Russian Mobster's Obsession Read online

  Viktor said nothing. What could he say? Karkoff was practically daring him to do something stupid. Instead, Viktor moved right to business. “Yakov and Sasha said you had a job you need taken care of.” Viktor kept his tone mild and almost conversational.

  “Yes, yes.” Karkoff took a long drag from the cigar hanging between his fingers. “I have another shipment I need you to pick up out at the docks.”

  Viktor lifted his brows in surprise. “Two in one week?”

  “It is not your place to question,” Karkoff said flatly.

  Viktor quickly backpedaled. “I was only mentioning it because I was grateful to have the work.”

  “Ah, yes.” Karkoff nodded. “You would be.”

  “Should I go to the same place?” Viktor’s stomach cramped as he considered what he was so casually contemplating. Human trafficking was a dirty but lucrative business. It wouldn’t matter if Viktor went and picked up the shipment, or if someone else did it—the deed would be done either way. At least in this case Viktor would be able to pay his bills for another month.

  “Yes. Same place,” Karkoff confirmed. “Sasha will have a van for you.”

  “Tomorrow then.”

  “Tonight, I think.” Karkoff took another puff of his cigar. The rich smoke made Viktor’s nose burn. “There is something particularly special about this shipment. It requires immediate attention.”

  Viktor gave Karkoff a curt nod and then turned to leave. At the last minute, Sasha stepped in front of the doorway, blocking Viktor’s path.

  “And Viktor?” Karkoff called after him. “Don’t forget who pulls the strings around here, eh?”

  “Of course,” Viktor murmured.

  The shit-eating grin on Sasha’s face was enough to let Viktor know who had been telling tales on him. It was tempting for Viktor to put his fist right in Sasha’s face. Unfortunately, that would not have earned him any goodwill with Karkoff. Sasha was his sister’s stepson and therefore family.

  “I suppose you’re a little too busy tonight to entertain your little piece of fluff,” Sasha blustered. “Shall I go keep her company for you?”

  Viktor stretched his mouth into a cold, hard smile. “Katie might seem like a pushover, but she’s made of sterner stuff than you might imagine. She can handle herself if you’d like to go try.”

  Something twitched behind Sasha’s confident façade, and he seemed to back off without any further warning. Viktor didn’t pause to worry about it. Not right now. He had a job to do.

  * * *

  “Franco,” Katie said slowly. “Do you have a minute?”

  The pizza parlor was hopping with the typical evening traffic. Neighborhood locals buzzed in and out to pick up their takeout orders, and the tables were all full. Katie had no doubt that Franco did not have a moment, but she was equally certain he would make one for her.

  “I’m busy as a bee,” Franco told her. “But you may come back and talk to me while I cook. Yes?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Katie eagerly stepped back into the kitchen. “It looks exactly the same!” she exclaimed. Then she took a deep breath. “Oh and it smells the same too. Just like heaven.”

  Franco smiled broadly. “You always were my biggest fan. Now what can I do for you?”

  “What happened to Viktor after I left town?”

  Franco pressed his lips together into a thin line. At first, Katie wasn’t certain he was going to answer. He looked intent on pounding the dough before him into shape. Then he sighed. “The only thing that ever kept that boy out of trouble was you, my Katie.”

  “I have a hard time believing that, even though that’s what Viktor claims as well.” She hated to imagine that she had left only to leave a poor boy to an inevitable life of crime.

  “It wasn’t that simple at all,” Franco admitted. “But you were a good influence. The boys he grew up around, they were bad boys. All of them pledged their loyalty to Karkoff before they had graduated high school. I believe that if Viktor had been able to do so, he would have. But his father was dead, and he had no uncles or brothers to stand up for him.”

  “So he’s an outsider.” Katie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the make table. “That has to be awful.”

  “It keeps him suspended between two worlds,” Franco explained. He began tossing pizza toppings together in a bowl. “His mafia ties make him a risk for anyone else to hire to do good, honest work, but he isn’t considered a true part of the Karkoff family, so he doesn’t have their protection either.”

