Gabriel's Regret: Book 1 (The Medlov Men Series 2) (21 page)

Gabriel drug in a slow breath.  
So, she was going to make him say it aloud? 
“That this is not going to be easy one way or another.  Trust me, I know it’s not.  But whatever we decide, it’s not going to change the way that I feel about you.”

The sound of the water coming out of the shower head was the only audible noise in the room for a moment as Valeriya looked up into Gabriel’s eyes.  She had been lied to and deceived by so many people over her life, but with Gabriel things were different.   “I believe you,” she said finally. 
I love you
, she thought to herself. 

“But do you trust me?” Gabriel asked with a tilted head.

“Yes, I think I do.” 

Wasn’t exactly the answer he was hoping for, but what could a man do?  “Good.  Now, since we can’t talk, we might as well at least…sing.” 

Valeriya laughed.  “Sing?”

“Yes, sing, darling.  Because you have such a beautiful
singing
voice.”  Gabriel turned her around with her face toward the front of the shower.  Running a hand in between her legs, he watched her body tense.  Almost absently, he stroked his hardness as he prepared himself to please her again. He could do this all day if she let him.  

Mind absent of any other thoughts, Valeriya placed both flat palms against the cool wet surface of the wall.  Arching her back, she planted her feet for impact and looked back at him in anticipation.  “Make it count,” she said with a wink. 

Gabriel loved the way that her muscular calves led up to large toned thighs and a perfect ass.  He loved the way she raised up on her tip toes as he stepped closer to her.  Most of all, he loved that that son of a bitch, Olek, had been at the door earlier and saw him naked and had drawn conclusions about what he had done to Valeriya and what he would most certainly do right now.

Mine!
Gabriel thought to himself as he looked at Valeriya.  “All fucking mine,” he said aloud before he could catch himself. 

Valeriya was shocked by his omission but could not rightly refute it.  She wanted to be his.  She needed to be…his. 

A lash of pleasure echoed through the room as he slapped her round bottom with an open palm, leaving a red spot that would surely leave a welt. 
Add that to the many that were already there.
  The water splashed across her back.   “
YA ub'yu lyubogo, kto popytayetsya vzyat' vas ot menya
,” he said, voice hard, fisting his erection and pushing it toward her wet entry.  He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her into him, penetrating her slowly and completely until his hips were up against her backside and there was nothing left to give her.  Wrapping his arms around her, he melted into her body and into her soul. 

Valeriya was lost for words.  He spoke Russian?  She had no idea – no idea at all.  But she did understand his words.  He had just vowed that he’d kill any man who tried to take her away from him.  Why did that turn her on so? Why did he have to say it in Russian?  Feeling him buck inside of her, she went limp in his arms and allowed him to take her.   

Her womb contracted around his large member and she hummed a glorious but pained response.  Alas, the song began.   

“Are you sore, baby?” Gabriel asked, putting his other hand on her other hip and squeezing it, giving her time to adjust to him.    He had seen it in her eyes the night before.  She had never been with a man quite so endowed as he and that pleased him.  After him, he was certain she’d never want another. 

“Yes,” she admitted on baited breath, “but it feels so good.”  Her skin flamed with heat even under the water, wanting him to take her again, the same way that he had taken her so many times the night before. 

Gabriel felt the same and he recognized in that moment that there was nothing in between them, not secrets, not boundaries, not even a condom.  God, she did trust him!  Feeling her wet flesh completely naked against him drew out a hedonistic need in him that he could not explain.  He could not get close enough, deep enough.  Everything about her made him insane.  He wanted to possess her, like he had never wanted to possess anyone.  Equal parts fear and utter excitement overcame him and he thrust into her with a dominant control, feeling the wetness around her womb slide down between his legs.

Valeriya felt impaled upon Gabriel, so large, thick and veined.  Hearing his animalistic growl as he took her, she looked back and saw his face contorted in determination.  Something about his expression, his savage love-making, and the look of his muscular body taking her sent her over the edge and without warning, she climaxed hard. So hard.  Her screams were so loud that they deafened her, but not Gabriel.  He enjoyed them, embraced them and took her wales into spirit as a sign of utter submission. 

She was his and there was nothing anyone could do about it, not even him. 

