Sergei (27 page)

Why had he reacted with his fists first? Didn't he understand that he was asking for trouble? With his connections, knocking out a police officer was the very last complication he needed. Was this the way it would always be with him? Punch first, ask questions later?

We arrived at the apartment complex, and after Sergei helped me get Mama inside, he stepped out into the breezeway between apartments to make a phone call. I figured this was one of those things he needed to report to his boss. Once Kevan sobered up, he was probably going to make problems for Sergei and his friends.

"Don't you be mad at him," Mama said as I helped her into her nightgown. "He defended your honor."

"I'm a grown woman, Mama. I don't need a man to punch out someone else in defense of my honor."

"Maybe you don't," she conceded, "but sometimes it needs to be done. Kevan was out of line. He had no right to speak to you like that. What do you think Perry would have done?"

My lips parted but I didn't have the answer. Shrugging, I admitted, "I don't know."

"He would have done the same thing Sergei did. There is no way he would have allowed any man to say such a nasty thing."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make it right."

Mama sighed and settled into her favorite chair in the living room. "Well…don't you be mean to Sergei. He's a nice boy, and I like him."

"All right, Mama." I glanced around the living room. "Do you want me to get your meds?"

She shook her head and patted the phone on the end table next to her. "I'm about to call Agnes. She'll come out and get me situated for the night. You go on home."

The door to the apartment opened and Sergei stepped inside. Abashed and clearly regretful, he crouched down in front of my mother. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Bradshaw. I didn’t mean to ruin your evening."

"You didn't. Kevan did that, not you." She bent down and whispered something to Sergei that I couldn't hear. The two of them sharing secrets just irritated me to no end.

"Night, Mama." I kissed her cheek and hugged her. "I'll call you in the morning."

"Okay, honey. Good night. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Out in the warm, still night, Sergei smartly didn't say a single word. We rode to my house in complete silence and still hadn't uttered a syllable by the time we entered the house. Sergei trailed me into the entryway and watched me kick off my shoes and drop my handbag in its usual spot on the table there.

Finally, he found the courage to speak. "Baby, I'm sorry."

"Don't even start with the baby and
milaya moya
stuff, Sergei. You're not going to fix this one by seducing me and making me forget why I'm upset with you."

"What was I supposed to do, Bianca?" He seemed genuinely at a loss.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" he repeated in disbelief. "Bianca, that man insulted you."

"So? You think that's the first time someone has ever insulted me? News flash, Sergei! It happens all the time. Remember Lidia?" The sour look on his face told me he did. "I didn't punch her lights out even though I was sorely tempted."

"This was different."

"Was it?'

"He called you a—." As if unable to even bring himself to utter the word in my presence, Sergei shook his head. "No one says that about you. No one! You're my girlfriend, and I'll fight any man who says something so nasty to you."

"You can't just go around whacking people because they piss you off, Sergei. That's not the way it works in the civilized world. Maybe in the underworld that's how you guys settle things, but you can't do that in my world."

"Is that what this is about? You think I don't know the difference? That I can't tell when a man deserves to be hit and when he doesn't?"

"Does any man ever really
deserve
to be hit, Sergei?"

"Hell yes! If they insult you, they deserve more than that."

Agog at his strident defense of me, I asked simply, "Why?"

"Why?" he echoed. "Bianca, you're mine. You belong to me. I protect what's mine." He swallowed in a way that seemed almost nervous. "I love you, Bianca. I will love you until the moment I draw my last breath, and even then, I'll probably go on loving you until the end of time."

The air between us sizzled. I couldn't breathe as his admission of love wound itself around me like a warm embrace. It wasn't the scary thing I had imagined it to be. No, it was quite the opposite. Instead of dreading the way those three words would change things between us, I relished them. It occurred to me that I had been waiting for him to say them all along. For the first time in my life, I didn't want to play it safe or easy. No, I wanted the most impossibly complicated thing in the world. I wanted Sergei. Because…

"I love you, Sergei."

His face slackened with shock. A second later, he grinned. "Yes?"

Nodding, I smiled at him. "Yes."

"
Lyubimaya
." Utilizing his brute strength, Sergei lifted me off the floor and captured my mouth in a tender kiss. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and my legs around his waist. He used the nearest wall to brace my back while he attacked my mouth with increasingly passionate kisses. "Say it again, Bianca."

His breathless plea made my heart flutter. God, this man loved me so much. All he wanted was for me to love him back. That was it.

Caressing his face, I peered into his proud, handsome face. "I love you, Sergei."

"I'll do right by you, Bianca. Whatever it takes, I'll get out and give you the life you deserve."

Taken aback by the vow he had just sworn to me, I claimed his mouth. It wouldn’t be that simple, and I feared what it would cost him, but I knew he wouldn't break that promise. Somehow, some way, he was going to get out of the mob and build a future with me.

Dotting his lips along the ticklish curve of my neck, he said, "I think we should take this to the bedroom. This is the sort of thing a couple celebrates with a marathon of lovemaking, isn't it?"

"Oh, I really hope so."

A teasing smile lit up his face. "I thought you said I couldn't fix this one by seducing you?"

"Apparently, I was wrong." I kissed his neck and nipped at his jaw. "Take me upstairs, Sergei. Show me how much you love me."

He laughed and easily carried me up to the second floor. "It might be years before I let you out of bed."

"Promises, promises…"

Chapter Fifteen

Humming softly to myself in the stockroom, I pressed the button on the automated racks that carried our bridal inventory and waited for the next dress on my list to approach. After the magic of my weekend with Sergei, I hadn't really wanted to come into work today, but running a small business, even with the amazing staff here, required my presence. We were knee-deep in the busiest part of the wedding season so this was the time when it was all-hands on deck.

