Secrets Read online

  “We need to get you a key made, remind me later after we have lunch. We can share my bed too since it’s big enough until we can move to a two bedroom in the building, okay?” She grabs the key out of my hand and smacks a big, sloppy, wet kiss on my cheek.

  “Sounds like a plan, cow, now get you hairy ass in the shower!” She takes off running and laughing. She’s lucky I love her or I would throw something at her.

  “Cow?! Your ass is wayyyyy bigger than mine!”

  “Yeah, yeah!” she says and walks to the bedroom. I shake my head, she’s a dork.

  I walk into my bathroom and take a deep breath. I haven’t been taking my anxiety pills while staying at Tate’s and it seems to have cleared my head up more. I’m a little excited, but I think it’s because I get to use all my stuff. Tate’s home is beautiful and he’s so giving, making sure I have what I ask for, but there is nothing quite like using your own stuff. My hair has definitely gotten spoiled though, using his salon shampoo and conditioner. It even smells good, like juniper.

  I’m relaxing under the hot spray and massaging my neck with my fingers. My extracurricular activities with Tate have me a little sore in some spots. Yum. Speaking of Tate, I can’t wait to find out what he will do to me later. That man is phenomenal with his hands, mouth and cock. I picture him naked in the shower, rubbing his big hands all over his soapy body… Wait, what was that? Oh, I bet it’s London coming for more laundry. I stand extra still and quiet my thoughts to listen; just to make sure. I’m probably being paranoid. I hear an almost silent click. Nope, not paranoid. That was a legit noise.

  “London, what are you doing?” I yell out so she can hear me. I wonder if she’s having issues with the front door lock. I do sometimes, I know it’s cheap. I don’t get a response, so whatever, she must have figured it out. I go back to washing my body with my favorite Caress body wash. It smells divine and makes me feel soft everywhere. The hair on the back of my neck stands up when I feel a little breeze of cold air. The a/c is not on because I would be able to hear it humming. I feel the cool air again and my insides start to jump. You know when you get the feeling that you want to look, but you really don’t want to look? That’s exactly how I feel. I swear if this is London fucking with me, I will wring her neck. The thing is, I know London likes to mess with me but she’s not cruel. Deep inside my belly I know it’s not her and it makes me nauseous. Fuck! I should have brought my gun in here with me. What an idiot, have I not learned anything? My fears are confirmed when I hear his voice.

  “I know you are finished, time to get out.” That’s all it takes for me to go into a full-blown panic attack. I can’t breathe, OMG, my chest feels so tight, fuck, I have to make myself take deep breaths, in, out, in, out, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, in, out, in, out. I’m okay, I can handle this. I need to get to my room so I can get my pistol.

  Jeremy rips open the shower curtain with a snarl. I see him for the first time since we were in that court room. He has gotten thinner, and he was already thin. Now it looks like every ounce of fat he had is muscle and he appears slimmer. He must have worked out the whole time he was in jail. His hair is longer, the midnight black locks now graze his shoulders and he has a few days’ worth of scruff covering his face. His face is twisted into an angry smirk and his eyes look at me with pure hatred. The little bits of softness I once saw in him are completely gone now. He reaches into the shower lightning quick and snatches my arm, yanking me out of the shower so fast I stumble over the built-in bath tub.

  “Ow! Please let go, Jeremy, I’ll walk, please!” Fuck, my leg’s killing me. I’m going to have a huge bruise from the damn tub. I hope he didn’t sprain my ankle; it’s on fire right now.

  “Ha. You think I’m gonna let you go this time, bitch, so you can run again? I don’t fucking think so.” His other hand grabs my wet hair to hold me then he pulls his leg back and lays into my thigh with a solid kick. Holy fuck. I am not going to be able to walk. Please let London be okay, there’s no telling what he did to her.

  “Ouch! I’m so sorry, I promise I won’t run, never again, okay, I promise, no running.” I have to tell him what he wants to hear so he will calm down some. I have to get to my gun.

  “Oh, I know you won’t go anywhere, you won’t be leaving this fucking apartment.” He has a hold of me by my arm and my hair, dragging me toward my bedroom. It hurts so freaking bad, my scalp is screaming at me, if he doesn’t let up soon he will rip my hair out.

