Rejecting the Sinner (Underworld Sinners Book 6) Read online

  REJECTING THE SINNER

  AN UNDERWORLD SERIES NOVEL

  HAYLEY FAIMAN

  HAYLEY FAIMAN BOOKS, LLC

  CONTENTS

  Also by Hayley Faiman

  Stay Connected

  RUSSIAN BRATVA STRUCTURE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Hayley Faiman

  Rejecting the Sinner

  Copyright © 2022 by Hayley Faiman

  All rights reserved.

  Editor: My Brother’s Editor. Ellie McLove.

  Proofreading: My Brothers Editor. Rosa Sharon.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Visit my website at: http://hayleyfaiman.com

  Created with Vellum

  ALSO BY HAYLEY FAIMAN

  Men of Baseball Series—

  Pitching for Amalie

  Catching Maggie

  Forced Play for Libby

  Sweet Spot for Victoria

  Russian Bratva Series —

  Owned by the Badman

  Seducing the Badman

  Dancing for the Badman

  Living for the Badman

  Tempting the Badman

  Protected by the Badman

  Forever my Badman

  Betrothed to the Badman

  Chosen by the Badman

  Bought by the Badman

  Collared by the Badman

  Notorious Devils MC —

  Rough & Rowdy

  Rough & Raw

  Rough & Rugged

  Rough & Ruthless

  Rough & Ready

  Rough & Rich

  Rough & Real

  Cash Bar Series —

  Laced with Fear

  Chased with Strength

  Flamed with Courage

  Blended with Pain

  Twisted with Chaos

  Mixed with trouble

  SAVAGE BEAST MC —

  UnScrew Me

  UnBreak Me

  UnChain Me

  UnLeash Me

  UnTouch Me

  UnHinge Me

  UnWreck Me

  UnCage Me

  Unfit Hero Series —

  CONVICT

  HERO

  FRAUD

  KILLER

  COWBOY

  Zanetti Famiglia Series —

  Becoming the Boss

  Becoming his Mistress

  Becoming his Possession

  Becoming the Street Boss

  Becoming the Hitman

  Becoming his Wife

  Becoming her Salvation

  Prophecy Sisters Series —

  Bride of the Traitor

  Bride of the Sea

  Bride of the Frontier

  Bride of the Emperor

  Astor Family Series —

  Hypocritically Yours

  Egotistically Yours

  Matrimonially Yours

  Occasionally Yours

  Nasty Bastards MC —

  Ruin My Life

  Tame My Life

  Start My Life

  Dance into My Life

  Shake Up My Life

  Repair My Life

  Sweeten My Life

  Underworld Sinners—

  Stolen by the Sinner

  Bound to the Sinner

  Caught by the Sinner

  F*cked by the Sinner

  Stripped by the Sinner

  Rejecting the Sinner

  Loved by the Sinner

  Offspring Legends—

  Between Flaming Stars

  Beautiful Unwanted Wildflower

  Esquire Black Duet Series –

  DISCOVERY

  APPEAL

  Forbidden Love Series —

  Personal Foul

  Kinetic Energy

  Standalone Titles

  Royally Relinquished: A Modern Day Fairy Tale

  STAY CONNECTED

  Website: http://hayleyfaiman.com

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  Sometimes I feel my whole life has been one big rejection.

  MARILYN MONROE

  RUSSIAN BRATVA STRUCTURE

  Pakhan – The Boss: Controls everything.

  Sovietnik – Councilor: Adviser and most close trusted individuals to the Pakhan.

  Obshchak – The Bookmaker: Collects all money from Brigadiers and bribes from the government.

  Brigadier – Authority: Captain in charge of a small group of men.

  Boyevik – Warrior: Soldier, works for a Brigadier.

  Kryshas – Covers: Extremely violent enforcers.

  Torpedo – Contract Killers

  Byki – Bulls: Bodyguards

  Shestyorka – Associate: Errand boys. Lowest rank in the Russian Mafia.

  CHAPTER 1

  ARSENY

  I would like to say that murdering the head of the Persian Mafia was a mistake, but it wasn’t. The fucker was doing nothing but causing goddamn problems. He was a liar and a thief. He was dirty as fuck, and he wanted to screw over the Bratva just like his piece-of-shit father tried to do. He tried to fuck with my people, and I killed the piece of shit.