  “That sucks.” Katie couldn’t even imagine how badly that must hurt Viktor’s pride.

  “It would most certainly suck, as you say,” Franco told her with a laugh. “But he has made his own choices. We all do.”

  “I suppose that’s true.” Katie leaned forward and kissed the old man on his cheek. “Thanks for the pizza.” She slipped the fifty-dollar bill that Viktor had given her into Franco’s pocket. “Do something nice for your wife.”

  “I have always thought that you were an angel, my dear.” Franco brushed her cheek with his flour-covered fingers. “Just be careful not to get your wings singed.”

  * * *

  Viktor walked toward the docks. The scent of the harbor was heavy in the air and the darkness was falling quickly. He grasped a set of keys in his hand. They cut into his palm as he searched for the van that should have been sitting in plain sight. He circumvented a large container, not even wanting to know what cargo might be inside. He had long ago learned that ignorance wasn’t just bliss; it was survival.

  Finally he saw the van sitting by a loading dock. The dingy brown color made it nearly invisible in the deep shadows. Normally he was not a jumpy man. He could handle himself quite well in almost any situation, a status that lent itself to confidence. But tonight he felt as if something were just off.

  He stuck the key in the door and it opened without incident. Climbing inside, Viktor started the engine and began coasting out of the wharf area before he even considered turning any lights on.

  “Help!”

  The sound nearly made him swerve off the road. Viktor turned around, but the only thing he could see was the solid wall between the cab of the van and the cargo area. It was late. It was dark. He was already tired and feeling out of sorts because of all the drama involving Katie’s return. It was not unrealistic to think that his mind was playing tricks on him.

  “Please help us!”

  “Shit,” he muttered. Apparently his mind was not playing tricks at all. He groaned softly. How could he simply drive on as though nothing had happened?

  “Please! I know you’re there. We have children back here!”

  It could have been a ploy, but Viktor could hear the whimpers of what sounded like very young girls. He knew then that he could not complete this job. The only question was how to circumvent it without losing his life in the process.

  Viktor was supposed to meet Sasha at the park in the usual place to trade out vans. Before now, Viktor had never thought to wonder why Sasha was the one who brought the money, which Viktor then had to deliver to a third location while Sasha took the merchandise to the buyer.

  His road was just passing a hospital when Viktor had an idea. Of course, he would have to be careful not to be caught on one of the hospital’s security cameras. It wouldn’t matter that he was doing a good thing. The authorities would string him up from the nearest tree.

  Carefully pulling the van around the far side of the hospital and parking in an alley, Viktor got out of the vehicle. There was no doubt in his mind that the back of the vehicle was going to be locked. Fortunately, he had a childhood full of lock picking to fall back on.

  * * *

  Katie paced back and forth in front of her little fireplace. There was a little bit of a spring chill in the air this evening, so she had started a fire. Truthfully, though, she sought the comfort of the merrily crackling flames rather than the warmth.

 
She could not stop thinking about Viktor. It seemed such a shame that the whole neighborhood had written him off simply because they didn’t want to chance an interaction with the mafia. Since Viktor wasn’t tied to Karkoff enough for the man to accept Viktor’s pledge, surely Viktor was a free man. Right?

  A sudden knock on the back door nearly made Katie leap out of her skin. On the couch, Max sat up and cocked his head. He wasn’t barking, which suggested that whoever was at the door wasn’t a stranger. But Max wasn’t rushing to the door either, so it wasn’t really a friend. There was only one person she could think of.

  “Come with me, boy,” she murmured to her dog.

  Max yawned and jumped down off the sofa. He followed her lead through the house, his toenails clicking on the wood floors as they made their way through the kitchen to the back door. Sure enough, she could see Viktor peeking between her grandmother’s lacy curtains in order to see through the panes of glass.

  Katie flung open the door. “Can’t you use the front?”

  “I was feeling nostalgic.”

