Russian's Intense Love (Drobilka Family Series #2) (2 page)

Rising to his knees, Vadim lifted her legs and placed them against his shoulders before burying his shaft deep inside her. They both groaned with lust as her body eagerly welcomed him. Any thoughts of pretense evaporated as he set a punishing pace, rapidly pounding in and out as she dug her nails into his arms. Lifting her hips, she tried to match his pace as she met him thrust for thrust, eager to take whatever he offered. Her body wanted what he had to give, and she could think of nothing else as a series of orgasms rolled through her, causing her to spasm and clutch greedily at his cock with each thrust.

Vadim fought to keep his own orgasm from coming as he enjoyed the power he had over her while she quivered with need. Lifting her head, she kissed him deeply before sucking hard at his tongue. The combination of her actions was the final straw as his balls gripped him, briefly paralyzing him before releasing his orgasm with a roar. Speeding up, he continued to pound into her before gradually slowing down. When he was spent, he collapsed on top of her before shifting to his back and pulling her against him, as she lay sprawled against his chest, one leg lazily draped across him.

Holding her, he kissed her gently as he stroked her back until her spasms slowed and stopped. They lay together for several minutes, both too surprised to speak. Their lovemaking had been primal at best and neither was sure what to say.

Bethany shifted in his arms as her stomach growled. Chuckling, he lifted her head to look at him. “Hungry?”

“Famished,” she replied with a grin.

Chapter 3

Tuesday morning, Bethany sat in Marci Chase’s office while she was busy teaching one of her favorite classes. As a handler for the FBI, she had long maintained her standing as a graduate professor in the languages department at the University of Texas. It often afforded her the opportunity to travel without raising suspicion and her years at UT gave her a certain amount of autonomy in her activities. Sanderson had come through and provided them with all the background information they had on Victor Vadimar Markman aka Vadim Sannikoff.

Born and raised in Belaya Lisitsa, near the Siberian border, in 1976, Vadim was the middle son of Victor Markman, a high-ranking officer in the then Soviet military. Known for his cruelty, Colonel Markman was rumored to have beaten to death two different wives before eventually being killed under suspicious circumstances by friendly fire. Vadim’s younger brother was listed as deceased, and his older sister appeared to be alive and living in the family home.

As Bethany sifted through the file, she reviewed Vadim’s military record as she paused to look at what photos the research team could pull together. His military career was short-lived as he didn’t seem able to control his anger and several members in his unit were injured or died as a result of his actions. He quickly excelled when he shifted over to work as a mercenary, where he eventually worked his way up, or through, several different organizations, slowly amassing a small fortune as a gun for hire and a smuggler.

Based on the information provided, Vadim had immigrated to the United States and had briefly worked for a man by the name of Dmitri Nardov, who according to the file, was recently indicted on several counts of smuggling, kidnapping, and attempted murder. When Vadim took over the Drobilka cartel, the once loosely organized organization was suddenly being run with military precision and had expanded outside the drug trade into more profitable ventures.

Bethany shut the file with a sigh. This was much more than she had anticipated, and the thought of going into work at the Rubicon filled her with dread. She needed to hold it together if they had any chance of shutting them down. Placing the file back in the cabinet, she locked it before grabbing her backpack. She was expected to attend school at least on a part-time basis in order to maintain her cover, and she had a language class in fifteen minutes, which was just enough time to grab some caffeine.

As she headed over to what had become her favorite coffee cart, she rubbed the back of her neck. She looked around and tried to figure out what was out of place, but the campus was alive with students and she didn’t see anything amiss. Shaking her head, she ordered a triple-shot latte and a scone before returning to the languages building. With two classes, back-to-back, she would be done by eleven and wouldn’t have to be back on campus until Thursday, assuming nothing was going on. As she walked past a group of students, lost in thought, she failed to notice the young man standing with the other students but not engaging with them. He watched as she entered the building before trailing in after her.

