by Erin Trejo
“What are you thinking, воробей?” he asks me. I close my mouth and refuse to say anything. He doesn’t deserve my voice. I won’t give it to him.
“You are making a mistake pulling this stunt. I let the doctor remove those restraints, so you could be more comfortable, but I see that was a wrong move. You will never again grab at my men’s weapons, do you understand?” I want to smirk in his face at how easy it was for me to take his man’s weapon, but I don’t. Again, he doesn’t deserve anything of the sort from me. I glance beyond him as his body shifts to see Vera standing there wringing her hands together. She’s young, probably not much older than I am. I wonder if she’s Alexei’s girlfriend or wife? He turns his head and glances over at her before looking back at me, a gorgeous smirk crossing his face.
“She can’t help you. She is here to take care of you and provide you with medicine and food. She can’t help you when it comes to me, воробей,” he informs me. I don’t know what that word is but God, does it sound sexy coming from his lips. My body has been violated and numb for so long from all they’ve done to me. Why does it feel like it’s coming alive when I’m this close to the man that kidnapped me? Anger courses through my veins but it isn’t directed at him. It’s at myself. I shouldn’t feel these things. I shouldn’t want to lean in and find out what brand of liquor is on his tongue, but I do.
“Your eyes betray you. You want to speak, do it. I can see it burning inside of you,” he says his breath dancing over my lips. I could do it. I could press up and close the distance between us with the way he’s leaning down into my space, but I don’t. The fact of the matter is that he too kidnapped me. He took me from one hell and brought me to his.
“Let me speak to her, Alexei,” Vera says coming to stand next to us. Alexei looks over and nods before leaning his head down, running his nose along my neck. I shiver, and he felt it. His warm breath hits my skin just before he moves his lips to my ear.
“I’ve always loved a fighter,” he whispers softly making my body coil tightly. He pulls away, taking the gun with him. When he steps back, he looks back toward me.
“You give her any trouble and I promise you won’t like what happens this time.” I don’t agree or nod, but he turns and leaves the room. I blow out a breath and drop onto the bed with my head in my hands. Vera moves to sit on the edge, running her hand up and down my back as I cry.
“You shouldn’t provoke him. Alexei is a good man, but he can only be pushed so far.” I raise my head to look at her, tilting my head to study her. “Why don’t you speak? Is it because you’re afraid?” I shake my head slowly wondering how horrible it would be to talk to her. She doesn’t seem like the rest of them here. She is nice to me, almost caring. It could be a trap, a trick to get me to speak but I don’t feel that with her. I open my mouth and stick out my tongue when her eyes widen. She gasps and covers her mouth with her hand, tears springing to her eyes. I almost feel bad for making her cry.
“Can you not talk? Is that what it is?” Once again, I shake my head and do something I haven’t done in a long time.
“I can talk.” Her face lights up, a smile tugging her lips up. She’s beautiful.
“Why don’t you? You have a lovely voice,” she says sweetly.
“I won’t give them my voice. They have stolen so much from me. I won’t let them take that as well,” I tell her. She nods her head as if she understands and it makes me wonder about her life. Does she understand? No. She couldn’t possibly.
“You have no worries here, dear. Alexei will not harm you.” I almost laugh. He’s already hurting me by keeping me here.
“He paid for me,” I tell her. She nods her head.
“He has his reasons. Although some of them I will never understand but rest assured, he will not harm you. Alexei has a past of his own.”
“Why did he buy me?”
“I don’t know the answer to that. He asked me to look after you and that is what I intend to do. Don’t anger him and all will be well,” she says.
“And if I don’t?”
“Why do you wish death for yourself? Nothing is that bad. Nothing can be.”
“I just want to fly,” I tell her as more tears spill down my cheeks. Vera reaches for me and pulls me into a hug. She holds me just like my mother used to. The pain in my chest increases. I hate the memories, I hate the reason I’m here. I hate the reason I was in Timur’s presence, to begin with.
“Now is not your time. You will be healed, and you will do great things. You have to believe that, возлюбленная.” I cry on her shoulder listening to her words that mean nothing to me. As soon as I get the chance, I need to contact my father and come up with a plan. He always told me that if I was to get into a situation where I was in the hands of another mafia aside from the one, I was sent to, I should kill myself. I shouldn’t try to escape it as it will end in a horrifying death for me. Yet, he was the one that pushed me away.
“You will be okay. Alexei will take care of you.” Her whispered words mean nothing to me. I’m either going to kill myself or die trying to leave this place.
Chapter 7
Alexei
Business is handled as usual. The drugs and guns we run are moving along as they should. I find myself preoccupied with thoughts of the girl in the room. Her pale porcelain skin, the softness that I felt when she was pressed against me. I had to get out of there before I lost control. My cock was painfully hard and when I got back to my room, it took me no time to think of her and please myself. I down my drink as I think of her now. What it would be like to have her pale skin on display for me, in my bed, spread wide. How it would feel to wrap my hands in her silky red hair as I take her from behind. The more I think about it, the harder I become, and my focus turns to shit. Shoving out of my chair, I head out of my office and down the hallway to see how my cousin is doing. The girls have been here for a week now. Alina has been in and out of consciousness since then, but she’s been waking more. I walk into her room and find her sitting up in bed.
