We would be nothing more than shells, raising fatherless children.
Gavril rubbed his chin. “If Hampton shows up and threatens this house, he won’t live long. My brigadiers will take care of it before I get involved. As would Marchetti’s own security team.”
I shuddered to think what sorts of things Gavril had planned for my ex. It wasn’t because I didn’t want him to do them but because I did, and that worried me.
“I think that Marchetti should know,” Gavril continued, dropping his hand. “This is his turf, and we are guests on his turf. I don’t want to give him any reason to come after me in the end.”
I wrapped my arms around my waist, hugging the child within. “Do you think that you and him can get along in the future?” I wanted my best friend to be back in my life, and the last thing we both needed was not to be able to pull our husbands together for dinner because they were enemies.
Gavril chuckled, reaching out to tug me closer to him. “That’s not for you to worry about, Naomi, but we might be able to find common ground once this is all over.”
Reaching up, I cupped his cheek. “Will you try?”
His jaw worked before he gave me a nod. “I’ll try if he does.”
Great, just great. I decided to take his answer for now, sliding my hand around to the back of his neck and pulling him down to meet lips for a hungry kiss. Gavril was hesitant at first, his lips nipping at mine before he took over, his mouth ravaging mine until I couldn’t think about anything else. When we finally came up for air, both of us were breathing heavily.
“Good God,” Gavril whispered. “We need to get this shit over with so I can get you back home.”
My heart swelled at the word. Home. I hadn’t had a home before, too afraid to settle down anywhere because of Jon. Gavril was changing that for me.
He was giving me a future.
A knock sounded on the door, and we pulled apart reluctantly. “Come in,” I called out, grasping his hand in mine. He squeezed it back as the door opened to reveal Roman and Ilsa in the doorway.
She gave me a once-over. “I thought you would at least have your clothing wrinkled. I mean, come on, Naomi! Haven’t I taught you anything?”
Gavril snorted in laughter before attempting to cover it up with a polite cough, and Roman just rolled his eyes. “Kirilenko, allow me to present my wife, Ilsa.”
“A pleasure,” Gavril said politely, inclining his head.
“Gavril, right?” Ilsa asked as she stepped forward, extending her hand. “You can call me Ilsa.”
He shook her hand as they sized each other up. “You’re right, Naomi,” Ilsa finally said. “He is hot.”
Roman let out a low growl as Gavril grinned at my best friend, my own cheeks burning. She was deliberately goading her husband, which meant he had done something that she hadn’t agreed with.
“Don’t worry, Marchetti,” Gavril chuckled as he tugged me closer. “One day you might be half as good looking as I am.”
“Can we get down to business?” Roman asked instead, clearly irritated with the conversation. “I don’t have all day to entertain you, Kirilenko, and my patience is wearing thin as is.”
“Fine,” Ilsa answered, rolling her eyes as she tugged her husband into the room and made him sit behind the desk so she could ease herself into his lap.
Gavril pulled me against him, my back resting against his broad chest, and I sighed as his hands rested lightly on my stomach. He made me feel cherished, like I was the most important thing in his life. Something had shifted in him, and I couldn’t wait until we were alone to find out exactly what he was thinking.
“We have to take down Jon Hampton,” he started, his voice taking on a hard edge. “By any means necessary.”
I swallowed hard, thinking that he wasn’t wrong. I wanted to not have to worry about him in my life any longer, but it was also a tall ask because of who Jon was. Taking down an FBI agent wasn’t going to be easy, and if we killed him, well, we would be enemy number one and have a huge target on our backs.
Which meant we wouldn’t have any sort of future, and our children would be in danger.
That couldn’t happen, and it was clear that Roman was thinking the same thing as well. “I’m not on the same page as you are Kirilenko,” he stated, his jaw tight. “I’m not going to kill an FBI agent and have them come after my ass. And were the situation reversed, you’d say the same thing to me.”
“They are going to come one way or another,” Gavril shot back, his arms tightening on me. “Either we can be in the front of the war or in the back. It’s your choice.”
“I took your wife in as a favor to mine,” Roman answered. “I’m not looking to cause any more trouble, and definitely not with the FBI. You are on your own.”
“He will be weak,” Gavril continued. I could feel the anger radiating from his body, how he thought that Roman was going to help him out and now it didn’t feel like he was looking to help us at all. Was I frightened? Yes, I was, but I could also understand why Roman wouldn’t want to be involved.