Web of Lies

by Elizabeth Knox

  Why would the nanny want to hurt Valentin anyhow? I’ll ask the question, but not yet. “She didn’t call you Mr. Volkolv like everyone else has. She called you Val. Why is that?”

  Valentin sucks in a sharp breath right before he takes a swig of the vodka. “There’s no point in lying to you. Natalia and I were fucking before you arrived. Although, she knows nothing will come of it anymore. When I say I’m committed, I mean it.”

  I expected to hear he cut her pay or didn’t allow her off work, not that he was screwing the nanny. This is practically a telenovela. “Let me get this straight. Instead of having relations with someone outside of your household and trust, you started fucking the nanny . . . the woman who watches the children? The one person who can harm them more than anyone else. Wow, that’s smart.” I end the last bit with anger lacing through my voice, obviously sarcastic by saying it was smart.

  “It started one night after the boys were asleep. I had a bottle of wine that would go bad if it wasn’t drank soon and offered to share some with her. One thing led to another and . . . well,” he confesses.

  “How long ago was that night?” I inquire, afraid of the answer he’ll give me.

  “Almost two years ago. Natalia knew I’d marry a prominent woman at some point and here you are. Everything was crystal clear to her, Sofia. There is truly nothing to worry about. I don’t have eyes for her anymore. I only have eyes for you. You are my future, not her.”

  My head tells me how men in the criminal world lie time and time again, mastering the art of deception. But Valentin’s last words speak directly to my heart and everything we’ve discussed until now is thrown out the window. I inch closer to him until my breasts are pressing into his silk dress shirt, stand up on my tippy toes and kiss him like I never have before. My lips speak a language of their own, begging him to love me. Silently pleading this is the truth and he’s not lying straight to my face. More than that, they’re craving him just as the other parts of me are.

  Over the last week I’ve spent almost every waking hour with Valentin. Whether it’s been eating meals, spending time in the penthouse or exploring the beautiful city I’ve come to know as Moscow. I know in his heart he’s a good person and my madre always told me the way to a man’s heart is between her legs. She and my papá are no longer with one another, but she admitted that was her fault for not being there for him in the way he needed her to. It’s the sole reason he started having a mistress and it’s why my mother went off and left him, resulting in the birth of my youngest brother, Roman. I’ve decided to take a note out of my mother’s book. If Natalia is so damn tempting, I’ll be tantalizing every second of every day, starting tonight.

  Valentin might not know it yet, but he’s about to take the thing I promised my husband. We haven’t made our commitment in front of God yet, but if I don’t make a move I know what will transpire between him and Natalia. She’ll obtain some type of hold over my fiancé and I’ll never truly have him. Fuck that.

  I slide my hand up his chest and snake it around his neck, moaning lightly. Back home I watched telenovela. I know what women need to do to entice a man. It’s simply mastering the art of seduction.

  “Sofia, we should stop,” Valentin whispers with a heavy breath.

  I look up to those frosty blue eyes of his and bat my lashes, “I don’t want to stop, Valentin. We are to be man and wife within the month. What I want is to get to know every part of you, and vice versa.”

  “Sofia,” his tone is a warning, but one I won’t listen to.

  With my free hand I glide it down to his pants and feel the hardness of his cock. I’m a novice and don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but I’m sure as hell trying to look like I know something. I’m thankful for all the discussions my madre had with me to prepare me for this day. She’s always told me a woman’s one way of controlling a man is through sex. Let’s hope she’s right. I run my hand over his cock and hear him hiss. I believe it to be a good reaction so I continue until he’s leaning his head against my shoulder.

  “Valentin . . . please,” I ask in a pleading tone, taking his hand in mine I step backward slowly until we’re both on our way to my bedroom. While we’re making our way there, he’s stripped off his dress shirt and undershirt. I’ve discarded my blouse in the living room and am standing in solely a pair of pants and camisole.

  He pushes my back against my bedroom door and stares deeply in my eyes, “If you want to change your mind, now would be the time. Once I start . . . I don’t think I’ll be able to stop.”

  Instead of giving him a verbal answer, I place my hand on the doorknob and turn it, entering the room. To give him another sign, I unbutton the top of my pants and slide them down my legs, revealing the pair of panties I’m in.

  Valentin quickly shuffles in the room and slams the door shut behind him, locking it. He rushes over to me, plants his hands on my hips and hooks his finger under my underwear, pulls them toward him and I feel the rip of the cotton against my body.

  “Blyad!” he hisses out as he glances down at my body, sliding his fingers up, he bunches the material of my shirt and pulls it over my head, tossing it onto the wooden floor beside us.

  “Mind translating for me?” I tease, sucking in my bottom lip.

  “I said fuck,” he growls out, running his hand over my erect nipple. While I enjoy the new sensations coursing through my body I place my hands at his belt and unhook it, unbutton and unzip his pants, allowing them to fall to the floor in a pile.

  “Why’d you say that?” I inquire, gliding my fingers under the waistband of his boxers so I can rid him of the confining fabric. Warmth pulls in my belly while Valentin continues to tease my nipples, but the sight of his manhood is a bit alarming. His shaft is wide. If I had to guess I’d say three inches Not only that, but he’s long as well. I keep thinking there’s no way that thing will fit inside me, but I can’t look afraid. If I do, Natalia will ruin my relationship before it even starts.

