Chapter Twelve

Memphis, TN

The alarm blasted, bolting Destiny awake. Jumping up, she looked around and realized that she was in her own bed, back in Memphis. Fully dressed, she stood up and looked around. Her vision doubled, head pounded. Leaning against the wall, she put her hands on her face and wiped the make-up from her skin.

Ugh, she hated when she went to bed without washing her face. It always felt grimy the next day.

Flashes of the night before flickered in the back of her mind. The swimming pool. The people. The drinking. The sex...

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, grabbing her heart. She had sex with Anatoly last night.

She made her way to the bathroom and turned on the faucet. Water flooded into her cupped hands. She splashed her face and suddenly remembered his hands on her breasts. His mouth on her vagina. His fingers inside her.

Swallowing hard, she turned off the water and looked at herself in the mirror. More flashes came. Waves of sex. Sex. Sex. Sex.

She could still smell him on her. He was deep down inside her. He was in her hair. He was under her nails. He was on her neck and her lips. She reeked of expensive cologne. Her body ached in the most intimate of places.

She couldn’t bear to stare at herself a moment longer. Turning on the shower, she ripped off her clothes and put them in the garbage. It hadn’t been rape. She remembered kissing him. She remembered pulling her dress off and walking into the pool. He had watched her and then joined her.

The music was blaring. Lights flashed out from the bare windows. People danced about, screamed and laughed. But his presence had drowned them out. In the water, naked and rock hard, he had kissed her, told her that he was lonely, told her that she was beautiful, told her that he was the boss. And that was when she had given in to him.

It was the heady combination of truth and lies, of power and seduction that had made her do it. And while the absinthe had numbed her from guilt, it had not numbed her from want. And she did want him.

They made love in the infinity pool, below a perfect sky, in the warm water illuminated by blue and white lights with the crowds of people inside, only kept at bay by the bodyguards, who turned their backs to give them privacy.

It had been the first time that she had made love in public, but he had made it perfect. She remembered floating in the warm water, nipples exposed and erect. Her legs were wrapped around his waist, his penis prodding against her. She remember curiously looking up to see the people on the second floor looking out of the window, watching in amusement.

She remembered realizing that she had gone too far, embered rith ever pump of her body, with ever lick of breasts, with every kiss, she found it harder to ask Anatoly to stop. Somewhere in between the heated sex and the absinthe, she forgot about the real world. The green fairy had made her forget about reality. She was in a dream.

With waves crashing against her body, and his strong arms gripping her, he had made her climax in the pool. By the end of their interlude, she was pushed against the side, crying in torment of the pleasure that he provided. She screamed aloud into his mouth as he kissed her, holding her hair in the tight grip of his hand. His blue eyes seemed a thousand miles away. He had finished himself, inside her. Hot seed pushed into her body and stopped at his latex guard. He had whispered naughty things to her. “I want to come inside of you without this damned thing,” he had said. “If you stay, I will,” he had promised. Her eyes were heavy, drowning in the very spirits that he had served her. So, he held her head up and spoke into her ear. “Destiny, did you come here to fulfill your name?”

Afterwards, he had carried her out of the pool in his strong arms, dressed her in a white robe and escorted her upstairs with the bodyguards pushing people out of their way as they went. They all looked on, sharing the knowledge of what had just happened. Suddenly, she had felt ashamed, and wished more than anything to be far away from them all. But he had assured her, “As long as you’re honest with me, I’ll protect you.”

In the bedroom, he had rested beside her on the bed, holding her close with his rippling chest to her back. In a growl, he had reminded her of his promise.

“I have to get you home,” he said, rubbing through her hair. “Unless you want to stay here forever. Miami’s a nice place. You can start over here. Walk away from Memphis for good.”

“And what am I supposed to do here?” she had asked, looking across the room at the patio door.

“You could write. You wrote all those stories in the magazine, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” she smirked.

“Well, maybe, you could get a job working for a paper here. I could help you do that.”

She had turned to him, looked him in his eyes and knew that he knew who she was.

Cover blown, she lamented. “I can’t,” she said, voice aching. “I have to go back. Face the music.”

“You sure you want to do that? It won’t be a pretty tune.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

He had nodded his head and got up from the bed. He was still naked. She looked at his tattoos, his stocky, taut frame. Her tired body shivered from the absinthe. He had pulled the covers over her to keep her warm.

He looked down at the carpet, shoulders slumped over, feeling rejected. “Well, thank you. I’m sure it won’t seem lik/font>y morning, but I enjoyed your company.” With those words, he had disappeared into his bathroom, and she had fallen asleep.

The next thing she remembered, she woke up here.

The hot water from the showerhead ran over her face and wiped the invisible sin away. She soaped her body and pondered what had he meant by his last statement?

After a long shower, after the hot water had turned cold, she stepped out and dried her body off. Her cell phone had eight missed calls. Some were from her fiancé, some from Agosto. She dreaded both.

How would she hide what had happened? Maybe no one knew. It will all make more sense once I’ve eaten, she thought.

Once she was dressed, she dragged herself into the kitchen to fix breakfast. Her place seemed like a box now after spending a night with a mob boss.