  “You dumb, dumb bitch, thinking you could leave me before I was done with you. Then you come here and start fucking somebody else? You always were a fucking whore, weren’t you? I thought I took care of that issue when I took care of that fucking thing in your stomach.” He throws me on my bed and I scramble as fast as I can to my nightstand. I may only have this chance to get to it. Jeremy lets out a loud, deep belly laugh.

  “Oh, you thought I wouldn’t search through your shit? You looking for something, baby? Go ahead and see if it’s in there.” I close my eyes and let the tears slip free. He got my gun. I reach in the drawer under the book where it was hidden and feel it is definitely missing. I don’t know what to do. I can’t overpower him, I’m tiny and he’s even stronger than before. I pray London stays downstairs. He has my gun so it would not surprise me if he decided to kill her if he knows she’s here; he hates her.

  “Now, back to what I have planned. First off, I’m going to make you mine again. I’m glad you washed that fuck off you. Don’t worry, I plan on killing him. He won’t touch you again.” I close my eyes and put my head down. Please God no, not my Tate. I will do anything to save him. I can’t let him get hurt. I love him too much, please God, I will do anything you want, just don’t let my Tate get hurt.

  “Forget about him, I don’t want him. I will do whatever you want. I promise.” I feel like I’m giving my soul to the devil, but I will sacrifice anything to save Tate.

  The bedroom door flies open and slams into the wall.

  “Get the fuck away from her, you piece of shit!” London! She has my gun?

  “Your stupid ass left this lying on the counter. Never were too smart, huh, J boy? Now get the fuck out. I already called Tate, and he and his boys can’t wait to get a hold of you!”

  Jeremy grabs me up and places me in front of him as a shield.

  “Not smart huh, you fucking whore? You wanna shoot me; you have to shoot through her first. Now get the fuck outta my way, Emily and I are going for a trip.” He starts to steer me out of the room, I can feel he’s shaky. London backs up, keeping the gun trained on us. I’m so grateful for Granddaddy teaching us how to use different guns when we were growing up. I know London’s not as good a shot as I am, but if I can move at least half my body, I know she can clip him somewhere. She smiles really big at him and my stomach drops. She’s going to make him angrier and I’m not gonna be able to get out of his claw-like grip. This man feels like he has hands of steel with how hard he’s gripping me to him. I hear a choking sound and his grip starts to loosen on my arms. His hands fall away from me and I drop to the ground. I crawl to London as fast as I can and she squats down. She pulls me into her arms and hugs me to her, tight. I look over at where Jeremy was just holding me and I gasp. Nikoli has his arm wrapped like a tight band around Jeremy’s throat, in a choke hold. Jeremy’s face is bright red and he is gasping, trying to catch his breath. He rakes his hands along Nikoli’s strong forearm, but is no match for the Russian beast’s strength. Jeremy goes limp and looks like he’s dead. Nikoli drops him to the ground and smiles down at Jeremy.

  “Oh man, The Boss is going to be so happy I finally caught you.” Niko fills us in that Tate has had Niko show up at the apartment at random times trying to catch Jeremy breaking in. Thank god for these men and their sneaky thinking, they probably just saved mine and London’s lives. Niko has London run to his truck and get some rope out of the back to tie Jeremy up with.

  “You okay, Tate’s Красота?” Niko asks me while he
has the gun trained on Jeremy.

  “You can just call me Emily if you want, Niko. Is he dead? Why do you have the gun still on him?” He smiles a little smile at me then focuses back on his task.

  “I call you The Boss’ Красота, because that is what you are. You deserve respect, so I give it to you. And this Корзина is not dead, just passed out.”

  “What is Корзина?”

  “It is trash, he is Корзина.”

  “Yeah, definitely agree with you on that. Why do you call me The Boss’? Is Tate your boss? I thought he was your friend?”

  “Yes, I do some work for him. He is my friend, he is my брат (brother).” He looks away as if he is done talking so I shut up. I really should take a Russian class so I can pick up some of these words they use. Whatever ‘брат’ means, Niko said it with great respect. I need to try to remember to look it up. I feel like a pest always asking them what stuff means.

