Web of Lies

by Elizabeth Knox

  I head down two rows and there the container is with the usual wire fence around it. The fence keeps the women who may be awake from fighting their way out. Only, much to my surprise I see a child behind the fence. The little boy is small, probably between Aleksei and Aleksandr’s age.

  “Hello,” I say to him, wondering if he’ll speak.

  “Where is my mom? She gave me away to those men,” He points across the way and I turn back, seeing the two men my father was speaking about. “I want to go home.”

  Jesus Christ. A fucking child. What the fuck is my father thinking?!

  “I’m sure you do. What is your name?” I ask him.

  He looks up to me and then those men in the back before answering, “Dmitri.”

  “What a strong name,” I tell him, but instead of acting like a normal child he rolls his eyes as if he is a rebellious teenager.

  “I want to go home,” he repeats.

  “Dmitri, I won’t lie to you. You aren’t going home because you don’t have a home anymore. But I can tell you life gets better after this trip. You just have to make it day by day.”

  “Really?”

  I nod, “Yes. The women here will be kind to you, but you must always stay strong. Okay?”

  “Okay,” he mutters, walking away from me.

  I charge my way back to the office and kick open the door. “What in the fuck is wrong with you?! There is a child in that container! A child who could be one of your grandchildren’s ages,” I scream, watching as his eyes widen. Something isn’t right. There’s something about this kid.

  “These idiots were going to sell him on the streets and let him starve just to get high. He would’ve been dead by nightfall with no place to sleep, no food to eat and most likely die alone. I found a man who wanted to adopt a Russian boy, off the record, of course. You should be thanking me for doing a dutiful act, not berating me for saving this child’s life. I could’ve let him slowly rot on the streets.”

  “Make sure the bastards die slow,” I hiss out, exiting the office and head toward where my car is parked. There is nothing I can do for Dmitri, but at least I can sleep knowing he’s been adopted by a man in America. My hope is the boy will have a better life. Yet, my intuition is telling me there is something more to the story.

  Fuck it. I’ll never really know anyway.

  Chapter Ten

  You stole so much from me that night, but my voice was not one of those things

  Scatteredkat.com

  Sofia

  I’ve officially become one of those girls I used to hate. You know, the ones you’d see walking arm in arm with their boyfriend down the street with that sickening look of love in their eye. I’m that woman, walking hand in hand with her fiancé while two little boys run ten feet ahead of us while we walk down the street.

  The only thing that sets me apart is the newly added security detail we have. Valentin hired two men named Dominik and Mischa to watch over the boys and I when he’s not around. Although whenever we go out these two are hot on our heels, surveying for threats, protecting my newfound family.

  Valentin refuses to tell me about what’s going on, but I can tell the stakes are high right now. He’s constantly stressed and over the last month he seems to be losing grip a bit. Back in Mexico I saw my father in situations like this. Usually when he was dealing with dire situations. I won’t poke my head into his private business; however, I do express my concern from time to time. For the last month things have been getting increasingly worse. I keep my focus on the boys, trying to make sure they’re having a grand time since I fired Natalia.

  She snuck into Valentin’s office two weeks ago and tried to fuck him. He was honest and told me it happened. I lost my shit right then and there, marched across the penthouse to where she was with a pair of scissors and went after her. I took the blades to her throat at first but ultimately decided to give her a botched haircut as payback. That woman believed her beauty was above all else so I made her a little ugly. I screamed and told her to get out of the house which she did. But the worst part was her smiling as she left the penthouse. It’s like she had something up her sleeve and boy did that make me sick.

  Valentin’s hands are sweaty and I glance up at him while the city lights illuminate the dark streets for us. “Valentin, are you alright?” I ask, stopping where we stand. I turn my head quickly to the boys, “Aleks, ‘Leksei, stop for a minute okay?” The boys immediately stop and act silly amongst each other for the moment.

  “I’m fine, Sofia. Just stressed. There’s a lot of threats being made against the family right now. It’s why I hired Dominick and Mischa to watch over the three of you. A teenage street thug named Sergei has promised to rein hell down on our family. On top of that, the Greek mafia has been at our throats. I feel like it’s only a matter of time until something truly horrific happens.”

  “So, what are you suggesting?” I ask, knowing he has to have some sort of plan. Valentin is a smart man. Plus, he wouldn’t be saying any of this unless he knew what we were going to do.

  “My best friend is Desmond Mackenzie. He’s the head of the Irish Mafia after his mother and father’s tragic accident earlier last year. I’ve asked him if you and the boys could stay with him on his family estate outside of Dublin while I try to handle things in the way I need to. Having you all so close has been making me fearful for acting in a . . . brutal manner. All I can think about is the payback you three might catch. I simply can’t risk it. Not until I know you’re safe. Now I know you don’t want to be away from me, but please will you do this for me? I promise it won’t be for long. Maybe a couple of months at best.”

  I put my eyes back on the two little boys who are smiling, playing a little hand game on the streets and know in my heart there isn’t any choice. It’s a given what I must do. I have to go to Ireland. It’s the only way to protect my family. Instead of answering I simply nod at Valentin.