Boom! Boom! Boom! A police knock on her door. She went to it reluctantly. Peering out of the peephole, she saw Agosto.

She opened the door slowly and moved out of the way to let him inside.

He walked briskly past her, his cologne lingering behind. “I’ve tried to call you a hundred damned times,” he said gruffly.

“I know. I was sleep.”

“Late night in Miami, huh?”

She looked up at him. “Yeah.” Closing the door, she turned and folded her arms in front of her.

“You’re off this case,” he said, face red. He clenched his wide jaw and pulled his hands out of his pockets.

“If you could just let me explain...” she said, unable to look up at him.

“Explain how a video of you being fucked by a Russian mob boss is posted all over the internet? Explain how you’ve made a mockery of this department, of Harrison and of yourself. Explain that?”

Her mouth fell. “What?”

“Don’t what me? There is a video of you at a party at Anatoly’s house in South Beach being fucked by him in his pool. You appear lucid. You appear willing. And you appear to enjoy it.”

Tears formed in her eyes.

Agosto shook his head. “I’m here to collect your badge and gun. You’re on suspension. And investigation into your entire life is underway, though, you have to know that.”

She shook her head, then walked into her bedroom and grabbed her badge and gun from the lock box under her bed.

With her knees planted on the floor, she began to cry. Now, she knew what Anatoly had meant by his last statement. He had set her up. He had ruined her life.

Agosto walked into the bedroom and leaned against the door. His tough exterior dropped. He shook his head, hating to see a woman cry. “Why’d you fuck up so bad?” he asked. In truth, he liked her. And he would have like to see a young woman like her take the Medlov men down.

“I don’t know,” she said, pulling her head up off her mattress. She looked at him. “I really don’t know.”

“Your career as a cop is over. I can’t officially confirm it for you. The board will decide that, but I can tell you that I’ve never heard of anyone coming back from something like this.”

“What should I do?”

Agosto took a stick of gum from his pocket and slipped into his mouth. “Quit,” he said finally. “Focus on saving your relationship with your fiancé. Leave the city. Start over. Change your name, explain this to your parents before someone else does. I could go on.”

“You’re not the first one to tell me that,” she said, wiping the tears from her face.

“Yeah, well, you probably should have taken his advice.” He walked over and took the gun and badge from her. “Don’t do anything stupid,” he said, putting the badge in his pocket. “Don’t go see Anatoly; don’t kill yourself; don’t fuck up anymore than you already have. Your next move will come to you. But you’ve got to wait for it. Plus, there is still Harrison to deal with. The boys say he’s really taking it hard. Not that I could blame him. I had a fiancé once.” He reached out and touched her face. “It isn’t the end of the world, just the end of your career.”

“Easy for you to say,” she stood up. “You’re still Agosto.”

“Always will be. Now, I gotta get out of here. So, take care of yourself. I’ll see you at the review board.” With that, he rubbed her shoulder and left. The front door slammed behind him.

***

Destiny’s video had already received over 200,000 hits. The guy he had paid to record it from the upstairs balcony got some really great shots. There was nothing traceable back to him. The entire thing had played out in a semi-public place. She was willing; he was able. Plus, he’d offered her a new start. It was her fault for not accepting it.

Anatoly clicked his computer off and turned around his chair. His father was on the phone cursing him out. He sat quietly and listened as the old man berated him for his stunt last night.

“I bet you think this was sart, eh?” Dmitry asked, looking at his own computer in disgust.

“I got her out of way, like I told you I would.”

“You were seen screwing a cop. This family has no contact with cops.”

“Papa, you have a hundred cops on your payroll,” Anatoly defended.

“Name the last time you saw me fucking one.”

There was silence on the phone.

“Well, she’s out of the way,” Anatoly said, running his thumb and index finger over the sides of his mouth. “Now, I just have to find the leak. And I already know who it is.”

“Victoria,” Dmitry said as more of an answer than a question.

“Yeah,” Anatoly sighed. “I should have handled her when I first had a chance.

“Victoria is my problem. I should have handled her that night here in my house. I was weak. I’ll fix it,” Dmitry growled.

“I want to be there.”

“Fine. You and your cousin will meet me in Italy in three days at my winery. We’ll leave there and come back here to finish the rest of our business.”

“I don’t trust Gabriel. Something about him isn’t right.”

“Well, that is our purpose for inviting him to Italy. If he’s not who he says he is, he’ll be very shaken up after his visit. It will be apparent.”

“I’m sorry that I fucked up, papa.”

“You are young. I’m sure in that head of yours, you thought that you were doing something exemplary, but I can assure you that such brazen contact with police will only land you in more confusion. Let this be lesson to you to trust no one who is not Vor. And then trust only certain Vor. Keep the code, Anatoly. Keep the lines clear. Stay on your side always. No more screwing police women, da.”

“Da,” Anatoly answered.

“By the way, you fuck like school boy. Put more thrust into your hips for her pleasure next time. It is not always about you.” His voice was lighter.

Anatoly smiled. He knew his father had already forgiven him. Maybe he was even a little jealous that he had never thought of something so clever.