  Tate shows up about ten minutes later. He looks relieved when he sees me sitting on the couch.

  “Красота, are you okay? Are you hurt? Thank God, Niko was here!” He rushes toward me and pulls me into his arms. He touches my arm where it’s sore and I wince.

  “Shit, baby! What is it?” He looks me all over, but can’t see anything. As soon as Nikoli had the gun on Jeremy, I ran and got some shorts and a t-shirt on.

  “Ouch, you touched a spot where he grabbed me.” I tell Tate everything about what happened and where I’m hurt. When I’m done, Nikoli tells him the rest of the story from when he showed up. Tate looks furious.

  “Load him up, Nikoli, and take him to Gizya’s storage building. Get my tools ready, I’ll be there as soon as I get Emily settled back home. I want his knees first when he wakes up, then I’m going to take him apart, piece by piece. Get Viktor for clean-up tonight.” Niko nods and answers with “Boss”. He sets to doing what he’s told. It’s a side I’m not used to seeing. I’ve always known Tate was bossy and people jump when he tells them to do something, but this is Tate in business mode.

  Chapter 12

  Cameron drives us back in Tate’s car because we are way too much of a wreck right now for either London or I to drive. I thought Cam was going to blow a gasket when he heard London had pulled a gun on Jeremy instead of waiting for help. There were lots of hushed, serious whispers going on between them. The ride home is silent; Cameron is looking angry and London just stares out the passenger window lost deep in her thoughts. I have no idea what’s going on with them, but I hope she confides in me soon. Tate said he was stopping to talk to his brother really quickly, and would be right behind us. I guess Viktor has a house close to Tate’s in a different posh neighborhood.

  We walk into the house and Muffin greets me right away at the door. Sitting down in the living room and petting him relaxes me and gets my breathing back to normal finally. I never knew a dog could help with my anxiety.

  I’m nudged awake. I think it’s Muffin wanting me to scratch his ears again but look up to find Tate staring down at me with sad eyes.

  “Hi, my Красота (beauty), how are you feeling?” I blink a few times and process his question. I didn’t even realize I fell asleep. This couch is so comfy; I keep sleeping on it every time I sit down. I yawn a big yawn.

  “Geez, I didn’t know I was so sleepy or I would have laid in the bed. I’m okay, just sore. What’s wrong?” I don’t like seeing him sad, I wish he would smile.

  “It’s from the adrenaline rush earlier. It sucks all your energy out. I brought you a chocolate bar to help get your sugar back up. What’s wrong? Well, I wasn’t there to protect you. I promised you I would keep you safe! I feel like such a failure. It breaks me to know you are hurt and I could have been there with you to help you.” This man is the sweetest ever. What is he talking about, failing me? He’s the reason I’m okay right now!

  “Are you kidding me, Tate? If you hadn’t had Nikoli checking the apartment periodically, I would probably be dead right now! Instead, I’m here next to you and I’m okay. Please, don’t be upset, please, Tate. During this whole disaster I realized something very important and I want to tell you. I realized I am in love with you, Tate. During all of that scary time at my apartment I thought of how much I care about you and how I love you so much. I know it’s fast and probably too soon, but I can’t help it. You helped me today, you helped me get through it during the ugly things he said to me and when he hurt me. I thought of you and it made my heart warm. Then you really did save me by having Nikoli there. Trust me; things could have been so much worse. Let’s just be happy I’m sitting here next to you right now. Please.”

  “I care about you a lot, Красота, but there are a lot of things you don’t know about me. I also have my own secrets. I don’t know if you could handle everything about me. I may be nice to you, but I’m not so much to others.” He looks so serious when he says this and I hope in my heart things aren’t so bad I can’t handle them.

  “I think I can handle it, Tate. At least I hope so. You accept me with all of my problems and I want to be able to do the same for you. I know you have the club and you’re like Nikoli’s boss. I know you have lots of money and your brother works in money. I heard your conversation earlier with Nikoli about what to do with Jeremy, so I know you’re no Saint. Then there was when you yelled outside my apartment. Did you yell about the Mafia? Did I hear you right?”

