by Rose, Bella
“I only found out because I was more interested in why you were tailing me. I concluded that you thought I was working for Boris.” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I’m working for Boris?”
“No. I only started trying to keep tabs on you to make sure you weren’t going to get in the way of what I have planned next.”
“What the hell is wrong with your shoulder? If you don’t quit flapping your arms about, I’m going to think you’ve lost your damn mind and you’re trying to fly,” Grisha grumbled. “And I don’t give a damn what you have planned next. I thought I made it clear that I’m not interested in anything that you’re doing.”
“So what were you doing in America?”
“What are you doing with the daughter of Primac?” Grisha shot back. Both men glared at each other, and finally Alek relented.
“I was attacked yesterday. Stabbed in the shoulder only because my men deflected it at the same time. It’s clear Boris is trying to take over the organization. He’s pulling two fronts to make me look weak. Rolling into my territory and physically weakening me. I’ll have to retaliate.”
Grisha plastered a fake smile across his face. “Good. I’m glad you’ve got this all figured out. Now that you know that I’m neither working for or against you, and again that’s because I don’t give a damn about you, I’m going to living my life peacefully. If I find you tailing me again, I’ll do more than break in. Do we have an understanding?”
Alek chuckled. Even as a kid, Grisha was always hiding secrets. Just because he acted friendly didn’t mean that they were friends. “I know you better than that, Grisha. I may have given you the opportunity to show your face around here, but you didn’t come here just because I was having you followed. You’re here for something else. Tell me now and save us both the trouble.”
His old acquaintance smirked. “My business in Russia is none of yours.” He turned to exit but hesitated. “I know that we were never friends, and it’s none of my business, but if you let the past consume you, you’ll never be able to move on. We’ve all made mistakes, Alek. Don’t force others to pay the price.”
“Natalia is none of your business,” Alek growled. “So long as your affairs here in Russia don’t mingle with mine, you’re free to do as you wish. But if you cross me, Grisha, there will be hell to pay.”
“Always nice to see you, Alek,” Grisha said quietly as he left the room.
“And stay the hell out of my house!” Alek didn’t even bother followed him. Even if he discovered how Grisha got in undetected, the blasted man would only find another way. He would make one hell of a thief.
Maybe he already was.
Alek’s mood was already sour as he climbed the steps to go change his bandage and dress for the day. He expected Natalia to still be asleep, but she was wrapped in a sheet and staring out the window. For a moment, he couldn’t believe how beautiful she was in the rays of the early morning light. The golden hues kissed her dark tendrils and danced on the wall behind her.
“Finally decided to come to bed?” she asked coldly without even turning around. He froze in the doorstep. She was pissed that he’d slept the night in the office.
“Just changing my clothes,” he said gruffly. “I have a busy day ahead of me.”
She didn’t move or say anything as he changed out of his jeans. Before he put on his shirt, he pulled off the bandage and inspected his wound. It didn’t look like it was getting infected. “I could use a little help over here,” he said softly as he tried to bandage it back up again.
Natalia turned and gave him a mocking smile. “The great Aleksander Evanoff needs help? I wouldn’t let that slip out. It might damage your reputation.” She pulled the sheet tighter around her and didn’t move from the window.
His body was already reacting to her. In five steps, he’d crossed the room and pushed her against the wall. “You are still my prisoner, so I would watch my mouth if I were you,” he said softly as he trailed a finger along her cheek.
“Where did you go last night?” she asked as she ignored his warning. She stared boldly into his eyes.
“None of your business.” He seemed to be saying that a lot this morning.
“Then I’m sure you can handle the business of wrapping your own wound just fine,” she hissed as she jerked away. Against his better judgement, he let her go. She walked into the en suite and slammed the door shut behind her. It was obvious she wasn’t the type of woman used to being fucked within an inch of her life and then ignored.
Pissed, he covered the wound as best he could and hurriedly yanked on his shirt. If Natalia thought she could get away with this kind of behavior, she had another think coming. Walking out in the hallway, he banged on Ana’s door.
“I’m not supposed to be up for another hour,” she grumbled as she opened the door. “What the hell is your problem?”
“I’ll be busy for most of the day, and I do not want to be disturbed,” he said as he ignored the annoyance in her voice. “Please remove all the clothes from the closet today. Our guest is not to dress for any reason. And while you’re at it, I want all forms of entertainment removed from her room as well. No books, no television, and take her father’s file away.”
Ana’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me right?”
“I am not. And you are not to have anything to do with her today. No food. No clothes. No entertainment whatsoever. If I’ve discovered that you’ve disobeyed me, you’ll be entertaining any other guests that come in this week. Have I made myself clear?”
At the thought of entertaining Boris’s men, Ana noticeably paled. She nodded her head slowly. “What did she do to piss you off so badly?”
Alek smiled at her coldly. “She’s under the mistaken impression that she’s a guest here. I wonder where she gets that idea from.” After giving her a pointed stare, he whistled merrily as he walked down the hall. Just imagining how pissed Natalia would be was enough to put him in a good mood.
The day was already looking up.
Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. On the table waiting for him was today’s paper. And the headline sucked all the energy out of him.
Russian orphanage used to draft young boys into mob employment.
Fuck.
Enraged, he grabbed the phone and dialed the number. A familiar, sleepy voice came on the line. “Alek, it’s not even dawn,” Dorie grumbled.
“Have you seen the paper? Did you do an interview?” he growled harshly.
“An interview? Of course not. What is going on?”
“Get your paper, Dorie. Now.”
He waited a few minutes while he heard her rustling around. Finally, she inhaled sharply. “Oh, Alek. How did this happen? Everyone will pull our funding now. What are we going to do?”
There was panic and heartbreak in her voice, but Alek steeled himself against it. Logically, Dorie had the least to gain from this kind of exposure, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t in on it. Because if she didn’t give up this kind of information, the only alternative was worse.
He had a mole.
Just as he was about to give her a scathing reply, he took a step back to think about things logically. All of it had happened at once. First the attempted assassination. Then Boris tried to distract him as he moved into his territory. And now an organization close to heart was on the verge of ruin. It was simply too much of a coincidence that it was all happening at the same time. Someone was trying to rattle him.
And it was working.
“I’ll fix this, Dorie,” he promised. “But I need you to think. Has anyone from my organization been by to talk to you. Or anyone that made you nervous?”
She sniffed, and he could tell that she was crying. She was no doubt thinking of all the kids in her home and what she would do with them if everyone pulled their funding. “Dorie, listen to me. The Education Ministry won’t shut you down over this. They can’t. They won’t have any place to take the kids. The coverage is going to be rough for a little
while, but you’re tough and you’ll get through it. Trust that I’ll find a way to fix this. I’ll make whoever did this pay.”
“More violence, Alek? When will it end?” she asked sadly.
“It doesn’t end until I get what I want, Dorie.”
“Alek, I beg you. Just stop. Just let things go. Just…walk away. I know you can. Because if you don’t, those you care about are going to keep paying the price.”
He bit off an oath and hung up on her. His blood was boiling. As a girl came out with his breakfast, he took the tray and slammed it on the floor. The porcelain cup of coffee shattered and the food splattered everywhere. The girl gasped and recoiled in fear, but he simply stepped over it. There was nothing on his mind as he locked himself in his office except how to get his revenge.
Boris had a man in his services, and Alek was going to find that mole and torture him until he gave up every single piece of information on Boris and almost every drop of his blood. And even then it might not be enough.
***
Natalia stared at the closet. It was completely empty with the exception of a note from Ana. I’m sorry. So Alek was pissed, and he wanted to play games? Or did he realize that he was losing control?
He must have carried her to bed after they’d had sex. There was no other explanation of how she got there, and it wasn’t just that he’d carried her to bed. He’d also slept somewhere else. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he actually had some feelings mixed up in last night’s affairs.
“Or maybe he’s just cruel,” she muttered to himself. That was probably the easiest explanation. “Fucker.”
This was obviously a lesson in humiliation. If she wanted to eat, she’d have to find her way to the kitchen dressed only in a sheet. It would have been embarrassing, but the alternative was to hide in her room and go hungry. And that would mean that Alek would win.
Staring at herself in the mirror, she pulled the gray satin sheet around her and tucked it in her cleavage. It fell in waves around her body and actually looked like a pretty decent dress. “Maybe I should got into fashion after this,” she said as she gave herself a cheeky smile.
Holding the dress up so she didn’t trip over it, she opened the door and peered out the hallway. It was empty. Moving quietly, she tip-toed down the stairs and slipped into the kitchen. The staff turned around and stared at her. “I pissed the boss off. Any chance I could have some breakfast?” she asked sheepishly.
The cook shook her head and tossed a muffin her way. Biting into it, Natalia moaned in appreciation. “Perfect,” she said with her mouth full. “Thank you.”
Alek had also taken her father’s folder away from her. And that was fine. She would simply get it back. Finishing the muffin, she shuffled through the dining room and into the first office. It was empty. Pulling on the cabinet drawers, she found them locked.
She dropped to her knees and checked the hiding place in the desk for the key, but it was empty. “Damn it.” She should not have told him she’d found the secret spot. It was bold and brash, and now she was paying the price for it. Not that it mattered. He probably didn’t put the file back in the cabinet anyway.
Pressing her ear against the door to the second office, she heard Alek’s muted voice. As quietly as possible, she tested the doorknob. It was locked. Leaving the office, she ignored the looks of the other staff members and went to the other entrance of his other office. That was locked as well. Narrowing her eyes, she left the house and walked around the front to the window. From there, she could see Alek yelling on the phone. Fury streaked through her, and she pounded on the window.
He nearly dropped the phone and turned to stare at her. “Give me my file,” she shouted.
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled back as he crossed the office and yanked open the window. “Get your naked ass back inside.”
“What’s wrong, Alek? Expected me to sulk in the room all day? You can go fuck yourself just as soon as you give me that file back. I stole it fair and square.”