“I’ll remember that, papa.”

Hanging up the phone, Anatoly looked over at Vasily. He clasped his fingers together and cleared his throat. “We go to Italy in three days. Arrange it. Have you found out any more on Gabriel Medlov?”

“Information is being collected. So far, everything checks out.”

“Keep looking. I want something before I arrive in Italy.”

***

Anatoly couldn’t help himself. He had to see her. Pulling up to Dmitry’s Closet, he turned off his motorcycle and went inside. Renee was behind the counter ringing someone up. She looked over at him and rolled her eyes.

He knew that look. She was still pissed. Pointing towards the back office, he motioned for her to meet him.

She did so quickly.

“What do you want?” she asked, closing the door behind her.

He loved when she wore her hair down. Walking up to her, he tried to touch her face, but she pulled away.

“Have you given any thought to staying longer?” he asked.

“Ana, I already told you,” she said sighing. “I gotta get out of here.”

“Give me some time, please. I need you.” He pulled her face in his hands. “How can you deny your Ana?”

She smirked. “One-month notice. Then I’m gone.”

He sighed. “Thank you.” Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her tight.

“What’s wrong with you today? You’re all touchy,” she said, tapping his back. She pulled away. Her heart began to beat fast, but she tried hard to conceal it.

“Nothing is wrong,” he said shortly.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Something is wrong, but I don’t want to talk about it. I was hoping we could go to lunch.”

“Okay.” She grabbed her purse. Her hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned into the desk.

Anatoly’s gaze trailed up her short legs to her wide hips. He had just been with Destiny, but the entire time, he had been thinking of Renee.

She caught him looking and rolled her eyes. “Stop looking at me like that,” she said, standing back up.

“Stopping bending over like that,” he said, walking to the back door. “We can walk over, unless you want to ride on my bike.”

“You know I don’t like bikes,” she answered, walking past him.

The sun was bright and warmed their skin as they walked side-by-side through the busy streets of downtown Memphis over to Mother Russia. Anatoly felt at ease once more. Just to be near her was all the relaxation he needed to get on with his day.

As usual, Renee had tons to talk about, but nothing to do with illegal transactions or hits. She talked about the eccentric customers, how her baby sister was doing at Clarke University and where she wanted to vacation next year.

He looked over at her in awe. Her life was so simple, yet so perfect. He often thought of what it would be like to be with someone like her. She was grounded, loving, caring...or as she often put it, “I’m real.”

“Are you listening to me?” she asked as they made it to the front of Mother Russia.

“Da, da,” he said, opening the door for her.

“Then what did I just say?”

“You want to go to Jamaica.”

She smirked. He had been listening.

“I have a small place in Jamaica,” he said proudly.

“You have a small place everywhere.” As usual, she was not impressed. “And I want to go with my sisters and cousins. They’re renting a place.”

“Why would you want to spend money...”

As he was about to step inside behind Renee, he heard a familiar voice scream his name. He turned to see Destiny coming towards him. In a pair of jeans and a red tank top, no bra, breasts swinging, she called out to him, nearly running down the street.

“Who in the hell is that?” Renee asked, turning around to look out of the door.

He put his hand on the small of her back, “Go inside,” he said, motioning towards Vasily. “I’ll be right there.”

Anatoly turned around and walked towards Destiny once he was sure Renee was out of sight. Slowly, he felt for his gun. He had to expect the worst considering what he had done to her.

“How could you?” she asked with tears in her eyes.

“I told you to stay in Miami. I offered you a new life. You didn’t take it. That’s not my fault.”

She reached back to slap him in his face, but he instinctively caught her hand and pushed her against the brick wall of the neighboring building. People walked by quickly, trying to avoid the two. He v>

“You fucking bastard! I’ll get you, if it’s the last thing I do.” Tears ran down her face.

“Sure you want to do that?” he asked, brow raised. “I could have killed you, fed you to my dogs. I could have cut your throat. I could have had your family killed. I could have served you up and fed you to your boyfriend, Harrison. I could have sold you to some drug dealer in Cuba. He could have turned you into a whore on the streets of Old Havana.”

Her breath caught in her chest.

Anatoly’s eyes were cold and empty. “I could have done a thousand things to you that would have left you none existent, except in memory - and not even in my own because I don’t care to think of you. But instead, I screwed you. If you ask me, you got off easy. And you did get off,” he said, trailing his hand down her breast. “Didn’t you? It’s so sweet, too.”

She pushed away from him, rubbing her head that had been banged against the hard wall. “I hate you. I hate everything that you stand for!”

“Hate me?” Anatoly smirked. “I was honest with you. You knew who I was before you ever bothered. You came into my life. You knocked on my door.” He pointed at her. “You asked for it. And you got what you deserved.” His voice was low and menacing.

Vasily walked up behind them. “Is there a problem boss?” he asked, looking at Destiny.

“Destiny was just leaving,” Anatoly said, never taking his gaze from her. “But if she ever comes back, kill her on sight. Wipe it under the rug. I don’t even what to know about it.” He wiped his face and smiled at her. “Fuck you, cop.”