Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal Book 2) Read online

  “Breathe, yeah?” he said quietly. “Don’t tense up too much—trust me and feel.”

  The last two things he demanded were easy enough.

  The others?

  Not so much.

  The cool sensation of the lube helped the sting for the brief moment when Kaz withdrew his fingers. She almost expected him to be right back, but he was reaching for the nightstand again, and Violet did look that time, only to find he’d grabbed a condom.

  His hand swept over her backside once, then twice, and it settled reassuringly along the swell of her ass before his fingers dug in deep.

  That one shock of pain—something she hadn’t been expecting in his light touch—distracted her for just a passing second, and then she felt the head of his cock pressing into the tight hole of her ass. Still a bit tender from his fingers stretching her open, Violet sucked in a breath, holding it and tensing, waiting for that pain.

  It was inevitable.

  Even if for a short while …

  She knew it would come.

  Kaz’s fingers dug in again, his other hand tangled in the waves of her hair, and he tugged her head back. Violet chose to focus on those two things—the way his grip tightened, and his fingers bruised—and the sounds of his breaths coming out a little harsher as he started to push in.

  He was slow at first—careful, even—working through that tight ring with measured thrusts and nothing too hard or fast.

  That pain still came—sharp and fast—making Violet stiffen and bite down hard enough on her bottom lip to draw blood.

  “Shhh,” she heard him say softly.

  His hand in her hair let go, his fingers trailing down the length of her spine until she relaxed. Her muscles loosened, and the pain was gone—or damn near.

  “Jesus Christ,” Kaz muttered heavily.

  Violet wanted to agree, but the sound that left her lips was nowhere near coherent. She was just vocalizing a mixture of pleasure and need, and nothing else.

  If he wanted words, she was fucking out of them.

  Again, his fingers stroked her skin.

  “It’s going to be a little faster—harder—now,” he told her.

  “Please.”

  Kaz only chuckled, as if he knew exactly how she felt and just what to do about it.

  The withdraw came a hell of a lot easier than that first thrust had. It felt like he was raking over every single one of her nerves but in the best way.

  There was still that sting.

  That strange newness.

  That too-full sensation.

  But still …

  “More,” Violet whimpered.

  Oh, Kaz gave her that—pulling out near to the tip and then thrusting right back in, almost sending her off balance with the force. That ache burrowed deeper—the want clawed higher. The second her muscles relaxed again, he didn’t hesitate, beginning a brutal rhythm that was sure to leave her sore but satisfied come morning.

  His fingers found her hair again, his other meeting the junction of her shoulder and neck to grab tight and yank her back to meet every flex of his hips.

  That fleeting moment of slowness and softness was gone.

  Violet didn't even care.

  She came faster the second time.

  Harder.

  Violently.

  Crying into messy bedsheets and biting down on her own knuckles, she fought to find a goddamn breath because she couldn’t even breathe.

  And it was fucking wonderful.

  There was something about the quiet moments, after everything had calmed and when nothing but silence and ease was left. And after the last few days, that was all Kaz wanted. Between trying to find Vasily while simultaneously staying one step ahead of whatever he was planning—he severely doubted his father would walk away quietly—he was fucking exhausted.

  But this was what he had prepared for.

  Rooting through the slacks he’d left abandoned on the floor in his haste some hours ago, he grabbed a cigarette and lighter, inhaling the burning nicotine the moment it lit. But it wasn’t nearly as calming as it usually was because he still had too much to do.

  “What are you thinking about?” Violet asked with wide expressive eyes, bunching the pillow beneath her head as she turned to better face him.

  Looking down at her, he felt at peace. “That I missed you.”

  “Really? Because as long as you were gone, I might have forgotten that.”

  “It was necessary,” Kaz said after blowing out a stream of smoke. “But you’re here now, yes?”

  “But for how long?”

  Before Vasily had taken off, he would have never taken the chance of bringing her back here, but now that he was no longer the hunted, Kaz didn’t feel the need to keep her hidden away.

  “For however long you want,” Kaz said, thinking of what he had left locked away in his desk across the hall. He intended to give it to her tonight but was waiting for the right moment.

  “What’s the plan now?”

  There was a lot to be done—a lot of meetings and sit-downs to be held—but none of that really involved Violet directly. Kaz didn’t doubt that Alberto knew they were both back, so the man’s absence was answer enough. He also didn’t doubt that Alberto would try to send anyone he could to drag her back to his side.

  And he wasn’t having that happen.

  Maybe there was no better time than the present ...

  He left her staring after him to head to his office. Yanking one of the drawers open, he grabbed the small box inside, turning the thing over in his hands as he headed back to Violet. The minute he was back in the room, her gaze strayed to him and then down to what he was holding.

  Seeing it, she sat up a little straighter, dragging the sheet up to her chest as she did. “Kaz, what—”

  “Some things have changed since I’ve been back,” he started to explain, knowing he just needed to lay it all out there for her to hear. “Vasily has gone off the grid, and as of now, no one can find him.”

  “You will,” she said with all the conviction in the world.

  He nodded. “It’s only a matter of time.”

  Violet was quiet for a moment before asking, “But what does that have to do with that?”

