Second Best (Volkov Bratva 1)

“Look, I’m not after pity or anything. I’m kind of used to it.”

“Used to what?”

“People not liking me. I don’t know what it is about me. I guess I come on too strong for a friend. I don’t know. I’m … when someone seems to want to be a friend, I’m happy. I want to be the kind of friend you can rely on. I just, everyone, I’m, I don’t know. I guess I’m a bad friend.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

She chuckled.

“I think you’d be surprised.”

She shrugged.

“How long has this been happening?”

“All my life. Back at my parents’ place, we weren’t allowed a lot of freedom, but my sister often went out on shopping dates. Trips to the movies. Stuff like that. I was never invited.” She held her hands up in surrender. “After a while, you get used to it.”

She may have gotten used to being ignored but that didn’t make the pain go away.

Aurora laughed. “I was only ever good enough when Isabella was ill or they needed someone to make up the numbers. Bethany was never on time. She always had a reason to be elsewhere and after hearing what she said about me, I didn’t want to sit through the remainder of lunch with a person who can’t stand me.”

“I’ll talk to Andrei.”

“No, please don’t.”

“He needs to know the kind of woman he’s aligning himself with.”

She groaned. “It doesn’t matter. Honestly.”

“Bethany is lying to him.”

“Of course she is. Why would she tell him the truth that she can’t stand to be around Slavik’s wife because she finds her boring?”

“As his wife, she should be telling him the truth. No questions asked.”

Aurora groaned. “Now that you put it like that, it makes so much sense. You’re going to cause trouble. I don’t want trouble.”

I got up from the table, cupped her face, and tilted her head back to look at me. “Aurora, you’re my wife. I will not stand by while someone makes your life miserable. You’re worth causing trouble over.”

“No, I’m not. You’re going to make waves, and you can’t even stand to be around me.”

“Excuse me?”

She tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let her.

“Slavik, please.”

“Tell me.”

I didn’t have the first clue what was going on in this woman’s head. She was all over the place.

“We have sex and you haven’t been around for a couple of days. I don’t know what that means, but to me, I guess I was awful.” She winced and visibly recoiled.

I took a seat.

I’d already finished my food, and I pushed my plate to the side. “Come here,” I said.

This time, she frowned. “Why?”

“I won’t repeat myself.”

She rolled her eyes but got to her feet and stepped in front of me. I lifted her up on the table. At the same time, I grabbed the waistband of her sweatpants and pulled them down her thighs, throwing them to the floor.

I didn’t have my blade on me, so I tugged at the flimsy material of her panties and they tore easily. With her naked, I spread her legs wide open.

“You think you were a bad fuck?”

“Slavik?”

“Yes or no.”

“Yes.”

I cupped her pussy and she gasped.

She was already slightly wet.

I slid a finger between her slit, stroking over her nub. As I stared at Aurora, she closed her eyes. Her legs quivered from my touch, but I slowed my movements, taking my time, making her feel every caress as I played with her.

“I’ve had a busy couple of days. As you saw from the way I came in, we’ve been attacked in a couple of our nightclubs. It started at one place and has extended to five nightclubs all across the city. Three of them were owned by me. Tonight, I shut down a place, but my men were present to make it look like it was still open. The attack happened and I was able to capture one of the men, however, before I could question him, he impaled himself on a piece of metal, killing himself instantly.”

I’d never seen a man so frightened, and I’d seen a lot of men who were on the verge of facing death. I’d been the one to take them to their maker. “All the while, I’ve been frustrated because I didn’t want to be in a nightclub or talking to the police, handling business. No, for the first time in my life, I wanted to come home to explore the woman in my bed. At the time, her pussy was just a memory, and I craved it. No woman has ever made me lose focus like this. What are you doing to me, Aurora?”

“Don’t tease me. It’s not fair.”

“I have no intention of teasing you, baby.”

“Please don’t lie to me.”

“You think I’m lying to you about what I wanted tonight? How I’ve been trying to get home to you?”