Taken by the Boss

by Brook Wilder

  For a horrible second as the sunfish is jerked around by the wind, I’m worried I’ve made a mistake. During the daylight, sailing on the lake seems so much easier. At night, the wind is like a living monster trying to tear us off course. The sail whips around as I struggle to keep it right so it won’t capsize. There aren’t even life vests on board. What if one of us goes overboard? Stella—I can’t lose her because I decided to take a risk for once.

  I look behind me, expecting to see her scared and ready to turn back. Instead, her eyes are wide and she’s smiling like this is the best night of her life. “This is amazing,” she shouts, throwing her arms over her head.

  The wind whips her black hair wildly around her face and I find myself laughing like a madman right along with her. She takes control of the rudder and like we’ve done so many times before, we sail around the lake like it’s second nature. Her joy is contagious, and soon, my fear falls away. It’s just me and my Stella on the lake without a care in the world. The boat cuts through the whitecaps cutting across the lake from the wind that seems to blow harder the further out we go.

  Once I think we’re far enough away, I give in and howl at the moon right along with her. This is what living is supposed to feel like. Exhilarating and incredible beyond words. There’s no one else in this world for me but Stella. The thought hits me hard, and I can’t stop from watching her stand at the back of the boat, her arms spread wide as the spray wets her hair and face. She’s the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.

  When her lips start to turn blue and her teeth chatter, we make for the boathouse. I hadn’t even felt the cold, and from the look of it, neither had she. We get the little sunfish back in the boathouse, and I lock the door behind us.

  “That was crazy,” she whispers and throws herself at me. I catch her in a hug and spin her around. She’s cold and wet, so I shrug out of my jacket and drape it around her shoulders. She beams up at me then stands on her toes to kiss my cheek. “What would I do without you?”

  “Be bored out of your mind?” I reply with a laugh to cover the strange array of emotions rushing through me from her kiss.

  She squeezes my hand. “We should get back inside. See you tomorrow.”

  I watch her bound through the shadows toward her family’s cabin …

  I set the photograph of Stella and me on the desk by my laptop. If only we can go back to those times when we didn’t fully understand the world our families lived in. All we knew was people were afraid of our last names. There was no reason given.

  Now we both know, and it’s like waking up to discover the nightmare is real. We’re in too deep to easily get out. I worry she doesn’t understand how much danger she’s in. I text Lukas again, unable to stop seeing Stella thrown into one of Mikhail’s dreaded cells, or worse. He tells me to calm down and says that she’s still in class. I text him that I’m headed to the training facility and tell him to call me when she leaves campus. I want to make sure I’m here when she gets home.

  A plan still needs to be finalized for taking out De Luca. I’ll focus on that until Lukas calls me. Stella will be fine. She’ll be just fine.

  Chapter 11

  Danya

  My cell rings for a second before I scoop it up and answer. “Yeah?”

  “It’s me,” Lukas replies, but he doesn’t sound his usual happy self. “Stella’s still on campus.”

  I look at the clock on the office wall. “It’s half-past four. How many classes is she taking?”

  “That’s the thing. I got her schedule from one of her old bodyguards. I know you’re not going to want to hear this, but I think she’s up to something, and it’s not good.”

  I pinch the bridge of my nose as I quietly curse the woman I’m in love with. “Just tell me.”

  “She’s going to classes that aren’t listed on her schedule. And she was meeting with a bunch of students all afternoon in the library. They look like they’re working on some sort of film, but I couldn’t get too close without giving myself away.”

  “What classes?” I ask, confused. Why is she wasting her time with ones she doesn’t have to take?

  Lukas grumbles for a second, then says, “Journalism classes.”

  Red flags shoot up in my mind. “What did you say?”

  “You heard me. She went to three today. And those students? I overheard them talking about some sort of documentary they’re working on.” There’s a muffled sound like he’s moving quickly, then he’s back on the line. “One of them mentioned Stella being a huge help.”

  I back away from my desk and stare at the wall in disbelief. Has she completely lost her mind? I figured she was up to something to get back at her father for all the shit he put her through, but journalism classes? A documentary? She’s asking for someone to put a fucking bullet through her brain if she’s doing what I think she is.

  “Where is she now?” I ask roughly.

  “She’s in the library alone this time.”

  “Any chance you can figure out what the documentary is about?”

  “Not unless you want me to use my lovely interrogation skills on a bunch of innocent college students.”

  I almost say yes, but rein myself in. It might be nothing. I pray it is, especially after how much I worry about her simply being this close to my family. The reckless Stella is not as buried as I assumed. She’s going to drive me to an early grave with worry. I can’t simply confront her about what she’s up to without alerting her that I’m having her watched. Any chance we have at rebuilding the trust we once had will disappear, and she’ll tell me I’m acting just like our fathers. I’ll just have to get it out of her the old-fashioned way somehow.

