Cruel Paradise (Oryolov Bratva Book 1)

“I must say, the two of you make a wonderful couple.”

Fyodor coughs discreetly while Vadim flashes me his biggest smile. He only totes that cheesing smirk out at events like these. I’ve come to hate it with a fucking passion.

“Aren’t we, Vadim?” Jessica trills as she reaches up to adjust my collar yet again.

Does the woman think I’m some thumbless ape that can’t adjust his own outfit? Every time I move out from under her reach, she finds a way to latch onto me again. Bloodsucking fucking ghoul. I can’t wait to be rid of her.

Vadim ogles us with a suggestive smirk. “I can just imagine what the kids will look like.”

He’s so full of it. No one can imagine what the kids will look like—mostly because, at this point, no one can even remember what Jessica’s original face looked like.

“Oh, they’d be so gorgeous, don’t you think so, Rus?”

My head swivels in her direction. Did she just call me Rus?

I drop my arm from around her waist and reach for another flute of champagne. It’s my third glass of the night already, but this weak shit will not suffice. Spending any length of time with Jessica Allens requires hard liquor. Lots of it.

I catch a flourish of scarlet from the corner of my eye and I turn automatically. I’ve spent the last half an hour double-taking at every woman dressed in red. Then I catch a whiff of citrus and I know it’s her.

And my fucking God, she looks stunning.

I’ve imagined this very dress on her a hundred times already, but my imagination didn’t come close to doing her justice. Emma in real life is more than I could’ve ever dreamed. The fabric drapes smoothly around her body, highlighting her slim waist, her gorgeous breasts, the flush of her perfect skin.

And her lips. They’re painted with a deep, dangerous crimson and just begging to be wrapped around my cock.

My immediate reaction is desire. Hot and dense, shot through with need.

My second reaction is rage.

I’ve spent my whole life practicing the art of control. In my line of work, if you lose it, you die. But now, in the fucking crucible, with allies and enemies swarming on every side… I’m too pissed to rein it in.

There are too many eyes on her. Too many second looks, too many lingering glances. The women are largely tolerable, but the men—I’m tempted to write down every single name so that I can personally pluck out their eyes later.

“Darling, what’re you looking at?”

When I don’t immediately look at her, Jessica floats her fingers across my cheek. It takes every last fiber of discipline I have not to flinch away from her touch.

Jessica Allens does not belong on my arm.

Emma does.

And now, I’ve lost her amongst the crowd.

“Don’t mind him, Jessica. He’s just in boss mode still.” I hate that I’m letting Vadim make my excuses, but at least someone is keeping the she-devil at ease. I can’t even muster up the energy to lie to her convincingly.

“All work and no play makes Ruslan a very dull boy,” she quips, laughing hysterically at her own bad joke. Then she gasps. “Oh my God! Lola, is that you? Excuse me for a minute, darling; I have to go say hello.”

“Take all the minutes you want,” I mutter under my breath. The moment she clears my space, I feel a hundred pounds lighter. “Thank fuck for Lola.” I remind myself to donate something sizable to the woman’s charity later.

Fyodor fixes me with a penetrating gaze. “You’ll have to make a choice soon, my son.”

He doesn’t say anything else—but Uncle Vadim, of course, can’t leave it there. “The Allens girl has amazing connections and enough money to rival your fortune.”

I scoff. “No amount of money is worth procreating with that banshee. I’d rather lose a testicle.”

My father lets out a weary sigh. Vadim just clicks his tongue with disapproval. “Wisdom is wasted on the young.”

I’m about to tell him exactly where he can shove his wisdom when Jessica appears again, all too soon. But since the appendage she’s pulling towards me is a man I might need one day, I put on my most charming smile.

“Commissioner Allens,” I say to her father. “How nice to see you again.”

He gives me a hearty handshake. “Ruslan! Pleasure, pleasure.”

While he’s greeting Vadim and Fyodor, I spot a mirage of red off in the distance. I shift an inch to the side and catch Emma sitting by the bar.

Except she’s not alone.

The fury turns my vision spotty when I realize who she’s talking to.

Adrik fucking Makarov.

If I thought I was pissed before, it doesn’t hold a candle to the inferno burning through my veins right now. I’m seconds away from going absolutely berserk if that fucker doesn’t move away from her right fucking now, when—

“Ruslan?” Hiram Allens’s deep voice cuts through the sharp edge of my anger.

