Aleksandra
Thirty minutes earlier…
A black SUV approaches the gas station, and the window rolls down on the passenger side. I step outside with the twins. They’re whining and restless. I can’t blame them for being tired.
“Get in,” Luka says.
“I thought Mikhail was coming to get us.” The sun begins to rise, casting light over the mountains and through the forest.
While I’ve always trusted Luka, I thought the same about Yuri.
“It would take Mikhail hours out of his busy day to come to get you. Let’s just say I was in the neighborhood. Get in,” he says.
I open the back door and let the twins into the vehicle. I make sure the child safety latch isn’t enabled and then shut the door, opening the passenger side to sit up front beside Luka.
"Why were you in the neighborhood?" I ask.
"Mikhail wanted me to have Yuri followed." He glances in the rearview mirror at the twins. “Where’d they get those bears?”
“Antonio,” I say and frown. “Why?”
He turns around and rips the toys from their hands.
“What are you doing?” I scold Luka. Does he know nothing about kids? He can’t just steal their toys and not expect an outburst.
Sophia’s bottom lip pouts, and she sniffles, hiding her tears.
Liam folds his arms across his chest, his nose twitching with a snarl. “That was mine!” he bellows out before the waterworks come at full force. “Give it back!”
Luka pulls out a pocketknife and rips along the teddy bear’s spine. “What the hell are you doing?” There’s no way the twins will settle down now that he’s destroyed their presents.
He digs into the stuffing and yanks out a red flashing beacon. “The gifts are trackers. Possibly also surveillance equipment.” Luka jogs into the gas station and tosses the teddy bears into the garbage.
He says something to the attendant on duty, but I can’t hear the exchange. Luka doesn’t appear the least bit calm or polite. He’s probably threatening the man. That wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.
He hurries back to the vehicle.
“How the hell did you know there was a tracker in the stuffed animals?” I ask.
Is that how Antonio had been able to locate us last night? Maybe I should be relieved, but anger resonates throughout my body. What else had he seen? Witnessed?
How long had he been running surveillance on my children and me?
“I’ve seen something similar that was a nanny camera. You look like you’ve been through hell,” he says, glancing me over.
He slams the door shut and jets off, whisking us out of the parking lot.
* * *
I try to remain awake on the drive back to the city, but I’m exhausted after staying up all night. Not to mention the adrenaline rush from the previous day.
It takes all of my strength to keep my eyes open.
It’s hard to trust Luka after what happened with Yuri. I want to ask Luka about it, but I’m much too tired and struggling just to keep my eyes open.
While I don’t know where we are, he’s using his phone’s GPS to take us back to the city, which offers me a tiny bit of comfort.
The ride is quiet and long.
It’s a struggle to stay awake.
Eventually, I drift off to sleep, not meaning to let my exhaustion get the best of me.
The car comes to an abrupt halt, and my eyes flash open to see that we’re just outside the gate entrance of our house.
The guards open the metal gates and allow us entrance inside the compound.
Home sweet home.
Mikhail waits outside the front door, his jaw tight and hands bunched at his fists. He doesn’t appear pleased to see me.
I thought I’d feel relieved to see him alive, but my stomach bubbles with anxiety.
Luka brings the vehicle up to the front entrance and shuts off the SUV. I climb out and open the back door for the twins to follow behind me.
“Did the Italian prince break your little heart?” Mikhail quips. There’s a brashness to his remark, his eyes narrow and fueled with something that I don’t quite recognize.
He smacks me hard across my face, sure to leave a red mark on my skin.
I shield Sophia and Liam from him, protecting my children.
“Don’t be stupid, Aleksandra. You want to come home, then you’ll follow my rules. Get inside!” he barks and points at the door.
I escort the twins into the compound, and he’s on my heels right behind me.
“Children, go upstairs to your room,” he says. “I need to have a word with your mother.”
“Yes, Uncle Mikhail,” Sophia says. She latches onto Liam’s hand, and they hurry up the elegant stairwell to their bedroom.
I watch, grateful that they are out of sight before Mikhail says or does anything else that might scare them. I’m not afraid of what he will do to me, only what might happen to the twins.
“Let me guess. You’ve decided you’re finished playing house with Antonio,” Mikhail snarls with disgust.
Exhaling a nervous breath, I ignore his remark. Maybe I should have heeded his warning at Antonio’s and not come home.
I glance up into Mikhail’s cold stare. “You should know, Yuri betrayed the family,” I say.
All I can do is hope that Mikhail wasn’t involved and had no knowledge of what happened. That he’d been in the dark, same as Antonio.