  The whole situation has put me in hot water, but not hot enough that I’m actually in any kind of real trouble. Kazimir and Osip aren’t going to reprimand me in any way. They know what I did was nothing short of a fucking favor.

  Kazimir has kept a close eye on me since it happened, but I don’t regret it. The fuck was a threat, has been for a while, and needed to go. He did the shit to himself. It was all confirmed to me when Osip told me exactly what Rostam was so pissed off about. I already knew it though, because Ruslan had told me.

  We talk often, Ruslan and me, considering we’re in the exact same line of business. He started his after mine and needed an ear to bounce ideas off of. Running women in Russia is a completely different game than in the United States, so we tend to talk often and share ideas and also talk about our woes.

  Ruslan filled me on everything that was going on with him, his woman, and the Rostam fucker, so I knew the guy was trash the second I laid eyes on him.

  That motherfucker.

  Not only did he try and play the whole fucking Bratva, more than once, he also promised Ruslan virgin call girls and delivered women who were not virgin call girls. No matter how many young willing girls he sent over to Ruslan, not a single one was a virgin. Typically, that shit doesn’t matter, we don’t care, but at the same time, he lied.

  If he’ll lie about that, he’ll lie about everything else.

  Now that he’s dead, his wives no doubt hurt and angry, another man is no doubt setting up to take over the Persian Mafia, so, I watch. This very much feels like my responsibility since I’m the one who actually ended the fuck.

  I should be at home in SoCal, but I can’t go back there yet. I can’t let this go. Kazimir is pissed at me, Ruslan doesn’t blame me, but I’m feeling really fucking… off about it all. It’s my duty to handle this, whatever happens next, whatever fallout comes from my actions.

  I don’t know what the fuck is going to happen next. There is something that is just not right about any of this. The person hasn’t been named who will take over the Persians. There is something just not sitting right with me about that.

  If Osip or Kazimir were taken out today, someone would be named to take their place before the next day. You cannot go days without leadership when you’re trying to run an organization of any size.

  We all wait, wondering what the fuck they’re going to try and get out of the Bratva.

  It will be something.

  They’re going to try because there is no way that Rostam and his father, who both tried to fuck us over, were the only ones in that whole group that wanted someth
ing from us.

  Maybe I should just go home and worry about my own people, my own women, and my own job. Maybe I should leave this whole area alone. Osip and Ruslan are more than capable of running the whole NorCal without me. I don’t know why I think that I need to be here.

  It’s just a feeling.

  Just a fucking feeling that I can’t shake.

  So I’m going to stay here until that feeling subsides.

  Watching Rostam’s house, I decide that I need to look at other high-ranking men’s homes. Nothing is happening here, not really. There is a little movement, mostly women and children, a few men here and there, but nothing of substance much to note.

  I have a list of men to check on, but I don’t know how their Mafia works, so I’m just fucking guessing. Driving toward the first house, I stop across the street and stare. There is a gate surrounding the place. I’m not going to be able to see anything. It’s the same at every house around here, just like in SoCal.

  I need to just go home.

  The passenger side of my car door opens. I look over in shock as a woman slips into the seat beside me. She’s young, too young. She’s fucking sitting next to me, her eyes wide, then she opens her mouth to speak.

  “Drive,” she demands.

  I don’t do anything immediately, unsure of who she even fucking is. Then she leans forward, shifts the car into drive, and growls before she shouts.

  “Drive.”

  Slamming my foot against the gas pedal, I do just that. I drive. I don’t know who this is or where I’m going, but I fucking drive.

  ESSIE

  “You will marry him. I do not care how you feel about it,” my father roars.

  He wants to become the next man in charge. He thinks that if he hands me off to the second son of Kevah, that it will make him the leader or some shit. It won’t. He’s stupid as fuck. Completely fucking stupid if he thinks that he’s going to be anything.

  Even if I become Kevah’s son’s favorite wife, then there is just no way my father is going to magically take over. It will be Kevah’s son, or maybe another man, but my father isn’t strong enough.

  My father is not going to be high ranking, ever.

  He isn’t going to do shit.

