Retribution (22 page)

First of all, she
was
tired and
traumatized, so that wouldn’t be too hard. Secondly, she wouldn’t
tell him a damn thing. As far as she was concerned, her whole
family was dead to her. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little
scared and nervous that he would do as Ryan said.

“Nod that you
understand.”

She did.

“Thank God.” Peter
approached Katya and embraced her when she got out of the vehicle.
She did not return the hug.

“The police were here. They
found my car overturned in the ditch smashed to shit. No one knew
what happened. I feared the worst.”

“We were attacked and taken
hostage.” Ryan came around the front of the jeep.

Peter assessed the
condition of Ryan’s face. “What the fuck happened to
you?”

“It’s been a rough
twenty-four hours.” He gave Kat’s arm a squeeze. “Katya, go to your
room, clean up and get some rest.”

“I want a debriefing,”
Peter ordered.

“I’ll give you that.” Ryan
stated as Katya walked through the men and into the house without a
word to anyone. “She’s dealing with too much right now and really
didn’t see anything. They had her locked in a cell.” Peter seemed
to accept that and focus his attention back on Ryan.

“We all thought you were
both dead when we saw the car. You saved her again.”

“Yes.”

“Who were they? Did you see
them?”

He nodded. “A few won’t be
bothering us anymore.”

“What exactly does that
mean?”

“They threatened my client,
so I took care of them.”

Peter and Ivan exchanged a
glance. “You
killed
them?”

Was he hard of hearing? “As
many as I could. Others had left the house before I got free.”
Peter looked quite pleased. Ivan was a different story.

“And just how many men did
you kill?” Ivan asked not believing him.

Ryan shifted his gaze to
Ivan and the corners of his mouth quirked upward saying a lot. The
man’s jealousy was like a billboard and Ryan basically called him
on it.

“You son of a—”

“Shut the fuck up Ivan. At
least he did something none of you imbeciles could. My daughter is
home unharmed. When you were supposed to be looking after them,
Anna got murdered.”

Ivan did as he was told,
but continued to glare at him.

“Where is this
house?”

He told them. He didn’t
say that they’d find nothing but ashes though.
Let them go for a drive.

Peter looked over his
shoulder, “Ivan, get a crew out there. Everyone.”

“Yes Mr. Nickolov.” With a
final glare at Ryan, he turned and waved his arm. The men followed
him.

“Your shoulder.” Peter
noticed that blood started seeping through the shirt.

“Ah, yeah, I was shot. I
need to go get mended. Do you have a first aid kit?”

“You are a machine!” Peter
slapped him on the back, causing him to grunt. That shoulder. He
laughed. “Sorry.”

***

“This is crazy. I can’t sew
well with fabric.” Katya hovered beside him with a suture and
thread. She’d had a shower while he was still speaking with her
father, and only put on a robe. Then he showed up with a first aid
kit telling her to sew him up after he washed up a little. He was
covered in dirt and blood. She watched as he removed his shirt
showing some difficulty for the first time as he walked into the
bathroom.

When he came back out to
his room, he had on draw string pajama bottoms, and sat in a chair
for her to suture him. She felt awful. He was hurt because of her,
yet didn’t complain. Not once. Her heart swelled. This was the
first person to ever risk anything for her and he had no reason to
do it, if even for the money. He could have left her at the house,
but he didn’t. Was there such a thing as loyalty like this, or was
he getting a lot of money? “Is it the money?”

He turned his head and
looked at her trying to figure out what she meant.

“That my father pays
you.”

“You think that has
something to do with what I did—for you?”

“Forget it…it’s a stupid
question.”

She was vulnerable and
looking for reasons on why he would sacrifice so much for her.
Well, if she only believed what she saw in the mirror, she would
understand. And it wasn’t just what was on the outside, but it
certainly didn’t hurt any. “Money has nothing to do with it. I told
you what you mean to me. I would have done it, with my training, or
even without because of how I feel.”

She was relieved. “I’m
sorry. I’m doubting everything. I don’t even know where that came
from. You did tell me, and I believed you. I don’t know why I’m
revisiting it.”

“You had a nightmare happen
twice. You’re vulnerable. It’s understandable. Besides, I don’t
need money Kat. I have enough to last me comfortably for the rest
of my life. Trust me. This isn’t even about my brother anymore.” He
squeezed her hand. “Now before I bleed out, we should get started.
Just loop it three times, front and back. It will be fine. I won’t
feel it—much.” He chuckled.

“You are crazy.” She
released a laugh. He certainly wasn’t boring. She felt brave after
those words though, and with surprisingly steady hands, did as he
asked. He didn’t even flinch. Then she covered the area with gauze
and tape. “You have an incredible pain tolerance.”

“Oh, it hurts like hell. I
have just learned not to react to it.” He stood up and went into
the bathroom to look in the mirror and admire her work. She
followed him in. “Not bad.” He bent and kissed her on the mouth.
“Good job,” he said against her lips before he lifted his head and
looked down at her.

“You’re still battered
looking.” She moved her eyes over the marks on his face.

“What? This?” he traced his
fingers down his jaw where he was punched. There was swelling and a
telltale bruise. There was also a cut above his eye and more
bruising on his torso from the accident. “I guess I’ll have to give
up my modelling career.”

She looked sympathetic.
“You joke about this? What did they do to you?”

“Nothing I can’t handle. It
will disappear in a few days.”

“You have to be the bravest
man I know.” Her fingers touched his brow and down the line of his
jaw.