  She wasn’t buying it. “Considering the way you’re looking around as though you’re expecting someone to be following you, I suspect that’s not really why you opted to use the back door.”

  He slipped into the kitchen and shut the door behind him. “Maybe.”

  “No maybe about it. Either you come clean or I’m going to boot your ass back out that door.” Katie arched an eyebrow expectantly.

  “Let’s just say that the job Karkoff wanted me to do for him wasn’t to my liking.”

  Katie’s heart leaped for joy. “That’s good!”

  “I’m not sure he’ll see it that way,” Viktor said ruefully. “Which means that if he discovers I was involved in botching the job, he’ll be particularly pissed off at me.”

  “What job?” Katie wanted to know. In fact, she was dying of curiosity.

  “I’d rather not say.” Viktor headed for the living room. He put her blinds down and drew the curtains over the top as if he were truly expecting someone to be watching her house. “I don’t want you involved. And if anyone ever asks, you are to tell them that you have absolutely no idea about anything involving the work I do for Karkoff.”

  “You’re really worried about me, aren’t you?” she asked him softly.

  He turned around suddenly. She was so close that her nose was nearly brushing his chest. Very gently, he reached out and cupped her face. “Katie, you’ve been the only thing I’ve worried about for the last five years. I cannot imagine why that would stop now.”

  Chapter Five

  Viktor waited to see what Katie would say. He had laid his heart on the floor in front of her. Now it was for her to say what would happen next. It was an uncomfortable feeling. He had obviously caught her relaxing at home for the evening. She wore turquoise lounge pants with pink spots and a plain gray T-shirt. Her feet were bare and he could see that her toes were painted a pale blue color. Her gray eyes were unfathomable, and she seemed to fidget as though she couldn’t decide how to react.

  Then she took a deep breath. “I don’t know where to go from here. Everyone tells me you’re bad news.”

  “What does your heart say?” He very lightly brushed his fingertips over her chest just below her throat.

  There was a moment when he thought she would shut him out for good. Then her expression cleared and she gazed at him in the same way she had all those years ago. Reaching out, she rested her fingers on his breastbone. “My heart has always belonged to you, I think.”

  “Katie,” he groaned.

  He wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to his chest. She was both familiar and unfamiliar. The same warmth and scent, but her curves were definitely that of a woman fully grown. He covered her mouth with his and kissed her as though no time had passed at all.

  The passive girl was gone. Katie made tiny noises in the back of her throat and tangled her fingers in his hair as she moved her lips against his. It was she who gently moved her tongue along the seam of his mouth until he opened for her. She tasted him and allowed him to taste her in return. Her spicy flavor overwhelmed his senses. Every nerve in his body was on high alert as he savored the sensation of having her so close to him.

  He backed toward the couch, coaxing her to follow. When he sat he pulled her down on top of him. She automatically straddled his lap. He could feel the heat of her even through the fabric of her lounge pants. He wanted more, but he didn’t want to push her just yet. When he took her and made her his, she would be begging him for it.

  Katie pulled back a little, gazing into his face. She gently traced the line of his jaw before touching the scar on his mouth. He didn’t want to talk about the scar, but she didn’t ask. Instead, she seemed to be studying his features. Her hands moved to his shoulders and then down his chest. When she reached his waist, she tugged at his T-shirt to raise it above his belly.

  “Wow.” She pulled the cotton up and over his head. “That is even more impressive than I expected.”

  * * *

  Katie was having difficulty catching her breath. Kissing Viktor was both the same and different. Seeing his naked chest, she was hard-pressed not to drool in admiration. The man was gorgeous!

  She scored the taut skin over his pectorals with her nails. He gave a little shiver. Then she plucked at his nipples and he gave a soft moan. Finally she let her hands glide all the way down his abdomen to his waistband. She could see the hard outline of him there. Her crotch was spread open over his groin. He was so close and yet so unbelievably far.

