They all turned to see Nalia standing there in a short blue sundress, barefoot and appearing upset.

“Who is Nina?” she asked and looked directly at Viktor.

“We were going to discuss this with you later tonight, but it seems we need to talk about things now. We’ll have to head out in the next couple of hours,” Cosivan told her.

“Head out? Where? You’re leaving me?” she asked, suddenly looking scared.

Cosivan walked over to her and took her hand. “Some things have happened back in Chicago. These men, the ones who went after your father, are going after our clubs and just killed two of our friends,” he told her.

“You can’t go. What if they try to kill you?” she asked.

Chatham approached. He caressed her cheek and looked down into her dark blue eyes. He could see her fear. He felt it, too. “We have no choice and this is what we do, Nalia. As our woman, you need to accept our responsibilities and not ask questions,” Chatham told her and her eyes widened.

“It’s the way it has to be,” Cosivan said and she swallowed hard then looked toward Viktor then back at Cosivan.

“When will you leave and how long will you be gone?” she asked Cosivan.

“In a few hours and we don’t know yet. We’ll work it out, it’s nothing for you to worry about,” Cosivan said to her.

“Nothing for me to worry about? I do worry. I will worry a lot, because that’s what people do when they care.”

“Nalia, don’t give us a hard time about this. It’s the life you will have now. Our positions involve danger and we need to go in order to keep protecting you. Now I don’t want to hear another word. Accept it,” Cosivan stated firmly.

Nalia swallowed and then pulled away from him and walked away. Cosivan ran his fingers through his hair and headed toward the desk.

“I’ll make the arrangements,” he stated firmly.

“You could have been a little calmer with her. She doesn’t understand,” Boian said to him.

Viktor placed his hands on his hips. “She needs to learn fast,” he added.

“She’s a smart woman. She’ll get over it and learn quickly. Viktor, let’s get the flight arrangements ready and plan to leave in a few hours,” Cosivan said straight faced but Chatham had a feeling leaving Nalia was getting to him as well.

“We’ll make the arrangements. You two should spend some alone time with Nalia to ease her mind. Who knows how long it will be before you can head back here,” Dusty said to them.

Cosivan looked at Viktor. “You go, I’ll be there shortly.”

* * * *

Nalia stood by the window in the bedroom looking out toward the fields. It was so green and lush out there. The property was amazing and the trails through the wooded areas so much fun to run through and explore. She loved it out here, and that surprised her because she really saw herself as a city girl. She enjoyed the hustle and bustle of it all and the business, corporate world she had a taste of the last few years.

Her heart was pounding inside of her chest. She felt conflicted inside. Like she shouldn’t be angry, sad, worried about her men because they expected her to be a brave, supportive soldier. But she was human, and she was so empty inside before they became part of her. It was frustrating to learn about each man’s personalities and then to understand what they expected from her. She didn’t know what to do, but just saying, “Okay, whatever you say, honey” was not her personality or her instinctual reaction to them heading directly into danger. So what that they were some sort of heavies for the Russian mob. They were her lovers, her men, her family and she wanted to protect them as much as they wanted to protect her.

“Nalia.”

She jumped when she heard her name. She turned to see Viktor standing there. God, he was so gorgeous. He looked hot in his dark jeans and white button down shirt. His blond hair was slicked back perfect as usual, and those blue eyes and playboy smile made her thighs quiver with desire.

“I know you’re upset and worried. It’s all new to us. This relationship and having you to worry about and protect. You need to understand our positions and maybe this is partially our faults because we haven’t sat down and explained what we do.”

She shook her head. “You don’t need to explain. I need to accept this, but it isn’t easy. I was all alone, and lost so much and felt like I didn’t know what I had left, if anything or anyone, to even care. But I took a chance on the five of you and gave you all of me. It just hurts to see how easily Cosivan, the rest of you can just not feel anything, or struggle to leave me, too.”

She looked away and he was in front of her fast. He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “Are you out of your mind? Of course we don’t want to leave you and this is a great struggle, but our friends, our family need us, too. These men are trying to destroy what we’ve all worked hard for. They killed two great men and one of them, Zinc, was a close friend of mine.”

He pulled her over to the bed and sat down. He lifted her up and she straddled his waist as she held on to his shoulders. Viktor caressed up her thighs and under the skirt.

“Zinc and I went through basic training and then Special Forces training together. We went through heavy shit in our lives, and when Zinc returned from serving he was not the same man. He was suicidal, angry and had no one but a little sister who needed taking care of. She practically lived on the streets. I had to help him find her because he was so screwed up she disappeared on him. Then all they had were each other, so I helped them.”

“Is that Nina?” she asked and he nodded his head.

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