Russian Mobster's Princess (9 page)

“Yes.”

“Being married doesn’t really suck,” she told him on impulse. “I keep waiting for the moment when it takes over everything and my whole life changes.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. But somehow this is nothing like living with my father.”

Viktor seemed to stir from his post orgasm lethargy. “Last night you said that your father wanted to take over my brother’s position.”

“You want to talk about my father
now
?” She looked at him in amazement.

“You just reminded me. You brought him up first.”

“So I did.” Kira sighed. “My father had some notion that by marrying me to you, he could take over more territory within the organization. I don’t really understand how that’s possible, though. Your brother is still the boss over the council and the lieutenants. And if something should happen to him, the leader position would go to you.”

Viktor froze. “Compensation,” he muttered. “That bastard is planning on asking for compensation after you’re murdered.”

Chapter Ten

Viktor shoved his way past the two enforcers standing guard outside his brother’s office. The two men looked surprised, but said nothing. Inside, Nicholas was sitting in his posh chair with his feet up on his desk. He was yakking on the phone in Russian, likely making promises he had no intention of keeping.

When he saw Viktor, Nicholas actually turned in his chair to put his back to his brother. The slight did not go unnoticed, nor was Viktor in any mood to deal with it.

Viktor stormed the short distance between himself and his brother. Grabbing the padded back of the chair, he used it to swing Nicholas around to face him. “You will give me ten minutes of your time right now, or I will beat it out of you. Do you understand me?”

“I’ll have to get back to you in a few minutes, Anatoly,” Nicholas made a point of saying. “My brother is acting like a child and needs to be taught a lesson or two.”

Nicholas set the phone down on the desk and gazed at Viktor as though he were gum found on the sole of a pair of shoes. The condescension pissed Viktor off so thoroughly that he no longer cared what the consequences would be for his actions. Unbuttoning the cuffs of his dress shirt, he began rolling the fabric up over his forearms.

Nicholas raised his eyebrows in response.

“Is that really necessary?” Nicholas’s snide tone said it all. “I could have you thrown out of here just as quickly as any one of my other lieutenants. Being my brother means nothing when you behave like a lowlife.”

“Oh, you can try to have me thrown out.” Viktor curled his lip with disdain. “But since your men are more loyal to me than they are to you, I think you might be surprised at the results.”

“Nonsense,” Nicholas blustered, but Viktor saw the light of doubt in his eyes. “What do you want, anyway? Something obviously has your panties in a wad. Did your bride get herself murdered?”

“How long have you known that Anton Berezin is behind these attacks?” Viktor demanded.

For the span of two seconds, Nicholas Domnin shifted his gaze as though he could not believe he had been found out. It was enough for Viktor.

“You knew!” Viktor spat. “Was it this whole time? Or just since the meeting? Because that was when you decided to set Kira up as bait. Was it because you
knew
that her father wanted her dead?”

“Don’t be an ass!” Nicholas finally snarled. “I was doing this for you too.”

Viktor reared back as though he had been physically punched. “For me?”

“Yes! What easier way to be rid of your unwanted bridal baggage than to have her murdered by her own father?” Nicholas actually laughed. He leaned back in his chair with a self-satisfied smirk. “That greedy bastard Anton thought to trap me into compensating him for her death. What he didn’t know was that we already had evidence that puts his men at the scene.”

“So you set her up to be alone and vulnerable in hopes that her father’s men would casually and conveniently murder her.” Viktor could barely stomach the rest of it. “Then you would wait until Berezin came to collect his compensation at the council meeting, and you would pull out your evidence and then you would have him over a barrel. Is that it?”

“Exactly!” Nicholas crowed in triumph. He put his hands behind his head and looked smug. “You would be rid of the bitch, and we could be rid of Anton at the same time.”

“And if I have no desire to be rid of Kira?” Viktor asked quietly. “What if—by some miracle—I really like her?”

