Page 74 of The Bratva’s Monster

“If you want,” I say.

I see her move closer, then the sliding of the glass doors and she steps in with me. I step back, allowing her under the water, and I watch as she leans her head back, closing her eyes as it rains down on her blonde hair, turning it to a dark silver.

The water blesses her face, honoring the contours of her cheekbones and dripping off the soft curves of her skin and down her slender neck, slightly bruised from my hands. Tiny river lines of water caress her soft collarbone and down the slopes of her breasts, circling the sweet pink of her nipples.

And, of course, I want her again. Except… it doesn’t feel carnal this time. I watch as she turns under the water, at the way her long hair flows with it as if it’s a part of it. She is a perfect thing of beauty.

And I am still a monster.

It feels right for me to leave, to mutter something about leaving her to herself and go and get my clothes on, but I can’t. I’m frozen in her beauty.

She turns back around and opens her eyes, looking me over. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I say. It’s just that you’re perfect. “I need to get out and⁠—”

“Wait.” She takes my hand and close the gap between us, resting her hands on my chest. “Stay.”

She leans into me and we kiss. And nothing has felt more right than this very moment. Nothing at all.

“You should stay here,” I tell Liz as we get dressed. She looks up at me from her place on the bed, one shoe poised over her foot.

“Stay where? Here in this room?”

I sigh. I’m standing in the bathroom, pulling my hair back into a ponytail as I look at myself in the mirror. “For now, at least,” I say to her.

“Absolutely not,” she says, putting her shoe on the rest of the way.

I sigh and lean against the bathroom sink. “This isn’t up for debate.”

“Who’s debating anything? I’m telling you that I’m going with you.”

I look at her and she’s standing, facing me with a determined grin. I roll my eyes. “Alex is pissed, Liz. More than pissed, actually. I fucked up. You shouldn’t be around when he unloads on me.”

“I don’t care about what I should and shouldn’t do. My place is with you, Rikki. I’m going to be by your side. I should have been all along.”

I tilt my head and look at her curiously. She’s serious.

And a little insane, I might add.

I take a breath of resolution. She’s not going to be talked out of this. That much is for certain. “All right, but don’t get in the way. Let me take the lead.”

She nods and smiles a little broader. “Yes, sir.”

I walk out of the bathroom and to her, touching her face. I really hope Alex has had time to get his mind right about things. We’ve got serious matters to discuss.

We walk out of the guest quarters together and start walking down the hall. I can hear the faint sound of talking somewhere nearby. Near the kitchen and past the basement.

“It sounds like someone’s here,” Liz says.

“Yeah, it does.” We turn the corner and see movement in the living room. Marius walking through, his bag in hand. He sees me and stops.

“Rikki,” he says, “You’re here. Good. Your brother’s looking for you.”

I note the specks of blood on his shirt and the raw redness of hands that had just been washed in hot water. “You working tonight?”

“I was. On Alex’s guest tonight. He told me that he wanted him patched up.” He gives me a slight tilt of the head. “He got it pretty good from what I saw. Shot, stabbed, and electrocuted, huh? Very Medieval.”

I feel Liz shift uncomfortably next to me. “You sticking around?” I ask him.