by V. F. Mason
After I cleaned up the kitchen, I went to my office, sat on my chair, opened the laptop, and forgot myself in my characters.
Somehow, their stories silenced my inner voice, which called me all kinds of names for ignoring the man I loved.
A romance writer whose real life love story sucked.
Oh, the irony of it.
Damian
My elbows rested on the sink as my eyes gazed out the window, studying every part of Sapphire as she waited for Lucky to finish his morning routine. She wore a white sundress that highlighted her tanned skin. Her ebony, wavy hair was in a thick braid, and she had on big, black-framed glasses that gave her a sexy librarian look.
My cock hardened at the idea of her riding me while wearing them, and I shook my head to concentrate on something else.
Sapphire pushed me away and asked me not to ruin her life. My chest still burned from the hurt and yes, betrayal. She was supposed to be the one person in this world who would never refuse to be with me. But I forgave her because she had good reason.
Kristina.
God, what a beautiful little angel. I was amazed at how something so exceptionally pure could have come from the seed of a man such as me. My hands twitched to scoop her up in my arms and never let go, to protect her from all the evil in this world, so she'd never know fear. The idea of her being hurt made me want to destroy everything in my sight.
So I understood Sapphire's desire to protect our daughter from my revenge, from the promise I intended to keep. S and his brother had to pay for what they had done to me and so many other innocent children. The lid of the cup in my hand cracked when I squeezed it too hard as Connor's words from last night's conversation came back to me.
"According to my source, they want to open another business. We finally have the names, Damian." The boy wronged so many years ago rose inside me and roared with fury.
"Who?" I barely contained the desire to crush the phone in my hand from the power of my emotions. Connor exhaled heavily and then groaned in frustration.
"You know I can't tell you that, man. You'd go after them." What the fuck?
"Fuck yes, I would go after them. They deserve nothing but death." How could Connor even try to withhold such vital information from me? He was one of the kids they'd screwed, although not literally. At least he was lucky in that department.
"Damian, we need to catch them in action. We need to know their partners, how they operate, get the bigger picture. They probably already have some kids to play with. We need this information, and you going after them and killing them will not bring good to anyone right now." Was he fucking kidding me? Allowing those guys to do their dirty work while we did nothing brought only despair to humankind. I laughed, but it lacked humor. It probably would have frozen the air even in the hottest places on the planet.
"Names, Connor. You've fucking lost your mind if you think I'll sit and do nothing."
Connor growled, "Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have told you about it. Why can't you put your feelings aside and think rationally like Do—" He stopped abruptly, and my senses went on high alert. What wasn't he telling me? "Like my informant. He was one of us too, but he will work for the greater good." Something wasn't adding up here, with his voice and the almost slip of the name. "Think about Sapphire and Kristina, Damian. They need your presence now. I give you my word, when the time is right, and it will be pretty fucking soon, I can guarantee you will have your revenge and do to those sick fucks whatever you want," Connor stated, and if he hadn't mentioned my woman and daughter, I wouldn't have listened to a damn thing.
But they came first, no matter what Sapphire thought.
"Fine. But it better be soon, Connor. You don't want me to go Sociopath on your ass."
Lucky's loud bark brought me back to the present, just in time to see Sapphire close the door as she cleaned the puppy's paws.
Gorgeous.
I barely restrained myself from going after her. I had visions of pushing her into the nearest tree, hiking that poor excuse of a dress up, and wrapping her legs around me, as I entered her hot, tight pussy in one hard, swift move. She would moan and groan in pleasure, her nails would leave marks on my back, but I wouldn't give a fuck as long as I was inside her. My lips would trail down to her collarbone, right above her perky nipples, and then….
"You weren't home last night." A soft voice interrupted my thoughts, and my eyes focused on the young woman standing nearby, resting her side on the doorjamb. My brows rose as I pushed myself back and sat on the couch in the living room.
"I don't have to explain my actions to you." She huffed and then joined me on the couch with a big jump. She landed with a solid thud and giggled loudly. I had to roll my eyes at this. Seriously, she acted like a five-year-old instead of a twenty-two-year-old woman. She punched me on the arm.
"Aww, don't be such a grump, Damian. Did you have some hot sex?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me as I felt my cheeks heat up. Blushed. I fucking blushed! "Was she happy to know you're alive?" She propped her chin on her hand and looked at me expectantly, awaiting my answer.
"Rosa, why in the ever-loving hell do you think I'd share with you?"
She sighed in annoyance. "Damian, really, you're the only human conversation I have. I'm dying to know something about sex. At least then I can live vicariously through you."
"What?" Her words were disturbing on so many levels.
She gestured her hands chaotically as she continued to babble. "I'm a twenty-two-year-old virgin, and with all the protection and restrictions you have for my safety, I can't get laid or go to a bar to get rid of it." Her voice rose in pitch. "Do you know how frustrating that is? No one stays a freaking virgin that long!" The idea of her having sex with anyone made me nauseous, and my hand fisted with the desire to punch the future fucker who would do it. No fucking way was Rosa going to have sex on my watch. The kid became my little sister, so automatically no fucker was good enough for her in my opinion.