Goddammit. I swallow hard and turn to him, forcing the smile back onto my face. “Will you excuse me for just a minute, Commissioner? I’ve got some business I need to see to.”

I’m not so blinded by rage that I don’t see the incredulous looks on Jessica’s and Vadim’s faces when I excuse myself from Hiram’s company. Even Fyodor looks mildly surprised and he rarely concerns himself with the politics anymore.

But I can’t concentrate on charming the head of the NYPD when that slimy motherfucker has his sights set on my woman.

I start carving my way through the crowd towards the bar in the far corner. But before I can get close enough to Adrik to strangle him, Kirill inserts himself right in my path. “Whoa, let’s take a breath there, brother. I know where you’re going and, trust me—that’s not a good idea.”

“You were supposed to be taking care of Emma tonight.” I’m this fucking close to pushing him aside and just barreling my way down to that bar. “Why the fuck didn’t you run interference?”

“Because the moment I do, Adrik is gonna know that Emma is a weak spot for you.”

Those two words.

Weak spot.

Fucking hell, are they sobering.

But they get through to me. It’s bad enough that Remmy honed in on Emma. If Adrik were to do the same, that would be a hell of a lot worse. It would put Emma in danger. It would put the kids in danger. It’s the whole damn reason I couldn’t bring her as my date tonight: the moment people saw her on my arm, they’d know she was important. They’d start digging into her life, her past, her relationships.

And I won’t stand for that.

“He’s here tonight to piss you off. This is about Lees International.”

My eyes snap to his. “You closed the deal?”

Kirill nods. “The board of directors agreed this morning. Bane Corp. will be buying up Lees International and there’s not a damn thing Adrik can do about it. The decision was unanimous.”

Lees International is only one of Adrik’s subsidiary companies, but it will still be a significant loss. Especially considering who he’s losing it to. This would have been great news if it weren’t for the fact that Adrik is now offering Emma his hand.

And she fucking takes it.

Kirill looks back over his shoulder. “He’s trying to get a rise out of you by screwing with your assistant, that’s all,” he cautions. “Do not give him the hint that she might be more. And most of all, don’t give him the satisfaction.”

My gaze narrows as Adrik wraps an arm around Emma’s waist and pulls her close. Of course I’d picked out the sexiest dress I could find for her. And now, that son of a bitch gets the benefit of it.

She should be mine.

“Okay,” I spit through gritted teeth. “So be it.”

“Don’t worry,” Kirill assures me. “I’ll keep an eye on them.”

I force myself to walk back to my group. On the upside, Hiram Allens is in the same spot I left him. On the downside, so is his daughter.

Hiram gives me an approving nod. “I admire a man who never stops working, Ruslan. But you have to know when to stop and smell the roses, too.”

He looks right at his insufferable daughter when he says it. She curls her hand around my arm. “Ruslan’s busy building his empire, Daddy.”

I glance over Jessica’s shoulder but I can’t spot Emma and Adrik. There are at least two other red dresses cavorting around on the dance floor, distracting me every time they pass through my line of sight.

I’m only vaguely aware that Jessica is speaking. “Is someone interested in a dance?”

I see her then—being spun around the dance floor by that grotesque little weasel. She’s got her back to me. Adrik’s hand rests just above her ass.

I’m gonna kill that fucking bastard.

I raise my eyes—only to find that his are aimed right at me. He gives me a brazen smile and a wink that’s just begging to be ripped off his face.

“Rus?” Jessica tries again.

Yeah, that’s the wrong way to get me to respond to anything.

“Ruslan.” The curt displeasure in Hiram’s voice gets my attention. “You seem very… distracted. Unforgivable, really, when you consider the beautiful woman you have on your arm.”

I suppress my gag reflex for her father’s benefit and try to get my head back in the game. I need Hiram Allens’ loyalty; therefore, I need to keep his daughter happy.

But I’m not about to let Adrik’s machinations go unanswered, either. There’s no way he can put his hands on what is mine and get away with it.

I know damn well why I’ve kept Emma a secret from the world. For her sake, for the kids’ sake, that’s been the best move. But there is a beast in me that says to hell with that. I can handle the consequences. I can keep her entire family safe even if every last man, woman, child, and animal on this planet tries to take her from me.

But mark my words: one way or another, come hell or high water, by any means necessary…

By the time this night ends, every fucking soul at this gala is going to know exactly who Emma belongs to.