Alexandr's Reluctant Submissive (18 page)

The mental image of his family safe and resting soothed him enough that when he walked through the lobby of the fortress he called home, he was able to maintain his usual slightly bored look instead of reflecting the stunned way he still felt deep inside.

People murmured congratulations to him and he nodded back, resisting the urge to push them away so he could reach his home quicker. The logistics of transitioning from one
Bratva
to another, to becoming the fucking
Pakhan
of the Dubinski
Bratva
, began to set in. He was no longer a Novikov. An ache pierced his chest, and when Rya met him at the entrance to his floor, he gladly took her into his arms with a soft sigh.

She hugged him back, the thin silk of her black robe flowing beneath his fingertips, comforting him. “Look, Alex, this doesn’t mean we’re not family anymore. I don’t care what your last name is. You will always be Dimitri’s brother and my favorite brother-in-law.”

Instead of laughing, he sighed again and held her close. “I am also your only brother-in-law, but thank you.”

After a few more moments of hugging each other, he gently released her then stepped back. “I must go see my wife.”

“Uh, about that.” Rya fiddled with her robe. “She seemed a little…agitated earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

“She talked a lot about either kicking you in the balls or punching them.”

“That is not good. Did she say why?”

“No, but she didn’t mention killing you so that’s always a bonus.”

Smiling, he shook his head before giving her another hug. “Thank you, Rya.”

She hugged him back tight. “Goodnight.”

The walk down the hall was quick, and he didn’t bother to acknowledge anyone who spoke to him.

They all could wait.

First, he must remind his wife of the harsh reality of his world and pray their marriage was strong enough to survive.

Jessica paced between the perfectly made bed and the comfortable mocha suede couch set, her strides long and impatient. She was so mad steam should have been coming out of her nose like an angry dragon. Her bare feet hardly made a sound on the thick, lush carpet, and a childish part of her wished she was wearing shoes on a wooden floor so she could stomp properly like she walked.

The memory of her daughter doing just that made her pause. Gee, wonder where Tatiana had gotten that lovely trait from. The thought of her little girl calmed her somewhat, and she tried to gather herself for the confrontation ahead. Arguing with Alex was the last thing she wanted to do, but this was complete and utter bullshit.

Thanks to Vera, Jessica was now aware that she had a five-million-dollar hit out on her—that Alex knew about, but didn’t tell her. Like it somehow wasn’t her business that professional assassins would now be hunting her. The surprise, then pitying understanding on Vera and her daughter’s face had only deepened her urge to choke her husband. She may not have had much over the last five years, but she’d had her pride.

She was almost to the bed again when the door opened and Alex came into the room, his gaze finding her right away and pinning her in place.

Still wearing the same black suit he’d had on when they’d left the house this morning, he looked as tired as she felt, and she had to battle the need to comfort him. Stupid overactive nurturing instinct. “Hello, Alex.”

“Rya warned me that you are upset with me.”

At the mention of her sister-in-law, she flushed, feeling like a bitch for how snippy she’d been with Rya earlier tonight. Her new sister-in-law had stopped by to see if Jessica wanted to hang out while the men were gone, but she’d been in no mood for company, no matter how nice the other woman had been.

Tatiana was also being cranky at that point, the long day spent playing with her cousins catching up to her, along with all the traveling. Thankfully Gwen was there to work her magic after Jessica gave Tatiana a bubble bath filled with toys. An obscene amount of toys. She’d have to find a way to donate at least half of them. With that many things to play with, her daughter had fooled around with each one for about twenty seconds before tossing it aside in favor of a new toy. Jessica had been raised to appreciate everything she had, and she’d be damned if her daughter was going to turn out to be one of those vapid, entitled children of the super-rich.

Gwen had been rather cranky as well, but for different reasons. Like Jessica lying to her about everything. About how her scary-as-hell husband was alive. And how Gwen basically now lived in lockdown with an irritating Krom always breathing down her neck. And how Krom was a moody bitch. And how Krom had no sense of personal space.