“You know nothing,” Mikhail snarls, and his hand comes up a second time to smack me across the face, but this time, I pull back quicker than his blow. His eyes widen, shocked. “You defy me, little sister?”
“One of Antonio’s men tried to murder me, and he teamed up with Yuri to sell the twins.”
Mikhail snorts at my remark. “Sell the twins? You mean someone wants those pestilent little brats?”
“Don’t speak about my children like that!” I snap, stepping toe-to-toe with him, unafraid. He very well might slap me again for my disobedience.
Mikhail rolls his eyes and ignores my remark. “Don’t think that everything is all sunshine and shit with you coming home. You’ll be sequestered in your room. You can come out for meals, but you are not to attend any lavish parties, no guests, and certainly no leaving the premises. And don’t think you can wander freely without a guard. I don’t trust you, little sister. And make one wrong move, and I’ll let you sleep in the dungeon.”
“Home sweet home,” I mutter. “Will one of the guards be escorting Sophia and Liam to preschool?” Usually, I accompany them, but if Mikhail forbids me from leaving, someone else will have to make sure they are looked after when the twins aren’t in the compound.
“Luka will handle it. Now, get upstairs,” Mikhail grunts.
Nikita used to be responsible for escorting the twins to preschool, with me accompanying him. Luka can probably handle the task, but I’ve never seen him with the twins on his own.
I quietly head up the wooden stairs and down the hall toward my bedroom. It’s early, and I’m beat.
The twins are across the hall in their shared bedroom, the wooden bunk beds against the wall. I crack the door open, and they’re seated on the bottom bunk together, pulling the bedsheets down, making a fort.
I should scold them that it’s too early, they haven’t had enough sleep and should climb under the covers for a few more hours.
But I don’t.
They’re happy, cheerful, and don’t have a care in the world. I don’t want to take that innocence from them. Already, Sophia and Liam have been through so much. If they’re filled with joy at home, who am I to take that from them?
They’re quiet and seem to be staying out of trouble, so I leave them to play together. Shutting their bedroom door, I back away down the hall and retreat to my bedroom.
I open the door, and a waft of jasmine fills my nostrils. There’s a broken perfume bottle lying on its side on the floor. The contents spilled and stained the wood. My room is in disarray and not the way that I left it.
The drawers are open; my clothes are strewn about as if someone was searching for something. Had the guards thought that I was involved in Mikhail’s abduction? Is that why they ransacked my room and tossed my things all over the place?
Or had the rampage been when Antonio’s men had torn the place apart, looking for Mikhail?
I don’t bother to clean up the mess, not right now. I shut the curtains and hit the lights. I climb under the covers and let my head hit the pillow.
I should feel at ease, relieved to be home.
But my stomach is in knots. I toss and turn, trying to get a few hours of sleep to ward off the impending headache that I already feel coming.
It’s of little use.
All I can think about is him.
Antonio.
Why did he let us leave?
Why had Mario wanted me dead?
Are there others still after my children?
I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. Pushing the blankets off, I sit up in bed. I want answers. No, I need answers, and while I don’t think Antonio is the person to ask, maybe Mikhail or Luka can shed some light on what happened.
But I can’t trust Mikhail to divulge anything more than what he wants me to know. He’s not a man to slip up or spill anything that isn’t intended to be told.
I slink out of bed and grab a change of clothes from the floor before heading for the bathroom for a hot shower. I’m covered in filth, both physically and emotionally. I wash all of it down the drain, standing under the hot spray until the water grows cold.
Retreating to my bedroom, I dress and clean up the mess left on the floor, putting my clothes away. There’s little else for me to do cooped up in my room. The library is downstairs with a plethora of books to bide my time. There’s no computer, no phone, or television in my bedroom.
I sneak out of my room and am quiet down the hallway, my footsteps silent. I remember which floorboard squeak and groan with years of living under the same roof. I avoid those as I wander down the stairs, careful not to be seen.
I often snuck out against my father’s orders in my teen years. Mikhail probably remembers my rebellious streak, but he’s not intelligent enough to put a guard outside my bedroom door.
Why?
Does he think I’ve come crawling back and am begging for his forgiveness? I refuse to cower toward him or Antonio.
I breeze down the stairs and linger in the hallway near the foyer, waiting until the coast is clear before I dash past an open door.
A man behind me clears his throat.
If it were Mikhail, he’d have gripped me by the neck and thrust me around. I press my lips together and spin around, my hands in front of me, folded together.
Luka cocks an eyebrow as he glances me over. “You have orders to remain in your room.”
“Unless a guard accompanies me,” I say, allowing him to help me out.
He snorts under his breath. “Where are you heading?” he asks. He keeps his voice low, careful not to arouse suspicion from the men in the office just a few feet away.