“You look well today. How are you feeling?” I ask when she looks up and smiles.
“I feel better. Thank you, Alexei, for all that you’re doing.”
“You are family. We take care of family. Do you remember anything?” I pull up a chair and sit next to the bed as she lowers her head.
“I was out with some friends when they grabbed me. I didn’t see who they were, but they spoke Russian,” she says softly, twisting her hands together.
“Timur. Was he the main one?” I ask. She looks up and shrugs.
“I don’t think so. I heard mention of his boss but never a name. Timur and some others were the ones that always came for us or brought the men to us,” she says as tears slide down her cheeks.
“They will all die,” Dmitry says from behind me. I glance over my shoulder and nod once as Alina looks up at him. Her eyes soften as she looks at him.
“This is true. We will kill them all when we find out who is leading them. We don’t tolerate this kind of treatment of family.” Alina nods her head and shifts in the bed.
“Alexei, there was a girl there. She was a friend of sorts. They did things to her, far worse than what they did to me. I know I was out of it when you came for me, but did you see her?” I swallow hard.
“There were many girls in there, Alina. I wouldn’t know which she was,” I tell her truthfully.
“You would if you saw her! She was pale, red hair. She was Irish, doesn’t speak,” she says somewhat excitedly. I run my hand through my hair and stare at her.
“Who is she? Where did she come from? All the other girls were Russian but her,” I ask needing some answers.
“I don’t know. She didn’t speak at all. She cried silent tears that just made it so much worse. She would hold my hand trying her best to keep me sane. She wouldn’t allow me to fail and when they would… do things to us, she would take punishments for me. I prayed that she would be safe as well,” she says through a sob. I turn
to look at Dmitry but he only shrugs.
“I bought her, Alina.”
“What?”
“I bought her as well as you. I thought she looked familiar, so I bought her. I don’t know who she is though,” I tell her. She perks up and her eyes go wild. She glances around before trying to climb out of bed.
“Where is she? Can I see her? Is she okay?” I stand quickly, pressing her back down onto the bed. Alina looks up at me with so many questions in her eyes.
“She’s resting as well. You need to rest and recover before you venture from this room. She is sedated.”
“What? Why? Is she that bad off?”
“Not physically. Mentally, I’m not sure. She tried to kill herself taking Filip’s gun,” I inform her. She gasps and lies back down.
“She was hurt so badly, Alexei. I can’t say that I blame her.” I blow out a breath because the image of someone hurting her pisses me off. I don’t know the girl, I have no ties to her yet that doesn’t stop the emotions from rising inside of me.
“She is safe for now,” I tell her.
“What do you mean for now?” Alina perks up, watching me carefully. She knows better than to question someone with the authority I have but she also knows that she’s my family and I wouldn’t bring any harm to her.
“Just as I said. She is safe for now. I need to find out who she is and why she was there before I can move forward with her. She won’t speak, therefore, I have no idea how to get that information,” I tell her truthfully.
“Maybe I can get her to talk. Can I at least try?” Her eyes soften as she looks at me and I find it hard to tell her no. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to bring Alina in on this. This is business and she doesn’t have a place in that, but if she can get the girl to talk, I could find out what happened to her and maybe find her family if that’s at all possible.
“Okay. You may speak to her, but I want you to tell me everything,” I warn her. Alina nods her head before she lies back slowly. Clearly, that has settled her enough.
“Thank you, Alexei.”
“Don’t thank me. We are family.” I shove out of my chair and lean over her, pressing a kiss to her cheek before leaving the room. I walk down the hallway and into the other room looking at the girl sleeping soundly in the bed. Walking up, I sit on the edge and pick up her small hand in mine. I study her soft skin and wonder why she affects me the way she does.
“I don’t know who you are, but I want to find out. You affect me in ways that you shouldn’t and that’s not good for either of us,” I whisper to her. Lowering her hand, I reach up and brush her hair away from her face reveling in the softness of her skin against mine. Something jolts between us, something that flickers and burns. I really need to find out who she is and get her out of here before I do something I will regret. I stand up from the bed and am leaving her room when Dmitry steps up next to me.
“She’s only a girl. How can we not find out anything about her?” I shrug unsure what to say because frankly, I feel the same way.
“Maybe she is a nobody. A runaway caught in the wrong place. If she was anyone of importance, we would know about it.”
“Still doesn’t make sense. Why one Irish girl in the midst of the others?” He is right about that. That is one fact that has been bothering me since we took her. All Russian girls and one Irish. It surely doesn’t sit right with me.
“I agree but until she will speak, we have no answers.”
Chapter 8
Clara
I wake up and get startled when I see a man hovering over me. He doesn’t speak, just stares at me like I’m the rarest thing he’s ever seen. It isn’t Alexei, but this man is just as powerful.