"You're still not old enough for this."
Her eyes widened. "Are you insane? I'm too old." She folded her arms and glared at me. "I'm never going to have sex as long as I live under your roof, am I?"
Fuck, how did my life come to this? Arguing with a young girl about her sex life, when I was Sociopath who tortured and killed men who deserved it? The woman I love refused to be with me or allow my daughter to know me.
Connor had better fucking give me those names soon, or I'd do what was necessary without his permission.
Rosa continued to speak about chauvinistic ways and unfair situations, but I just ignored her. Here she had more freedom than with her dad, and we both knew it. She'd never leave my side, and she was another thing I needed to talk about with Sapphire.
Rosalinda became my responsibility the day she saved my life. No matter that we had a strictly platonic relationship, and she was like a kid sister to me, I dreaded talking about this fucked up situation with my woman. Mine wouldn't be happy about it.
Bratva Headquarters, Moscow, Russia
My hands methodically, with well-practiced movements, cleaned the guns and put them back in holsters. Each one of them was a thing of beauty and required special attention. I glanced back at my collection on the wall, and my mouth widened in a smile.
The room, lit with bright lights, had a pool table in the middle, black marble floors, and soundproof walls covered in red and black velvet. Against two walls in the far corner stood glass cabinets, and within each were close to a hundred guns. I found them in the oddest places: sometimes during gunfights, on the black market, or bought from people who collected them. No one refused me; everyone valued their life too much. Near the pool table was a small bar with easily accessible glasses and things to make a cocktail should I feel the need.
After Vasya died, I decided to claim the basement as mine and redecorated immediately. Before that, everything here had to do with Vasya's hunting hobby, all his trophies and photos. His hobby repulsed me, so I ordered everything to be
burned and stopped all hunting on my property. Only my trusted men knew the password to enter here, one I changed daily because you never knew who would come to stab you in the back. Bitches or business associates had no access, even though Sasha tried.
At the thought of the blonde woman, I frowned and almost spat on the floor. The whore came to my office earlier, right after my American "friends," wearing nothing but a short dress hiked up to show off her legs. She propositioned me again, and her screams of rage when I tossed her out roughly were heard in almost every corner of the mansion. Fuck, but the woman had one annoying-as-fuck voice.
Women generally didn't interest me unless I needed to relieve some tension. I didn't much care if they got off. Once it was done, it was done. Sasha had some huge plans for my dick, but she repulsed me so much I could never have fucked her stupid ass.
She agitated my already foul mood. Usually during those I had to fuck, but there would be no fucking until I found my Rosa. Hence the solitude in the basement.
A deep possessive feeling I had never felt before swept over me. I let go of the gun in my hand and rested my elbows on the table, trying to control the desire to hunt down and kill everyone who had hurt her. I needed to hold her in my arms, to touch her, and be consumed by her. I didn't know how it had worked for my brother, but if he'd felt the same emotions for his Sapphire, no wonder the man kidnapped her and impregnated her within a month.
"You aren't seriously considering this deal with child trafficking, right?" Michael's careful yet angry voice snapped me out of my thoughts about my beautiful Rosa, and I leaned back on the chair, studying him.
Michael held two cups of steaming coffee in his hands. He put them on the table and sat on the nearby chair. "Drink, man, you spent the whole night here. It's morning." Since windows were out of the question, I never knew what time it was when I was lost in thought. Michael had on a cotton shirt and some shorts, along with pink flip-flops. I just shook my head and took a sip of the heavenly drink. I closed my eyes for a second, enjoying the taste, and then I answered his question.
"Michael, you don't question me about business."
He slammed his fist on the table. "Fuck this. We're talking about kids, man! No kid deserves to be on the receiving end of their fucked-up desires! With all the money Bratva has, you can just kill those pieces of shit and move on to something else." He traced the lid of his cup with his finger as he exhaled harshly. "No one deserves to be someone else's whore if he or she didn't ask for it," he whispered, as a single tear ran down the bridge of his nose.
Fuck.
When I found him on the streets all those years ago, I never asked about his past. I pretty much could predict it the way he begged for money and stole things. However, I never considered he had rape and abuse in his past just like me. Michael was family to me, but I couldn't comfort the kid at the moment. The plan was in motion, and as much as I trusted him with my life, I couldn't risk that his emotional nature might get the better of him. He could also blab something he shouldn't.
"Michael, let's just focus on finding the girl first." Connor already had the information about Benjamin and their plans but until he gave me the green light, my hands were tied. I didn't share about Rosa, mostly because I didn't want to wait for his fucking permission. And as much as I understood his actions considering his workplace, his constant "safe" approach started to really piss me off.
I wouldn't ask for what was mine.
"She's most likely dead," he said grimly. "Sheltered in her real life, almost raped, beaten up, along with scars, she wouldn't know the first thing about surviving in this brutal world or—" He swallowed loudly and looked away.
