Mated By The Demon Collections: Paranormal Romance

by Riley Moreno

  “Tell me about your child hood?” He heard her ask him.

  Fred smiled as he thought back to what was a great childhood. He almost felt guilty at telling how he had been loved by both parents, and how they gave him everything he wanted. But he wanted to be honest with her so he spilled the story.

  “My mom and dad were always very supportive of me my whole life. They still are for the most part. I think my mom would adore you.” Fred stated. “My father is usually on the golf course now most days. So I don’t see him unless I feel like playing a quick round of golf. But honestly, it’s not my sport. I would much rather do just about anything else. In fact the sport of watching glue dry is more interesting to me!” Fred laughed.

  He wasn’t sure if she would get the joke or not. But she laughed and he watched as her face lit up. “I really like hearing you laugh.” Fred admitted. He watched as her ears turned red and she smiled widely.

  “I don’t mean to embarrass you!” He apologized.

  “No I don’t mind the compliments. I’m just not used to them.” She commented.

  “Well if there were more men in Russia I’m sure you’d be getting compliments all the time!” Fred stated.

  Again she did this little giggle and made a noise that he figured she made when she felt embarrassed. He smiled as he watched and tried to figure out if he would go pick her up or bring her to him.

  Perhaps it would be easier if he went and picked her up. That way she could have help with Trina. He thought, but then she was asking him about something else and he was off track.

  “Tell me about the dumbest thing you’ve ever done?” She asked him.

  “What? Where did this question come from?” Fred asked.

  Ivana laughed. “We were making a profile for Trina today on the dating site. Well during that time I was really fighting the idea of her dating. So I was messing around online and came across this site. It was called the dumbest thing ever. Really if you’ve never seen it before you must go and watch it. I was laughing so hard Trina had no clue what was going on!”

  Fred started laughing as he heard her bust out thinking about some of the things she had seen. “I’ll have to go and check it out, if you are still laughing like this!”

  There was something about talking to her that just made him feel better. “It has to be love? What else could it be? But I’ve never met her, in person she might not be like this? Maybe she is putting on a show for me?” Fred wondered. That last thought was the fault of someone who had told him a story once about a girl he met online.

  He remembered the story Jason, his buddy from college, had told him. Jason had just met some girl online and was crazy in love with her. He dropped out and moved to Oregon to be with her. Fred had asked him before he left if he was crazy.

  “Man I’m crazy in love!” Jason had cried out. He shouted her name and yelled out, “I’m coming to you!”

  Fred had rolled his eyes at the theatrics that were being played out by Jason. “You’re crazy, but I don’t know if in love should be said!”

  Two months later Jason was back at school. His mood much less jovial. Fred hadn’t even known he was back, but ran into him accidentally.

  “Hey Jason, what are you doing here? What happened to what’s her name?” Fred had asked.

  “Oh man she was crazy. One night she said I was banging her sister or something like that and tried to kill me with knife. Don’t ever date someone from online. They’ll act all sweet until they have you, then it’s boom ‘CRAZY’!” Jason had made a motion with his hand, like an explosion.

  He didn’t see Jason a lot after that. The few times he had tried to hang out with him, Jason was just a different person. It was like she had stolen something from him when he’d left to go live with her.

  Of all things he was worried about it was Ivana not being who she seemed like it online. But his heart was trying to convince him that he couldn’t live without her. For that to be the case though he would have to meet her.

  “Do I fly to her?” He thought of the dilemma facing him.

  Chapter 12

  “Trina, guess what he said?” Ivana ran into Trina’s room a smile on her face.

  Trina asked her what, and she rambled on and on. “He said he would fly you with me to America!”

  “That’s great sweetie! So when are you getting our tickets?” Trina asked innocently enough.

  Ivana stopped for a second and wondered that too. “Well he didn’t say when he was getting them. But when he does get them he’ll buy one for you too!”

  “What if he didn’t really want to bring me and he only told you that to make you feel better? What if you just ruined your chance to get out of here?” Trina asked her.

  She hadn’t thought of it that way when she was talking about Trina to Fred. She guessed it was possible. But he didn’t seem to be upset? The fear passed through her mind quickly though and it settled down where she knew it would come back.

  “I’m sure he’s good with it.” Ivana said with a little less conviction then before.

  Trina could sense her sadness and said. “I’m sure he’s fine with it. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said what I did. I’m just a little tired I didn’t sleep well last night.”

  “Why not?” Ivana asked.

  “I just couldn’t get to sleep.” Trina stated.

  Ivana looked down and asked. “Was I screaming again?” She asked.

  “Yes, but really you didn’t keep me awake.” Trina said quickly.

  “I’m sorry sweetie.” Ivana stated.

  Though it didn’t happen often in some of the nightmares she had she would talk out loud or in this case scream. She was sure that she had been dreaming about the flames as the licked over her body.

  “So I can’t wait to see America!” Trina laughed.

  Ivana looked at her and shook her head. “That’s really bad.”

  “I heard the joke online!” Trina admitted.

  “I may have to block your access if you come up with jokes like that again!” Ivana laughed.

