Page 54 of Untamed Beast
LEKS
Yuri is ignoring his radio.You trust someone to safeguard one of your most important assets, and then he doesn’t even respond outside of working hours.
Where the fuck is Natalia?She was supposed to be home one-hour and twenty-nine minutes ago. I probably shouldn’t care, but I’ve started looking forward to cooking for her every evening.
I shrug on my jacket and head to the break room to track her down. My stomach sinks as I find a crowd gathered.
There’s no fighting tonight. I don’t have to think too hard to know who’s at the center of the gathered men, who are so enraptured in whatever’s going on that they don’t even notice me arrive.
There’s not much to get excited about on the docks these days, with one exception.Who just so happens to be a Bratva princess with the face and body of an angel.I already hate this situation.
I shove my way to the front row, not caring who I’m pushing out of the way or how hard, to find Natalia and Yuri leaning forward over a chess-board.
So all these men are supposedly engrossed in watching a high-octane game of chess.
How riveting for them.Entertaining enough that they stayed late.
I don’t believe for one second that they’re watching the game — they’re watching Natalia, who’s wearing a dress so tight it’s like it’s glued to her body. In her seated position, leaning forward over the chess board, everyone has a perfect view of her cleavage.
I clench my jaw as Natalia takes Yuri’s knight with her queen. Every eye in the room follows the movement, including the sweet, satisfied smile she gives Yuri as she grabs his piece from the board.
Fucking hell.
Why couldn’t she dress like a librarian instead of a fucking supermodel? It would make this marriage so much easier. It would definitely stop my fingers from inching towards the trigger of the .45 in my back pocket.
From one glance at the board, Natalia is trouncing Yuri. He’s gone in the next five moves. She’s already won.Good.Glad he’s getting his ass handed to him on the regular by both halves of this marriage.
Sad to put a stop to it, but I don’t like a single thing about this situation. Not the way these men are looking at her, or the fact that Natalia is oblivious to her effect on this roomful of people. I especially hate the way they’ve all started referring to her as “darlin’”, the way that Yuri does.
“Enough.”
I knock over Natalia’s king and the crowd erupts in uproar. Idiots. Now they’re acting like they’re interested in the chess game instead of my wife’s tits.
“Fuck off Leks!”
“We’ve got money riding on this!”
“Your wife was winning, you bastard!“
I fire a shot in the air to shut them up. Then I turn to the whole room. Yuri. The other bastards who work for him.
“Let’s make this the last time you bet on something that belongs to me,” I growl.
“Natalia, good game.”Yuri goes in for a handshake.
Natalia pouts. “It would have been a good game, if we hadn’t been rudely interrupted.”
I shoot a look at Yuri. “Don’t worry, princess, Yuri’s gonna chalk this one up as a win to you.”
“Oh am I?” His teasing smile fades as he takes in the stony expression on my face.
“Yes, you are,” I tell him and he rolls his eyes.
Natalia puts her hands on her hips. “I don’t accept. Winning is no fun if he was blackmailed into it.”
“Hear that, Leks?”Who the fuck is this? I only vaguely recognize the guy. We are not on a nickname basis.Henrik, I believe.
Dead weight who’s been on a union contract for twenty years without ever proving why he should have a job. Sounds like he’s had a few drinks by the way he slurs my name.
