I’m half asleep when I feel the covers lifting slightly and the bed dipping beside me. I am fucking exhausted, but I’m conscious Liam might need something so my body won’t let me fall into a deep sleep. And I’ve been worrying about Jessie and Mikey and won’t be okay until they are back here where they belong. I trust Jessie’s judgment, but I will never trust the Bratva. Not ever.
Her warm hand skims my lower abdomen and I smile because they are back — and safe.
“Hey, Angel.”
“Hey you,” she replies as she snuggles against me and I lift my arm so I can wrap it around her and she nestles into the crook of my shoulder. “I’m sorry I woke you but I’ve missed you these past few days.”
“You didn’t wake me. I was waiting for you to come home.” I yawn. “And I’ve missed you too. Did everything go okay?”
“Yes. But I’ll tell you about it later. Go back to sleep.”
“Hmm.” I pull her closer to me and she drapes her thigh over my legs. “You sure you don’t want anything else from me?” I ask, even though I’m not sure where I’ll find the energy from, but I will find some for her if that’s what she needs.
“No,” she breathes against my skin. “I just want to lie here with you. Is that okay?”
“Yes.” I kiss the top of her head. “Sounds perfect. But if you could get naked, that would be even better.”
“Behave yourself and go to sleep,” she says, but I feel her smile against my chest.
“Yes, ma’am,” I mumble. I close my eyes and she strokes the back my neck with her index finger and I smile too because she knows my body as well as I know hers. I’m fast asleep a few seconds later.
Jessie is gone by the time I wake up. Glancing at the clock, I see I’ve been asleep for five hours, so no doubt she will have needed to tend to Liam during that time. I roll out of bed and make my way to the kitchen, where I find her and Mikey making sandwiches.
She smiles when I walk into the room. “You want something to eat?” she asks.
I resist the temptation to tell her than I’d like to eat her. “Yes, please,” I say instead as I sit at the island and watch them work. “What are we having?”
“Chicken, bacon and avocado,” she replies.
“How many do you want, bro?” Mikey asks.
“As many as there are available. I’m starving,” I reply as my stomach growls in agreement. Jessie brings a plate over to me with one sandwich and I look at it and frown. “Just to get you started,” she laughs. “Did you have a good sleep?”
“Yep,” I say as I stretch my arms and roll my neck. “Would have been better if I’d woken up with you still wrapped around me like a blanket though,” I say quietly and she blushes.
“Sorry. But I had to give Liam his meds and some food. He needs to eat little and often with them,” she whispers.
I reach out and pull her around the island until she’s standing between my thighs. “I know, Angel. Liam needs to be your focus right now. But that doesn’t mean I don’t miss waking up next to you.”
“I miss waking up next to you too,” she breathes.
“As soon as I get a night off from the club, I am taking you to bed and locking the door behind us.” I wink at her and she blushes again, but I imagine for an altogether different reason.
“Sounds good to me.”
“Here you go, Red,” Mikey walks over to us and hands her a tray.
“I have to take Liam his dinner,” she says with a sweet smile.
“I’ll catch you later, Angel,” I say before I wrap my arms around her. I press my lips against hers and coax them open so I can push my tongue inside. She tastes so sweet. Of strawberries and Gatorade. Pressing her face closer to mine, I deepen our kiss until she is moaning into my mouth and my cock stiffens. I am desperate to fuck her properly. This morning wasn’t enough, and it has already been too long since I’ve been inside her, but she needs to take care of Liam and I need to speak to Mikey.
As soon as Jessie has walked out of the kitchen, Mikey sits on the stool opposite me.
“So, how did it go?” I ask before taking a bite out of my sandwich.
“As well as can be expected, I think. Vlad had his two sons with him, but there was nothing untoward going on as far as I could tell. He gave her some of the answers she was looking for, and I think she thinks it was worthwhile. So, I suppose it was a success?”
“Good. He told her about her parents then?”
“Yep. Her father’s real name was Boris. He fell in love with her mother, even though she was married to Alexei…”
“Oh? So they had an affair?” I had assumed that Alexei was the one who betrayed them and not the other way around.
“Well, yeah. But it kind of seemed like Jessie’s mom didn’t have much choice in marrying Alexei, if you know what I mean?”
“Hmm,” I mumble with a mouthful of food.
“It was strange hearing about Alexei and Boris, though.” Mikey shakes his head.
“Why?”
“Well, with them being twins? I assumed they must have always been rivals or had a difficult relationship, but according to Vlad, they were real close. Until Jessie’s mom anyway.”
“Why is that strange?” I frown at him.
“Well, it’s not. It was just weird thinking about me and Liam, you know? There would never be anything he could ever do that would make me turn on him like that. And Vlad said that Alexei loved Jessie’s mom too, but he still had her and Boris slaughtered?” he shakes his head again.
“Well, Alexei and you are very different people, Mikey,” I remind him.
“I guess so,” he says, but he seems distracted.
“What is it?”
“I was just thinking, is all,” he replies with a shrug.
“Thinking what?”
“What if Jessie chose one of us? Like decided she fell in love with one of us more than the others? What would we do?”
I blink at him because that thought has never crossed my mind, but it is a terrifying one. “I don’t have a clue, bro,” I answer honestly. “You think she would?”
He stares at me for a few seconds as though he’s deep in thought. “Nah,” he eventually says with a grin. “She can’t get enough of us Ryans, can she?”
“Well, let’s hope it stays that way.” I force a smile because now he’s got me thinking the same thing.
“You sure you can manage without me tonight, bro?” Mikey asks as he slips off his stool and goes back to the counter to make more sandwiches.
“Yeah. You deserve a night off.”
“So do you.” He turns and frowns at me. “Let the manager and the bouncers handle things tonight. Play strip poker with me and Jessie?”
“Strip poker?” I laugh.
“Yep.” He grins and flashes his eyebrows. “Winner gets to choose their reward.”
“As fun as that sounds, we have too much going on right now. I can’t afford to take my eye off the ball, Mikey.”
He shakes his head and sighs before turning his back on me again.
“I’ll take some time off as soon as Shane is home and things calm down a little.”
“Things are never calm around here, Con,” he says, and I know he’s right. But I can’t slack off right now when Shane asked me to keep everything running smoothly. As much as I truly would prefer to spend my evening with a naked Jessie.