  She felt better as she laughed. Fred had not changed his mind once Trina was mentioned. Not she had watched as he had honestly seemed to be thinking of the best ways to handle the paperwork.

  Ivana wasn’t positive that he would accept her for who she was when they met. But at least she had a chance. But the thought of showing him her scars did worry her. She knew she shouldn’t be so vain. But the fear was real because he was always telling her how beautiful she was.

  She didn’t feel beautiful when she saw the scars. No she felt nothing but ugly when she saw them. Ivana hoped that Fred wouldn’t feel the same way. Honestly the thought scared her of what his reaction would be to them.

  Chapter 13

  “Did you forget about the stockholders meeting that is coming up this next month?” Fred listened to his secretary ask him.

  “Oh yeah I kind of did. I guess I can’t really take the time out to fly over there and do this paper work. Tommy said he wasn’t sure how long it would take. So it looks like I’ll have to fly Ivana and Trina to me.” He commented.

  “Um sir, I’m not so sure about a Russian bride. Have you looked at all the scams that they say are out there?” She asked him.

  “Yes I have Briana, thank you for pointing that out.” Fred laughed. If he was in a bad mood she might have lost her job for even saying that to him. But lately Fred had felt better, ever since he had met Ivana.

  He felt like adding on that fact to Briana, who had witnessed his tantrums in the past. They hadn’t ever been towards her, so maybe that was why she felt she could say this to him. Fred didn’t like to be known as a tyrant. But he knew some of his employees viewed him that way. It was fine with him though, if he hadn’t been hard-nosed and controlled the things the way he did. Well he wouldn’t be so darn wealthy, and most of those people wouldn’t be working.

  His company was one of the biggest employers in the region, and he was proud of that. Not only that but he paid hi
s workers above the normal wages. Sometimes when they would complain about him he wondered why.

  Eventually Tommy pointed out to him that it was human nature to never be fully satisfied with what you have, but to strive for better. “You’ve made them wealthy in their own right, and they want more. So honestly you are at fault for this problem!” Tommy had said.

  Fred wasn’t sure exactly what he had meant at that point. Hell thinking about it right now Fred still didn’t see the logic behind the statement. Instead he would simply let those workers who became too rowdy, as he liked to call it, go and let them find another job.

  If they weren’t happy with the wages and what he felt was a fairly easy working environment. What could he offer them? He didn’t plan on giving them all a million dollars no that would take away his wealth.

  Sometimes people in this world made no sense to Fred. He was happy he had found Ivana in the sea of love though. Yes Fred was willing to admit there was some sort of strong attraction between them, even though they hadn’t met.

  He really wanted to get her to the states and see where that attraction might lead too. Fred began to think of a plan in his head. I’ll propose to her first, and then have her come here for the wedding. She and Trina will come and I can set up the guest house for Trina. “No that won’t work; she needs to be in the main house.” He said thinking of her blindness.

  Fred got on the phone with Tommy and tried to figure out the best way to time his idea. He wanted this to be the best proposal that any man could make while he was so far away from the woman he loved.

  “Is it love?” A voice in his mind popped up.

  Chapter 14

  Ivana saw a message from Fred the next day. “I have an important question to ask you later on today, I’ll be on at 2 in the afternoon my time. I’m looking forward to seeing your beautiful smile then!”

  She smiled as she read the message over and over again. Ivana wanted to share this with Trina, but after her reaction yesterday about what Fred had said. She just didn’t want to have this happiness ended by some sort of comment.

  Ivana instead kept the secret of the message to herself. She had promised Trina they would go out today, so she got ready.

  “Trina are you about ready for our day out?” Ivana went into Trina’s room.

  The girl was sitting in the corner, her head down.

  “What’s wrong sweetie?” Ivana walked up behind her and put her hands on Trina’s shoulders.

  “I just had a really bad dream last night.” Trina stated.

  “I’m sorry honey, is it anything you would like to talk about?” Ivana asked.

  She felt Trina’s shoulders rise as she sighed. “I don’t know. I mean you may not be the one who knows the answers.”

  “What answers are you looking for? I know a few things.” Ivana stated.

  “I keep having these dreams of my mother and father. It’s when I’m younger, right before they died. But in this dream the story I was told is all a lie.” Trina said.

  “What do you mean?” Ivana knew the truth, but had never let Trina know. When she had gone to take Trina from the orphanage they had shared the file with Ivana. It was then she had learned how truly horrible the young girl’s past had been.

  Honestly, she had never thought it was important for Trina to know what had happened. It was much better to believe that they had been in an auto accident. During the accident had been when Trina lost her eye sight. This was the story that everyone had told her. They were just happy she hadn’t known the truth about the reason she was blind.

  “Well it’s really horrible. I don’t know if I want to even tell it.” Trina started to cry.

  Ivana wrapped her arms around the girl. “It is okay sweetie; I’m here and will always be here for you.” She kissed Trina’s forehead.

  “He did it, he made me blind. But that’s not it, he killed my mother. He wanted to kill me too. The neighbors heard my screams they got me out of there. I’d be dead right now had they not done something. He was so mean, so ruthless, and so crazy. My mother pleaded with him to stop to not hurt her. But soon her cries ended. I was sitting right by her and watched her die. She didn’t let go of my hand the whole time. I miss her so much; I barely got to know her.” Trina cried.