  I want this to work with Valentin. I want to have a true love story. I don’t want to be like so many other couples in the mafia world.

  Placing my hand over his cock I continue running my hand along it, hearing hisses and groans as I tease him. “Fuck, Sofia. Your hand feels so good.”

  I grab the back of his neck with my other hand and pull his mouth down to me, kissing him chastely, hoping it’ll bring him to the point I want him to be. Much to my surprise, Valentin sticks his hand between my legs and snickers at the juiciness between them.

  “I thought I’d need to have hours of foreplay to prepare you for my cock, but I don’t think so,” he whispers in a sultry tone. Valentin’s hands slide under my ass and he lifts me up, tossing me on the bed. “Keep your legs open for me, Sofia,” he orders out, and I listen. I lean back with my legs open, nervous as he inches toward my body. Valentin brings his thumb over my clit and repeatedly rubs until I feel myself shaking and more wetness comes out of me. It isn’t a lot, but it’s a good bit.

  “You might think you’re not ready, but you are. I’m going to take your cunt now. You’re a Volkolv already even if you don’t have my name, Sofia. I’m going to cum inside this sweet pussy of yours and mark you as mine.” Valentin lines the head of his monstrous cock up with my entrance and slides his way in, inching bit by bit. He goes in and out, until I feel a pop and burn with pain. He lifts my right leg up and holds it against his shoulder, quickening his speed.

  “Fuck, your virgin cunt is tighter than I imagined.” He flutters his thumb over my clit and taunts me even more, causing a fire to boil up inside me and explode out of nowhere. “Da, yes my Sofia, cum over my cock.” Valentin lifts my other leg up, holds onto them with his hands and rams his cock into me time and time again until he comes to a stop and is growling on top of me. The look in his eyes is ferocious, making me not want to say a thing.

  Valentin falls to the bed on top of me, slowly rolling his hips back and forth. We stay like this for ages, and suddenly I feel the urge to get s
ome water. “I’m thirsty, do you want anything?” I ask.

  He shakes his head, “No, I’m good. I’ll get some after round two.”

  “Round two?”

  “Yes, you’re not getting away that easily, Sofia. I have plenty more in here for you.” He points to his large cock and I snicker.

  “Alright, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I say, forcing him to allow me off the bed I go to the door, unlock it and walk towards the kitchen. When I get there I see I’m not alone. Natalia is staring right at me, cocking her brow.

  “Oh, I didn’t realize what sort of mess we made.” I feign, approaching the cabinet where the glassware is. I open the door, pick up a glass and go to the refrigerator for a fresh bottle of water to pour into the cup.

  “You are a little Mexican slut,” she hisses out.

  I set the glass on the counter and grab a knife from the butcher block in front of me, quickly turn around and shove it against her throat, backing her into the full wall of cabinets. “I will make this plain and simple for you, puta. I am going to be Sofia Volkolv and nothing you do will stop that. Valentin will be in my bed at the end of every day. I will be the one having his children and you will be the sad, pathetic woman who dotes over him praying you were the one in my shoes. But here’s the thing, you never will be, because you mean nothing to him. If you did, he’d be marrying you instead of me. Are we clear?” I seethe, pressing the blade into her throat a tiny bit.

  Natalia fails to answer so I wait until I feel I’ve given her an adequate amount of time to respond, bring the blade up and dig it into her face. She cries out, so I place a finger in front of my mouth. “Shh, Natalia. If you’re too loud I might accidentally cut you up even more.” I snicker, removing the blade from her face I toss it in the sink. “I’m pretty sure I’ve made myself clear. Don’t fuck with me, bitch. ‘Cause rest assured I’ll be the one who wins this war.”

  I take the glass back in my hand and head to Valentin. He said we’re not done, and so we’ll continue our festivities. It seems I killed two birds with one stone. Gosh, it’ll be easy to get some good sleep tonight.

  Chapter Nine

  “I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.”

  ~ Vincent Van Gogh

  Valentin

  Early this morning when I left the house I informed Natalia she could have the day off and to not come home until very late this evening. It’s important to me that the boys get used to Sofia being around them constantly, so I’ve left them with their soon to be stepmother for the day. Though, telling Natalia to go out wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. She stood there with an awful cut on her face— making me wonder how she got it— and tried enticing me with her good looks throughout the entire conversation. She even asked me if I’d come to her bedroom tonight. I didn’t bother giving her an answer. The ground rules were laid out before Sofia came to Moscow. Once Sofia came into town everything we had been doing would stop.

  This was in no way, shape or form a surprise to her. Hell, I’ve been down the road of marrying a woman from the streets before. She ended up betraying me, showing that women outside of the crime families are not trustworthy in any fashion. I refuse to make that mistake again and luckily have a perfect partner in Sofia.

  She surprised me more than she knows last night, standing her ground about the Natalia issue and then urging me to her bedroom for a long night of extra-curricular activities.

