British Bratva Read online

  "You know what this is?" I asked her, and Elizabeth shook her head.

  "God's crying, because I’m your husband now, and I bet you he was hoping to keep you for himself."

  CHAPTER 38

  Maxim

  "You're going to need to find another torpedo, Valentin."

  His face went very still and he leaned forward towards the screen, swishing the glass he had in his hand. The amber coloured liquid looked like cognac and if I knew wealthy Russians, it would be. No one keen to show off their wealth and status drank Vodka in the motherland any longer. Other spirits were preferred. They showed a more discerning palate, demonstrated a bigger bank balance. "I think I didn't hear you properly, Maxim."

  "You did. I need to reevaluate my career choices."

  Valentin frowned at me through the screen, and I was quite glad we weren't in the same room. The man clearly had a few choice words he would have shared, if he thought threatening me was worth it, but that became harder to do over such a distance.

  "It's this girl, yes? All of my best men are finding love."

  "It's more than that, Valentin. I'm going to be a father."

  His eyes lit up and he raised his glass. "Congratulations my friend!"

  I nodded, unable to keep the proud smile from stealing onto my face. I had a long history with Valentin and I could tell he was truly happy for me, despite the fallout that came with the news.

  "You will want time off, of course. We can arrange that. There is no need to cut everything off completely, Maxim. We understand these things. You are like family to us."

  "I know. I owe you a lot. But I won't be able to work out of London any longer. Elizabeth has to leave. I will go with her."

  "Where to?"

  "I have some options."

  Valentin's frown wrinkled. "No. This will not do. You will go to Miami. Enjoy the beach. Elizabeth will have the baby. You will spend time together. She will recover. Everyone goes to Miami. In two-three months, you will be desperate for me to send you another name."

  I shook my head. "I don't think so, Valentin."

  "No? You will, what work a security job? So do that for us."

  "I don't want to travel around all over the place. I want to see my child grow up. "

  He let out a breath. "I understand. That's disappointing. Timoshenko will be sad to hear that."

  I nodded. "It's a shame. We've worked well together."

  He let out a controlled breath and he rubbed at the back of his neck, leaning forward. "Is there anything we can do to change your mind, Maxim, brother to brother. I would hate for you to step out from under our roof."

  I shook my head. "I don't think so, Valentin. Elizabeth wants to be by my side. She wants a proper home."

  "Where will you go?"

  "I want to go to Russia."

  Valentin nodded slowly and he took another sip of his drink. "It's a good place to be, for men like us. But it is always nice to travel. To see the world. You should go to Miami," he said again, and this time there was a different quality in his voice. Over the years I'd learned to pick out the slightly arrogant tone that seeped into his orders when he had a plan brewing. "For the baby. They have good healthcare. We will pay. It will be… a farewell from Timoshenko. A golden handshake - is this how you say?"

  I nodded, but I wasn't sure whether it was a good thing to be offered all of this. "What are you planning?"

  Valentin pulled an entirely unconvincing look of innocence. "I have no plan. I don't know what you think of me Maxim. I am just a very good boss."

  "Yeah, yeah."

  His smile twinkled. "I do, however, have some property in St Petersburg you may find yourself interested in. For when you want to settle with your new family, after Yelizaveta is ready to travel."

  I cocked my head to one side. "St Petersburg in Stanislav Pavlenko's territory."

  Valentin shrugged, lips flickering into the slimmest of smiles. "What does this matter to you? You will be retired."

  I leaned in, resting my weight on my folded arms as I looked into the camera at the top of the laptop.

  "We'd need protection."

  "Of course. I have a man in mind. He… comes with the house. You will not be inconvenienced."

  "It's a large problem to solve, for one man, Valentin. Getting rid of Pavlenko. It could get very messy."

  He let out a laugh. "I am not Timoshenko, Maxim. I would simply benefit from some… information while you are making your home in St Petersburg. No wet work. It might benefit from… a woman's touch."

  I stared at him. Was this the coup I'd been waiting for? Valentin starting to make his move. It was a lot to offer for nothing in return, and I knew him well enough to know he wasn't doing that.

  But I also knew I didn't need to take him up on it, unless I wanted to. I had enough to relocate and get us settled comfortably. Enough to tide us over while I found work. Elizabeth was a different matter. She'd be limited until she could learn Russian well enough to get by.

  It would be very convenient to have a line of work to fall into. I knew Elizabeth would jump at the chance, and as long as I could be there to ensure her safety, everything would be fine. But I had my doubts, it was potentially a pressure-cooker waiting to explode.

  Valentin kept his cards close to his chest, who knew whether he had the right people in the right places to execute a smooth, business takeover.

  "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Valentin?"

  The man laughed again and knocked back the rest of his glass. "I am offering my friend a beautiful house and a bodyguard to protect his beautiful family, while he relocates to a country he has not set foot in since he was a boy. What is there for me to know? I think that you are seeing things that are not there, Maxim."

  I shook my head, grin rising. "You forget, Valentin. It's my job to do that."

  He nodded shortly. "And you will not lose that talent, I hope."