  Ivana held her closer trying to comfort her as much as she could. “He beat her with a hammer at the end. I remember the blood being all over my face and body. It splattered on me all over the place. I wouldn’t stop crying asking him to stop. I kept begging with him to not hurt mommy. But he didn’t hear me, not until she was quiet. Then he could hear my little voice, and that was when he turned on me.” Trina stopped for a minute as the tears and sobs made it impossible to talk.

  “He hurt me so badly. He did things that no father should do to a child. Why did he hurt me so much?” Trina cried and asked.

  “Sweetie I don’t know why he did those things to you. I’m just glad those neighbors were able to save you.” Ivana answered as tears drained from her eyes.

  “Why couldn’t they have come sooner, maybe my mother would still be alive?” Trina bawled.

  “I’m sorry sweetie. I don’t know why they took so long to come and help.” Ivana answered honestly.

  She had often wondered that over the past several years since she first found out about the real story. Of course she had found out more details now that Trina was remembering.

  “Did you know about this before?” Trina asked.

  Ivana didn’t know if she tell the truth. “I didn’t know all the details no.” She finally said.

  “I wish I hadn’t remembered it. I wish I never found out.” Trina muttered.

  “I agree I think you would be better off never learning any of this. I’m sorry you did. What can I do to help you out?” Trina asked.

  Chapter 15

  “So we can do this right Tommy?” Fred asked over the phone. He had just got done telling Tommy what his plan was with Ivana.

  “Yeah I don’t see why not. Give me a bit of time to make some calls and I’ll let you know.” Tommy answered.

  “Just so you understand me, I want this done. Find a way; if you pay extra I don’t care.” Fred stated.

  “I get it boss. I understand completely. The Unlimited budget plan, right?” Tommy asked.

  “Exactly, no cost is too much. If I spend more than we thought, I’ll just make it up in another way.” Fred said.

  Tommy sighed; he really didn’t want to go to those other lengths. So he would do the usually job of making sure he didn’t spend too much money.

  “Good I’ll be waiting for your call. Make it quick so I can send her a message to get her ready.” Fred ordered.

  “I’ll do my best.” Tommy stated.

  “You always do, that’s why I keep you around. Well that and your my best friend. But let’s not put that to the test, okay!” Fred would often say this to him.

  Tommy was safe and Fred knew that. It was one of the only reasons he was his closest confidante on just about everything in Fred’s life. They had known each other for so many years; it felt like they were brothers.

  Fred felt like Tommy was his brother and told him that before. Both of them felt that way. Fred would trust Tommy with everything, including his life.

  He was nervous and worried. “What if she isn’t as interested in me as I am her? What if I propose and she says no to me?”

  Fred was worried about these being true. He kept thinking about his friend Jason and the whole internet story. All he could picture was the cold dead look that had been in Jason’s eyes when he came back. His life had been stolen by that girl, but maybe even his soul.

  He shook his head, he couldn’t think of Jason and his experience now. He had to focus on his own life. The question that was plaguing him mostly was how did he know if he was in love? “How could you be in love, you’ve only seen her online?” The voice of reason said.

  “This is what worries me the most.” He commented to no one. Fred knew he was just
thinking out loud. It was the best way he thought. He knew people would think he was crazy if they saw him working. They might mistake his way of thinking as him talking to himself.

  “They always say people who answer themselves are crazy!” He laughed at the thought!

  Fred thought of her smile. There was something about it that made him warm. It made his heart feel different. Like his heart was being filled up with something. He couldn’t think of the best way to put it. But every time he thought of her his mind couldn’t focus well. “Is this love?” He asked himself again.

  He waited for an answer to come to him. His phone interrupted the silence and he swore. “Damn I really need to know what’s going on!”

  “Got some good news for you boss!” Fred heard Tommy’s voice.

  Fred listened and his smile grew wider. “Thanks you a champ! Do I even want to ask the cost?” Fred asked.

  “Not really boss, it would be best to great the shock after you’ve forgotten about this for a bit!” Tommy stated.

  Fred knew it had to be a pretty high number. He had never heard Tommy say he needed to wait to hear it.

  “Alright thanks a bunch, give yourself a bonus!” Fred hung up the phone and turned on his computer. Sending a message to Ivana he sighed and felt content.

  Chapter 16

  Ivana sat holding Trina for some time after the girl remembered her past. Ivana couldn’t even imagine what it was like to remember your father had killed your mother. Not only that but you watched it, and afterwards he had tried to kill you. There were some things Trina had talked about that burned Ivana deep down inside of her soul.

  ‘If I ever find him he will be a dead man.’ Ivana thought. Her heart had broken as she listened to the descriptions of what he had done to her. Ivana cried. She wondered why God had made Trina remember these things. ‘She would be so much better off not knowing this’ she thought and cried more.

  Finally Trina had asked if she could sit by her while she fell asleep. “Just watch me please. If it looks like I’m having a nightmare, please wake me up? I can’t see that again.” Trina had cried.