  He began to kiss her again. Cupping her head in his huge hands, he dragged her closer and took her mouth in a slow, mind-numbing kiss that left her brain completely fogged over. Every nerve in her body was thrumming with need. She was so turned on that her lounge pants were getting soaked in the crotch area. Now was probably not the time to mention that she wasn’t wearing panties. She had a feeling he was going to discover that soon enough anyway.

  “Your turn,” he told her.

  There was a gleam in his dark eyes as he gently lifted her T-shirt over her head. She had taken off her bra, and felt self-conscious about her bare breasts. She quickly covered them with her arms. Viktor wasn’t having any of that. He pried her arms away and pulled them up around his neck. Then he leaned forward and laved his tongue around her left nipple.

  Katie forgot to be shy. In fact, she was the opposite of shy. Moaning like a wanton thing, she grabbed the back of Viktor’s head and dragged him closer. She wanted more. Then he began to lick and suck while twisting her other nipple with his fingertips. He switched off, using his mouth on one while he fondled the other with his hand. It was a glorious feeling and she couldn’t get enough.

  She was moving against him and she soon realized that the riding motion was grinding her sex right over the ridge of his erection. She continued to rock her hips until she realized that she was actually going to come.

  A deep ache started at her core. She closed her eyes and threw her head back as she tried desperately to assuage the need she felt. His hands left her breasts, finding a spot on her hips and helping her discover a rhythm of motion that pushed her even closer to the edge of reason.

  “Come for me, Katie,” Viktor told her softly. “Show me your passion. Come on, sweetheart, let me have it.”

  The erotic words were too much. Katie climaxed in a rush of warm cream and a shout that left her throat feeling raspy and raw. She could barely breathe. And when it was all over she collapsed to Viktor’s chest.

  * * *

  Viktor was going to die of acute sexual frustration and he didn’t care. The taste of Katie’s breasts was on his tongue and the scent of her pussy was in his nose. His cock was throbbing with the need to be inside her.

  She was trembling against him and he gave her a moment to come back to herself. Carefully rubbing her back, he began to gently massage her warm skin. Then he nudged her. “Stand up for a second, sweethe
art, and let’s get these pants off.”

  There was a moment when he wondered if she might protest, but she dismounted from his lap long enough to slip her pants down over her hips. After that, Viktor was almost too entranced by the beauty of her to pay attention to his own clothing. How he managed to get his pants unfastened and down over his hips was a mystery when he couldn’t stop looking at the pretty strip of dark hair atop Katie’s mound. His pants hung up somewhere in the vicinity of his calves, but that didn’t matter. Nothing else did.

  “Come here.” He took her hand and drew her back onto his lap.

  Viktor realized that she was watching everything. The thought was erotic as hell. He palmed the length of his cock in one hand and very deliberately dragged the tip through her wet folds. She gasped and gave a little shimmy as if she were seeking penetration. It was the ultimate compliment.

  “Viktor,” she gasped. “I need you. I need you inside me.”

  “Slowly,” he told her raggedly. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Her hands settled on his shoulders as he very carefully fit the head of his cock against her slick opening. He felt her flex and nearly lost control. His balls were straining beneath his body, trapped between his legs in this position. Her inner muscles relaxed and he slipped inside her inch by agonizing inch.

  She moaned at the contact. The way she sucked in a quick breath told him that she felt the intense friction of their joining in the same way he did. Viktor bracketed her hips with his hands and urged her to move. It took very little prompting. Her instincts seemed to take over and she began riding him with long, penetrating strokes that sent his cock deep inside her body. He felt his orgasm begin to overcome his senses. Everything was tingling and he knew nothing but the sweetness of her body surrounding him.

  The sight of her was intoxicating. She was such a beautiful woman with high breasts that bounced gently with each motion of her body. Viktor gazed at her and wondered what he could have possibly done to earn such a prize.

  * * *

  Katie was drunk on pleasure. She had never experienced anything like the sensation of riding Viktor’s cock. There was no doubt from the way he held her hips and set the pace of their lovemaking that he was in charge. Yet she felt so powerful sitting astride his body with his erection lodged deep inside her.