eyes for a memory of the forgotten appointment, but I am met with a blank stare.

“You were supposed to meet me there, Maxim.” I sigh. His shoulders sag.

“I forget,
golubushka.
I have been …” He doesn’t finish before I interrupt him.

“
Busy
, yes I know this. Are you sleeping with somebody else, Maxim?” I spit out angrily.

Maxim’s eyes flash with something unreadable, and before I can even think, he is in front of me, looming over me.

“You ask me this? In seriousness?” he growls.

I scoot back on the couch against the arm, playing right into his plans as he straddles me, his knees on both sides of my thighs, my nightshirt riding up my legs.

“Well, you are never home, and you sure as hell aren’t sleeping with me,” I cry out, tears streaming down my face. Maxim doesn’t see them, he sees only red, only color.

Maxim grabs the sides of my panties and rips them from my body, shoving the shirt farther up my hips and over my belly. He rips the fabric off me, baring me to him, naked and vulnerable. I look into his eyes and try to search for my lover, but he is not in there. Some angry version of him has appeared instead, making it hard for me to take in a breath, my lungs constricting.

“I fuck you right now and you know there is no one else, is that what you want?” he snarls at me, reminding me of an angry animal.

“Fucking me proves nothing, Maxim, except that your cock works. I asked you a question. I want to know where you have been. And if you say
busy,
I will not be happy,” I yell in his face. I can’t say that I would leave because I won’t. I love him, but I want to know what the hell is going on.

“I have fucked no pussy but yours since you came here all those months ago. I cannot tell you what is happening because you
cannot
know
. It is business and you would do good to remember your place,” he growls. I feel his naked hard length against my thigh, I don’t even know when he brought himself out of his pants.

Maybe we need some good angry sex.

I wrap my fingers around his length, firmly, and stroke him.

“What is my place, Maxim?” I murmur stroking his long length, my mouth watering.

Foolishly, I want him inside of me. I nudge him to take a seat, and I sink to my knees on the floor. I lick the tip of his cock, tasting his pre-cum before I take him deep inside of my mouth, his hands fisting in my hair at the sides of my head.

“Is this my place? On my knees sucking your beautiful cock, Maxim?” I ask before taking him inside my mouth again. He thrusts up a bit deeper. My fingernails curl into his thighs as I feel my body beginning to respond to his pleased motions, grunts, and groans.

“Your place is at my side,
golubushka
, and on your knees taking my cock any way I give it to you—in your sweet pussy, down your throat, or in your perfect little ass. Your place is as my wife.” He thrusts hard, pausing as I feel his cock twitching in my throat.

“My lover.” He thrusts again, gagging me.

“My best friend.” He thrusts one more time before he comes down my throat, forcing me to accept every part of him.

“I have been an ass, and for this, I am sorry,
angel moy
. Some bullshit is going down and once it is taken care of then I will tell you all,” he whispers still buried inside of my mouth as his hand massages the nape of my neck. I nod slightly. He slowly eases himself out of me and frowns.

“I am sorry. You are pregnant. I should not have done that,” he mutters in horror. I shake my head.

“I loved it. Now come and make me happy, Maxim. I have missed my husband.” Maxim grins and picks me up, carrying me to bed. Then he makes love to me with his mouth before fucking me hard and making me come twice before he finally lets me fall asleep.

“Our baby is a girl, Maxim.” I yawn, curling into his side.

“Our girl will be gorgeous, just like her mother,” he whispers as I fall into a deep, exhausted sleep.

The pounding on the door is so loud that I wake up with my heart threatening to burst out of my chest. I look over at the baby monitor and sigh with relief that Maksimilyan is sleeping soundly. Maxim jumps out of bed and pulls his pants up his hips as he grabs his gun and tucks it in his waistband.

“Cover yourself,
angel moy
, no good comes from three thirty wake-up calls,” he orders. I do exactly as my husband says.

I dress in yoga pants and a tank top as fast as I can, following him downstairs. I stay far behind, as I watch him swing the door to our apartment open.

“Gregori, what the hell?” he growls.

My stomach sinks at the sight of Gregori. I have been able to stay away from him since the night he dropped me off on my doorstep two years ago. I watch in horror as Maxim’s body is thrown to the side and, not only Gregori, but another man walks through the door.

The other man is tall and extremely handsome; his hair is slicked back, and his suit screams money. He looks exactly like a man who would have been friends with my parents. They would have kissed his ass. He has an air of entitled asshole that surrounds him, and it makes me gag.

“This is him? This is the man that causes me such headaches?” The entitled asshole says to Gregori, who just nods.

I am so confused. I get a little closer to Maxim’s side as his arm slides around my shoulders to keep me close. Gregori only nods, his words gone, and I want to ask him what this is about. His presence in my house makes me nervous.

“I want Mariya. Where is she?” the stranger orders.

I gasp that he knows Maxim’s sisters name, but Maxim doesn’t react, not even a tightening of a single muscle on his body.

“That whore? I have no idea,” Maxim says, sounding bored. He doesn’t fool me; this man must be the leader.

