The Jersey Vignettes (2 page)

Chapter Four

“Ana!”

“Yeah?”

Ana was far too comfortable on the plush chaise that overlooked the windows in her hotel suite to get up and find out what Koldan wanted. Three days into their honeymoon and they had yet to leave the five-star hotel with all its service and beauty. Besides, she had the perfect view of Paris just by looking out her windows. For now, she was content.

No doubt, Koldan would convince her to get up and go outside soon.

“Ana,” Koldan said again, popping his head out from the bathroom doorway.

“Yes?”

“Your phone is buzzing with a message,” her husband said.

Ana waved it off. “Just check it and let me know what it says.”

Koldan made a dismissive sound. “I already did.”

She wasn’t surprised. Ana didn’t really care. She had nothing to hide and neither did Koldan. If she wanted to look through his phone, he’d hand it over. Hers was the same thing.

“What did it say?”

“You missed your appointment at the clinic yesterday,” Koldan said quietly. “Not here, of course, but the place in Brooklyn. They’re sending you a text confirmation to reschedule.”

Oh.

Ana shrugged. “I don’t want to reschedule. Just text back with a no on my end, okay?”

“Sure.”

Something in the lilt of Koldan’s tenor caught Ana’s attention. She turned on the chaise, eyeing her usually charismatic and charming husband. He seemed quieter than normal, like something was going on in that head of his. Koldan could be odd like that—he often spent more time inside his head than he did outside. It also meant he was what Ana liked to call a deep thinker.

“What’s wrong?” Ana asked.

“Aren’t these notifications for your birth control shot?” Koldan asked, still looking down at Ana’s phone.

“Yes.”

“Huh.”

“Koldan,” Ana said, drawing his gaze to hers with his name.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t overthink this.”

Koldan’s tongue peeked out to wet his lips. “I don’t know if I can do that, Ana.”

“There’s no need to go looking for something that isn’t there, Koldan. I think what it means is pretty obvious.”

“Is it?”

“Yep,” Ana said.

“Well, I guess we’re not leaving the hotel today, either. Are we?”

Ana grinned. “Nope.”

Chapter Five

“Adrik, Cora, wonderful to see you again,” Christopher Marks said, shaking Adrik’s hand before he gave Cora’s outstretched one a kiss. Then, the man’s gaze turned on Koldan and Ana. “And the newest addition to the Vasin family is here tonight, I see.”

Ana supressed her shudder and did her best to offer the man a smile. “Nice to meet you, Senator.”

Christopher smiled back. “Koldan, my boy, quite the wife you managed reel in. And from the Avdonin family, no less.”

Koldan didn’t blink a lash. “Well, I wasn’t exactly aiming for a particular family when Ana came along.”

“Sure you weren’t,” Christopher said like he didn’t believe a word coming out of Koldan’s mouth.

Ana held back her scoff, but only because Koldan’s hand on her waist kept her grounded at his side. Politicians were sleazy as fuck. She didn’t care what anyone had to say about it. It didn’t matter who they were or what they were trying to sell, politicians could be bought and paid for by anyone with the right numbers in their bank account.

Christopher and Adrik were the perfect example. The Senator of New Jersey just happened to be firmly tucked in Adrik Vasin’s back pocket. The Vasin family, running their own Bratva organization like Ana’s father did, worked alongside officials and the most corrupt to get the best bang for their buck. It also helped to keep them out of trouble, Ana supposed.

In the end, it just made Ana feel like no politician of any sort could be trusted. Simple as that.

Unfortunately, living the kind of lifestyle they did often meant putting themselves into the public spotlight. Even growing up, with her father trying to keep his family out of the public view, Anton didn’t always succeed. Sometimes, they embraced it, too, for charity events and things of that nature. Which was exactly why Ana had come with Koldan tonight. Although, it wasn’t so much a charity event as a political rally for the Marks family. Another way to fill pockets and gain votes for the upcoming election. Ana had to put on her mask and play the proper part.

For Koldan, she didn’t mind.

“And where is Sofia tonight?” the Senator asked.

“She’s living in Brooklyn, now,” Adrik answered.

“She didn’t want to come?”

Adrik laughed. “My daughter was never one for these events.”

“Ah, well, I’m aware,” Christopher said. “But you know it looks good for her to be seen out and about with certain people just as the rest of your family is.”

“Perhaps, but I think missing one will be fine,” Adrik replied shortly.

Christopher waved a finger in the air, winking. “You know, that offer from my son is still on the table for her.”

Koldan scoffed but hid it with his hand and the fakest cough Ana had ever heard. No one acted like they noticed Ana’s husband’s rudeness.