“Surely not. A cold little waif like that? What good is she? The woman only wants to dance. A man needs a wife who will stay home and raise the children while you are free to do what you wish. Look at you! Since you’ve been in constant contact with Kira, you’re acting like an ass. Your behavior is insane.”

“My wife is up to be murdered by her
father
!” Viktor shouted. “How the hell else would you have me feel about it? Are you truly this unfeeling?”

“It does not matter what I am.” Nicholas’s expression shifted to one of cool finality. “And you are wasting my time with your whining.”

Viktor could not stand it anymore. Closing the distance between himself and Nicholas in two strides, he drew back and punched his brother in the jaw so hard that the posh chair flipped over backwards. Nicholas’s feet whooshed up into the air, and he did a little back somersault trying to regain his equilibrium while shouting curses in strangled Russian.

The door burst open, and the two enforcers bounded inside the office. As Viktor had predicted, the two men took one look at what was happening and shuffled nervously. They were obviously unwilling to get involved.

“What are you waiting for?” Nicholas shouted, struggling to extricate himself from his chair. “Get him! I want him punished!”

Viktor held up his hands. “My brother has been knowingly hiding the identity of the man who has been attacking the women of our fellow mafia brothers. Tell me, what do you think he deserves?”

The two men turned as one to glare at Nicholas as he managed to get to his hands and knees on the floor beside his desk. The anger on their faces was palpable.

“He had no right to tell you that!” Nicholas snapped. “Get back to your posts and forget your heard any of this.”

Viktor snorted. “As if they’re nothing but robots that can forget they heard something so very damning? What sort of man have you become, Nicholas? I used to respect you. You had my loyalty not only because you’re my brother, but also because you were a good man and a good leader. But since you’ve taken Papa’s position, you’ve become nothing but a selfish prick.”

With that final judgment delivered, Viktor turned and walked out of Nicholas’s office. He needed to find Kira and make certain she was safe.

KIRA HUMMED A little tune beneath her breath as she climbed the last few stairs to her floor. It was a little odd to think that Viktor was probably already at the apartment. She was used to coming home to an empty place. This was very different, and almost pleasant in its own way. Perhaps it would be good not to be alone so much.

The door flew open as soon as she stuck her key in the lock. The keychain was ripped from her hand, causing a grimace of discomfort as the clip caught on the thin skin between her fingers. She hissed in pain and lifted her hand to her mouth to suck on the offended spot.

“Where have you been?” Viktor demanded.

“At the studio.”

He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the apartment, slamming the door behind her and glaring as though she had just violated some hard and fast rule about cohabitating. Kira felt horribly off balance and maybe even a little frightened by his erratic behavior.

“Viktor?” she whispered. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re not supposed to leave without me! It’s dangerous. Don’t you understand that?”

“Viktor, I go to the studio every single day at eight o’clock and stay there until about four in the afternoon.” Kira felt as though she were talking to a deranged person. “You weren’t here this morning when I woke up, so I kept to my usual schedule. I thought that was why I was allowed to come back here to this apartment.” She rethought that statement. “To
my
apartment.”

“It is.” He made a frustrated noise and began snarling unintelligible things in Russian. “You just don’t understand.”

“So
help
me understand, because right now you’re really freaking me out, and I’m already a little freaked out about actually
living
with you. All right?” A wave of tears made Kira feel ridiculous. “Why are you being so mean?”

No matter how strange she felt about her outburst, it had the side effect of catching Viktor completely off guard. He seemed to take a mental step back. His shoulders rose and fell as he took a few deep breaths, obviously trying to regain control.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Then to her surprise, he held out his arms. Even more shocking was the desire she felt to be in his embrace. She walked toward him, hesitant at first. Then when his arms folded her against his chest, she experienced the most satisfying sense of safety. Nothing could hurt her there. Not when Viktor held her so close.

Kira expelled a huge sigh. She rested her cheek against his pectoral and listened to his heart beat steadily beneath her ear. “Now. Can you please tell me why you were ready to rip my head off just because I went to the studio for regular practice?”