  “Let’s start with what you heard me tell Niko to do. You do realize I wasn’t just saying those things, right? I really do plan to do all of that to your ex. Can you live with that, Красота?” I recall everything he said to Nikoli at my apartment. Those were some serious threats and I know Jeremy will not come out of it alive. After all the pain he put me through, can I live with myself or Tate knowing Jeremy is gone forever? That he will never hurt me again, never stalk me, and never take my babies away from me ever again. Yeah, I can live with that.

  “Yes, Tate, I can live with it. It may make me a bad person to say this, but I will actually breathe easier knowing he is gone. I will finally be able to relax knowing he can never hurt me again.” I look him in the eyes and say it as sincerely as possible. He needs to know I’m completely serious about this.

  “That’s good, Красота, because I do indeed intend to kill him. It will be bloody and painful, and he will suffer a great deal for ever touching you. Now, about what I said in the parking lot at the apartments. What do you know about the Russkaya Mafiya, Красота, huh?”

  “Ummm, well, not much. I think we studied about the Italian Mafia in school. Is it close to the same thing?”

  “Eh, I guess you could compare to the Italians, but Russkaya work a little differently. Does the Mafiya scare you?”

  “No, not really. But probably because I’ve never been around it before and I don’t know much of what they do.”

  “Does it scare you to know I’m Mafiya? My father, Gizya, is The Big Boss here in America. It means he is in charge of everyone. That’s about five thousand people, Красота. I may not be The Big Boss, but I am a Boss. People do answer to me, and I do a lot of business for my father and uncle.”

  “Who is your uncle? Have I met him yet?”

  “No, you have not. You shouldn’t meet him unless we decide to marry. My uncle is second in command here in the Solntsevskaya Bratva. They are like us too, but more of a criminal element. They take care of the really bad stuff. I try to keep our businesses on the cleaner side of the law. Don’t mistake, I do also do lots of bad things. I do kill bad people and make a lot of decisions you would not agree with. I need to know if this scares and upsets you, baby. I will not put you through this if you are not 100% up for it. I will not keep you if you are scared of me and of my business.” He looks completely serious and I believe him. I also believe he would never purposely put me in any danger.

  “I trust you, Tate. I know you would never get me hurt and you would keep me safe if anything were to happen. Is all of your family in th
e Mafia?” How will I fit into his life if I am not like them? Will his family even like me? The thoughts of his family are more overwhelming than the whole Mafia thing.

  “Yes, my family is Mafiya. We will talk more about this later, Kpacota. Right now I have business to take care of.” He stands up from the couch and I sit up.

  “By business, you mean Jeremy, right?" I don’t know if I really want to know the answer to my question, but I ask it anyway.

  “Look, I won't be telling you about my business or anything to do with my Mafiya stuff. Not to upset you, but that is the way it has to be. I will tell you right now that yes, it is about Jeremy. I'm only telling you because it has to do with you directly. Otherwise I wouldn’t give you any information.”

  “I understand part of your life has to be private, but we are definitely not done discussing this. I want to know as much as you can tell me. Also, I want to know how this will all affect me being with you.”

  "Okay, Красота, I will tell you what I can. God, baby, you have made me a very happy man today.” He kisses me roughly and I can tell he's excited. I'm so happy he's not sad anymore. I hated to see him so upset, it hurt my heart. He didn't seem freaked out earlier when I told him how I feel either. I didn’t say it to him so he would automatically say it back, I can't help but wonder just how he really feels about me.

  Tate didn’t come home until after I was asleep last night. I heard the shower come on and then a while later I felt him crawl into bed. He pulled me close to him and kissed the back of my head. I fell back asleep comfortable, warm, happy and content.

  The next day, we all have class with completely different schedules, so everyone misses each other at the house. Tate woke me up with a nice surprise. He had rolled me over onto my belly and worked some of his frustration out on my pussy. He wasn’t the only one who enjoyed it. I came twice and was trying to jump him again before he crawled out of bed. I hope we aren’t too loud; I’m not sure I want anybody else to hear us. I never thought of it before, but anyone could have walked into the kitchen the other day when he took me on the counter. I haven’t heard anyone else in the house, so I think it’s safe to say the walls are thick. I wonder if London will want to have lunch today. I need to find out what’s going on with her and Cameron.