Fall Into Place (Taking the Fall 5)

My stomach drops, and a tear slips free. My dad knows for sure I’m with Samuel now. Samuel kisses the tear, stopping it in its tracks with his lips, and I try to breathe.

“Trust me.”

All I can do is hang my head. I’ll just have to soak up as much time with him as I can. I can try to escape again when my father takes me back. But what if Samuel thinks it’s all too much, having to deal with my dad, and he decides to wash his hands of me?

“I just…” I don’t know if I can trust him. He said he wouldn’t let my dad take me back, but here he is taking me to him.

“Kitten, look at me.” I raise my head to meet his eyes. “This is new to both of us, and it all happened so fast, but I’m about to show you how much you can trust me.”

I pray he’s right.

Chapter 7

Nika

“Did you say Sam is holding Viktor’s daughter?” an older blonde woman says, the shock clear in her voice.

“Against her will,” I say, making them all turn to look at me. I yank on the cuff Samuel has still refused to release me from.

“Kitten, knock that off or you’re going to bruise your wrist.”

“Stop calling me that, you zalupa.” I grit out at him, still a little mad about our fight in the car. I tried to talk him out of this one last time as we pulled up to the warehouse. He told me this was his parents’ house and the place where he grew up. When we pulled up it didn’t look like anything special, but the inside is completely different. It looks like a home, and from the outside you’d never know.

“Fine, I’ll go back to calling you ‘wife.’”

I let out a string of Russian curses that would make my mother cringe as they all look at us in shock. Way to just dive right in, Samuel. I don’t know why I’m shocked. Everything about him is full force. As much as it pisses me off right now, I like it. It’s different than I’m used to, and it’s the reason I love him.

“Congratulations, Samuel. You just married the daughter of one of the best hitmen to ever come out of Russia,” the man next to the blonde woman says.

“Retired,” I chime in. “But if you let me go, he’ll never have to know I was ever here.”

“No,” both the man and Samuel say at the same time.

“He’s probably already here,” the older man adds, releasing a deep breath.

“And on that happy note, we’re out of here.” A young couple about our age walks past us. The guy grabs the redhead next to him and pulls her out the door. The two of them make it clear they don’t want any part of this, and I don’t blame them.

Samuel leans down next to me, whispering in my ear. He pulls me close, and although I want to jerk away because I’m still upset about the fight in the car, I melt into him. “That’s Mary, my twin, and her husband, Anthony.” I look up at him in surprise because he and his twin look nothing alike. I’m not sure how anything could’ve shared a womb with his giant body.

“And the two people yapping about your dad coming here are his parents, Saint and Jeanette.”

“Wait, Tony. I wanted to talk about the baby!” Jeanette goes to chase after them, but Saint grabs her by the waist while keeping his eyes on me.

Suddenly, a disheveled redhead and a man who looks just like my Samuel walk into the room. I know instantly they’re Carter and Cherry, Samuel’s parents. He told me about them in the car on the way here, and I finally get the twin thing. Samuel and Mary look just like their parents. It’s freaky.

“Can anyone tell me why Viktor Kozar just pulled up to the warehouse, looking like he’s about to murder someone?” My heart starts pounding at Carter’s words, and I latch onto Samuel.

“Yeah, because your son married his daughter,” Saint says, propping his shoulder against the wall.

“You got married, too? Is no one going to let me plan a wedding around here? Carter!” Cherry pulls on Carter like he can un-marry us. Suddenly, I feel guilty that I took this away from her. Hell, I took it away from my mom, too. I’m her only daughter, and I never even thought about that.

“I’m guessing she’s the daughter of the woman you tracked down for him all those years ago?”

Before I can ask how everyone knows my father, he’s standing in the doorway. Carter moves his wife behind him as he turns to face my dad. Samuel tries to do the same, but I push back, ending up in front of him. His arms lock around me in a possessive hold, but since we’re still cuffed it’s not like I’m going anywhere easily.

My dad’s face is hard only for a minute before he’s in front of me, trying to pull me into his arms. Samuel reluctantly lets me go, but the cuff doesn’t allow me much movement. My dad still manages to lift me from my feet, hugging me tight.

He doesn’t get upset often, and when he does it’s usually to do with my mother and me. But when he’s like this, he speaks Russian. As he holds me, he tells me how worried he’s been. I hug him back the best I can with one arm, feeling bad that I upset him. I hate it, but there was no other way. He would’ve never let me go.

“Sweetheart, can I have a turn?” I open my eyes to see my mother standing behind him. I’m of the same stature as my mother, but that’s where the similarity ends. She has long blonde hair and soft green eyes. My dad always called her an angel because she really does look like one.