He continued, now pumping hard and harder, water splashing, muscles tightened, until finally he released hot boiling semen into her body, picking her up off the floor with his body still inside of her as he called out.  “Valeriya!!”

***

With a bagel in one hand, Andriy was about to knock on the door to Valeriya’s bedroom until he heard that unmistakable sound of sex in the air.  He knew although he was a virgin that his sister was not alone.  She was with Gabriel finally.  It was a pity that he could not interrupt.  He had good news to share.  Evidently, somewhere in the night, someone had gotten rid of the Nazi problem beside the orphanage, but based upon the tone behind the door; she wouldn’t be as thrilled to be interrupted in her morning routine as he was. 

Stepping back from the door, he smirked and walked away, leaving her to some semblance of momentary happiness.  He’d just tell her later.

Chapter Fifteen

Gear Change…

Gabriel hated to leave Valeriya’s sight for even a second, but they were already behind after their shower session, and there were things that needed to be done today on both of their parts that could not wait.  With his hair still wet and his clothes nearly hanging off of him, he opened the door to his hotel room to find Nadei lying bloody in his bed with a bandage across his arm.  A woman, one he had seen previously hanging around Nadei downstairs, was patching him up while he drank straight out of a bottle of vodka. 

Closing the door behind him, Gabriel’s pleasant moment dissipated and a more serious look crossed his face. “What happened?” he asked, walking over to Nadei’s bed littered in emergency kit paraphernalia. 

Reluctantly, Nadei put down the bottle on the night stand and winced. “I got stabbed.” He raised his head off the pillow and looked at his injuries. “It’s not as bad as it looks, boss.” In fact, it was worse, but he’d never admit it.

“The hell you say,” Gabriel said, kneeling down to get a closer look.  He studied his guard, inspecting every single cut.  He had obviously been torn through by a serrated blade; the worse was across his stomach.  The second worse was a gash across the shoulder.   The woman with him, a thin blonde woman with an ample bosom and a crooked nose, had done a good job of stitching him up but it was still a mess. 

Gabriel felt a considerable amount of responsibility for all of this.  “Be honest.  Do you need a hospital?”  If so, he’d make sure that he got the best. 

Nadei raised a brow.  He appreciated the concern, but it was nothing that needed to be tended to by doctors.   “I’ve been stabbed before, you know.  And a lot worse than that. It’s a scratch.”

“Which one?”  Gabriel admired Nadei’s courage, but he wasn’t convinced.  Looking over at the woman, he nodded. “Thank you for your help.”

“It is not a problem,” she said, darting her eyes away from Gabriel shyly.  He was too intimidating to address directly. 

“Leave us for a moment,” Gabriel said, standing up. He dug into his pocket to take out some money to give to the woman for her services, but she shook her head against it.   

“No money, please.  I just wanted to help.”  Walking toward the door, she gazed back at Nadei. “I’ll check on you later.”

“With less clothes next time, da?” Nadei quipped with a half-smile and winked at her. 

On that note, the woman left the room quickly. 

“Even on your death bed, you’re chasing ass?” Gabriel asked, locking the door behind the woman.  It smelled of sex in the room, so Nadei had only recently pulled his pants back on.  Lucky for him, he had taken his time getting back.   
Thank God for the little things.   

Nadei smiled despite the pain. If he had had more energy, he would have asked him where he was the night before.  “She’s a walking sedative that one is.”
She
had been tending to Nadei most of the night, and not all of her methods were medically proven but they were extremely effective at taking his mind off his injuries.  He still had the taste of her on his mouth to prove it. 

Gabriel picked up the bloody bandages off the floor and put them on the nightstand.  “I need to get you home,” he said in a huff.   He did not want his personal interests to continue to hurt his friend, plus he knew that Anatoly would be pissed.  He had specifically told Nadei to observe, not to interact.  This was all on him now.

Nadei sat up in the bed and cocked a leg up.  “Tomorrow we leave.”  He threw his phone to Gabriel and shook his head.  There was more bad news. “Boss Dmitry sent a text.  He said for you to call him.”

“My uncle texted you?” Gabriel asked, surprised and a little unnerved.  Dmitry never called anyone just to check on them, and he never texted unless it was urgent. 

“Da,” Nadei said, sympathetically.  “I said the same thing. Must be serious.”

