Last Kiss (Hitman #3) (26 page)

VASILY

“Come, let’s go.” I gesture to both Naomi and the boy. The commotion has brought the caterers and staff hired to man the party down to the study. I wave the gun at them. “Be gone. There is no business here of yours,” I shout to them in Russian.

They scatter like flies.

“Why didn’t you kill her before?” the boy asks me.

“I had just killed her brother. Killing Elena so soon after would have destabilized the organization. When the council presented the opportunity to take control if I fulfilled a small task, I seized on it. I would have killed shortly after. My mistake. I underestimated her and we all suffered.”

“But you are Vasily Petrovich,” the boy protests. “I’ve heard of you. The
volk
of the Petrovichs. Breathe wrong and he will kill you. It does not matter if it is even his own beloved sister.”

The mention of Katya makes my knees buckle. Killing Elena does not rewind time and make the painting magically whole. Today I have become the target of not only the Petrovichs but the Dostonevs as well. My sister is a target. The beautiful, brilliant woman I have come to love standing in front of me is a target.

I will go and sacrifice myself to Dostonev, plead for my sister’s life, for Naomi’s protection.

“If I go before the council empty-handed, I will be killed. It is better for me to leave. Naomi, I will be able to protect you until your brother arrives. And you, little one, can you scurry off to safety with your brother?”

“But you can still lead.” The boy is like a dog with a bone. He will not let go.

“I am no one now.”

“Who were you before?” he asks.

“I was no one before. I came from the mud, the dirt, the garbage.”

Naomi puts her soft hand on my shoulder. “I’ll follow you.”

“Me as well.”

“Me too,” pipes up the ten-year-old. The older boy had rescued him while Naomi and I were busy dealing with Elena.

I stare at them. “Without the
Bratva
, I have nothing. Everything I possess is owned by the
Bratva
.”

“What do you mean?” Naomi asks.

The boy interjects. “It is true. When the
Bratva
takes you in and gives to you, it is only temporary, for the period of time while you are part of the brotherhood. When you leave, you depart with only what you had when you entered.”

I show my empty hands to Naomi.

“I came in when I was ten and had nothing but my sister, so I leave with nothing.”

She scratches her head. “But I have money and access to a lot more. Can we buy our way in?”

“
Nyet
.” I shake my head, bemused by her generosity. How does she want to stay with someone like me? Tainted and befouled? “The brotherhood rests on loyalty.”

“So what would the head of the
Bratva
do in case of a coup?”

“He would call his soldiers home,” I tell her. “Devise tests for their loyalty. See which men will be loyal regardless, which will question the new rule, and which need to be weeded out. Then, he will do the weeding and establish his rule.”

“Then that is what you do,” Naomi responds, patting my sleeve.

The boy next to her nods. “Many would follow you. The
boyevik
s all speak of you with awe.”

He is saying things I want to hear only because he is afraid to be alone. I take Naomi’s hand in mine, for I need the comfort of her touch.

“Go to your home, boy. If the Petrovich
Bratva
has no leader, it will become a bloody turf battle. Go home with your brother and protect yourself.”

After some indecision, he nods and runs off.

“Let us go somewhere safe as well.”

She does not protest.

I take her to another safe house. I will not be able to afford the rent on many of these in the future. If by some chance I make it out alive, I will hire out my gun and become
ubitsya
like Nikolai. A man without allegiance.

“You can shower while I call my sister.”

Naomi whirls to me. “Your sister isn’t dead?”

Confused, I realize I have never told her my greatest secret. I am
so used to pretending I have no sister. I feel a smile spread across my face.

“No. She is not. She lives.” The smile dies quickly. “I made a bargain with another devil to keep her safe, pretended to kill her, and have not seen her in years.”

“Oh, Vasily,” she sighs. “That’s a lot of time not to see your sister.”

I nod solemnly. “Too long.”

“Does everyone believe your sister is dead?”