“Good morning,” he says never looking away from me. I hold tightly to the sheet and glance around the room to find anyone else there, but there is no one. “I’m not here to harm you. In fact, I have a visitor that wants to see you. I was just making sure you were up to it. I’m Dmitry.” I tilt my head to the side and study the man. I’ve seen him here before but I’ve never really looked at him. He’s just as gorgeous as Alexei.
“Are you feeling up to a visit?” he asks, and I narrow my eyes. Who the hell would want to visit me? Who knows that I’m here? It doesn’t matter because before either of us can say a word or react, the door flies open, and she walks in. She stops when she sees me, her eyes filling with tears. I sit straight up in bed, my mouth dropping open. It’s the girl from the other cell. The girl that cried so much that it killed a piece of me. Tears fill my eyes as she rushes toward me. As soon as she’s close enough, she throws her arms around me, hugging me tightly as I do the same to her. I didn’t know what they’d done with her. Has she been here the whole time? So many questions, but all I can do is hold onto her. She was a mess in that cell and I hated every second of it for her.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Dmitry says before leaving. I hear the door click shut and that’s when she pulls back to look at me.
“Are you alright? They are treating you okay?” I nod my head unsure of what to do here.
“I was so worried about you. When I woke up, all I could think was that you were still there in that cell. I’m so glad Alexei took you too,” she cries harder. I reach up and wipe the tears from her eyes as she smiles at me. “Alexei is a good man. He will get you home if you just tell him who you are. He’s my cousin, so you have no worries with him. Why won’t you speak to them?” I swallow hard and look at her. She deserves my words. She has been so kind to me.
“They have taken everything from me. I will not give them my voice too,” I tell her. Her eyes widen and more tears stream down her face.
“Alexei is different. He may have bought you, but he had a reason.”
“Which is?” I asked, tilting my head to study her.
“I wouldn’t know. He thought you looked familiar to him, but he can’t place who you are. If you would speak to him, I promise he will get you home.” I can’t do that. I can’t go home and face my father as a failure. That’s what I am after all. I’ve failed his orders, and to be sent back there would mean my death. I wish I could run away and hide, but for now, I must figure out a way to escape this place and finish what my father has ordered of me.
“I have no home anymore,” I tell her.
“You have a home with me. I’m Alina, by the way. I’m sorry I never told you my name before.”
“Do you live here, Alina?” I ask trying to figure out how I can go about this. If she does and I can stay for a short time once I’m feeling better, I can use her to help me get free. I can gain information as to the whereabouts of the man I’m after.
“No. This is Alexei’s home, but he and my father don’t see eye to eye on what happened to me. In fact, he is away now meeting with him,” she tells me as she frowns. She holds my hand in hers and that small amount of contact sends my heart spiraling. This is what we did in those cells. We held tightly to each other because that’s all we had.
“Will you be leaving here?”
“Not any time soon. Alexei made it clear that until he figures things out, I’m not allowed to leave. Not as if I could even if I wanted to,” she giggles a little, but I don’t understand. I narrow my eyes once more and she grins. “This house is a fortress. You would never be able to slip out unnoticed from here. Everything you could want is here and there are twelve-foot concrete walls around the perimeter,” she says. The more she talks, the lower my stomach drops. What am I going to do? Bide my time and hope that one day he will grow tired of me and let me go? Or, do I just remove myself from the equation altogether? Either option could work. There is no way I can return home, nor will I tell them who I am.
“What is your name?” I knew she would ask but all I will give is my middle name. The name I go by.
“Clara.”
“That’s a beautiful name. Where are you from? I can tell by your accent that you’re Irish. Are you from Ireland?” Shaking my head, I sigh. A content feeling washes over me.<
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“I was born here in New York.”
“That is why your accent isn’t heavy. I was born here too.” The more time that Alina spends talking to me, the more comfortable I become. She tells me all about her life and growing up. She tells me about her one brother and how he is a pain in her ass. She makes me smile even when on the inside I feel like I’m breaking apart. The door opens, and Alina doesn’t stop talking even when Alexei walks over and stands next to her. She glances up and smiles at him, but her mouth keeps moving. My eyes move over him until I reach his face. Our eyes lock and my breath is nearly ripped from my lungs. He stares at me, watching me, never uttering a word. It’s unnerving but also intriguing.
“I should probably let you rest now. I’ve chatted your ear off,” Alina finally says breaking the spell as I drag my eyes back to hers. She smiles and leans in to hug me once more. I watch her stand and leave but Alexei remains. The air is thick with tension and the more he looks at me, the hotter the air in the room becomes. I scoot back on the bed, crossing my legs as I watch him. He studies me much the same as I do him.
“You speak to Alina. I saw you on the monitors,” he says calmly. Fear races through my veins. He has a camera in here? Why would I have thought differently? Alexei moves closer to the bed and sits on the edge. I hold my breath as he reaches for me, grabbing my hand in his.
“There’s something about you.” He shakes his head as if he's trying to process it all. “I can’t place it. I’m not the men that took you. I would never harm you that way.” Yet he’s the one that told me he would shatter me. He might not harm me the way they did but I’m sure it would be worse. So much worse. His calloused fingers move slowly over my hand causing my breath to catch in my throat. He looks up, his eyes focused on mine.