  I’ve seen the way that he attempts to take control of situations, and he fails miserably every single time. He has no backbone, and he’s not very smart either, he’s fucked completely, and I refuse to be part of his stupid game.

  “I will not,” I snap.

  He lunges for me. But I don’t let him touch me.

  Not today.

  No more.

  I’m eighteen years old, and I won’t let him hurt me anymore. For the first time in my life, I turn my back to him, and I run. He’s going to come after me, so I have to be fast. I don’t know how to outrun him. My father is weak, but he is fit. He exercises every day, runs, specifically.

  Then I see it. A blacked-out sedan parked across the street. Sprinting toward the walking gate, I punch in the code with shaky fingers and wrench it open, then I run toward the car. My father screams my name. I can hear him right behind me, the shock of my defiance having worn off, he proceeds to call me names.

  I’m ungrateful, a whore, useless, trash. All of the above. Words that would have killed me a couple weeks ago. Words that mean absolutely nothing to me right now. Instead, I fucking run toward the car. At this point, it doesn’t matter who is behind the driver’s seat.

  Wrenching the door open, I shout for the man behind the wheel to drive.

  Twice.

  He drives silently.

  Until he pulls into a hotel parking lot.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask.

  He turns to look at me, his eyes wide before his lips curve up into a grin. I take him in for a split second and I realize that I’ve just gotten into the absolute wrong car. The blond hair, the ice-blue eyes, the built body, and the suit.

  “Oh shit,” I breathe.

  His lips curve up into a grin. “Oh shit, is right. How old are you?”

  “Eighteen,” I confess.

  I don’t know why, but I want to tell this stranger everything. Every little thing about me and my life. Those eyes, they consume me instantly. He is trouble though. I can tell just by looking at him and I think that I’m in trouble by being here.

  “Maybe I shouldn’t have…”

  “But you did,” he says, interrupting me. “Why?”

  Looking to the side, I watch as the valet makes his way toward us. I could run as soon as he opens the door, but where would I go? My father will find me and force me to marry Kevah’s second son. I absolutely do not want to marry him, but is this the better alternative? Whatever this is.

  “I don’t know your name,” he says.

  Russian. I hear the accent and I instantly know that he is not English or Persian. He is definitely Russian. Pressing my lips together, I wonder if I should tell him anything. I probably shouldn’t. This is trouble. Straight-up trouble, but as I look into those eyes, they practically force me to speak. It’s as if he’s pulling the words straight from my throat.

  “Essie,” I say, not giving him my last name, because my last name doesn’t matter.

  “And you’re running?”

  “I am,” I admit.

  He nods his head. “You probably made a mistake by getting in my car, but maybe not, huh?”

  “Probably,” I say.

  He chuckles as the valet opens my door. With absolutely nothing but the clothes on my back, I step out of the car. Looking at the front door of the hotel, tipping my head back, I glance around at the building.

  It's fancy, like really fancy.

  The man, whose name I don’t even know yet, places his hand on the small of my back and guides me into the massive fancy building.

  My legs suddenly turn to Jell-O as we walk through the automatic doors. His hand is firm against my back, his fingers strong. I don’t complain a bit, it feels nice, but I wonder if I’m walking into a dangerous situation or maybe it’s the exact right place at the exact right time. It’s where I’m supposed to be? Perhaps this is fate. I’m not quite sure.

  But I’m already here.

  “Name’s Arseny.”

  CHAPTER 2

  ARSENY

  Walking into the hotel suite, I look behind me as she timidly slips into the room. Essie. What a pretty name. I have about a million questions for her, but I’m not sure where to begin. She looks terrified, that much is true, so I decide to just get started. There is no time like the present and I need to know what I am getting into.

  “Want to tell me who you’re running from?” I ask.

  She ignores me, slowly walking past me toward the windows that overlook the dreary city. I don’t really care for this part of the state too much. There isn’t enough sun here. I need to at least have it pounding through a window most of the day. That doesn’t happen as much up here.

  “Not really,” she says.

  “You didn’t really have a choice in answering that one,” I point out. “Or any question I ask.”

  She nods, the back of her hair moving up and down before she slowly turns around to face me. When she jumped into my car and demanded I drive, I knew instantly that she was cute, pretty even, but there’s something else now.