“That’s never going to happen,” Adrik said, smiling.

“She might change her mind,” the senator replied.

“I doubt it,” Cora muttered. “My daughter’s stubbornness rivals even her father’s, and that’s saying something, believe me.”

Ana forced herself not to laugh at the disgusted look on Cora Vasin’s face. Koldan’s mother wasn’t Russian and really, Ana knew very little about her mother-in-law because of how private and quiet Cora was. Cora never once treated Ana like she wasn’t welcomed or like she wasn’t a part of the Vasin family, but breaking through the woman’s tough-as-steel walls had been difficult.

Give it time
, Ana told herself silently.

Ana and Koldan had only been married a couple of months. Before she moved to Jersey after their wedding, her meetings with Cora and Adrik were usually short and never too in-depth.

“Well, it would certainly benefit you, Adrik, if Sofia seriously considered Ryan’s offer,” Christopher said.

“What offer?” Ana asked Koldan, whispering so no one else would hear.

“Marriage,” her husband replied.

Ana cringed nine ways to Sunday for Sofia. That would never happen. Sofia liked her freedom and tying herself down to one man was probably not going to happen anytime soon.

“For the political side of things, I mean,” Christopher said, grinning. “After all, Ryan is slowing working his way into the scene, too. It won’t be long before he’s following his old man’s footsteps. What would you give to have your daughter aligned with a Senator, Adrik? Your left arm, I bet.”

Adrik’s stony expression didn’t change. “I’m sure.”

He didn’t sound like he particularly meant it.

“If she wanted to sleep beside a snake, there’s a pet store right down the block,” Ana said before she could stop herself.

All the conversation silenced instantly. Adrik’s gaze cut to his new daughter-in-law like he couldn’t believe what he just heard. Koldan choked on air, holding back laughter. Cora raised one of her perfectly manicured brows high, but said nothing.

The Senator, on the other hand, looked repulsed.

“I beg your pardon, Mrs. Vasin?” the Senator asked, a threatening edge sharpening his words.

Ana wished she could be surprised, but she wasn’t.

Koldan stepped in front of Ana, protecting his wife from view. “Back off, Chris.”

“That wife of yours—”

“Is just that, my wife,” Koldan interrupted sharply. “Back off, I said.”

With a huff and a muttered goodbye to Adrik, the Senator stomped off.

“Sorry,” Ana said.

Koldan chuckled, his shoulders shaking. He turned to face his wife with a smug as fuck smile. “Are you?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so,” Koldan said.

“Politicians made me feel icky,” Ana said.

“Me, too,” Cora replied. She smiled at her husband. “See, I told you she would fit right in.”

Ana laughed.

“Nothing he hasn’t heard before,” Adrik said, brushing it all off. “But next time, Ana, try to keep it inside your head or at least low enough so that he can’t hear.”

“I’ll try,” Ana said. “But he is a snake and I imagine so is his son.”

“They are,” her father-in-law agreed.

“Well done,” Cora said, patting Ana’s arm.

That was probably the most shocking of all. Ana returned her mother-in-law’s smile and let Cora drag her off to find a server with wine.

Chapter Six

Ana pushed open the office door to her husband’s club and promptly froze right where she stood. Koldan, resting in his chair and overlooking what seemed to be paperwork on his desk, didn’t take note of Ana’s entrance. A woman sat on the edge of his desk wearing the tightest, shortest skirt Ana had ever seen. The female’s high heel tapped a beat on the oak leg.

The girl was beautiful. She was blonde, green-eyed with makeup done flawlessly and legs for days. She held a magazine in her hand, looking it over while Koldan kept his head down on his work.

Jealousy and anger burned white-hot through Ana. She couldn’t control it even if she tried. Never once had she ever thought Koldan would step out on their marriage—he wasn’t that kind of man. But she didn’t like the sight she was looking at.

“Koldan,” Ana said, loud enough to catch her husband’s, and the unknown woman’s, attention.

Koldan glanced up, a smile splitting his lips. “Ana.”

“Hey.” Ana crossed her arms and eyed the female, not bothering to hide her contempt. “I thought you were busy today. Too busy to meet up for lunch, right?”

“I am.”

“Oh?”

Koldan cocked a brow as the woman slid off his desk. “I have orders to fill. What’s wrong with you?”

Ana met the woman’s gaze as she said goodbye to Koldan and crossed the room. She brushed past Ana without a word, but didn’t drop her stare. There was something behind those green eyes, something Ana didn’t like or trust. Once the female was gone, Ana slammed the door.

