Page 16 of Bedazzled
“Moya…” I tried to remember my Russian lessons. “My soul? Is that what you called him?”
“Yes.” Maksim sounded like he was choking. “He has always been the soul of the family. A better man than me.”
“That’s not true,” whispered Ella, kissing his cheek, “and you are the heart of the family. A lion’s heart.”
“Solnyshko,”he murmured back, and I tuned out the rest. I just wanted to see Yuri wake up. I wanted to see the light come back into his beautiful eyes.
Please, please please please please please…
Three hours later, I got my wish. There was a jump in his vital signs on the monitor and then Yuri was just… there. His eyes were clear and he looked up at the ceiling for a moment, confused, and then to us.
Maksim kissed his forehead, speaking quickly in Russian and he gave a pained grunt.
“Hey, sweetheart, do you want some water?” I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream with excitement and the best I could come up with was, “Do you want some water?”
But Yuri smiled at me and mouthed ‘yes,’ and I knew he had come back to me.
Chapter Five
In which there is French food, epic insults, and Rico Sauve-looking mobsters.
Yuri…
Two weeks later…
“Oh, babe let me do that for you.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to keep from brushing Tania away, who was trying to help me dress.
She quickly buttoned the stiff, starched cuffs on my dress shirt, the one I was going to burn when I took it off tonight. When did Gucci start making a dress shirt that takes hours to button? I had learned to work around the two fingers without fingernails that the fucking Irish had torn out. But I moved so slowly, like an old man.
Like a weakling.
“All done,” Tania said, she looked up and gave me the smirk that meant she wanted a kiss, so I forced a smile and gave it to her. For a moment, the howling in my brain quieted, her lips and her sweet tongue playing with mine. As I slid my hand up into her hair, a lightning bolt from my left shoulder seared down my arm. Gritting my teeth, I pulled back.
“Are you okay?” She looked at me anxiously.
“I’m fine.” I was lying, but I would say anything to stop the endless questions. “Are you ready for dinner?”
“Yep,” she said, “Els and Maksim are boozing it up in the living room, if we don’t hurry, I’m not sure they’re going to make it to the restaurant.”
I nodded and escorted her down the hall. Maksim and Ella were adamant that I stay with them during “my recovery.” I had reached my limit of the fussing and catering to me and the endless, concerned glances. This would be my last night here.
The Fortress was the place to be seen in the organized crime world. Philippe-Alain’s food was superb, but that was not why everyone went there. The heads of every major criminal enterprise on the planet had come through its doors at one point or another. No gunfights broke out, no one would dare. The shame of being denied access for a full year after an infraction was a serious loss of face.
“Holy shit, is this a castle?” Tania cackled with delight as the Maserati made a turn up the long driveway. The huge stone building, flanked by two towers rose majestically over the trees and marble statuary surrounding it.
“It was a castle,” I corrected, “now, it’s a private club and a restaurant.”
“A private club?” She made a little face. “Sooo, who belongs to this private club?”
I put her hand on my thigh, squeezing it gently. “People like us.”
“Oh, you mean hot as hell sexy people?”
Ella laughed, “Definitely not. Most of them are mean and old and smoke cigars.”
Maksim grunted, which could have meant disapproval, amusement, or a warning.