“Maybe you have ideas when I take your son and your heavily pregnant wife. I got a nice message that she carries a girl. She is very pretty, and I think your baby might be prettier than Mariya was. I could make more off her or just keep her for myself,” he says with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

Maxim growls, and I can’t help the tears that stain my cheeks.

Will I never be safe?

Will my babies never be safe?

“Fuck you,” Maxim yells. The man nods at Gregori, who lunges for me.

I try to get away from his grasp. I struggle but it is fruitless as he quickly wraps my wrists behind my back, pulling me into his chest. His mouth is at my ear and he whispers how excited he is to fuck me again, that he’ll make me come again and again. I cry, my eyes focused on Maxim, but the tears are streaming and I am unable to stop them.

“Ivan, you let my wife go,” Maxim roars. The men at my back just laugh.

“Why would I do that, Maxim? She is mine, your babies are mine, and Gregori likes her pussy. He wants to keep her,” he says nonchalantly.

I watch in horror as the color in Maxim’s face drains as he looks back and forth between Gregori and me. I cry even harder, my omitted past now revealed. I never told Maxim
who
had forcefully taken me before. I thought Gregori was a good man, I thought he was trying to help me, help women like me.

“You fuck my wife?” Maxim asks, his voice cracking and his strength seemingly gone; his eyes holding the betrayal of his friend and his wife.

“
Maxim
,” I cry out. His eyes cut to mine, and I shut my mouth as my lips tremble and tears continue to flow heavily down my cheeks.

“I did, brother, and let me tell you, it was best I have ever had. Tightest pussy I have sunk inside of.” Suddenly, I am shoved to the ground, my hip landing hard on the floor as Maxim and Gregori pull out their guns and face off with each other.

“This is entertaining,” the other man, Ivan, hisses under his breath. I look up to see that his eyes are glittering in delight.

“You sick fuck. Haleigh is mine. My wife and the mother of my children.
Mine
. If you think I let her leave my side, I have news, fucker,” Maxim roars. It makes me shiver.

“You are too emotional about some fresh pussy, Maxim. Her pussy is good, but she is no whore. I will have many things to teach her, no? You are too lenient with her,” Gregori says with a sick smile.

The hand Maxim holds his gun with is sturdy, but I glance at his other one and it is shaking with a mixture of anger and fear. I see both emotions in his eyes, and I know my own eyes reflect his emotions as well.

“Put your guns down,” Radimir’s voice floats through the room but neither men move. Maxim’s eye twitches, his only response.

“Radimir, how are you doing? You come in here thinking to order
my
man to do anything?” Ivan growls, his face turning red. Total control freak.

“It is not Radimir that makes the order, it is me,” another man says, walking into the apartment.

My head is swimming with all of these men dressed in expensive suits walking around our apartment. I am so discombobulated. Alex is following the two men. The new stranger is taller than Radimir and Maxim, which says something because they are both huge. His body is leaner than Maxim’s but no less muscular. At least not that I can see through his tight button down silk shirt. Dressed in suit pants and a vest, his black hair slicked back and his blue eyes piercing, he is older but handsome. His powerful presence is more than any man in the room, even Ivan’s.

“Sergei,” Ivan sneers. Maxim nods slightly to the man, showing him respect. He must be
somebody
.

“Do you let her go and move on from whatever your plans are here?” Sergei asks, sounding so bored he might as well be yawning the words.

“Never. She is ours. Her children ours—promises were made,” Ivan informs boastfully.

Sergei shakes his head and tilts it to the side, before he smiles.

“She is very pretty, I admit, but is she worth ruining your career, Ivan?”

“Nothing will ruin me. I find Mariya and have this bitch
and
her. Then my secrets are safe. You won’t do shit.” Ivan laughs but Sergei does not join him, and it makes me wonder just who exactly he is and what he knows about anything happening here. I don’t know a damn thing.

“I ruin you, Ivan. I will take over and have everything you have, politically and financially. I will own you and there will be nothing you can do about it from the grave,
friend
,” Sergei says, his voice soft but his meaning perfectly clear. Maxim grunts but his body is statue still.

“You would not dare. Without my legitimate business in your pocket, you have nothing,” Ivan points out.

Sergei throws his head back and laughs, motioning to Alex. I watch as my friend walks out and then returns with two more people. A man and a beautiful young woman. Her hair is black and long, her eyes bright dazzling blue, and her body, beautiful and curvy.

“I have your son— your heir, and your daughter,” Sergei says, and the color drains from Ivan’s face.

“My son will never side with you and my daughter is nothing but a future whore to be sold when it is convenient to me,” Ivan announces. I watch as the girl shudders. I want to wrap her in my arms. We are the same, her and me.

“You foolish tyrant. Your son has been a
Torpedo
—
a contract killer
, since he was sixteen years old
for
me
.” Sergei smiles, and I look back to see that Ivan is looking back and forth in shock between Sergei and his son, the younger version of him minus the overconfident asshole stench.

I feel like a ping-pong ball, my head turning from person to person as they speak. Secrets and truths reveal unfolding before my eyes, but I can’t comprehend all of it. There is so much happening and my head is spinning. All I want is my husband to wrap me in his arms and keep me safe. I want to wake up from his horrendous nightmare.