Page 3 of Seduced By the Russian

The Russian Bear might be the most ruthless leader that ever existed, but one thing he didn’t joke around with was the affairs of his men. Even though most of the times he acted like he didn’t care when any of them were in danger, he was willing to sacrifice anything for them. That was what his late father taught him - keep your friends attached to you because only then does true loyalty spur.

So, this wasn’t about Nikolai’s unwillingness to help, and they both knew it.

“You were about to be trading sides,” Nikolai tells Oleg, getting on his feet. “That was the reason you invested this much time trying to get me to trust you. It was never about the Bratva from the very beginning.”

“Boss…”

Nikolai didn’t have time for any of this. The girl at the hospital would be awake anytime soon, and he wanted to be there when she opened her eyes. He still had this strange and compulsive feeling that he knew her from somewhere, and knowing Nikolai, there was no way on Earth he was letting this go without getting to the bottom of it. Although he barely stressed about things that had no connection with the Bratva or the five leadership families, something about this girl kept making him do things he would usually not do.

Driving her to the hospital himself was one of them. It was the only reason Oleg was still alive by this time, albeit hanging on the precipice of life itself.

Nikolai withdrew his handgun from his strap, blowing an invisible speck of dust off it. He relished in the way the presence of the gun brought a look of horror on Oleg’s face. He should have thought about the consequences first before even conceiving the idea of crossing the Russian Bear.

“No,” he muttered, returning the gun to the strap. “You’re not worth my time.”

One nod to his men was enough to convey his message, and a chorus of "Yes, Boss!” followed him as he backed out of the basement, the sole of his brogues hitting the floor. As soon as he got out into the open, he retrieved his phone from his pockets with one solid movement, the silence of the woods doing nothing to unnerve him. He had been here more than enough time to recognize when his surroundings were becoming a threat. And the people in the area knew the Russian Bear marked this territory as his.

The tall trees surrounding the path leading away from the building formed an arch above his head, and Nikolai smirked as he remembered how he had come there often as a child to practice shooting a gun with his father. It felt like ages ago now, and even though Nikolai didn’t exactly have one of the best relationships a son could have with his father, since the older Davydov was so focused on getting Nikolai ready to take over as the leader of the family, he was still his father, nevertheless.

“Boss!” Dmitri’s voice echoed through the phone, and at once, Nikolai pressed it against his ears. He could feel his heart beating wildly as the words formed on his tongue, and he paused for a second. Why was he acting so weird?

“The girl,” he muttered, willfully detaching every emotion from his voice. It was one of the many skills he learned from his father. “Is she up now?”

“The doctor said that should happen any minute now.” Dmitri wasn’t one for a long string of words, and that was one of the things that made Nikolai keep him right beside him.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” It felt like Nikolai was telling Dmitri to do everything he could to ensure that the girl didn’t get up until he arrived. But that was hardly possible, even for someone as powerful as Nikolai. If he could control the forces of nature, the Russian Bear would be top of the list of worshiped gods by now.

The usual thirty-one-minute ride at an average speed took Nikolai only fifteen minutes. Aside from all of his intriguing qualities, he prided himself as the best racer there is. No one has ever been able to beat him on the road, not even Dmitri, who was also a terrific racer.

The glass doors leading to the waiting area in the hospital jumped open as Dmitri strode powerfully through the room. He looked straight ahead, with his usual demeanor - scowling and, at the same time, broody - and took the elevators, reaching the third floor and heading towards the private ward. He stopped at the first door and unconsciously adjusted his perfect suit before proceeding inside.

For a second, Nikolai was stunned as his eyes fell upon Lisa’s face the moment he stepped into the room. He had seen her before she was admitted, but the dull lights of the night hadn’t given him this clear and sharp vision. Now, he could see everything - how her hair, he had thought rough, was actually shiny and wavy, now flowing on the pillow like in a world of its own. Her face had been scrubbed clean already, and Nikolai was once again pulled back in memory, only that he had no idea where he was headed.

And he so hated feeling this way.

Being armed with knowledge was one of the greatest thrills about being a member of one of the five leadership families, and the leader of the Davydov family at that. But now, faced with the gnawing at the back of his brain as he tried to figure out why her face looked so familiar, Nikolai had to admit to himself that he needed to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. He needed to feel wholly in charge again, but in the meantime, this would have to do.

Nikolai knew the best thing to do was to let it go, just as he had done in the past with situations he felt weren’t worth his time or energy, something that wasn’t bringing any particular benefit to the family. But again, he doubted he could let this one go.

“It’s nothing,” the Russian Boss told himself as he settled into the couch directly opposite the bed, grabbing the day’s papers and spreading it wide open. “It’s just a new toy for me to use.”

***

Although she didn't know where she was, Lisa was quite confident that this wasn't Heaven. The room was sterile, with the sound of beeping machines coming from somewhere beside her. Her eyes met the white drapes, as well as the matching tiles. She had read books about what Heaven looked like, and one thing was sure - guys in Heaven didn't wear such perfect-looking suits and stared into nothing with hardness in their eyes. He didn't know she was awake yet, so Lisa tried to get her brain working, even though it gave her a bit of a migraine. She remembered leaving the restaurant after her shift and heading back to her shitty apartment when…

"Fuck!" Lisa cursed as the memory came flooding back. The dark suit, the eyes… How dare she have thought that he was an angel?

The man sitting on the couch opposite her bed looked nothing like an angel. Instead, he looked like a devil's spawn, only a hotter version of the way the books told it. Breathlessly, Lisa allowed her eyes to fan through his body, hoping that he didn't look her way just yet.

Nikolai was a perfectly structured man, a replica of the one Lisa used to dream of back in grade school after sneaking off to read those cliche romance novels where her foster parents wouldn't find her. However, she also knew that men like that didn't exist, with piercing blue eyes that looked like they could stir even the calmest of waters, squared shoulders that easily filled the perfectly tailored suit, making him look like he had just walked out of a fashion magazine. Lisa blinked once as she took in his face, his wavy shoulder-length hair, as dark as nightfall, falling across his forehead. Lisa felt a weird need to put her hands through the silky strands, but the scowl on his face made her doubt he would like that. He looked like someone who hated any form of physical contact, particularly from someone he had only just met.

Get a grip on yourself, Lisa!

But there was one more thing resounding in Lisa's head. She tried again, flicking her eyes through his body, noting how fit he was, with lean muscles. She was a hundred percent sure that he would easily tower over her, not even caring whether she felt comfortable with him flexing his abilities over her. Lisa just knew he was that kind of person. She could feel it even without having to say a word to him. It radiated off of him like a strong and compelling aura, but rather than run in the other direction, Lisa felt strangely intrigued.

And that was the problem! If she had seen this man before, there was no way she would have forgotten him in such a hurry. Yet, she was almost certain that it wasn't her first time seeing him. Those eyes - they reminded her of a faraway memory that seemed to go away from her reach every time she tried to grasp it.

"Oh!"

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