  Today I’m over at my parents' house, visiting with my mother for a bit while I wait until after one in the afternoon to head to where my father is. According to him, we have another shipment of women coming in this evening and we’re transporting a separate container to the United States. All I have to do is drive him over to the property our family owns at the docks.

  “How do you like the girl?” my mother asks, lifting her eyes up from the magazine she’s reading.

  “I fancy her quite a bit,” I admit, not feeling the need to hold anything back.

  “She’s not Russian, so I do not like her. I liked Anastasia more. At least that one was Russian, even if she was a traitorous rat.” I roll my eyes at my mother’s words, not paying much attention to them. She’s extremely old fashioned, meaning she doesn’t give a damn about anything except the old traditions. Russians should marry Russians and Russian women should be pretty, give birth to many sons and keep their noses out of their husband’s business. Sofia checks all the boxes off, minus being Russian. However, I believe she will have a difficult time staying out of my business. Although, I’m up for the challenge.

  “Why do you even ask if you don’t care?” I question her.

  She huffs, “All you men care about is a good fuck. I suppose it doesn’t even matter to you as long as she keeps her legs open.”

  There aren’t many times when I will use my rank over my mother, but now is one of those times. Taking a step closer I slip my hands into the pocket of my trousers, “You’d better remember Sofia is about to be my wife, Mother. One day she will be the Queen of the Bratva and you will have to kneel before her.”

  Mother scoffs, rolling her eyes in the process. “I will never kneel in front of a Mexican girl. You should be marrying a Russian! God, how I wish Anastasia were here!” she screams, rising from her luxurious armchair.

  I can’t believe the audacity she has to wish my betrayer of a wife was still here, but fuck does it infuriate me. “Placing the order to have her executed was the best decision I ever made. Anastasia was tearing our entire empire apart, bit by bit. What would you have done when we were all in prison, Mother? Would you be giving Anastasia praise then as well?”

  “At least you would have been following our family rules. I am disgusted by your father breaking them in this way. We had another Russian option for you but he chose the Mexican instead. You will never understand how this makes me feel.” She’s a disgusting, incorrigible woman.

  I nod, “Yeah, you’re right about that. I will never understand how you feel,” I hiss out, heading for the front door. Fuck this shit, I don’t need my mother to treat Sofia this way and I’ll be damned if Sofia ever has to spend a moment in her presence. I need to ensure my mother and Sofia never meet, and I already have a great way to do that.

  Within twenty minutes I’m out of my car and walking up to the private gate that my father, myself and a few other of our most trusted associates can only gain entry to. A good percentage of the docks we own conduct legitimate business. However, we have a separate one for the things we don’t want everyone else to know about. Our security level is good regardless of which part of the property you’re on, but on this side it’s like you’re on Alcatraz.

  I spot my father from the distance smoking a cigar while he speaks to a couple of our men. His trench coat comes down to his mid-calf. Honestly, right now he looks like a New Yorker instead of a Russian.

  “Afternoon, Valentin.” They both greet me with a nod. “We were both about to leave. Nice to see you.”

  “Likewise,” I say to them as they walk off in the opposite direction.

  “How was your visit with the deranged woman you call mother?” my father asks.

  For a moment I think about lying, but I simply can’t do that. No matter what we’re always going to have issues with her when it comes to Sofia. Here and now I’m putting my foot down. “It’s funny you bring it up. I think she’s losing her mind and it’s time we get her committed into an asylum. For her own safety, of course.”

  My father arches an eyebrow, “I can’t tell if you’re serious or joking.”

  Shaking my head, “When do I joke these days? Put the woman in an asylum or I will.”

  “Fuck, I thought you’d hate it if I did. The only reason she hasn’t been in one is because of you. What did she do to change your mind?” he asks.

  Sucking in a breath, I wish things were different but sadly they never will be. “She has an issue with Sofia. That will never fly. If my own mother doesn’t show respect to the future
Queen of the Bratva, how will anyone else?”

  My father nods, “Now you’re starting to think like a leader. Excellent decision. I’ll make sure she’s taken care of quietly.”

  “Thank you. Now you said something came up and I needed to come down here,” I state.

  My father motions for me to follow him with his hand. I stand behind him and head in the direction of one of the warehouses. While we’re walking he speaks, “Yes, I did. The boys were out earlier and spotted those two fuckers picking up product again. I have them chained up back here. I haven’t decided what I’ll do with them yet, but we can figure that out later. I need your help figuring out which dock in the States to send this shipment to. It’s . . . riskier than the others for multiple reasons.”

  We arrive inside the warehouse and I can’t help but notice how my father’s tone shifted a few moments ago. Internally, my red flags are up. We go into the office and I look at the schedules for our containers. “The easiest would probably be Miami. We have a ship heading out in a few hours so I’d say to load it up on that one. But I’m intrigued. Why are you so worried about this shipment? The girls aren’t usually too vocal.” It’s because my father fucking drugs them. Sick bastard.

  He sucks in a breath, “Because the bastards didn’t just take women this time. I made do and found a buyer for the oddball.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question,” I state, glancing down at the paper I grab the number of the shipping container and leave the office. Since my father doesn’t want to tell me, I’ll just figure it out myself.