Inked Adonis (Litvinov Bratva Book 1)

Six yoga-toned feet of psycho bitch is marching directly towards me, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

Where’s a real-life eject button or a magician’s cloud of disappearing smoke when you need it?

Katerina has already seen me. Even from across the park, I feel the icy chill of her full attention shiver down my spine. Rufus must feel it, too. The poor Dane’s tail is tucked so far between his legs that it might need to be surgically removed.

“It’s okay, Ru,” I lie, patting his head and considering my options.

Or, option, I suppose. Singular. Since the only thing I can come up with is to pretend I haven’t seen her and power walk in the opposite direction.

Unfortunately, there are problems with that plan.

Firstly, the four dogs I’m walking can sense the fear blooming deep in my soul and are darting around looking for the cause. My legs are tangled in leashes. Short of cutting myself free and setting a horde of badly trained wolves loose in the park, there’s no chance of a quick exit.

Secondly, Katerina’s legs come up to my armpits. She’s like Sexy Slenderman. Even my quickest getaway wouldn’t be fast enough. And when she did inevitably catch up, she’d probably be twice as pissed as she’s already going to be because she’d have to chase me down.

Thirdly, I don’t want Katerina to think I’m scared of her.

Which, to be clear, I am. Very.

But she doesn’t need to know that.

And fourth and finally, it’s too late. Katerina waves an arm over her head. It looks like a normal enough greeting, but it’s probably some signal to the hitman she has hanging from a tree above me. I wince, waiting for a piano to fall on my head.

But… nothing.

“Nola!” Katerina calls, waving again.

Is she… smiling?!

It’s gotta be a sinister sort of thing. She must be grinning, thinking about how the gigantic diamonds encrusting each of her knuckles will look imprinted on my cheekbone. Jewelry that big can’t be just for show; they’re weapons.

Rufus makes a sound that can only be described as a miserable groan. Once again, he is so damn relatable.

Katerina stops in front of me, her wedged high heels squeaking to a stop on the pavement. “I was hoping to run into you, Nora.”

“Nova,” I correct, clinging a little tighter to the leashes in my hand.

Ruby and the two other dogs are pulling towards Katerina, anxious for an introduction. Rufus is pulling in the opposite direction, because he knows better.

“Right, of course. Nova.”

Then she smiles.

Again.

At me.

I wait for the crack of lightning or for air raid sirens to start blaring. Surely, Katerina smiling at me is an end-of-days level omen.

I take a few steps back on sheer instinct.

So much for pretending I’m not scared of her.

As I do, though, Rufus growls.

Katerina looks down at him, her smile sharpening. “Hello there, boy.”

She reaches out to pet him, but Rufus ducks between my legs, his entire body rumbling.

She simply laughs like it’s some funny bit. “Still as shy as ever, I see. Silly dog.”

Smart dog would be more accurate. I wish it was socially acceptable for me to growl at her.

Since it isn’t, I aim for a quick exit. “Sorry, but I’m a little busy.” I gesture to the dogs. “Dogs to walk, ya know?”

“Wonderful. I’ll walk with you.”

I blink at her silently, since screaming, “No!” and making the sign of the cross feels extreme.

She walks past me with a flip of her golden blonde hair. I’ve never seen someone look quite so fabulous for a midday stroll through the park. Her clothes are French haute couture, whereas most of mine come from Le Thrift Store.

I still want to hightail it in the other direction, but I do the adult thing and follow after her, schlepping all four dogs along with me, because what choice do I have?

Fall in Chicago is normally a nice time of year—leaves turning, air turning crisp and refreshing, sky as blue as it ever is. But right now, it’s like the backdrop to a nightmare. Katerina has a funny way of making nice things—smiles, autumn—seem like the evilest shit anyone has ever dreamed up.

She wastes no time in cutting to the chase. “I hear you’re dating my ex-husband.”

“With all due respect, Ms. Alekseeva, I don’t think that’s any of your business.” I hold my chin high even while my heart is flailing around in my chest.

I wait for the same kind of attack she waged on Hope, but all I get is another seemingly sweet smile. “Listen, Nina, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I’m here because I’m concerned.”