“
Da.
Everyone. Everyone but you and the devil.”

I can tell by the light in her face that she likes this, being the sole possessor of this knowledge.

“What would happen if you were dead? How would she find out?”

“Dostonev, a man who I had planned to deliver the painting to after I obtained backing from the council, would tell her. His men have guarded her since she was twelve.”

“What if you weren’t dead, but just captured?”

“She should still act as if I am dead, because I would not be captured without a fight.”

“Logically, you should walk in and tell them what happened. That Elena had the painting all along and that she burned it to spite the brotherhood. Everyone will be angry with her and support you.”

“Is that right?” I cannot stop staring at her. How long until all I have are my memories? I wonder if tonight will be the last time she will allow me to touch her.

“Yes. Do you want to shower with me? You look like you do. Ordinarily I can’t read facial cues, but your whole body becomes
tense and your cheekbones become more prominent when you want to fuck me. That and your cock is hard.” She points down to my waist.

I follow her gesture to stare at the obscene rise in my trousers. “I am always hard for you, Naomi.”

“Then come shower. I will wait for you.”

I dial the number without thinking.

“Vasya, what is wrong? It is not our scheduled time.”

“Hush, Katya,” I say, my eyes still on Naomi. She is wandering around my tiny apartment. Like the other safe house, there is only room for a bed and a small table. There is a shower, however. “I was not able to retrieve the painting. Elena knew of my plans somehow and burned the painting before I could present it to the brothers.”

“That stupid bitch,” Katya curses. “I wish I was there. I’d snap her twiggy neck like a brittle branch.”

I cough. “I actually did that.”

“You did?” She sounds gleeful, and then in a more subdued tone says, “What happens now? What about Dostonev?”

“I do not know what the council will decide tomorrow. Perhaps . . .” I pause, for emotion is threatening to overtake me. I have not seen Katya in ten years. Not since I killed her. “This might be my last night. You must go into hiding.”

She begins to sob. “No, no, Vasya. Run away. Run away tonight. Come to me. I have saved so much of the money you send to me. We can go to America and get jobs. I will wait tables and you . . . you can . . . you can . . .” She trails off because there is no occupation that I am suited for that does not involve killing.

“I love you, Katya. Leave now. Do not wait for me to call again. Assume I am dead and that you will be exposed. Maybe if
I am gone, my enemies will forget you. I love you.” I hang up then. My head feels too big, too heavy for my neck. Sorrow weighs me down, and I find I cannot release the phone, as if it is my only link to my sister left.

I do not know how long I sit there, clutching the phone in my hands. Naomi is beside me, smelling fresh and clean. Her skin is scrubbed and looks dewy soft.

“My sister,” I croak. “She will be left alone without me. And you.” I cannot bring myself to formulate the words.

“I will help watch over your sister. Daniel will watch over us both,” Naomi says. I push to my feet, for if tomorrow is my last day, then I want to be inside of Naomi for as long as I have left. “Come on.” She tugs at my arm. “Water makes you feel better. It’s proven.”

“If you say it, then it must be true.” I run my hand over her freshly washed hair. “Will you join me?”

She nods even though she has just dried off. It seems we can deny each other nothing.

Inside the shower, the hot water washes over us in slow dribbles but neither of us mind. I watch as rivers and tributaries form on Naomi’s pinkening skin. With my tongue, I begin to traverse those waterways. One stream flows over the rise of her breast and breaks over the nipple. I suck on the one nipple and thumb the other. Under my mouth and hand, I feel her heart rate quicken. The nipples stiffen beneath my ministrations.

Moving lower, I dip my tongue into the well of her belly, the area so sensitive that even light contact causes her fingers to tighten around my scalp. Lower still, I find her tart liquid clinging to her inner thighs. I kneel, the tile sharp against my knees. The sharp sensation brings me alive and hardens my shaft.