"Or what?" I asked as he shook his head, but we both knew what he wanted to say.
Or she was selling herself to get by. You either begged or sold yourself out on the streets; otherwise, you'd starve to death.
Before we could continue our conversation, Vitya entered the basement and quickly sat near Michael, glaring at him. "When I wake up, I prefer to see your face, beautiful one."
Michael's cheeks heated, he became all red, and then laughed nervously. He and Vitya had dated for the last three years, ever since the scarred man joined our ranks when he moved back to Russia from Europe. Tall, dark, and broody, Vitya instantly protected Michael, which fascinated me, considering no one paid him much attention.
Unfortunately, I got a live show of them screwing each other's brains out in this very room, confirming my suspicions. A shudder ran through me at the memory. I had nothing against gays, but I didn't need live shows of my friends having sex. They never touched or kissed in my presence or acknowledged their couple status, but I suspected everyone knew about them. You couldn't be openly gay here. "What's up, boss man?" He grabbed the cup nearby and almost choked on the drink. "Blyat, too sweet. Beautiful?" he asked, and without saying anything, Michael stood up to get him a cup from the kitchen.
He glanced back and pointed a finger at me. "The conversation is not over, man!" And slamming the door, he left the room.
All traces of humor left Vitya's face, and I instantly knew everything was fine with the coffee. "Tell me what's really going on, my friend. We have no secrets." He was the closest thing I had to a friend here, and Vitya could actually handle the truth.
With a heavy sigh, I explained the plan to him.
Life in the cabin sucked big time, but at least every time I opened my eyes the piercing pain from every corner of my body didn't assault me. I started to eat better. I got used to all of Rosalinda's bandages and routines. She shared her name with me a few days ago. I still couldn't move my arm or leg without pain, but at least I had a clear head.
I still asked for Sapphire in my sleep. She stayed with me wherever I went. Always. But my constant ramblings stopped. I couldn't afford to waste what little voice I had. To save and protect her, I needed to heal.
"So imagine this. She came to me and actually said, 'We don't take chubby girls. Get lost.'" Rosa's voice imitated some high-pitched girl. Probably one of the schoolgirls she kept yapping about for the last thirty minutes, and then she switched back to her normal voice. "Who does that? I swear it turned me off cheerleading for good. Plus, Dad wasn't happy about my hobby, so it was a waste of time anyway." She took a big bite of the Italian risotto steaming on her plate—she'd cooked it a few minutes ago—and continued to talk with her mouth full. "To think about it now, Daddy didn't really like anything I did if he couldn't control the process." She exhaled a heavy breath. "I still miss him, though." Her head turned toward the window, and she sniffed.
Did I say all the pain had gone? Yeah, the permanent headache from her constantly running her mouth started to reappear. After that first conversation she shared with me, the girl wouldn't shut up. The minute my eyes snapped open, she started telling me stories about her previous life or would describe every detail of her cooking as if it mattered to me. With my background, food was just the means to get my strength or survive. Never had favorites and never would.
However, I never once acted disinterested or asked her to calm down. I recognized her behavior for what it was. Loneliness. I could relate; loneliness was a fucking bitch in solitude.
Although, all those years back in the cell, I always had Dominic with me. A different kind of burn ached in my chest; no matter how much time had passed, the pain and regret of losing my twin didn't go away. No one could understand the connection between twins unless you were one. Sometimes I wondered if my path would've been different had he been alive. Maybe revenge wouldn't have been on my radar.
Maybe life would've been normal.
Maybe I would've met Sapphire under different circumstances, and right now, she'd be walking down the aisle toward me.
It was pointless to think about what ifs.
Dominic was dead, and he was never coming back, no matter how much I dreamed about a day where he made it out with all of us.
But the love of my life, Sapphire, was alive, and I would do anything in my
power to get her back. Rosalinda rose and sat next to me on the bed. She lifted a cup of water to my mouth, and just a sip soothed my sore throat. I nodded in gratitude, and she suddenly said, "She must be special if you love her so much." Her eyes were looking down, and then her soft whisper was barely audible. "No one will ever love me like that." She rubbed her fingers over the scars on her cheeks, probably unaware she was doing it.
And just like that, I knew Rosa would be one more person in my life I had to take care of. She had no one, but she had saved my life.
So she would get Damian Scott and everything that came with him.
Sapphire
"The Millers will be there," Kristina chanted as we walked toward Annie's house. She wore a pink rosette tulle dress, and her two pigtails swayed rhythmically as she walked. Lucky ran around us happily, his tongue hanging out the side of his muzzle, and he licked our toes every few minutes.
Annie's barbecue included several new families and some old ones, but mostly it consisted of the same company: Amanda and Cormack Millers, Mika and Jeb Smith, Mary Wilson who was a single mom of two, Cormack's unmarried brother, Peter, and some random people they invited from work. At least I didn't have to worry about spending the day with strangers who made me uneasy.