When Wednesday evening rolled around, Bethany was nervous about going in to work. The picture of Vadim painted by the file they had on him had her wondering about the two very different men. The original, hard as nails, quick to anger and react versus the one who rescued her from drunks and managed to turn her insides upside down with only one look. She had a hard time reconciling the two and worried that the killer for hire was simmering just below the surface of the man whose arms she felt comfortable falling asleep in.

Parking in the employee parking lot at the Rubicon, Bethany walked inside. Four of the members of the Drobilka cartel were sitting at their usual table, and she nodded to them as she walked past. She didn’t see Vadim anywhere and assumed that he was in his office. Debating about sticking her head in, she headed to the employee locker room to change into her uniform.

Slipping into the short shift, she adjusted the belt to hide the scars that riddled her body before lacing up her gladiator sandals. She fiddled with her hair as she looked at herself in the full-length mirror. Not yet twenty-five, her slender, boyish figure didn’t look like any of the other women who worked at the Rubicon, who sported curvaceous, well-endowed figures.

Well, it wasn’t as if I planned to make a career out of working at a strip club
, she thought to herself as she looked in the mirror one last time. Walking out onto the floor, she picked up her tablet and turned to her station to see who needed help. A small party of what looked to be frat boys from the UT was already pounding back drinks as they watched the dancers on stage. Making her way around, she cleared empty glasses and took more orders while avoiding the obligatory groping of her ass.

Remembering Sasha’s advice on her first day, she did her best to avoid the drunken partygoers as she waved to one of the dancers to run interference for her while she waited on the tables. As she turned, she bumped into a young male sitting in her area. She bumped into another when she stepped back to apologize. Bethany quickly maneuvered out from between them by stepping sideways as she gave them her best fake smile.

Staggering in front of her, the first guy leered at her, “Thisssssss is my baaa-ch-lor party,” he slurred.

“Well, congratulations on your lucky day, how about if I buy you a drink to celebrate?”

“Only if you drink with me,” he answered.

She frowned slightly and pointed vaguely over her shoulder. “Well, the bosses don’t like it when the servers drink as it might lead to dropped drinks. How about if I…” Bethany paused when she realized that her tablet was no longer secured to her belt. Looking around, she saw that the second guy had lifted it from her and was now back in his seat with a cheesy grin on his face.

“Well, now,” she began as she motioned to the bachelor’s friend. “How can I possibly buy you another drink if I don’t have my tablet to take your order?” she asked, hoping that he was drunk enough not to argue.

“You will just have to to to figure it out, but you won’t get it back until you have a drink with me.”

Pasting a smile back on her face, she replied, “Why don’t you enjoy the show while I see to our drinks.” As Bethany turned to walk to the bar, she scanned the room for the bouncers that patrolled the club, but the Rubicon was packed for a Wednesday night and all the bouncers were otherwise engaged. Walking up to the bar, she ordered a round of Rubicon Specials, fruit juice with soda water, in the hopes that the bachelor party would be too drunk to notice that there was no alcohol, as she grimaced at Sasha who was tending bar.

“Problem?”

“You could say that,” Bethany replied. “Bachelor boy and his friends lifted my tablet and won’t give it back until I have a drink with him.”

“That’s something for the bouncers.”

“I know, but they’re all busy.” Grabbing the drinks Sasha gave her, she continued, “If you catch one, would you please send him over?”

Sasha nodded. “Will do.”

As Bethany walked back over to her station, she looked around hoping to catch the eye of any of the males who worked there, but everyone was busy. Remembering to smile, she headed toward the tables as she passed out the shot glasses.

“This, gentlemen,” she began as she walked around the table, “is a Rubicon Special. You won’t find it on any menu. In fact,” she leaned in conspiratorially, “you have to be in the know to get one. But since it is…I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
Adam!
someone shouted out. “But since Adam is going to tie the knot soon, I would like to propose a toast that my Irish granddad would often use. Are you ready?” At their nods, she held up her shot glass, “May you die in bed at 95, shot by a jealous spouse.” At the hoots of laughter, everyone downed the shot and slammed it down on the table. Smiling at the guy who lifted her tablet, she held out her hand and he reluctantly handed it back to her. She turned on her heel and headed back to the bar to tell Sasha that she was taking a quick break.