  “Text me when she leaves,” I tell Lukas.

  “You don’t want me to try and find out anything else?”

  “No, that’s my job. I’m the husband, right? Have to keep my new wife in line, at least to the public eye. This is going to be harder than I thought.”

  “Did you not talk to her last night?”

  “We did a bit. Got a little caught up in other matters.”

  Lukas chuckles. “As happy as I am to hear that, you have to tell her what’s really going on before she does something stupid.”

  “Like put out a documentary on the Russo family, or hell, all the families.”

  Most women are kept in the dark about the business, but Stella has always been sneaky. She broke into her father’s study countless times. More than once, she told me about how good she’d gotten at spying on him during his business meetings. He was even letting her take classes for accounting. Joseph must’ve thought he put the fear of God into his daughter, not that she might one day use everything she learned against him.

  My annoyance grows when I look out the window at the main training floor to see the twins waltzing in. “Dammit.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The bastards finally showed up. I have to go deal with them. I know you’ve spent all day with Stella, but I need your help coming up with a final plan of attack.”

  “I’m on it. I’ll text you later.”

  He hangs up, and I do the same. I shove my cell in my pocket and hurry out to confront my brothers. “When I say be on time, I mean it,” I snap when I reach them. “There’s no training for you two, not today. Turn your asses around and get home.”

  Andrei rolls his eyes, but Aleksandr has the nerve to laugh in my face. “Whatever you say, Dad.”

  “Don’t,” I warn.

  “Looks like you didn’t get much sleep last night. You and the new wife have at it? I’m sure breaking her in has got to be a chore. We could always help you out, just until she knows her place.”

  I glare down at him, picturing either of their hands on my wife. “Do not talk to me about Stella. Not a word.”

  “Or what?” He leans in closer and whispers, “If you were a good big brother, you’d share. She is quite the looker despite her being a Russo. Pity about her father’s pending execution. Does she know yet that
you’re going to be the one who offs him?”

  I grab him by his throat and slam him into the nearest wall. “I said don’t.”

  He aims a kick at my legs, but I cut off his air and he scrambles at my hand. His eyes bulge out of his head. Andrei charges for my back, but I see my men move in to block him.

  “If you or Andrei go near her, if you lay a hand on her, it’ll be your body they find in the river.” I let Aleksandr go and throw him into his brother. “Get the hell out of my training facility.”

  “Is she really worth all this trouble?” Andrei asks, and I tense.

  “What trouble?”

  “The kind that ends in bloodshed. You best keep a close eye on your wife. I know we will be. We all will be.” He leers at me, then backs away, holding up a coughing Aleksandr. “Be seeing you both soon, brother. Tell the wifey we say hello and we can’t wait to meet her.”

  The threat lingers long after they’ve gone. The way Andrei said it, does he know what Stella is up to? Why would he say she’s trouble when we’ve only been married a day? Everything about this situation just keeps getting worse. If I can get Stella to tell me what she’s planning, I can stop her before it’s too late and I do wind up burying her. I order the men to get back to training and return to the office.

  I give up on trying to come up with a plan against De Luca after ten minutes and head out. I grab takeout on the way since I have hardly anything at the house to cook. Everything seems fine when I reach the house, but there are no messages from Mikhail.

  I should take it as a good sign he seems to trust this part of his plan is going well, but I can’t stop the worry rising in me that the shit’s about to hit the fan and Stella’s going to be right in the heart of it.

  Chapter 12

  Stella

  By the time I climb into my Mustang and head away from campus, I’m beat. It’s nearly seven. My stomach growls, and I’m exhausted. That mostly has to do with spending last night wrapped up with Danya. I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my lips, thinking about exactly what we were up to and what we might be doing again tonight.

  Unless, of course, last night was just for show. I left before he woke this morning, mostly because I didn’t want to be late to campus. The other part was due to worry he’d open those eyes and the hard, cold Danya would be back. I want to believe so badly he’s still my Danya, but this life changes people. It breaks them down and shapes them into monsters. It’s part of the reason I agreed to help the journalism students with their documentary.

  There’s no way Danya can find out about it. He already seems worried enough about me being married to him. And here I thought getting out from under Joseph’s thumb would be a relief. Now, I’m under Mikhail’s.

  As I pull into the driveway of Danya’s mansion, one of the guards at the front door steps down. I worry for a second until he smiles politely and holds open my door for me.

  “Welcome home, Stella.”

  “Thank you. Danya home, too?”

  “Yes. Shall I move your car around to the rear drive for you?”