“I’ll call him in a minute.” He sat on his bed and scratched his beard.  Growing this thing out was more of a job than he anticipated.   “Tell me about what happened last night.”

Nadei shrugged. His voice was even and demeanor calm.  “On my end, not much to tell.  I did as you ordered.  I went there late.  They were up,
some of them
.  Many of them were drunk or high.  I waited and watched and then I went in, killed them, burned building to the ground, came home.”  Nadei explained like it was business as usual. 

“And the stab wounds?” Gabriel asked, looking at Nadei’s bandaged body.  “Did they magically appear or what?”

Nadei’s smile was smug.  He wasn’t the type to give too much detail on the hits he made, but he’d give enough to let him know the job was done.    “Well, there was a couple of surprises, but I handled it.  It didn’t take long.  I was there…maybe 15 minutes.”

“How many casualties?”

“Twenty-one. No witnesses. 
Absolutely
no survivors.”  Nadei had done his job a million times before, so this was no big victory for him.  He was, however, a bit disappointed in his performance and in the fact that he had managed to allow himself to get hurt.   Maybe he was getting old. 

Gabriel was pleased at the outcome despite the collateral damage.  “You did good. Maybe now the orphanage will be safer.” Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, he dreaded calling his uncle.  “Today, I want you to stay here.  You need to rest.”

“My orders are clear, Boss. Where you go, I go.  Plus, I’m fine.  I just need a couple of pain pills to take the edge off.” 

Gabriel couldn’t risk it. His men were not expendable in his mind. “I’m still your boss.  Don’t question me.”

“I mean no disrespect, but if something happens to you while I’m here, what do you think that Dmitry Medlov will do to me?” He chuckled. “These cuts will be nothing in comparison to the barn.  No, no.  I’m not staying here.”  And he meant it.  The last guy that went against the boss’s orders was put in a barrel full of acid. 

Gabriel wanted to argue but he could not.  His uncle might have been a reasonable man most of the time, but the few times he was not were historically brutal.  To save his friend, he agreed.  “Just don’t push yourself today, okay.”  He stood up, not wanting to take the call in front of Nadei just in case it was another ass chewing. “I’m going to get dressed and make a call.  Don’t move,” he said, pointing at Nadei.

“Don’t worry,” Nadei mocked. “I’m just going to lay here and drink.”

***

Staring at a photograph of a young man that looked very much like a younger version of himself on his computer, Dmitry sat behind the desk in his study in complete silence.  The boy was younger than Anatoly by several years with a chocolate hue to his skin, but his features were very much Medlov.  Blue eyes.  Strong jaw. Wide build.  Dirty blonde highlights mixed in brown curls.  A certain superior arrogance. 

Exhaling a hard breath, Dmitry picked up his crystal tumbler and took a large drink.  “Are you sure this is him?” he asked Anatoly.  “This isn’t the type of thing that you can assume about.” 

“Yes, Papa.  It’s him.”  Anatoly sat across from him with a scowl on his face. 

“Are we sure?” Dmitry asked, not able to take his eyes off the screen. He memorized each curve, each detail, each and every characteristic. 

Anatoly curled his lip upward and beetled his brow.  Normally, his father processed information a lot faster than he was currently doing.  Was it possible that the old man was in shock?   “We are 100% sure.  I had someone get into his house and get a DNA sample.”   Throwing the paper on the desk, he smacked his lips.  “Well, 99.999 % sure, at least.”

The results were sobering.  “How was he able to stay under the radar so long?” Dmitry asked, knowing there was no answer that would possibly explain it. 

“I don’t know.”  Anatoly stood up and walked over to the window.  Looking out at the moon, he grappled with the idea of his father having more than one adult son. He’d always prided himself in being the only heir outside of the little ones.  Speaking of which.  “What are you going to tell Royal?”

Dmitry laughed sardonically.  “Nothing for now.  I need to know more, as much as humanly possible.”  He looked over at his son. “I don’t want anyone else to know about this.  It’s a family business.  This is your personal project.  Report to me daily.” 

Anatoly wasn’t surprised that his father was about to go psycho about this, but at least he had some initial answers.  “His named is Anil Baptiste.  He was born in Trinidad and Tobago but moved with his mother to Cuba as a teenager. He arrived in Miami last month.”  Anatoly scratched his ear and squinted. “He’s 20.  No kids.  No siblings.  No documented criminal history, but we all know that doesn’t mean anything.” 