“About what?” I ask. Because she can’t be concerned about me.

She continues without answering my question. “I’ve known Sam since he was a boy. We practically grew up together. I probably know more about him than anyone else on earth.”

I want to be petty and point out that she doesn’t know what he was doing with me in bed last night, but I take a breath and rise above it.

Mostly because the sun glinting off her diamond rings reminds me that I would not look cute with stitches on my face.

“Take it from someone who knows: the Litvinovs are trouble,” she says. “They’re all damaged—Samuil most of all. We were together for over ten years, so I know all about it.”

Ten years?!

I was content to imagine Katerina as some kind of drunken-night in Las Vegas mistake. Elvis married them, they had fun for a week, and then they sobered up and filed for divorce. But if Sam’s marriage to Kat was a child, it would be in the fourth grade. It would be learning division!

I ignore the twisting in my gut and the way her icy-blue glare makes me shiver. “Sam is just fine.”

Suddenly, Katerina grabs my elbow, bringing me to a grinding halt in front of Lake Shore Drive. Finally, she’s dropped the smile. Thank God—it was starting to terrify me more than her usual sneer. “Put aside your girlish infatuation and open your eyes, Nova. I know you’re having the best sex of your life right now, but don’t let explosive orgasms turn you into a fool.”

My jaw drops. Even if my mouth was working properly, I don’t know what I’d say to that.

“Samuil Litvinov may seem steady and dependable, but just you wait. The second things get serious, he turns into the same broken little boy he’s always been. Under it all, he’s still the runt whose junkie mother abandoned him as a toddler.”

Jaw drops further.

Speechlessness doubles.

Katerina smirks triumphantly. “Oh, dear. He hasn’t told you about that, has he? How his mother traded him in for drug money and was never seen or heard from again? Pity. I bet you thought you two were getting so close.”

A part of me feels like I need to stick my fingers in my ears and sing at the top of my lungs. This is not information I should be getting from Samuil’s vindictive ex-wife.

Then there’s another greedy part of me that wants to know everything about Sam, no matter where the information comes from.

Katerina continues her casually vicious onslaught. “His mother broke him, and as a result, Sam has never trusted women. It’s why our marriage didn’t survive. He became possessive, controlling, cruel. It’s just a matter of time before you see that side of him. I hope it hurts you less than it did me. Those bruises lasted ages.”

She was married to him for ten years. How many sides of Samuil has she seen? How much better does she know him? Did he really hurt her?

Doubts swirl in my head, but I try to shut them all out.

I clench my teeth. “Why should I believe anything you tell me?”

“Because it’s true, whether you want to believe it or not. The cycle of violence will continue and you’ll be a part of it. I just thought you should know—woman to woman. Consider yourself warned.”

Rufus has ventured out from between my legs, sniffing at Katerina like he’s double-checking she’s just as awful as he remembers. She reaches out for another pet, but his ears flatten. The growl that comes out of him is menacing.

I trust Rufus’s judgment a hell of a lot more than I trust Katerina.

She yanks her hand back with a sneer. Then she reaches into her pocket and returns with a sleek black phone. She hands it to me. “Take this.”

“What is it?”

“Your emergency line,” she explains. “You may turn your nose up at it now, but there will come a day in the near future when Samuil will show you who he truly is. You’ll be too scared to go to the police, so consider this your get-out-of-jail-free card.” She flips her hair over her shoulder. “But if you want my advice, you should get out while you still can.”

Before I can lob the phone back at her, she turns and stalks away.

“What do I do now?” I stare down at the dogs, who are looking at me like I should have all the answers.

There’s a dumpster on the path up ahead. I could drop this phone in the trash can and forget this ever happened. I’m tempted to.

But something stops me.

If Katerina gave me this phone, there must be a good reason why. I’m not under any delusion it has anything to do with helping me. But she had a good point: she’s known Samuil for a long time.

I tuck the phone in my pocket and decide to ask him about it later.

For now, Sam can deal with the Ghosts of Ex-Wives Past haunting him, and I can forget Katerina Alekseeva exists.

Rufus snorts. I don’t need a dog interpreter to know what he’s thinking.

Yeah, right.

That bitch is coming back for sure.