  CHAPTER 39

  Elizabeth

  I woke up as we started our descent, a little bleary but nowhere near as awful as I would have felt if I'd been back in coach, crammed in with everybody else. I yawned, unravelling myself from the blanket and turning the bed back into a seat as the pretty flight attendant asked me to. I looked over to see Maxim smiling at me and he reached out and took my hand.

  "I love you, Elizabeth. Both of you."

  My sapphire and diamond ring glinted in the cabin lights and he smoothed my palm over the slight swell of my belly that was only going to grow over the coming months. Out of the window the sun was coming up over the Florida Keys. I never wanted to let go of his hand.

  There was something in his voice that struck me deeply and I felt the certainty that everything was going to work out just fine wash over me. It must have been my swirling hormones, because I felt tears welling in my eyes.

  "We both love you too."

  The wheels touched down on the runway and I breathed a sigh of relief that I hadn't realised I'd been holding in. This was everything I ever wanted and London was a place I never had to see again. The future held only brightness and love, and I had with me the only things that really mattered: my husband, my future child and all the pictures of my mother that I'd held onto for so long.

  The jet fuel and burnt rubber on the tarmac that filled my lungs when the cabin doors opened smelled just like freedom. This was the start of the rest of our lives together, and I couldn't wait for it to begin.

  EPILOGUE

  Elizabeth

  Six Months Later

  From the bed I could just see the sunlight glinting off the ocean and the impossible blue of the sky. Leaning against the pillows, I rested my eyes, letting the blissfully cool breeze from the air conditioning waft over me.

  This was paradise. It had to be.

  I didn't care how many royals had pushed out their babies in St Mary's Hospital, or the Portland, in London. Even if I'd been able to stay there without getting myself arrested, I wouldn't swap that view out of the window for g
ray skies and grubby concrete, even if you paid me.

  It might not have mattered so much through last night, when I was in the throws of labor, but it had been a perfect lead up to the birth and this private hospital was more like a hotel. Maxim had been with me the entire time.

  And now we had all the space and time we wanted before we went back to the apartment we'd been renting.

  I was more exhausted than I'd ever been in my life, but also the most happy.

  Maxim was standing at the window with a camera in one hand, and I knew he could see the pale sand of the beach, far below. All the people down there like ants, until he got his zoom lens on them.

  "Max, you're not supposed to be working."

  He looked back to me, smile rising as he walked back over to the bed. "Sweetheart, my love, I am documenting the first day of our son's life."

  "You better be."

  He set the camera down and stalked back towards me, leaning in to take a long, indulgent kiss. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world, and the yummiest mummy I have ever met."

  He scooped up the tiny, pink-skinned bundle, wrapped in white blankets from the plastic hospital crib next to the bed and sat next to me on the bed, leaning in, so we could both stare adoringly at the tiny miracle we'd created.

  His little hat was almost too big for him and he was the most exquisite creature I'd ever seen. Holding him made something in my chest shift painfully, like the world was realigning to centre itself around him, and I didn't have words to describe the feelings it brought up in me to see Maxim with our son cradled so carefully in his large arms.

  "He's perfect," I whispered, stroking over his tiny nose with the tip of my finger, and watching him stir slightly at the contact. Already I could see Max's features starting to show prominence and I ducked my head down to breath in the perfect smell of him, warmth and skin and newness.

  "What's your name, little man?" Maxim asked him softly.

  I already knew. "Alexei. Alex for short."

  Maxim smiled. "I like that. Alexei Maximovich Toropov. May he be the first of many sons."

  "Or daughters," I protested softly.

  Max tilted his head and nodded. "Or daughters."

  Alexei squirmed slightly, mouth gaping open on a yawn that turned to him rooting towards me and Maxim handed him over as I helped him latch onto my swollen breast.

  Everything was how it was supposed to be.

  We'd stay in Florida as long as we wanted, until the seasons turned, Max said. Russia was better in the summer. St Petersburg was perfect when the flowers were in bloom.

  On the side were the text books we'd been going through together, starting to teach me the alphabet along with enough conversation to get by and I was soaking it up like a sponge.

  I was a mother now as well as a wife, and I was just as involved with the Bratva as Maxim was ever going to be. I knew what was coming, what Valentin had planned, and I was ready to be right by Maxim's side when it happened, doing all I could. Without them, Maxim never would have found me. I owed them everything I had.

  "Tell me about the house in St Petersburg again?"

  Maxim draped his arm along the headboard of the bed, over my shoulders, looking down into Alexei's face just like I was. Neither of us could take our eyes off him. He had us fully transfixed and I didn't mind in the slightest.

  "It sits in a walled garden with a tall gate that you walk through from the street, or drive inside. It's tall. Three stories, and the attic. Windows either side of the door, with shutters on them. When you come in the front door there's a staircase that sweeps down. It's beautiful. Upstairs there is plenty of room for a nursery. Where Alexei will have all his toys."

  "And downstairs, we can make an office and a room for weapons."

  Maxim's smile glinted. "You are the perfect wife for me."

  I rested my head against his shoulder. "Oh, I know. And you're the perfect husband."

  This was the start of the rest of our lives together, and it was going to be amazing.