While I wasn’t eavesdropping, it wouldn’t have been difficult to do if I hadn’t been caught. “To the library,” I say.
I don’t have a destination in mind. I just want out of my room. I’d been cooped up already for too long and want to feel like I’m home, like nothing’s changed and everything is all right.
Except it isn’t.
Everything has changed.
Mikhail has discovered that I’m a liar.
The twins’ father isn’t a military hero fighting overseas, and I have no intention of marrying him. Not that I believe Mikhail would want me to wed Antonio, he’d probably have me executed before he’d allow me to marry an Italian Mafia leader.
“Mikhail is looking for a reason to punish you, don’t give him one,” Luka warns.
I hate that he isn’t wrong. “You mean locking me up in my room isn’t punishment enough?” I exhale a heavy breath, and he grabs my arm, yanking me quickly past the open office with the Russian soldiers inside.
Mikhail is hosting a meeting, but I don’t know what they’re droning on about, probably trying to get even with Antonio.
Will it ever end?
“Don’t test your brother’s patience,” Luka warns. He whisks me into the library and closes the door behind us.
There’s enough light from the windows pouring into the library that I don’t bother to turn on a lamp or the overhead switch.
“I didn’t tell Antonio anything about the family,” I say and fold my arms across my chest.
Luka glances me over from head to toe. “If you had, Mikhail would have had you killed.”
My mouth is dry, and I press my lips tight. “Someone wants me dead. Yuri was part of the operation, trying to sell my children.” I step closer toward Luka. “Tell me what you know.”
His shoulders relax, and while I’m tense, he doesn’t convey the slightest bit of fear or anxiety. “I’m not surprised. You’ve pissed off many people. Your brother suggested that we wed when you return home.”
“What?” I laugh at the absurdity of his suggestion. “No way. He wouldn’t do that to you or me.”
“He wants you out of his hair and out of trouble, away from Antonio.”
I’m not marrying Antonio. Don’t they realize that just because we shared one passionate night and two children, I’m not tied to the man?
“He wouldn’t ask one of his men to marry me,” I say, not wanting to believe it.
“It’s been brought up a few times by your brother since you left and he discovered the children’s father is an Italian.”
“It’s stupid how much the Russians hate the Italians!” I groan and stomp away from Luka, staring out the window. “I’m not marrying you.”
“Yeah, I never thought you’d go along with it,” he says. There’s a hint of humor in his tone, like he’s pleased that I don’t bow down to the whims of my older brother. “But Mikhail doesn’t exactly accept the word no for an answer.”
Tell me something that I don’t know. “Well, he can’t force me to marry a man I don’t love.”
“He can,” Luka says, staring at me disapprovingly. “You know he can force you to do anything that he wants, and if you disobey him, it gives him greater pleasure.”
I grumble under my breath, “Mikhail is a sadistic asshole.”
“You’re not wrong,” he whispers, making sure that no one can overhear us. There’s a slight smirk on his face.
Although I don’t imagine anyone is listening and the door to the library is shut. “But?” I’m waiting for him to stand up for his boss.
“He is your brother and wants you to be protected and your children to grow up with a father.”
I tighten my gaze. “And you agree with him? That my kids need a father?” I can already feel the annoyance brewing at his remark, like I’m a prize to be bought and sold to a man who wants a family.
Luka clears his throat. “I never said that. Those are his words. I merely think it might be good for you to be out from under his roof, raise the twins someplace outside of the city.”
“I thought you weren’t intending to marry me?” I can’t help but wonder if he’s trying reverse psychology on me.
“Oh, I’m not. I’m just stating the facts that Mikhail will always control you unless you get far from here, far from the compound.”
I hate that he’s right. I purse my lips and shuffle my feet. “Where am I supposed to go?” It’s not like I have a dollar to my name. My money is tied up and only released in small amounts with Mikhail’s approval.
Father didn’t do me any favors when he died.
“If it were me, I’d have asked the father of the twins for child support. Demand a lump sum and then get as far from New York as you can.”
This city is the only home I’ve ever known. Leaving without a job, a place to go, it’s terrifying. “And why would Antonio give me a cent?”
“You could blackmail him,” he says and shoves his hands into his pockets.
Did he seriously just suggest that I blackmail a mafia don? “You’re crazier than Mikhail.”
Is he trying to get me killed? I thought Luka and I were friends. At the very least, he’s always looked out for me and my best interests.
“What? He kidnapped you and your children. You could threaten to go to the police unless he gives you fifty thousand dollars.”
“That’s extortion.” I’m not the most innocent person, but I’m not going to threaten Antonio or his family. I’d more than likely end up dead or with my children ripped away from me.