Still do. But this guy, he’d been given several warnings for getting too rough and leaving marks. He requested my mother. My father had already taken a liking to her, so he was a little more tuned in than he would’ve been with someone else. When he heard her screaming from two floors above, he didn’t hesitate to rush up there and fuck the guy up.”
I can tell talking about this bothers him. His whole body is tensed up. “Was she seriously hurt?”
He nods. “She could barely move. She had a concussion and internal bleeding. The man blamed it on my mother, said she was trying to fight him off. I think that’s why he wanted her. He got off on that. Of course, Vlad agreed my mother was at fault. He wanted her taken care of to teach the other girls a lesson as well, so nothing like this would happen again.”
I gasp in shock. “He wanted your father to kill her?” What a fucked-up way for his parents to come together.
“He couldn’t do it. Instead he nursed her back to health and fell in love with her.”
“Did he get in trouble for ignoring orders?”
“In the end, he convinced Vlad that she was too valuable. He kept the money rolling in and increased the profits after taking over for Ivan, so no one complained. Except the man my father beat, but that was his job, to make sure no one defaced their property.”
My skin is covered with goose bumps. “That’s how they see me, isn’t it? As their property.”
Dante doesn’t answer. He groans, and I know I’m right. That’s why he’s telling me the story. Somehow, some way, my brother did something to make these men believe they have the right to do with me as they please.
“When she recovered, my father kept her off limits to everyone but him. He had her cooking and cleaning after the others to earn her keep. A few months later, she was pregnant. He knew it was his and that they were going to force his hand because of who he was married to. If he didn’t get rid of her, Ivan would. She’d been too much trouble already. He told them she got out of line one day, that she was insubordinate and he needed to teach her a lesson. He claimed to have dumped her in the ocean for the sharks to eat. No one was going to look for her. No one was going to prosecute him even if they did find a body.”
“That’s how you ended up here when you were little?”
He nods again, pressing his lips into a thin line before finishing his story.
“My father sent us to the States while she was pregnant. We moved around a lot my first seven years, going to a new city every six months. Usually my father would come move us. His cover was that he came to meet with the captains here. This way, if anything should ever happen to Ivan, they already knew and respected him.”
“Did anyone catch on that your father wasn’t really here on business?”
Dante smirks. “He made sure to make an impact on the organization when he came. Either with the guys that worked for them, or by getting more people of influence on the payroll. It was like good cop / bad cop. My father, since he wasn’t here too often, was the good cop. Ivan was the bad cop. It ran the opposite back in Russia.”
“Oh. I thought he came to see you.”
“He did. But he couldn’t risk blowing his cover, or my mother and I would be dead. He’d risked too much to keep us safe. Even though he provided for us, those were the only times we got to see or speak to him. He always knew where we were, but contact was too risky. If Ivan found out my mother was alive, he wouldn’t think twice about killing her. If he found out about me…” He shakes his head. “That’s a different story.”
My heart breaks for the boy I knew as a child and the man I should be running from but am falling head over heels for instead. I lean in and press my lips against his. Dante closes his eyes and his fingers comb through my hair. I know whatever happens, I want Dante in my life. Forever.
“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up
I can tell talking about this bothers him. His whole body is tensed up. “Was she seriously hurt?”
He nods. “She could barely move. She had a concussion and internal bleeding. The man blamed it on my mother, said she was trying to fight him off. I think that’s why he wanted her. He got off on that. Of course, Vlad agreed my mother was at fault. He wanted her taken care of to teach the other girls a lesson as well, so nothing like this would happen again.”
I gasp in shock. “He wanted your father to kill her?” What a fucked-up way for his parents to come together.
“He couldn’t do it. Instead he nursed her back to health and fell in love with her.”
“Did he get in trouble for ignoring orders?”
“In the end, he convinced Vlad that she was too valuable. He kept the money rolling in and increased the profits after taking over for Ivan, so no one complained. Except the man my father beat, but that was his job, to make sure no one defaced their property.”
My skin is covered with goose bumps. “That’s how they see me, isn’t it? As their property.”
Dante doesn’t answer. He groans, and I know I’m right. That’s why he’s telling me the story. Somehow, some way, my brother did something to make these men believe they have the right to do with me as they please.
“When she recovered, my father kept her off limits to everyone but him. He had her cooking and cleaning after the others to earn her keep. A few months later, she was pregnant. He knew it was his and that they were going to force his hand because of who he was married to. If he didn’t get rid of her, Ivan would. She’d been too much trouble already. He told them she got out of line one day, that she was insubordinate and he needed to teach her a lesson. He claimed to have dumped her in the ocean for the sharks to eat. No one was going to look for her. No one was going to prosecute him even if they did find a body.”
“That’s how you ended up here when you were little?”
He nods again, pressing his lips into a thin line before finishing his story.
“My father sent us to the States while she was pregnant. We moved around a lot my first seven years, going to a new city every six months. Usually my father would come move us. His cover was that he came to meet with the captains here. This way, if anything should ever happen to Ivan, they already knew and respected him.”
“Did anyone catch on that your father wasn’t really here on business?”
Dante smirks. “He made sure to make an impact on the organization when he came. Either with the guys that worked for them, or by getting more people of influence on the payroll. It was like good cop / bad cop. My father, since he wasn’t here too often, was the good cop. Ivan was the bad cop. It ran the opposite back in Russia.”
“Oh. I thought he came to see you.”
“He did. But he couldn’t risk blowing his cover, or my mother and I would be dead. He’d risked too much to keep us safe. Even though he provided for us, those were the only times we got to see or speak to him. He always knew where we were, but contact was too risky. If Ivan found out my mother was alive, he wouldn’t think twice about killing her. If he found out about me…” He shakes his head. “That’s a different story.”
My heart breaks for the boy I knew as a child and the man I should be running from but am falling head over heels for instead. I lean in and press my lips against his. Dante closes his eyes and his fingers comb through my hair. I know whatever happens, I want Dante in my life. Forever.
“I’m afraid I’m going to wake up
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