Viktor gently drew her toward the bed. Kira had the odd thought that if they were going to be living together very long, then they needed to invest in a one bedroom apartment with actual living room furniture. Her studio apartment was outfitted with a practice barre in the only space that would have been large enough for a couch. That left the bed as the only seating available.

Sitting beside Viktor on the edge of her bed, Kira gazed up into his dark eyes and knew she wasn’t going to like whatever was coming. “Just say it,” she suggested. “You know, like ripping off a Band-Aid.”

He seemed to be trying to decide how to begin. “You were right about your father’s men.”

“Wait. About what?” She frowned. “You mean about what I heard them speaking of the other night? That
they
are the ones attacking these women?” Then it hit her. “Oh my God! Vasily, Ivan, and Yakov
murdered
Atalya!” The tears came fast, and she was powerless to stop them. It was just too awful to contemplate. “How could my father not know?”

“He knows,” Viktor said quietly. “What you said last night? About him believing that marrying you to me would somehow get him more power? He intended to have you killed off in this crime spree and then claim that the Domnins weren’t protecting you as they should have been. If the council agreed with his accusation, we would have to pay him compensation.”

Kira tried to speak, but she had no voice and no words to express her horror. Finally, she managed to swallow back the thick feeling in her throat. “I’ve always known that my papa didn’t care for me. He wanted sons. A daughter was useless. Still, I never could have anticipated something like this.”

“It is despicable,” Viktor agreed.

Kira frowned. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“No. That’s all I discovered. I was simply out of my mind wondering if your father had somehow taken advantage of the regularity of your schedule.” Viktor looked uncomfortable. “I went to speak to my brother earlier.”

“To find out what can be done about my father?”

“Yes.”

“And? Surely they cannot be waiting for him to openly admit what he’s done?”

“Unfortunately, we have nothing but my word against your father’s.” Viktor looked angry, but she still sensed that there was something else weighing heavily on his mind.

“The last performance of Sleeping Beauty is this Saturday night,” she said, feeling inexplicably shy. “It would mean very much to me if you would be my guest.”

Viktor gently kissed her forehead. “I would love to come and watch your performance. Do you think I might be able to go backstage and meet the star of the show?”

“I think I might be able to arrange a special tour,” she told him with a smile. “Since you’re married to one of the lead dancers and all.”

“So I am,” he murmured. “So I am.”

Chapter Eleven

The final performance of any ballet was always a bittersweet moment for Kira. She would be sorry to give up her fairy wings and the dance steps that had become such a consuming part of her life. Yet there would inevitably be a next challenge to move on to. There were rumors that the director intended to do Swan Lake next. Or perhaps he would find something more modern. Either way, Kira would have new music and new steps to fill her days of rehearsing.

“Are you ready for it to be over?” Tiana whispered as they waited at stage left for their final cue.

Jessie nudged Kira. “Hey! You are so out of it this evening, I think we should all be glad you’ve got this part completely memorized. Where are you tonight?”

“Viktor is here watching,” Kira explained breathlessly. “Every time I walk out on stage, I can sense him staring at me. It’s rather distracting.”

“Sweetie, you’ve got it
bad
,” Jessie said sympathetically. “Although it’s really kind of cute.”

“And Viktor is totally
hot
!” Tiana added.

Madame Bissett appeared behind them. “What is all this whispering about? You have no time to stand around and gossip.”

“Kira is excited because her husband is here to watch her,” Jessie explained. “Kira is in
love
.”

Kira blushed, mostly because of the towering frown on Madame’s face. It was well known that she did not approve of relationships. Her lips thinned into a pale line. “I had such high hopes for you, Kira. I can see now that you are just as silly as other girls at your age.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to remind Madame that Kira was no longer a teenager, but she supposed the actual number meant little to Madame. It was the idea that Kira would need to split her time between dance and anything else that angered her.