I kept my daddy’s gun underneath my pillow and slept with one eye open. Just in case.
ALEXIE
Alexie
Four Weeks Later
Winchister Falls. It took a month for everything to fall into place, to get the house by the mountain up to the standards needed for a man in my profession. Besides having to wait for workers to come over from Russia, I needed updates to the infrastructure.
It was like I had my little kingdom with the mountain protecting my back.
There were now two panic rooms, an up-to-date security office for the men Roger sent, and even a sound-proof gaming room for Roman.
It wasn’t Russia, but it was home for now.
No one seemed to know that I was here. Roger hadn’t used any of the local companies in Winchister, choosing instead to use suppliers and contractors from the homeland. The realtor had been paid off or killed. I didn’t know, and I really didn’t care. All that mattered was that my woman was here. Living in this backwoods town full of hateful people. I was going to save her.
She would fight and cry, but she would submit.
Once her belly was full of my child, she wouldn’t care about anything else. I could sense it. Her whole life would revolve around caring for the babe until I weaned him off her tits. Then, she would go into the cage. I wouldn’t share her with my men like my father had my mother and Viktor’s mother. The very thought drove me to the point of madness. No one would touch her but me. When her time came, I would let her go. No one would mourn her. Just like I didn’t grieve my own mother.
Viktor was another story.
Weak.Weakness was all my brother had in him. It was shameful. In the end, he couldn’t even take the one life that would cement Father’s love for him, which was the only way for him to gain power, and the reason why I had Roger. I had earned my godfather’s love and loyalty because I could do what needed to be done.
As for my brother, our family needed a strong enforcer, but Viktor had let my father down. Disgusted, Father had turned to the Italians. Forging an alliance and holding a hostage in case the treaty was broken.
It was rather ingenious, considering.
A few nights ago, I drove around until I found her beaten up Honda sitting in front of a more ruined shack. How could she live like this? My home was more opulent. As my woman, I couldn’t allow her to continue on in poverty.
As I watched her, I noticed the way she jumped at the shadows. Curious. I also wondered why she was spooked at the most benign of sounds, like of a revving engine in the distance.
I would get to the bottom of all her secrets.
When they came to light, I would prove to her I could protect her, even from her own irrational fears. Once she was under my full control, the only fear she’d ever need to worry about was my displeasure. But if she did as she was told, and I knew she would, all would be well.
True, she deserved so much more than that. A castle, a crown, maybe even one of those gaudy wedding dresses that shimmers under the lights, dripping in diamonds and those white undergarments that make her tits sit high on her chest. But it wasn’t in the cards for her life anymore.
If I could, I would be there in this fantasy, taking off each layer of that dress with my teeth. I’d pull off that thigh band and tuck it into my pocket so I could stuff it in her mouth later to muffle her screams so no one could interrupt us becoming man and wife.
I shook off these dangerous thoughts. She would not be my wife. However, I’d treat her like a queen and cherish her to the very end. Anything less would be a disgrace.
She was just a breeder.
Fuck, I’d gotten off track with my daydreams. Sloane—such a unique and strong name—was a means to an end. It wasn’t hard to track the mystery woman once I arrived in town. This was a land that did not understand loyalty. So easy to give up information to strangers for the price of a hello, a nice conversation over coffee, or a quick buck. And mymalishkawas a unique beauty in this ugly town with its ugly people.
Pretty face, wide waist, and a body that wouldn’t quit for days. My child would be strong coming from her. He’d grow into power, and no one would be able to steal the throne from underneath him. I’d make it so.
I wouldn’t sleep with a whore unprotected and have a second son like my father had, that was for sure. I’d be more careful. Giana flashed through my mind. I woulddefinitelybe more careful.
The greatest thing about stalking a woman was when they stuck to a routine. Sloane was always keeping the same habits. It made life easier for someone like me. Like clockwork, I watched Sloane pull out from in front of her—well, I wouldn’t call it a home. In Russia, I had a castle. Here, I think the Americans called my home a miniature mansion. Both places were perfect, fit for a woman like Sloane. She was, after all, the future mother of my child.
I wanted to get a closer look into her life now that I had settled in this godforsaken place.
After parking it three streets away, I got out of my vehicle. This tiny town had too many nosey neighbors looking between their curtains for strangers walking in the dusk. That was the flip side of this gossipy town. As easy as it was for me to get information meant it was also easy for people to potentially get information on me.
I walked right into the building’s backyard, if one could call it that. There were no security measures in place. Hell, the gate wasn’t even locked. This annoyed me much more than it should have.