Page 81 of Miki

I still didn’t know the exact extent of the criminal activities his Brotherhood was involved in; all he had told me was that they didn’t hurt women and weren’t involved in human trafficking.

That, at least, was an immense relief to me.

An even bigger relief was the fact that Miki had said that his family was trying to get out of their criminal lifestyle. While I doubted the possibility of that, I was happy that he was at least trying. It said a lot about his character, and it endeared him to me all the more.

While Miki talked, I had quietly listened and allowed myself to process it all. After he finished telling me everything he was comfortable sharing, I had been stunned because it didn’t matter to me.

Even when he admitted he planned on killing Mathieson, it hadn’t made a difference. In fact, after everything Miki had told me about the guy, I actually agreed that he deserved it. Jail was too good for people like him.

It was a shock to agree with what Miki planned to do to Mathieson.

I had always done everything by the book, lived my life playing by the rules, and kept the laws of the land. I’d believed in our law enforcement and our justice system, and never agreed with people acting as vigilantes. But when the upholders of the law were bigger perpetrators of crime than most criminals, that changed a person’s perspective.

A sense of grief washed over me as the last vestiges of the person I was, died.

Even knowing Miki was a killer, if I was truthful, I could see more morality in my Bratva pakhan than in either Mathieson or my colleagues, who were morally obliged to uphold the law but had failed dramatically.

Shaking my head at my revelations, I had to admit; I was completely, totally, and utterly, one hundred percent in love with my Bratva man and while the old me would have been horrified, the new me simply accepted it. There was no point in even trying to deny it. I had it bad, and that was all there was to it.

The sexy Russian was never far from my thoughts and had become an obsession. I wanted to be with him every minute and thought about him constantly when I wasn’t.

Fingering the necklace Miki had given me, I smiled.

The rose gold tear-shaped pendant was set with an amber stone surrounded by tiny little diamonds. It matched the rose gold studs in my ears and complimented my colouring, just as Miki said.

I was touched, not only by the gift, but by the amount of thought Miki had put into buying it for me. It really was stunning, and I would enjoy wearing it.

As I examined it more closely, I realised it would also compliment my gold underwear, which had little rose gold bows in between the cups of the bra and the sides of the thong.

Today Miki wanted to remove my black lace set with his teeth and I intended to make sure he did. But another day soon, I decided I’d bring the little gold set out to play.

Ooh la la! I couldn’t bloody wait. The thought sent a gush of wetness straight into my white lacy knickers, and I bit my lip as I anticipated the evening ahead.

I was looking forward to going to dinner with Mr Sexy Lips later and would wear my little black dress and strappy heels. Then afterwards we’d come back to the room, and I’d give him dessert.

Smiling mischievously, I made a call and ordered a couple of little items to be delivered to the room later. Miki had given me a present and tonight I planned on giving him one in return.

In the meantime, I had an entire afternoon ahead of me and nothing to do, so I settled in the suite’s living room and put on the TV, turning to the local news. The story of my attack and the fire was running, with an image of Martin, as the suspect wanted for questioning.

My heart sped up as I looked at his smug face staring back at me from the screen, and I couldn’t suppress a shiver of fear.

A detective constable being attacked in her home and left for dead as it burnt around her would be news on any day. However, with the suspect being another detective and her partner, who’d gone missing, it was a major story.

I’d left a message on Aunt Maisie’s phone to tell her I was okay, just in case she was worried. The Chief Superintendent had left a message on mine telling me how sorry the department was for what had happened, but I hadn’t called him back. I still didn’t know how far up the chain of command this whole corruption thing went, so I didn’t want to talk to him.

Thankfully, the reporters didn’t know where I was, or I expected the hotel would be inundated. Miki had paid the manager for the staff to be discreet, so I just hoped it stayed that way. It would be difficult for us to carry out our plan if we had to navigate the so-called great British press. And I really wouldn’t want to bring Miki and his family any unwanted scrutiny.

Tears stung my eyes at the images of my house in flames. I couldn’t believe how close I’d come to being killed only two days ago, and by a colleague, too. The sooner Martin was caught, the better. I just prayed he would be at the handover, as I didn’t like the thought of him out there somewhere, possibly waiting to attack me again.

The very idea had me feeling sick with nerves.

I’d joined the force to follow in my dad’s footsteps and I had been so proud to be a police officer, but with officers like Martin, Roy, and the others, I wasn’t any more, and I bloody hated each one of them for stripping me of that pride.

Of course, if they hadn’t, Miki and I would never have met or got together.

My breath hitched as that thought hit me like a bucket of water being thrown over me.

However, as much as I adored Mr Sexy Lips, it wasn’t like I was going to be grateful to a bunch of murdering scum for his presence in my life.

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