Gwen had talked about Krom so much that Jessica had bluntly warned her away from the damaged man, not wanting her friend to get hurt by someone she knew wasn’t interested in romance or love. After that, Gwen had been quiet and Jessica worried that she’d hurt her friend’s feelings, but she had bigger things to think about at the moment.

Like the army of ninjas who were just waiting for her to make one wrong move so they could end her life.

“Alex, is there something you haven’t told me? Something I should know? Like maybe the fact that I have a five-million-dollar hit out on my head?”

He stilled and she suddenly found herself the focus of a very intense man. “Who told you?”

Not wanting to get Vera in trouble, she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

His shrewd look pierced right through her. “It had to be Vera.”

Damn him and his mind-reading skills. “I didn’t say it was.”

Casting her a sideways glance, he began to take off his jacket. “That is not important right now.”

“The fuck it’s not. I happen to find it very important.”

He shook his head, then began to unbutton his shirt. Inch by inch his broad, sculpted chest with the tattoo of her name and the memorial roses beneath came into view. At the sight of her ink on his flesh, some wounded part of her soul eased and she looked away while the tears burned her eyes.

“Is not what I meant, your safety is everything to me.”

Vera had told her she would need to be direct with Alex. According to the older woman, men were blunt creatures. Give them too many details and you would lose them.

“Alex, you need to know that if our marriage is going to work, you have to treat me like a partner. I must know what is going on in the world around us, especially if it’s a matter of safety. That’s part of the trust thing between us. I swear you won’t regret it. You always say knowledge is power, right? Well give me something to fight back with.”

He began to unbuckle the gold buckle of the black leather belt holding up his pants while he slowly crossed the room. For a moment, she was distracted by the way his muscled torso bunched and flexed with his movements, but she forced her gaze back to his dark, serious face. When he came to a stop, he was less than a foot away and she leaned toward him, yearning to close the distance between them no matter how pissed off she was.

“I am trying to tell you something very important, something that will give you a great deal of power, but you will not give me a chance to speak.”

“Oh.” She blinked up at him while he ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “What is it?”

“Come, let us sit.”

She allowed him to lead her over to the brown couch and gave out a little squeak when he sat, then yanked her onto his lap so that she was straddling him. “Really? We can’t have this conversation without me on top of you?”

He laced his fingers together on her lower back, holding her tight. “Something I did not expect happened tonight, something that has taken me by complete surprise.”

The soft hair of his chest tickled her fingertips as she stroked the delineation between his pectoral muscles. “Alex, just spit it out already. What happened?”

He took a deep breath, his big body lifting beneath her. “Tonight my uncle Petrov named me as heir to the Dubinski
Bratva
, and I accepted the position.”

“What?” She stared at him, waiting for him to crack a smile. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Is no joke.”

Shock slammed through her and she sagged. Alex’s grip on her back tightened, the concern on his handsome face calming her even as her heart raced. Actually, he looked more than concerned, he looked panicked. Her husband rarely looked panic, but it was an expression she’d noticed a great deal of in private over the last few days. Seeing him distraught like this reminded her of Vera’s warning that Alex would need her to help support him when the world wanted to grind him into dust. At the time she’d just thought it was in reference to their reunion and getting used to each other again, but now she wondered if the older woman had been trying to warn Jessica about what Petrov was going to do. She tried to calm her frantic thoughts and focus on what her husband had just said.

“I need to be clear on this. Your uncle has named you heir, which means one day you will lead the Dubinski
Bratva
? You’ll be the
Pakhan,
correct?”

“Yes.”

All the time she’d spent researching the world of the Russian mafia while they were apart came to mind and she frowned at him. “But you can’t be the head of the Dubinski
Bratva
; you’re the heir to the Novikov
Bratva
.”

“Much has changed. My brother Dimitri was named heir by my father. I am—or I was—to head up the public franchises the Novikov
Bratva
owns that support our people.” His thumbs stroked her lower back in a soothing motion. “I am afraid you will not like that our name will change.”