“We have strong relationships in Cuba. Why has no one said anything?” 

“I think, Papa, because no one knew for sure.  He looks like just you, I’ll admit that, but it could have been a coincidence.  Once he got to the states, his face popped up on Homeland Security facial recognition scans and the information got passed to us.”

Dmitry grew very suspicious.  “Why is he here is the real question?” 

“His mother has breast cancer.  Stage Four.  He’s here with her seeking treatment.” Anatoly felt sorry for his father.  He knew how he hated the c-word.  Carefully, he placed a picture of the woman in front of Dmitry.  “You can tell that she used to be pretty.” 

Dmitry took the picture and looked at it for several minutes, sinking more and more every second.  “She was very pretty once.  Cancer is the bane of the human existence.” 

Anatoly couldn’t agree more.  “So, you knew the woman?  Was she someone important?”

Dmitry inclined his head. “She was just a nice girl, someone I met when I was helping Emma doing a job in South America.”

“Did you love her?” Anatoly asked, dying to know. 

Dmitry smirked. “No, but she was good company.” 

“Must have been,” Anatoly said, crossing his brawny arms over his chest.  “I’m just surprised, Papa, by how much he looks like you.”  He frowned. “It’s scary.” 

“A seven-foot tall, blonde-haired, Black man with the face of his Russian father and no one noticed for 20 years?  I’m not convinced.”  Dmitry looked away from the picture and took another sip.  “Does he know who I am?”

“I put a tail on him last night.  Sent some of our best men.  I don’t know that he knows anything about you.”  Anatoly shrugged.  “Or he could know everything about you. Who is to say?” 

Dmitry pushed away from his computer.  “
You
will be able to say, Anatoly.  Plan a trip to Miami very soon.  Get the Intel.  Get close to him.  See how he reacts and what his story is.”  He digressed.  “Find out the things that I should already know.” 

Anatoly heard it in his father’s voice right then.  “Think he’s a threat?” he asked sincerely. His father hadn’t exactly had a good track record with family over the years. 

Dmitry smirked with speculation in his eyes.  “What grown man isn’t a threat?  The point is he’s my son and your brother biologically.  So, we need to know more about him.  History dictates that we know. Your aunt kidnapped your sister. Your grandfather was killed by your uncle’s wife. Your nephew is currently making poor decisions in a war-torn country because he thinks that he’s in love.  I could go on and on.” 

Point made.  “Sure, Papa.  I’ll get on it,” Anatoly said, seeing his father was at the end of his proverbial rope.

Dmitry walked to the door.  He needed some fresh air. “And put someone on him.  Make sure he stays safe.  I don’t want any of our enemies to get any ideas.  I mean, if he doesn’t know who his father is, being gunned down by the competition could come as a shock, eh?” 

Anatoly didn’t say anything, instead he ducked his head. 

Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, Dmitry stepped out of the door as the bodyguard opened it for him.  “Gabriel,” he said, voice tight.

“I’m sorry that I missed your call,” Gabriel apologized as he slipped on a change of clothes in the restroom. 

“I heard that you were indisposed earlier,” Dmitry said, feet echoing down the limestone hallway as he strode down the corridor.  “I called because I expect you back tomorrow, especially after last night’s stunt.”

“Nadei told you,” Gabriel said deflated.

“No, of course not. You think he’d speak about his Captain?  I’m not without some eyes there in that Godforsaken place.”  He wasn’t exactly a fan of the conflict, but it was good business.  Dmitry stopped in his tracks.  “I spoke with Allan Roman. He has agreed to continue to do business with us.  Good job.  In fact, job well done.  He was very pleased with you and all that you’ve done in such a short period of time for his people over there.  So now, you can come home. We have other more pressing business with Magna Carta.”

Gabriel leaned against the sink.  “About that.  There have been some developments here in the Ukraine over the last day and a half, and I feel I need to stay.”

“Let’s cut the bullshit, shall we?  The woman is not my business as long as she is just your lover, but she is my business if she costs me money.”

“Uncle,” Gabriel protested. “I love her.”

Dmitry smirked and shook his head. 
What a day
!  “How can you love her? You just met her?”