If the fiery gravity I felt here on the bed was real, more than just mind blowing sex, then I had to get to the truth. That's what they always say sets a person free, right?
Too bad they never tell you it's bipolar, a split revelation with the power to enslave, liberate, or destroy. Much like the firebird branded on Anton's body. I was ready to discover what it would do here, even when every possibility offered death or triumph.
6
Spellbound (Anton)
I wasn't the only one who'd spent the entire fucking night blowing off steam. Shit, I wasn't sure what the hell I hadn't blown last night with her. Felt like I got hit by a semi when I dragged my ass downstairs the next morning, tasting her sleepy lips one last time before I left. The kiss reminded me the marathon night of fucking must've taken a year off my life, and it was so damned worth it.
Daniel was passed out in a chair by the window, an empty bottle of good vodka at his side. In the master office, Lev's naked ass was pressed against the glass, his big arms wrapped around the slim blonde I'd seen taking care of shit around the house.
Jesus Christ. None of us had time for this shit. Party time was over with planning to do.
When I ripped open the door, the girl woke his ass screaming. I pretended I wasn't the world's biggest, most thoroughly fucked hypocrite.
“What the fuck are you doing?! This is what I left you down here to work on all night while I did all the important shit? Look at this! Goddamn, brother. Now we'll have to find a new maid too.”
They never lasted long when somebody's appetite got the better of them. If she was lucky, she'd get a fat payout and a one way ticket back to her old country, cold cash and a hard warning to forget all about America and working for the Ivankov brothers.
Lev stood up and covered the girl with his naked body, shielding her from me. Fuck. Way too early for the sight of my brother's naked body. He looked like an overgrown tiger standing on two legs.
“Asshole! Why can't you knock first?” He stepped up and slapped my chest.
I stumbled backwards, fully ready to send my fist into his jaw. Then I heard the footsteps behind me, fast and uneven. Daniel tackled both of us, knocked us onto the floor, all while the blonde bitch squealed and grabbed for her clothes.
She was out the door, running somewhere more discrete to dress while we all grappled with each other. I got in a couple punches and blooded Lev's nose. I was about to bust his fucking lip – best way to show him I was serious – when Daniel started laughing like an idiot.
“What's so damned funny?” I growled, wrapping my free hand around his throat.
“Just realized this is what it's come to. You and the Ligiotti bitch upstairs. Lev, burying himself in housekeeper *.”
“And you with your fucking bottle,” I snarled, tightening my fingers around his throat.
He moved surprisingly fast for a man with a hangover, jerking his head to break the lock I had on him. “Yeah. Point is, we're all procrastinating now. No more lying, brothers. We're afraid to do this fucking job, aren't we? What happened before killed us. Sucked the wind right out of our sails. We screwed up We let that bastard get away, and almost killed some innocent girls on top of it. Thank God somebody was looking out for them.”
My fists weakened. Lev took the opportunity to throw me off him, roaring as he stood and marched across the room, finding his clothes.
I got back on my feet and contemplated a re-match while his back was turned. Forget it. Both my brothers were being total cocks, but Daniel had a point. He'd also just spat out the shit that used to keep me up all night behind bars, the guilt and amazement that things hadn't gone off worse when Gioulio escaped our bomb.
We'd killed a bunch of twisted fucks and almost bagged him, yeah. But we could've just as easily killed the slave girls. Nobody wanted to fuck up and miss him again, and getting clean blood on our hands was worse than spilling our own.
Fuck.
I pointed to Lev. “Soon as this jackoff is dressed, let's get some breakfast and talk business. No more drinks or fucking. It's time to be adults and get our shit in order.”
Lev turned, buttoning his shirt, giving me a demon glare. “Don't act so damned high and mighty, dear brat. I know you were fucking the night away like me. Least I know how to stick my dick in a place that's only gonna cause us a little drama.”
I suppressed a growl. Hearing him let Russian slip, the harsher foreign tone we'd been raised with from our father reminded me these fucks weren't my enemies. Not by a long shot. These boys were all I had. All I'd get to help me do what I came to do. All I had on my side to wrap this shit up and find out if there was more to Sabrina than discovering how many nasty noises she could make underneath me while I fucked her into the mattress.
Daniel smoothed a hand across his face, wiping at his hangover's afterglow. He looked at me with the same bright blue eyes set in my own head, only his were duller from the binge drinking.