“Pardon me?”

“You were right. A Novikov could not lead the Dubinski
Bratva
. That is why my name, our name, is now Dubinski. I signed the papers that my uncle had prepared, in front of many very powerful men tonight. Was essential part of taking on role of
Pakhan
. I do not regret it, because half of the blood in my body belongs to my mother’s people, and it honors me to take her maiden name.”

She swallowed hard. “I’m…I’m Jessica Dubinski?”

“Yes.”

The unreality of this moment washed over her, leaving her feeling lightheaded.

“Do you know I’ll have had four last names?” She ticked her fingers off as she spoke.  “Venture, Novikov, St. Cloud, and now Dubinski. Wait—five, because I was a Cleary for eighteen months before I became a Venture.” A somewhat wild giggle escaped her before she abruptly sobered. “Your father, is he going to kill you for changing sides?”

“He is a nonissue.”

“Alex, he’s going to be furious with you over changing your name. You know how traditional he is, how caught up in his pride. He’s going to lose his mind.”

“I am hoping the shock will kill him and save us all the trouble.”

A startled laugh escaped her and she rested her face against his chest, soothing herself with his heartbeat. “You know what, suddenly the hit on me doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.”

He kissed the top of her head over and over again. “It will be dealt with, I promise.”

“How? Vera said it would be next to impossible to get rid of it.”

“Jessica, look at me.”

When she lifted her gaze to his, she was staggered by the ferociousness of his expression. “You both underestimate me, when you should both know better.”

Flushing, she looked away and fiddled with the edges of his shirt. “I’m sorry.”

He gave a weary sigh. “So am I. This is not how I wish for things to occur. If I had my way, I would disappear for next twenty years with you and Tatiana. Find some quiet part of the world to raise our family where we could be safe and happy. Unfortunately, that is about as likely to happen as unicorn appearing in Red Square.”

Laughing softly again, she let herself stare at him to her heart’s content, gaining strength from the growing bond between them. “Honestly, Alex, I had that kind of safe life in Miami but without you, it was nothing.”

“Being with me puts you both in such peril. I hate that more than anything, knowing how I have endangered both your lives.”

“Hey now, enough with the melodrama.” His arched brows raised high in indignation, but she ignored him. “We could sit around all day finding ways to make every bad thing that’s happened in the world somehow be our fault, but I’d rather enjoy what we have.”

Vera’s words of wisdom came to mind,
‘You are your husband’s source of joy, comfort, and relief. Spoil him with love and he will move mountains for you.’

Gentling her tone, she stroked his hair back from his temples, fingering the silver strands. “You look tired.”

He gave her a weary smile. “It has been a long day.”

“Mmm, if I remember right, I know the best way to make sure you sleep well…Master.”

Heat flared in his gaze and the world around them began to slip away as she fell beneath his sensual spell.

“And what is it that you remember?”

With a slow grind of her hips, his semi became a full-on erection. “How much I enjoy serving you in all ways. How much I love to suck your cock. You remember that, don’t you? All those times I took you so far into my throat it burned, and held my breath while you flooded my mouth with your cum.”

“My filthy girl.” His low growl seared through her. “I want Maks to eat your pussy while you swallow my cock. Feeling your mouth on me as you orgasm, the way you sigh against my dick, is one of my favorite memories of you. Will you allow that?”

“What? You want Maks to join us?”

Startled, she almost shifted off his lap before he caught her and hauled her back with a blank expression. “Forgive me, I was wrong to assume that you would want him to pleasure you.”

She chewed her bottom lip. In truth she missed the excitement of the lifestyle they’d enjoyed together, but right now she was still feeling out her relationship with her husband. “Alex, we kind of need to ease back into all of…that.”

“We never have to do any of that ever if you do not wish it, Jessica.” He grasped her face between his hands, his silver eyes bright with emotion and a hint of fear. “I am sorry I brought it up. You must think I am depraved to suggest such a thing.”