His eyes darkened. He bent,
cupped her bottom, lifted her up against him and kissed her while
walking out of the bathroom toward the bed. She wrapped her arms
around his neck and her legs around his hips kissing him
back.

He stopped at the foot of
the bed and tossed her on it. She bit her lip to keep from
squealing. Then he lowered his pants and stepped out of them before
coming down on top of her. He untied her robe and pulled it apart.
His mouth moved down her body to her abdomen. She arched toward
him. His tongue circled her naval and she released a gasp of
pleasure. Then he moved his arms under her thighs and pulled her up
to meet him, his mouth covering her most intimate area. Her hands
threaded in his hair and pulled, he groaned and moved his tongue
against her.

“Oh God, Ryan!” she
shuddered beneath him.

“Oh no you don’t. No orgasm
yet.” He moved up over her. His mouth leaving a trail of kisses up
her body until he met her mouth.

She moved her thighs over
his hips. Despite his recent beating he was still able to enter her
with a powerful thrust. He was relentless in his rhythm and she
moved her hips to meet his. Then she exploded, and bit her lip
again to keep from crying out.

He growled his own release
and smothered her mouth with his. “Did I hurt you?”

“No way.”

He moved aside and propped
his head up on his hand. One of his long legs stretched over hers.
“Jesus, you’re just so sensitive to my touch.” His fingers traced
the outside of one of her nipples and she gasped.

“I have a good teacher,”
she whispered back. She was completely out of breath.

“It has nothing to do with
teaching. You’re naturally responsive. Not a common trait despite
what you think.”

“I can’t help it. You make
me feel beautiful.”

“Make
you? You are beautiful.”

She could feel her face
heat up in a blush. She got her looks from her mother, as did Anna.
Someone her father took away from her. Though, by the sounds of it,
Anna did inherit something from him. “Ryan?”

“Umhmm.” His fingers were
still tracing her upper body.

“Did you see the man with
the birthmark?”

He stopped and met her
eyes. He could see the fear there in recalling her experience with
him. “I saw him. He left with your sister.” He lifted up further to
stare down at her. “What did that bastard do to you?”

“Not what you’re thinking,
Ryan, but it was still awful.”

She sighed and looked away.
No, she wasn’t sexually assaulted by him but he touched her and did
things to himself when he did. He hurt her, bruised her. Daily he
would tell her he was going to kill her and do to her what he was
doing to her sister next door. She could hear Anna’s screams. It
sent her into a deep terror. Then there was the horror of what they
were doing to Anna, now lies. She would stay angry. Fear was just
not an option for her right now. She trusted Ryan. He wouldn’t let
that man touch her again.

“Hey,” he said softly,
placing two fingers under her jaw and turning her head to face him.
“We’ll find him Katya.”

“Do you think that’s Anna’s
accomplice?”

“He could be.” He bent over
and kissed her. “No more talk of this. You need to relax and I
still need a shower.”

She sighed. He was bossy,
and abrupt. “Yes, we are making a mess here.”

He got up and walked naked
to the bathroom.

She propped herself up on
her elbows to watch him. He was definitely worth looking at. It was
as if he was sculpted out of a block of fleshy stone, but the ink
on him was sexier than hell. She took a deep breath of
appreciation. It was hard to believe that moments ago, that man was
part of her, making her lose her mind in him.

She must’ve drifted off
because she heard his deep voice in her ear with what seemed like
seconds later, but when she opened her eyes, it was dark in the
room.

“Katya, move over, you’re a
bed hog.”

A sleepy laugh escaped her
and she moved aside. Soon a warm body was pressing against her back
and a warm arm circled around her under her breasts.

“Eww, you’re still damp.”
She wiggled.

“Shh, I’m tired.” He leaned
over and kissed her cheek. “And if you keep moving against me like
that, I’m going to fuck you again. Then neither one of us will get
any rest.”

She smiled and drifted off
to sleep. That would have been okay with her.

CHAPTER SIX

Katya opened her eyes to an
ungodly noise. Her father’s bellowing followed by raucous banging
on Ryan’s door. It was barely seven in the morning.

She quickly scrambled out
of bed, grabbed her robe, and raced into her room. Her feet barely
touched the carpet.

Ryan was just coming out of
the bathroom, naked, when she rushed by in a panic. He chuckled,
pulled on a pair of jogging pants and answered the door. What a
surprise, it was Ivan.

“Put on a fucking shirt.
The boss wants to see you.” He turned and walked away disgusted at
the other man’s spectacular physique. Every time he opened the door
he had less clothing on. He was sure the bastard was doing it
purposely to get a rise out of him. It was working.

Ryan shrugged and grabbed a
t-shirt, pulling it over his head as he left the room.

Katya was standing behind
her door trying not to panic. That was too close for comfort for
her. It still surprised her that nothing seemed to bother Ryan. She
knew for a fact that her father would kill him where he stood if he
found out they’d been sleeping together. It wasn’t like she wasn’t
old enough to be sexually active, her sister had been years before,
but it was her father. He wouldn’t tolerate this in his house. He
had views about how his daughters should behave, despite how he
expected his girlfriends to act.

She slapped her hand to her
forehead and swallowed hard. That was just too close. She had to be
more careful.

***

Ryan entered Peter’s office
and it was already occupied by at least ten of his men.

Peter actually looked
amused at Ryan’s choice of wardrobe dropping his rage momentarily.
“No time to dress?”

“I just got out of the
shower and was commanded down here immediately.” He nodded toward
Ivan whose expression remained passive, but his eyes were loaded
with hatred.

“I apologize for the quick
notice, but it’s important.” He waved his hand to a chair in front
of his desk.