  I’m not used to this sort of attention. The few guards still loyal enough to Joseph to stay by him don’t give two shits about Mom or me. I tell the guard yes and hand over the keys. The second they’re in his hands, I wonder if this is some sort of ploy by Danya. If he is having someone plant a tracker in my car, he’s going to be sorely disappointed. Campus is the only place I go. I shrug and head for the front door. The other guard opens it, and I walk inside.

  Yesterday, this mansion felt more like a prison than my new home. Today, it’s warm, and I grin when I see candles lit everywhere in the entryway, leading down the hall to the large, cozy living room filled with comfortable, dark tan couches. The TV’s on, the screen paused on what looks like the opening credits to a movie.

  “Danya?”

  “In here,” he calls from the kitchen. I drop my messenger bag by the couch, kick out of my black heels, and pad through the house. There are more candles here, too, and I grin when the strong scent of Chinese meets my nose. “Finally home, I see.”

  He’s standing behind the kitchen island, unloading a paper bag of takeout. He’s wearing all black, from his T-shirt to his combat pants. For half a second, I see the hardness back in his eyes and wonder what he did all day. If he was ordered to kill anyone. Those arms held me so lovingly and securely last night … did they rob someone of life?

  He stills, and his smile fades. “Stella?”

  I grab for the back of the nearest chair, not sure what’s wrong with me all of a sudden. I sit down, lightheaded, as Danya rushes toward me. He takes my hands as he crouches in front of me, smoothing the hair from my face.

  “What’s wrong? You’re pale.”

  “Just uh, never mind,” I mumble and try to smile. “It’s nothing.”

  “Did you eat at all today?”

  I start to say yes, then remember all I’ve had since this morning is coffee and more coffee. I cringe, and his lips thin in disapproval. It’s not the same look Joseph would give Mom, though. That look lacks any sense of care or worry. With Danya, his concern radiates from him.

  “How often do you do this?”

  “Do what?”

  “I don’t know, forget to eat? Take care of yourself?”

  “I take care of myself just fine,” I argue quietly. “In other ways.”

  “Maybe you need to slow down a bit. You seem like you might have a lot on your plate.”

  The laugh that slips out of my mouth sounds a bit crazed. I guess I hadn’t realized how close to breaking I am until just now. My well-laid plans are so close to being fulfilled. I have to stay strong for a bit longer and not tell Danya what I’m up to. The strangest urge to confess everything nearly overtakes me, but I swallow back the confession.

  “Sorry,” I whisper and try to stand, but he doesn’t let me. “I’m fine, really.”

  “No, you’re not,” he says with a scowl. “I know this life hasn’t been easy for you. Out there, you have to be careful, but here with me, you can let it all go. You can talk to me.”

  “Can I?”

  He leans back a bit, as if hurt by my words, but the resolve in his eyes grows. “Yes, you can. I don’t want you to have to be on guard all the time, not anymore. You’re safe in this home with me. I swear it on my life.”

  The weight of those words falls around me like a protective blanket and furious tears burn in my eyes. I hang my head, not wanting him to see how weak I feel right now. His hand cups my cheek and a sob catches in my throat. The next thing I know, we’re sitting on the tile floor of his kitchen. Danya holds me to his chest as I cry, unable to hold back the flood of emotions I’ve been keeping at bay for too damn long.

  “It’s all right,” he whispers, running his fingers through my hair.

  I left it down today, knowing he likes it better that way. I do too. I just never could do it at home, with Joseph being an abusive prick. It made it too easy for him to grab me whenever I pissed him off.

  Danya continues to talk quietly in Russian, the words calming me. I hate everything about who I’ve had to become because of this life. I hate what Danya’s been through. He doesn’t have to tell me about his sins. They’re easy enough to guess from the haunted look in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” I say as I lift my head. “Just … right before all this with you, Joseph was getting more violent with Mom. He’s constantly hitting her or threatening me and then, the other day on campus, one of his goons was there and he … he …” I can’t get the rest of the words out, but Danya’s furious stare says I don’t need to.

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “I think he would’ve done worse if I hadn’t been on my way to meet with you and Mikhail,” I say, hating how small my voice sounds. Danya’s arms tighten protectively around me. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t dump all this on you.”

  “No, you should. You’re my wife, remember?” He wipes the tears gently from my cheek. “You didn’t ask
for this life. I’d say you’re doing a hell of a job at it, though.”

  “Ever since that night, I just feel like I’m never able to let my guard down around anyone,” I ramble. “And then you came back into my life and I thought … I don’t know what I thought.”

  “That I turned into a heartless asshole?” he supplies with a smirk.

  “Something like that, yeah,” I say with a quiet laugh. “Then last night happened, and I come home to this. The candles and the takeout and you being so caring, and I keep waiting for it all to end. It has to be a dream; that’s what my mind keeps saying. It’s all one happy dream that I’m going to wake up from.”