Leaving her tray at the bar, she popped her tablet into a docking station and walked into the locker room. She sagged against the door, then walked over to the nearest bench and crumpled onto it as she buried her head in her hands.

“That was well done,” came a deep voice. “But you should have waited for a bouncer.”

Looking up, Bethany smiled thinly, “I tried to find one, but it’s busy tonight.”

Vadim nodded as he sat down next to her, “Next time, get help. It’s not your job to entertain the customers. Leave that for the dancers.” Pursing her lips, Bethany was about to complain, but simply nodded her head. He stood again and looked down at her, “I’ve switched your station for the rest of the night. You’ll be upstairs. It’s quieter, and you won’t be hassled.” Before she could reply, he walked out.

Bethany sighed and went into the bathroom to pull herself together before heading back out. Walking around the perimeter of the club to avoid the bachelor party, she grabbed her tablet and climbed the stairs up to the mezzanine level. She was surprised to see that this was a higher-level VIP section with its own private bar. Walking up to the bar, she dropped her tablet into the docking station to pull up the current customer orders. She went to introduce herself while seeing to any needs.

The remainder of the evening was uneventful, and Bethany tiredly changed out of her uniform and into her street clothes. As she was walking toward the exit, she paused in front of Vadim as he handed out the night’s pay. When she received her envelope, she was surprised that it felt thicker. Looking up at Vadim in question, “The bachelor party enjoyed your toast and included an extra tip for you.” As Bethany nodded her head in thanks and started to leave, he grabbed her arm to stop her. “There’s a private party tomorrow, I need you here at three.”

As Bethany drove home, she contemplated who would be at the club early tomorrow. Wondering if it was going to be members of the Chinese Triad again, she decided to go through what files the FBI had while she was on campus.

Chapter 4

Bethany pulled into the Rubicon’s employee parking lot and looked around at the few cars. When she had gotten home last night, she had fallen into an exhausted sleep and had almost slept through her alarm that morning. When she arrived at her handler’s office, Marci was already headed to class, so Bethany went to her favorite coffee cart for a high-powered caffeine dose and a blueberry scone. As she stood with her eyes closed, enjoying her espresso, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise again. Looking around, she still couldn’t see anything amiss. Shrugging it off to being overly tired, she tossed her empties into the trash before heading to class. She would speak with Marci later.

Before getting out of the car, she reached into her glove box for the sunglasses that Marci had given her. Walking inside, she went straight to the locker room to change into her uniform. Vadim met her inside to place a pendant around her neck. While he had told her it was required of all girls who worked the private parties, Bethany knew it housed a recording device, which would allow him to spy on his guests. As she turned around to look at him, she bit her lip.

Grasping her chin, he lifted her head to look at him. “What is it?”

Bethany shook her head. “It’s nothing, really,” she answered as she fingered the pendant.

“Nyet. It’s something. Tell me,” he demanded.

Bethany wasn’t entirely sure why she was helping him, but she felt the need to ask, “Well, given what happened last time, did you want me to spend time around any particular guests?”

Leaning down to kiss her forehead, “All of them,” he told her before exiting the locker room.

She walked out into the club and blinked her eyes a few times while they adjusted to the darkened room. Retrieving her tablet, she waved to Sasha who was behind the bar and looked as tired as she felt. Bethany made her way over to the private party to introduce herself and take their orders.

She recognized many of the men from the previous party she worked as she told everyone hello in halting Chinese. Smiling at her, some of the older men spent a few moments correcting her pronunciation as she smiled. Since the majority of the guests were already familiar with her and didn’t know that she understood Chinese, they were speaking much more freely as she made her rounds seeing to their needs. The Rubicon had arranged for a small Dim Sum buffet and rather than making them get up, she ferried food to them, which allowed her to spend more time at the tables without appearing obtrusive.