“I don’t have time for this. If you don’t get your ass inside, I will lock you out there until morning,” he threatened coldly. She gasped and stared at the rage in his eyes. She didn’t doubt him for a single second.
“What happened?” she asked softly.
“Get inside,” he said through clenched teeth. “Now.”
Part of her wanted to push back, but she didn’t want to spend the day and night with only a sheet covering her. “Fine,” she muttered as she bundled her sheet around herself and headed back inside. Leaning against the doorframe of his office, he glared at her.
“If you want everyone to see your naked body, I can fuck you in front of everyone.”
“You keep bringing that up, and I can’t help but wonder if that’s something you want to do. Besides, you were the one who wanted me to be naked,” she pointed out in a low voice.
“I wanted to teach you that your words and actions have consequences. You don’t have to question your status here, Natalia. I didn’t bring you here because I was infatuated with your beauty. You’re here because I want to punish your father. The more I do to you, the more I do to him. So don’t push me, and next time you won’t have a sheet to cover yourself with. Go find Ana and get dressed. I’ll expect you to join me for lunch, and you’ll be polite and quiet and give me whatever I want. Do you understand?”
She opened her mouth to argue, and he held out his hand and gave her a folder. Her father’s folder. Without breaking eye contact, she reached out and took it. “Tell me thank you,” he said coldly.
She swallowed hard then nodded. “Thank you.”
“Go. Dress yourself. Find something to do that does not piss me off,” he said before he turned and slammed the door. Afraid he’d come back and change his mind, she clutched the folder to her chest and hurried back up the stairs. She had no plans of doing anything except absorbing all the information she could before lunch. And then taking whatever was thrown at her.
Chapter Eleven
Alek was just about to send for her when Natalia finally joined him for lunch and sat down heavily. He knew she’d read the file. He could see her struggled with the tears, but she finally met his gaze and reached for her glass of water. “I’m here. For lunch. Quiet and subservient as always,” she said mockingly.
At least she was never boring. “You’re late. That’s not very subservient.”
“I wanted to make sure that I was perfect for you,” she said sarcastically. It was clear she had even touched her hair, but at least she wasn’t dressed in that sheet anymore. He’d nearly bent her over on the front lawn and had his way with her when he’d seen her. And it was nothing but pure jealousy that had him yelling at her to get dressed. It was supposed to humiliate her, and instead he’d nearly torn the damn window out to get to her.
He nodded to his staff, and they served them lunch. “Any chance that I can get something stronger than water?” she asked as she made a face.
“I take it you read your father’s file. All of it? Did you get to the part about how he executed those five mobsters in the diner? I was ten. I came along to watch and learn. What about the time when he kidnapped my teacher, the only woman I’d learned to respect at that time, and told her he’d kill her if I ever came home talking about becoming an archeologist. I was twelve. I still thought I could be whatever I wanted to be.”
She stared at him stonily from across the table. “I read reports from a man who ordered my father to do all of those things. You didn’t turn into my father, did you? You turned into the man who pulled all the strings. If you want to blame someone for your life, you can blame Grigori or you can blame yourself, but you will not blame my father. He did some horrible things, but you’re not a saint. And I hope, for your sake, that none of your enemies kidnap your daughter and turn her into a sex slave.”
He inhaled sharply. “So you’re telling me you didn’t enjoy last night? How many times did I make you come?” She clamped her mou
th shut, and he smirked. “Now you don’t want to talk?”
“I believe you ordered me to be subservient and quiet,” she muttered as she bit into her lunch. She flushed, and he knew she was thinking about last night. The problem was…so was he. Immediately, he changed the subject.
“When you do go back, what will you say to Daddy Dearest?”
Natalia ate for a few minutes in silence before finally taking a deep breath. “I don’t know, but I know that the person he is now is not the person he was back then. I didn’t know that person, and if he doesn’t want to talk with me about it, he doesn’t have to. If he can let go of his past, maybe you can let go of yours.”
Alek snorted. “You think that’s all it will take to fix me? Just to let go of my past? If I just walked away from my post, what makes you think that someone worse won’t take over? What makes you think the violence in the takeover won’t be twice what I do every day? You’re delusional if you think that all anyone has to do is just walk away. The world doesn’t work that way, Natalia.” He reached over and slid a paper across the table.
She leaned over and read the headline. “I don’t understand. Did people not already know you came from the orphanage?”
“Everyone knew I came from the orphanage. That’s how I get other people to donate. Did they know that dozens of boys were taken and recruited by the mob? Of course not. Now there isn’t a single politician in the country that will touch this orphanage. Everyone will withdraw their support, and they won’t see a cent. Do you know what this means?”
“That you’re pissed?”
“That someone in my organization leaked that information. Now, I thought about people who might be a little bit upset with me. Did I fire someone recently? Does someone want a raise? Did I humiliate or piss someone off recently?” He fixed his cold gaze on her. “Did I give someone a little too much freedom?”
Natalia rolled her eyes and pushed the paper back. “I might hate you, but I would put those kids’ happiness above my own. And you know that. So you can wipe that look off your face and tell me what you really want from me.”