Page 26 of Unholy Tsar

“That’s quite enough, you two. We need to get back on track,” Maksim grunts, breaking up our celebration. “Today, you two are going to start working with weapons.”

He rummages through a duffel bag on his desk and takes out a pair of knives. My heart sings with joy as I walk forward to accept mine.

“Wait, this isn’t real,” Bree says with a frown, examining the dull blade in her hand. At the same time, I realize the knife in my hand is also fake.

“Of course it isn’t real. You two are still amateurs. I’m not going to give you a sharp object that you can accidentally hurt yourselves with.”

“No. No way. What better way to learn than with the real thing? This dull knife will just give us a false sense of security. Don’t you think, Cece?”

I nod in agreement, pushing my luck. “The human mind learns faster when there’s an element of danger. There’s a study to prove that.” I think. Don’t fact-check me, please. “Besides, the fear of getting hurt will put us on our toes, making us more agile and nimble.”

Maksim observes our stubborn expressions and lets out a long, suffering sigh. Still, he rummages through that bag again, this time pulling out real knives. Bree and I high-five each other.

As he lectures us on the importance of handling the weapons with care, I realize one thing. The big bad, dangerous mobster is just a roll of marshmallow at heart. I grin at my discovery. Man, am I going to take advantage of that…

After the brief lecture, Maksim instructs us to practice. Bree hesitates, her grip on the knife hesitant and unsure. I, on the other hand, know my survival depends on my self-defense skills and that when push comes to shove, the skills I learn today might just be the thing that saves my life.

“Cecilia, careful. You’re going to hurt yourself,” Maksim calls out, but I’m beyond listening. My mind is somewhere else, flooded with memories of my abusive ex. With each fluid movement, I imagine taking revenge on him. Yeah, come try me now fucker, I’ll gut you. My knife extends out, ready to strike.

I spin around, arching the knife up, and suddenly Maksim is right there. Before I can even react, the tip of the knife runs through his chest. “Oh my God!” I drop the weapon, horrified at what I’ve done. Maksim’s shirt parts open in a straight line, revealing a wide expanse of golden skin covered with stacks of abs and tattoos—so much black ink. There’s a small cut below his ribs, and my hand instinctively covers it, and woah, his body is so hard… and so warm.

We’ve had sex a couple of times now, but this is the first time I’m actually seeing his skin like this. My hand seems to develop a mind of its own and runs up the warm heat of his body, “Oh my,” I whisper. Not bad for an old man. In fact, his body is fitter than any man I’ve ever been with.

Maksim grabs my wrist, stopping my slow caress. I look up to see his eyes blazing with a familiar heat. I bite my lower lip as my cunt gushes in anticipation.

“I-I’m sorry. I cut you.”

“Because you weren’t listening to me.” His voice is gravelly and thick and shoots right down to my core. My chest heaves, drawing his dark gaze.

“Looks like I need detention again,” I murmur.

Before he can reply, a throat clears. My body jerks back, suddenly remembering Bree is still in the room with us. Fuck. My friend gives me a knowing look as her uncle excuses himself to take care of his cut and hopefully put on another shirt. Or not.

“It’s not what you think,” I rush to explain, picking up the knife I dropped earlier.

“Uh huh.”

“I mean it.”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Cece. You’re both single, hot human beings.”

I bite my lip, unsure how to respond. “You’re not going to forbid me from being with your uncle?” Isn’t that what happens in the books and movies? Girl lusts after her best friend’s brother or uncle. The best friend threatens the girl with the end of their friendship if she doesn’t stop looking at her family member with such hungry eyes.

Bree laughs, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “Heavens, no. Why would I? I love you both and actually think you’d be good for each other.”

Huh. Did Bree just give us her blessing? I’m taken aback, but I give her a small smile, “I love you too, Bree.” I mean it. “I don’t deserve you at all.”

“Nonsense.” She waves my words away. “We deserve each other.”

Before I can protest some more, Maksim walks back into the library, his face stony as he settles in front of us. Unfortunately, he’s put on another shirt.

“I thought about taking the knives from you two, but I decided against it. You need the real thing to remind yourselves to be cautious with the way you handle it, or any other dangerous weapon. It can be an ally or enemy, depending on how you treat it.”

I nod solemnly. Then he goes on to talk about thinking of any firearm as an extension of oneself and treating it with the same respect as we would our own body parts.

Safe to say, when it came time to practice again, I was more cautious and conscious of my environment—even if half my mind couldn’t get past the heat of his bare chest.

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