  “Thank you, my love. I hope you know you’re the light of my life. Losing you or the boys would ruin me. I’m afraid of the type of man I’d become if I lost one of you.”

  I press my lips against the corner of Valentin’s lips. “Well, you won’t ever have to worry because we’ll be okay.”

  For the first time in a few days, Valentin smiles like he means it. “How about we send Mischa to watch over the boys tonight while you and I get some alone time before you all leave?”

  “That’s a splendid idea,” I say, thinking about the nefarious ways he’ll make love to me.

  Everything was going great until it wasn’t. Valentin and I had just made nasty, filthy love to one another for the second time of the night and he went into the bathroom. He’s been spending a lot of time in the bathroom over the last week and I haven’t figured out why. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but when he spends more time than me in there I have cause to be concerned. So, I slipped on my silk robe and opened the bathroom door to find Valentin snorting some white powder up with a folded up Russian ruble.

  I thought my eyes were deceiving me at first, so I screamed and asked what he was doing, hoping this was some sort of dream. But it wasn’t. Valentin is doing drugs on our bathroom counter. The same counter where he sits me on to kiss me against the mirror. The last few weeks repeatedly played in my mind and I don’t know when he started using, or if he was already using in Mexico when we first met.

  All I could do was run out to the living room and try to get my heart to stop beating so intensely. I sit out in the living room for maybe an hour before Valentin comes out. When he does, he looks normal . . . but I know he isn’t the same. He has this look in his eye. Something I’ve never seen from him before.

  “Why are you doing drugs?” I question, wanting to know an answer.

  Valentin comes stalking up to me. I think for a moment he’s going to apologize, but when his hand wraps tightly around my throat I know that isn’t the case. “I don’t owe you any explanations, Anastasia! You two-faced whore!”

  I p
ut my hands over his, trying to pry him away from my throat and gain some leverage somehow. This isn’t the man I know and love. This is whatever drug is coursing through him right now. Shuffling my feet like a nervous duckling I try to get away from him as quickly as possible. If I can just get to the bedroom I can lock it and hopefully whatever this is will be out of his system in a few hours.

  I make it four or five feet before I’m being dragged by my hair across the floor. “Valentin, stop it! Stop! I’m Sofia. I’m not her!” I scream out, kicking my legs along the way. I try to position them so I can’t be tugged any further, but I’m maybe half his size. No matter what I do it’s not working. I think digging my nails into the wood will help me stop, but the only thing that does is break one of my nails straight off, causing me to groan out in agony.

  “Anastasia, I’m going to hurt you for what you did to our family. Do you understand?!” While the fear tears through my body I can’t help but wonder why he’s speaking in English if he thinks I’m Anastasia.

  Valentin plants his hands under me, picks me up and slams me down onto the glass coffee table in our living room. As my back hits it, I feel shards break and hit the floor underneath me. Fuck! There’s no way some of the glass hasn’t dug into my back. The sharp pains prove it.

  I freeze, staring up at the lights above me and focus on my breathing. It feels like multiple daggers have been planted into my back. Shutting my eyes I pray to God, apologizing for forgetting to speak to him while I’ve been here in Russia. I pray that he’ll save me from this torture, that he’ll somehow help the man I love realize who he’s harming.

  “Valentin, please don’t do this. It’s Sofia, and . . . I love you. Please stop. I’m not her. I’m Sofia,” I plead with tears rolling down the side of my face as I open my eyes. He’s standing over me with a sneer across his face.

  “You won’t fool me again, witch! You’re going to pay for what you’ve done to our family!” He picks up the green vase and slams it down on my head. All I feel is pain from the impact of the ceramic and then my world goes dark.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Because sometimes, all you wanna know is that you’re not fucking crazy for feeling the way you’re feeling, after having gone through all the bullshit you’ve been through.”

  The Crimson Kin

  Sofia

  “Is she okay? What did they do to her?!” Valentin sounds shaken as he asks the man in front of me in a white lab coat these questions. I move my neck to the left and right seeing I’m no longer on the floor of our living room. Instead I’m on the couch.

  “Your fiancée is very lucky, Mr. Volkolv.” The man tells Valentin just as it hits me. He asked this man what they did to me. Doesn’t he mean what he did?

  I lift my head up even though the pain is excruciating and glance down to my stomach. I don’t know what I’m looking for at first, not until I realize I fell back onto the coffee table. Any cuts I have would be on my back, not on the front of my stomach.

  “Sofia, my God. You’re awake. How do you feel, my love? Where does it hurt?” Valentin takes my hand into his, looking at me with worry-filled eyes. He’s either the best actor on the planet or has no recollection of what he did last night.

  I suck in a deep breath and tell him the truth, “Everywhere.”

  “You must have a guardian angel watching over you, young lady. Somehow your puncture wounds didn’t hit anything vital and I stitched you up. Your head on the other hand, I’d say you need to rest for a few days.” The physician informs me.

  If what I went through proves anything it’s that I have anything but a guardian angel watching over me. I’d love to fire the one who’s supposed to be doing that job because obviously they need to be replaced. “Do you remember anything about who broke in?” Valentin asks, sincerely meaning it.

