I ran a hand over the back of my head and took a step back. We stood in the small living room of Dom’s lake house, a cabin he purchased months ago for himself and his woman as a weekend getaway. This whole domestic routine that each of my brothers was taking now that they were in love was something I would have scoffed at before meeting Nadja. But after her… after her had everything in my life changing.
So as I looked around and noticed the decor his woman used in the cabin, the flowers on the table, the pictures of them together hanging on the wall, I got it.
I wanted this too. With Nadja.
I understood. I got it.
I hadn’t wanted to leave Nadja alone at my place while I talked to my brothers about this and tried to come up with a plan, so she was currently sitting on the back deck. I didn’t want her hearing any of this shit, but I was too protective of her to let her out of my sight, even if I did have my place set up like Fort fucking Knox.
I walked over to the picture window and looked out to the deck, seeing Nadja lounging on one of the chairs, her feet kicked up on the ottoman, her eyes closed. She looked relaxed… at peace. I felt myself relax as well, seeing her like this, and I even exhaled in contentment.
“Goddamn,” I heard Wilder say under his breath, and I looked over my shoulder to scowl at him. “I think you’re in so fucking deep, deeper than all of us put together.” He looked between Dom and Cullen before settling his eyes back on me.
I didn’t bother saying anything. My brothers were blind if they thought they weren’t just as possessive and obsessed with their women as I was with Nadja. Although they knew of her existence back in the day, I hadn’t told them the extent of how deep my feelings went. It wasn’t because I didn’t want them to know, but more so because I was protective and selfish of everything that had to do with her.
Experiences and emotions with Nadja… those were mine. I kept them to myself, too selfish to let my brothers in on it.
I turned to face them, seeing they already had their attention on me. I looked each one in the eye, knowing what I was about to say would be the truth for every single one of them.
“You tell me, and look me in the fucking eye as you say it, that if any of your females were in this deep, you wouldn’t do everything and anything to make sure they were safe.” There was a heavy bit of silence, but I already knew the answers before they responded. “Fucking try to lie to me.”
Wilder exhaled slowly. Dom’s shoulders relaxed. And although Cullen was tense all the fucking time, I saw the way his expression softened. And then they all nodded in unison.
“Yeah, we would all do whatever we could to make sure our women were okay.” Wilder took a step forward and clapped me on the back.
I stared into my twin’s eyes, identical ones to mine.
“But this is organized crime, brother.” Dom was the one to speak now, and I turned my attention to him.
“We’re just four hoodlums who came from a broken, abused home, Frankie,” Cullen interjected. “We don’t have the connections or the strength to go up against something like this.”
I knew this. And although I wasn’t sure that the bratva would actually get involved where Nadja was concerned, if Maximillian was intent on coming after her, and therefore leading the Russian mob to our doorstep, I had to be prepared.
“But we have your back no matter what. We support you fully,” Wilder said and gave my shoulder a squeeze. Dom and Cullen grunted in agreement.
“Then I have to go,” I said honestly, evenly. “I have to take her far away, not just to protect her, but to protect all of you as well. I don’t want anyone getting hurt over this, least of all you guys or your women.” There was another beat of silence, and then Cullen rubbed his hand over the back of his head. Dom shifted on his feet. And I felt Wilder’s hand tighten once more on my shoulder.
They knew this was the only option. I wasn’t a runner, none of us were, but when faced with a rock and a hard place, the only thing I could do was push that fucking rock aside and take the woman I loved as far away from the hard place as I could.
23
Maximillian
Tits and Ass.
That’s what this strip club was called. It was filthy and sleazy, with a sticky floor, dim lighting that didn’t do anything but make it seem even more cheap, and the old stench of stale cigarette smoke lingered in the air. It was a far cry from the establishments I was accustomed to visiting, but it served its purpose.