  “I’m only boss in action, not in title,” Kaz explained. “With Vasily gone, I’m free to take his seat, but while that guarantees me a certain respect from the Bratva, it doesn’t for you. Don’t misunderstand. If I ever hear someone speak a bad word about you, I’ll cut out their tongue, but as things stand, you are still the daughter of a man my people want dead.”

  The muscle in her throat worked as she swallowed, and he caught that look of apprehension on her face before she could turn away.

  Kaz wasn’t going to pretend with her—not when there was no way to soften the fact that her father was a dead man walking anytime he left the safety of his home. He had never doubted that she wouldn’t take it well—Alberto was her father, after all, and she loved the man—but the only thing he could hope was that she would allow him to try to lessen her pain.

  “But Russians and Italians … we’re not so different, no? We both honor the sanctity of marriage and all it stands for. So if you became my wife—”

  “Then I’ll go from being Alberto’s daughter to your wife,” she finished, not betraying a single emotion as she did.

  Not sure how she was feeling about that, Kaz added, “At the very least, no one would dare try to take the wife of an enemy unless they wanted to start a war.”

  And if Alberto tried, it would be a bloody fucking day.

  “So this is about my protection?”

  Scrubbing a hand down his face, Kaz didn’t answer. Not right away. He wanted to pick his words carefully. “It is about your protection, Violet, but that’s not the only reason. Ya tebya lyublya, Violet. You know that—I’ve made no secret of that fact to anyone. I’m not trying to marry you because it would be convenient, but because I want to.”

  He heard her sharp intake of bre
ath the first time he said ‘marry,’ but he needed to finish. He wanted her to understand that it was for them first, and everyone else was a distant second.

  Flipping the lid of the box up, he crossed the floor, holding it out for her. “So are you going to make this easy on me?”

  Her eyes were fixated on the oval diamond, one he had agonized over for two fucking hours, before she looked at him with stark emotion in her face. “Ask.”

  Losing the playful note to his voice, Kaz asked her the question that had plagued him since the moment he knew she was the one. “Violet, will you marry me?”

  Violet’s eye caught the glittering oval diamond adorning her left hand a second before Kaz’s fingers curled around her jean-clad thigh and squeezed. That was enough to stop her from staring for the moment—something she hadn’t really stopped doing since he’d slid the ring down her finger with one of his signature smiles.

  “Are you still irritated with me?” he asked, never taking his eye off the road.

  “When did I say I was angry with you?”

  Kaz chuckled. “You didn’t, but it’s easy to tell when a woman has a … certain attitude first thing in the morning.”

  Violet passed him a look. “I’m about to catch an attitude.”

  His grin only grew. “My point, thank you.”

  “Is this about what I said—you being gone?”

  “Yes,” Kaz replied.

  “A phone call would have been nice.”

  “What would I have said—that nothing was as it needed to be?”

  Violet frowned. “Hello—you could have said hello.”

  “You’re right.”

  She hadn’t expected him to just come out with that omission, but she was grateful for it.

  “Next time, call,” Violet said. “I worried.”

  Kaz only nodded.

  She took that as a battle won.

  His hand only left her thigh for long enough to grab the wheel and take a sharp turn before it was right back in place, holding tight.

  “Tell me,” Kaz started to say, “did Konstantin behave himself?”

  Violet almost laughed.

  Almost.

  Kaz had posed the question with barely a smile and a dullness to his words. Yet an edge lingered right behind all the same.

  “Define behave,” Violet murmured.

  His grip on her thigh squeezed a little harder, making Violet laugh.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” Kaz said almost conversationally, “because I do like Konstantin a great deal—old friends and all that are hard to keep loyal. But if he tried any of his crazy nonsense—even jokingly—I don’t mind making a quick trip back to Chicago. I could be back before the night was even out. Don’t test me on that. I really don’t mind.”

  Not once had Kaz looked away from the road.

  Not once had his expression wavered from his cool, calm appearance.

  Violet reached over and patted Kaz on the cheek with her hand, feeling the scruff of his facial hair tickle her fingertips. “He behaved.”

  Kaz smirked. “Good.”

  “With me,” she added, considering Amelia.

  “What does that mean?”

  Violet quickly recapped the whole Amelia situation. She was vague because, frankly, she didn’t know much at all, and Konstantin hadn’t offered any explanations when she asked.

  Kaz laughed when Violet finished. “Ah, his problem, yes?”

  “Pardon?”

  “He said he had a problem to take care of—nothing else. Seems like an easy problem to take care of if he wanted to.”

  Violet swallowed back the lump in her throat. “You can’t mean—”

  “Killing her? Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. She may be just a girl, but she is just a girl with a father who came into their territory and threatened them. She is just a girl who comes from the same family you come from. She is just a girl, Violet, but she is not just a girl at the same time.”

  “Oh.”

  “Mmm,” Kaz hummed noncommittally. “As I said, it seems like an easy problem to handle, and he’s not handled it yet, which means good things.”

  “Good things,” Violet echoed.

  “I think so.”

  Violet wasn't quite sure what to make of any of that, so she’d hope for the best, even if she seriously doubted Amelia gave a single shit about her.