Tenderly I lift one leg over my shoulder. “Talk to me, Naomi. Tell me what I am doing to you.” I need to hear her speak of her pleasure again.

“Ahh, you are going to lick my clit, right? I hope so. That’s what I like the most, although I do enjoy your cock inside me. It would be great if you could lick me and fuck me at the same time.”

“I can.” I’m delighted that she wants toys and saddened that I might not be able to enjoy them with her. The thought of her with another man angers me. I fall upon her sex like a beast then. I will make her come so many times tonight that every man that follows me will be a disappointment. Instantly I am regretful and soften my tongue lashes against her tiny clit.

Her nails dig into my scalp. “Why did you stop? I liked your tongue hard against me and your chin scraping between my thighs.”

“Did you?” I say and turn to press a kiss against her leg. “I attacked you because I thought about another man between your legs, and it angered me. But then I do not want you to be lonely and unsatisfied for the rest of your life.”

She tugs on my hair, pulling me upright. Holding my face between her palms, Naomi forces her eyes to meet mine. As always, the shock of blue is stunning. She holds me there for one second, maybe two, and her eyes slide away. I know that she is still staring at me, though, her eyes seeing things that others would never, no matter how long they met my gaze.

“I will have no
other
than you,” she vows. “So you better fix things tomorrow.”

I lift her on top of me, for I cannot wait another minute without the feel of her cunt surrounding me.

“There is no better feeling in this world than your soft, wet walls hugging me tight,” I gasp. Bending at my knees, I push her
against the tile. “Mark me, Naomi, with your claws. Mark me well so that tomorrow I remember what I am fighting for.”

She digs her nails into my shoulder and catches my ear between her teeth. Her cunt sucks at my cock, dragging me in when I withdraw and embracing me when I thrust forward.

Relentlessly I pound into her, uncaring that the water has turned ice cold and that the shower is too small for our gymnastics. I want only to fuck her and fuck her and fuck her until I am nothing but bone.

I wrench the door open and stagger out of the bathroom and onto the bed. Tumbling her backward, I follow her down so that we are not separated, not once, not even for a second.

I pull her legs upright and press them together. “You will feel me deeper this way.” I push in slowly this time so I can see how deep I can go without hurting her. She moans her pleasure. “Touch yourself, Nadya.”

I’ve taken to calling her by a diminutive at her request. She says that if I call my sister Katya and that I am called Vasya by those I love then I, too, must call her something special.

So she has become Nadya to me. Naomi, Nadya, it makes no difference what I call her. She is my everything. The beginning of the day and the end of it.

If this is the last time I am ever inside her, I will remember it, and my soul will find hers again and again until someday we are together again.

Her fingers press in the valley of her legs, slow and tentative at first. “It’s not as good as when you do it,” she admits. I brace one hand next to her head and press forward, the weight of my body pushing her knees toward the bed. With my free hand, I reach around her thighs and place my thumb over her fingers.

“Touch yourself,” I repeat. Beneath my hand I feel her move. “Can you feel your wetness? Your arousal?” I breathe deep. “I can smell you. After I am done fucking you, I want you to sit on my face. I will eat you until you come again, until my mouth, my throat, my lips are covered in your juice. But first you must come.” I pull out and flip her over onto her belly and before she can take her next breath, I’m entering her. She stretches to accommodate me, my cock thicker, heavier, longer than before.

She exhales with each thrust, moaning her approval and encouragement. Her hips tilt upward. I rock into her until the head of my cock is buried deep inside her channel. I feel as if I can never have enough of her. My head is clouded with need and want. I can see only one thing. Naomi, Nadya, Mine.

I tuck my hand between us and touch her as she so desperately needs. Her pussy is swollen, stretched, and wet against my hand. She grinds her ass against me, her breaths are harsh, racked pants. Around my cock and against my hand I can feel her stiffen as ecstasy catches her up. Delirium sets in and I pound frantically into her until my hot seed shoots into her endlessly.