“What in the hell was that?” Ana asked, waving in the direction the female had gone.

“My floor manager?” Koldan asked back, confused.

“Is that what she is?”

“Yes.”

Ana nodded, refusing to let up in her defensive stance. “How often does she sit on your desk wearing a club dress and reading a magazine while you work, Koldan?”

Koldan’s gaze narrowed and he cocked his head to the side. “Are you asking me if I’m fucking Mara?”

Great, the girl was Russian, too. Even better.

“Yes,” Ana said simply. “I am.”

“No, Ana. I’m not.”

“Then why—”

“I was giving her the orders to make sure I hadn’t missed something. It’s a long process and she’s been up here for a good two hours or more. In case you forgot, last week you cleared my office of all the furniture because you wanted to redecorate. She has no place to sit other than my lap and that’s not going to happen.”

Koldan’s words had been spoken quietly but surely. Ana’s anger dissipated, quickly turning into embarrassment.

“I just … it didn’t look good,” Ana settled on saying.

“I’m not that kind of man,” Koldan replied.

She knew that, but sometimes …

“I trust you,” Ana said instead of voicing her inner thoughts.

Koldan’s brow furrowed. “I hope so. Otherwise, we’re wasting a lot of time here.”

“No, we’re not wasting time.”

“What was so important that you left your office to come find me here?” Koldan asked, pushing up from his leather chair. “Didn’t you have a meeting with that new client for their penthouse or whatever?”

“I did, but I got a call and it was exciting. I wanted to tell you in person.”

Ana took in the sight of her husband dressed in his usual slacks, silk shirt, and matching tie. Koldan preferred dark wash jeans and T-shirts at home, but outside, he was professional through and through. No one who ever met this man and didn’t know him personally would ever think he was Russian Mafia bred. Koldan looked damn good—tall, dark and handsome.

In just a few short months, Koldan had changed in very visible ways to Ana. Before, he’d been so involved in the underbelly of the mob and the dirty work of it all, that Ana couldn’t count the times on one hand she witnessed him sitting behind a desk or discussing business that wasn’t Bratva related. But since they married and moved to Jersey, Koldan was settling into a different role. The business man, hardworking and dedicated, ruthless still, and charming as always.

She knew why, too, of course. Koldan was stepping more and more into his father’s shoes for the Bratva, which meant he couldn’t just be running the streets and the people on them like he had been before. He needed to be professional and quick, he needed to build an empire around himself and make his own name. One that reflected the man he was following but also put him front and center as his own man in the Bratva game.

Ana couldn’t say she disliked the changes. It felt like a new step in their life.

“I love you,” Ana said.

Koldan came to stand in front of Ana, tilting her chin up under his urging with two fingers. Before she could get another word in edgewise, Koldan’s mouth crashed down on hers, taking away her ability to think or breathe. Everytime he kissed her, every sweep of his lips across hers and with every dive of his tongue, she felt owned by this man. No one else had ever been able to give Ana that feeling.

“I am not that kind of man,” Koldan repeated as he pulled away, sweeping his thumb over her bottom lip.

“I know,” Ana whispered. Her tongue darted out to touch his thumb still caressing her mouth. “I’m sorry.”

But that girl still screamed bad news to Ana. She chose to drop it.

“And I love you, too,” Koldan murmured.

Ana grinned. “Good.”

“What was the news?”

“Oh! I almost forgot.”

Koldan chuckled. “I’m very distracting.”

She poked her husband in the stomach, feeling his hard muscles jump under her touch. “You are.”

“The news?”

“Claire is pregnant. Demyan called to tell me,” Ana explained.

Koldan’s face lit up with a wide smile, but a sadness lingered in his gaze. They’d been trying for months to have a baby and nothing had happened yet. Ana didn’t want to think that something might be wrong, but the what ifs still played around in her head.

“Is she?” Koldan asked.

“Yep. Not very far along, though, so we have to keep quiet about it until they’re ready to tell the world.”

Koldan nodded. “All right. Your mother and father must be happy.”

“Probably. You were the first person I wanted to tell after I talked to my brother.”

“Oh?”

“Yes.” Ana caught his hand in hers and squeezed. “Come home with me.”

“I have work, Ana.”

She didn’t care.

“So? End the day early. Come home. Please?”

Koldan sighed, eyeing the papers on his desk over his shoulder. “That means it’ll be an early morning tomorrow,
krasivyy
.”

“I’ll wake you up in the way you like,” Ana teased, leering.

And the way he liked just happened to be her mouth on his cock. Ana kind of loved waking him up like that, too.

Koldan smirked a sexy sight. “Deal.”