  History was what it was, after all.

  Sometimes, it just went bad.

  Kaz let go of Violet’s thigh again to grab the wheel as he turned on the blinker and smoothly pulled the car into a free parking space at the end of a street. He’d not explained much about their plans for the day, but Violet was happy to follow along blindly anyway.

  She’d missed him.

  Did it need a better explanation than that?

  Turning in the seat, Kaz reached up to stroke her cheekbone softly. “This—your friend—is one of those things you’ll have to put aside and forget about, Violet. It’s not like you have any say what happens now.”

  “That sounds cruel.”

  “Of you or of me?”

  “Maybe both,” she said.

  Kaz sighed. “You’re right—it is. And this is just one thing, but trust that there will be more times, more people. But for right now, you and I are going to visit a friend’s restaurant and have a nice lunch together because there’s nothing else to do, and we have something to celebrate. Yes?”

  Violet didn’t think it was that simple or easy, but she knew Kaz had a point.

  “Fine,” Violet agreed.

  Kaz turned away, stepping out of the car and rounding the front. Violet had just put her hand on the door handle when Kaz pulled her door open, a hand already outstretched to take hers. Stepping out onto the street, Violet looked around, recognizing a bit. Nearly mid-Brooklyn, she was pretty certain it would never be okayed from the Italians that the Russians were this far into their territory, if even for nothing more than a dinner that had nothing to do with business.

  “Should we be this far up in Brooklyn?”

  Kaz didn’t even blink. “Why shouldn’t we be?”

  Well, then …

  Violet smiled when Kaz pulled her closer to his side and walked them down the street toward a restaurant with a modern décor on the outside and a large front deck with seating for those who wanted to dine outside.

  It was too cold for that, though.

  “A week?” Kaz asked out of the blue.

  Violet’s brow furrowed. “A week for what?”

  “Do you need a week to plan something for a wedding?”

  She damn near stumbled in her step, but Kaz’s stronghold kept her moving and on two feet at the same time. “That’s a bit soon.”

  “No, it really isn’t.”

  Violet tried not to sigh and failed. “Kaz, be serious.”

  “I am. The longer we wait, the higher the chances become that something might happen. I want you protected, and this is one of the best ways I can do that for you.”

  “And you want to,” she said teasingly.

  Kaz kissed the top of her head. “And there’s that, yes. Do you really want to wait, krasivaya?”

  Violet smiled. “Two weeks—maybe three.”

  “Maybe three,” he agreed quietly.

  “It’s not like we have a lot to do, right?”

  Kaz didn’t respond.

  Violet supposed his silence was enough of an answer.

  Who exactly would they invite?

  Who would stand for them?

  Who would celebrate?

  Silently, Kaz’s hand slipped up from her side to tangle in her hair. He kissed the top of her head again, keeping her close as he murmured, “As long as you are happy, then nothing else is important, Violet.”

  “And what about you? Shouldn’t you be happy, too?”

  Kaz laughed. “You should already know the answer to that.”

  Violet did.

  She made him happy.

  And that was enough.
r />   Kaz let go of Violet’s hair only to place a hand at the small of her back as they rounded the steps of the restaurant.

  “A friend owns this?” she asked.

  “An old friend.”

  “It looks nice.”

  “Do not give Alfie too many compliments; he’s the kind of man who lets them go to his head,” Kaz muttered.

  Violet only rolled her eyes in response, but it was hard to tell if Kaz was joking with his serious tone.

  Inside, the restaurant bustled with movement and chatter. The modern design of the outside reflected on the interior as well. At the entrance, a woman stood behind a black podium. A Bluetooth earpiece buzzed on the podium, but the woman didn’t bother to pick it up and put it in her ear as she looked up at Violet and Kaz’s approach.

  “Mr. Markovic,” the woman greeted, smiling widely. “Alfie didn’t mention you’d be coming in today.”

  Kaz passed Violet a look. “No business today. Is there a table open?”

  “I can open one for you, of course.”

  Violet couldn’t help the tiniest flare of jealousy that started somewhere in her stomach and quickly jumped up her throat at the way the woman so casually and sweetly chatted away with Kaz as she flipped through pages on her tablet.

  Never once did she look at Violet.

  Violet must have not been hiding her displeasure very well because Kaz snatched her hand in his own, his thumb sweeping over the oval engagement ring a second before he lifted her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles.

  “Stop,” he murmured against her skin.

  Violet acted like he hadn’t said a thing but smiled all the same when the woman’s gaze snapped between the ring on Violet’s finger and Kaz, whose attention was gone from the conversation altogether.

  “If you don’t mind being closer to the kitchen—”

  “Violet?”

  That voice …

  Violet didn’t want to cause a scene in an unfamiliar place, never mind one that Kaz clearly frequented for more reasons than just the food. So instead of ignoring the person calling her name, or spinning fast on her heel to face them, she turned slowly, offering a smile as she did.

  “Nicole,” Violet said.

  Nicole Carracci looked like a block of beautifully carved ice as her cold, blue gaze took Violet in, and then moved to Kaz, before dropping down to their connected hands.