  I really think he doesn’t remember anything. In our time together he’s lied to me once and I caught him because he was horrible. It made me wonder how he is so high up in the Bratva if he can’t lie to save his life, but he admitted lying to me was difficult. When he lies to others there isn’t an emotional attachment because they’re strictly business associates. Although, he must’ve gotten better since his drug problem has been under my nose for so long.

  “What do you mean?” I question him, knowing if he’s putting on a show he’ll probably slip up here at some point.

  Valentin furrows his brow, “Do you not remember? When I woke up in the bedroom the front door was wide open, things were thrown around and you were on top of what remains of our coffee table. Someone broke in, right?”

  “Were you asleep?” I ask, wanting to see what he’ll say.

  “No, I. The last thing I remember is that I needed to take my medicine. I went into the bathroom and after had sat down on the bed. Must’ve fallen asleep and . . . fuck. I was asleep during everything that happened to you. I am so sorry, Sofia. It’s my job to protect you and I fucking failed,” Valentin explains.

  “Is there any video footage of whoever came in our apartment?” I ask. I know very well what happened. I wasn’t the one doing the drugs. Come to think of it, I assumed Valentin was snorting cocaine when I saw him in the bathroom . . . but cocaine doesn’t make you hallucinate and act out violent tendencies. My papá taught my brothers and I a bit about drugs since that is how we were able to get a bit of our fortune. I remember asking him questions about drugs, why people wanted to use them. I will never forget what he said. How sometimes people struggle and need something to take the edge off. While others might go horseback riding, visit the beach or spend time with friends and family. Others take a drink, smoke cigarettes or use drugs. He said even those with the most control will falter at one point or another.

  Everything I know about drugs is running through my mind. Cocaine wouldn’t have made Valentin act out in such a way. It would’ve been a hallucinogen. PCP is the most popular to get on the streets, but I imagine it would’ve tasted different. Valentin responding to my question pulls me out of my inner thoughts, “No, they didn’t find a thing which only means one thing unfortunately. Whoever it was knew where the cameras were located. They knew which corners to take to remain unseen.”

  The more he speaks is how I can tell he genuinely doesn’t remember any of it. “Ah,” I murmur quietly, knowing every bit of trust I had in Valentin has been thrown out the window. It’s one thing to see the man you love keeping a deep, dark secret but it’s another thing entirely when he hallucinates and calls you his ex-wife’s name. Not only was that bad enough but coming at me in such a violent way. How will I ever be able to trust him again?

  I take my hand away from Valentin’s and hold my side, making it look like I’m just in more pain when the reality is I don’t want to touch him. If you ask me, he’s done enough. “I’ve already arranged for our jet to take you and the boys to Ireland. I made a call to Desmond as soon as I found you and told him you three would be en-route to Dublin as soon as possible. I’m sorry for throwing this on you right now, Sofia . . . but I need you to be safe and the only way I can do what I need to is if you’re far away from me.”

  “I understand,” I reply quietly, wanting to get as far away from Valentin as possible. At least I’ll have the boys with me, and they’ll be able to be safe as well. They don’t need to be around their father right now. Not when he’s so very unpredictable.

  Authors Note:

  Dear Readers,

  When I originally planned to write this, I had my eyes set on releasing the entire novella in this anthology. However, I started writing the story and knew there was no way in hell I’d be able to put every bit of information I needed to within such a short word count limit. The piece you’ve read is just over eighteen-thousand words. Because of the outline I’ve prepared for this story, it will easily double. What I can tell you is now you’ve reached the half-way point of the story. The full-length novel will include everything you’ve read, plus the rest of the story. It will pick up where Sofia, Aleksei and Aleksand
r have landed in Ireland and meet Desmond Mackenzie.

  I should also add I’ve finished the first book in the Mackenzies series. You see, I never planned on releasing a prequel to this series. But an author had dropped from the anthology and because there wasn’t much time I knew finding a replacement would be difficult. So, I put my noggin to good use and decided to write an origin story for the Mackenzies.

  You can go ahead and read Forbidden Love in the meantime if you’d like. You should note, it will spoil what happens at the end of Deceptive Love. However, some of you may want to read Forbidden Love and gain access to the pieces of information I’ve left within the story, and more importantly— the hope.

  The publishing contract for the anthology is six months, so this means by July 5th, 2020 I can publish the full-length novel. Thank you all for your patience and I can’t wait to share the rest of Sofia, Valentin and Desmond’s story with you. I know six months seems like a long time, but rest assured it will be worth the wait.

  Do you want to know what’s happening with the Mackenzie family? Purchase the Leave Me Breathless: Black Rose Collection to grab Forbidden Love, Liam Mackenzie’s full-length book!

  EXCLUSIVE OFFER JUST FOR YOU! Are you in the mood for something . . . darker? Perhaps an anthology containing eleven dark romances with guaranteed happily-ever-afters? My story, Forbidden Love is going to be epic! You really don’t want to miss this! Pick up your copy of Leave Me Breathless: http://bit.ly/LMBbooksBlackRose

  Last Standing Rock

  W.M. Dawson