  EXTENDED EPILOGUE

  Maxim

  One Year Later

  The sunlight glinted on the water, reflecting rays sharply back against the stark white of the deck of the boat Roman had let us use for our adventure. He'd come along to help me skipper, but I was more than comfortable at the helm, with a cold beer in my hand and Elizabeth and Alexei, our son, in my sight line.

  She looked stunning sitting out on the front of the boat in from the side in case of waves. But there weren't going to be any. The ocean was calm and tame. And that was a bloody good job because I was distracted by her sinfully cutaway swimsuit and the perfect swell of her rounded breasts, still engorged with milk from feeding our son.

  I loved her body before she had our child and I loved seeing her pregnant, knowing she was growing him and now I was even more in awe than I thought I could be that her beauty and strength could soften and bend to provide everything he could ever require. Watching the way the rest of the world seemed to shrink right down when she was with our son was such an amazing thing.

  Her large floppy sun hat was shading both of them, and Alexei had on a little cap too. His chubby cheeks were smeared with suncream so he didn't burn. But Elizabeth took most of my focus. Between her large sunglasses and the sinful cut-out bathing suit she had on, she looked like some kind of movie star and I thanked God for the thousandth time that we were put together by fate. As always, I was overcome by how much I wanted her. I always wanted her, and I didn't see any signs of that ever stopping.

  She looked up and everything in me glowed with pride and possessiveness when she raised Alexei's hand to wave at me, pointing over towards me to show him where I was.

  "Look Alexei, can you see Daddy driving the boat?"

  I waved back and Alexei let out a shriek of a laugh, waving his hands up and down in the air.

  Our son was strapping and healthy, beating all the height percentiles for his twelve months. I couldn't have been prouder of him. The love I felt for our child was a power I had never imagined could be real. Elizabeth was my world and he was the first star in our sky. I planned for there to be a whole constellation.

  Behind me, in the back of the boat, one of Roman's staff was grilling up marlin steaks and Alexei's godparents, Mitch and Cassie were looking on with interest. Valentin had flown them out, making sure there was someone to look out for Mitch's gym while he was away and we'd been showing them the Florida life while it was still ours. .

  It was worth the negotiations just to see Elizabeth's face. She might not have had any blood relatives, apart from our child, but I knew these two meant a lot to her, and if I could make it happen, they'd be as welcome in our home as if they were true family.

  The pair of them had wasted no time in getting sunburnt and were now both glowing pink representatives of Brits abroad everywhere. Elizabeth didn't seem to share that trait and I loved what the sun did to her skin, but even if she had to stay in the shade, I would have loved her pale, and interesting. To me she was always going to be perfect.

  Elizabeth picked Alexei up, shifting him onto her hip as she came over to join me at the helm. I could never resist kissing her, and she leaned in making a low moan against my lips that had me hard in an instant. I'd have dragged her down into the cabin below and had my way with her for the rest of the trip if we hadn't had company.

  We'd be heading to Russia in the spring and we'd need a nanny who was prepared to come with us. Elizabeth had insisted on someone British or American, so she could make sure there was no question of her being misunderstood, but for now, she barely trusted anyone with our son at all.

  It would have been a brave woman who misunderstood my wife in any language and her Russian was coming on well enough, but I had no reason to argue.

  "Let me take this little one off you for now." Cassie was the exception and I watched Elizabeth's face soften with thanks as her friend took our son and bounced him up and down, making him shriek with laughter. "Mummy and Da
ddy want a bit of time to themselves. Yes they do Little Mister. You come and see your Uncle Mitch."

  Elizabeth leaned back from me, looking over towards the sizzling fish.

  "Is this the fish you guys caught?

  "That your husband caught," Roman corrected. "He's become quite the fisherman. You should have seen the fight this monster put up."

  Elizabeth gave me another hug, her arms resting easily around my torso as she grinned up at me, proudly.

  "See, we're going to have to come back next winter and see if you can't show Alexei how to do it too."

  I let out a sigh of contentment as she snuggled in against me and I turned the nose of the boat around. There was nothing I wanted more than to come back here to escape the Russian winters and show our boy how to do all kinds of things. I'd teach him to swim and fish, and he'd grow up with the perfect American accent, just like I'd grown up with a British one, and the world would be open to him.

  The Bratva would do that for him. We held the power and under their roof I knew there was no opportunity we wouldn't have.

  Soon, the bright sun would start to sink, and we'd head off towards the sunset for our first adventure as a family, before we finally went back to the home I'd not set foot in since I was a child. Bringing Elizabeth back to St Petersburg with a son of our own would give me a way of righting all the wrongs of long ago and I couldn't wait.

  But it wasn't about the past any longer. Not for either one of us. The only thing that mattered was the future we had together, and I knew for certain that with all the love I had for Elizabeth, it was going to be amazing.

  She turned to me, reaching up to touch my cheek and when she pulled me down for a deep kiss, Mitch let out an overacted shout.

  "Alright, alright. None of that in front of the kid. You put her down!"

  Elizabeth let out a laugh that rang through my ears like happiness itself and I knew that wherever we found ourselves, with this woman by my side, I was home.