The rack slowed to a stop, and I ran my fingers along the tags attached to each hanger until I found the simple sheath. Plucking it free, I transferred it to a rolling rack of gowns I was preparing for an afternoon appointment. The bride-to-be was two months pregnant and preparing for a quickie South Padre Island ceremony. She wanted something light and flirty with enough coverage in the front to provide some camouflage. Thankfully, we had about a dozen different gowns in stock that were ready to go with only minimal alterations.

A door squealed behind me. Thinking it was one of the consultants, I didn't pay it much attention. There were seven of them on the floor right now, and it was common for them to dart into the back if their first four or five picks didn't make the bride swoon.

"Bibi?"

Startled by Kevan's voice, I spun around and frowned at him. "What are you doing back here?"

Dressed in his police officer uniform, he gestured to his bruised cheek and jaw. "I came to apologize for what I said." His downcast gaze telegraphed his regret and embarrassment. "I shouldn't drink like that. It brings out the worst in me."

"Clearly," I said tightly.

"I didn't mean it, Bibi. I know you're not…you know."

"Well, that's nice, Kevan. Unfortunately, an entire room filled with our friends heard you call me that so saying you're sorry now doesn't exactly fix that, does it?"

"No," he answered quietly.

Those feelings of humiliation washed over me. "You called me a slut in front of my mother, Kevan."

He cringed. "I am sorry, Bianca. If I could go back—"

"Yeah, I know."

Holding out his hands, he said, "I didn't press charges against your—against Sergei."

"Wow. That's so gracious of you."

He frowned at me, the expression drawing attention to his fat lip. "He hit me and knocked me out. I could have had him arrested."

"So why didn't you?"

He prevaricated. "Well…"

"You know what I think? I think you knew that you were in the wrong, and you didn't want everyone at work to know how damned nasty you were to me." When he didn't agree or disagree, I added, "I don't condone what Sergei did. I don't like that he solved that problem with his fists, but I know why he did it."

Kevan seemed to be waiting for me to explain the why of the situation, but it wasn't any of his business. He sighed roughly. "You know he's trouble, Bianca. That man is tied up in some really bad shit. You don't need that in your life."

"I know what I do and don’t need in my life, Kevan."

"And you need him?"

"Yes."

Clicking his teeth, he shook his head and glanced at the far wall. Blowing out a noisy breath, he said, "We'll just have to agree to disagree when it comes to him."

"Yes, I suppose we will."

"Look, I don't like the way things are between us. We used to be good friends. You counted me on for everything. I'd like to get back to that."

"I'm not sure we can get back to the way things were, Kevan."

"I'd like to try." He hesitated. "Maybe I could bring dinner and we could paint that bathroom you've been talking about doing."

"We painted it this weekend." Flashes of the steamy tryst I had shared with Sergei atop that drop cloth came to mind. Watching those rippling muscles of his as he had rolled paint up and down the walls had done crazy things to me. In between coats, we had found a few very pleasurable ways to kill time. This morning in the shower, I had still been scrubbing paint off my skin—but oh! I rather liked the do-it-yourself tricks Sergei was teaching me.

"I see." He didn't sound happy, but that wasn't my problem. "What about your prowler? Have you had any more run-ins with him?"

"No." Thinking of the way he had kept information from me, I asked, "Is there a reason you didn't tell me about the attack on Adam Blake?"

His eyes widened. "You know about that? Bibi, I was just trying to shield you from the ugliness of it. There's nothing to be gained from knowing all that nonsense."

"That's not your decision to make, Kevan. Did you know that the Houston PD has someone following me around now because they're worried those skinheads are going to come after me?"

"What? You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I spoke to Detective Santos about it. He couldn't believe you hadn't told me about the attack on Adam Blake."

Kevan's eyes narrowed. "What else did he say?"

Not wanting to get into specifics with Kevan, I shrugged. "That's it. He told me to be careful and get a dog, a security system and a gun."

"So you went out and got a Russian mobster instead?"

I slid both hands out in front of me. "Okay. We're done here. Goodbye, Kevan."

"Bibi, one of these days you're going to realize what a mistake you've made. You're going to need me."

"I doubt that, but thanks for the warning." I watched Kevan leave and stood there shaking my head at what a bizarre turn our friendship had taken. I accepted that I wasn't totally blameless here. Obviously I hadn't been careful enough and had failed to let Kevan know that I hadn't been after anything serious. That was one-hundred percent my fault. Even so, that didn't give him the right to be a total jackass about this.

Pondering whether to cut ties with Kevan or find a way to move forward, I finished selecting dresses for my bridal appointment. Out on the floor, I wheeled the rack to the dressing area I would be using and made sure the space was prepared for my client's arrival.

"Hey, Bianca?" Our receptionist Mindy poked her inside the dressing room I was tidying. "There's a guy at the front desk who wants to speak with you. He said he's a contractor. Something about a bid on a garage?"

"Oh. Um—tell him I'll be right out." Surprised by the visit from a contractor, I primped the flowers in the dressing room, wiped down the mirror and hung a fresh robe for the bride. I got sidetracked on the way to the reception desk by a consultant who needed some help with a plus-sized bride who wanted a specific mermaid gown. The sample size was much too small for her, and she looked about ready to burst into tears.

"Go pull the Arianna design from my collection, Jackie. The sample size should be a close fit." Rubbing the bride's bare arms, I smiled at her in the mirror. "The dress Jackie is bringing is one of my designs. It's a bit simpler than this gown you're wearing, but it will give you an idea of how you'll look in the mermaid silhouette."