Owned by the Russian Mafia Boss: A Mob Romance (8 page)

Just because Alek was recruited as an orphan didn’t excuse the things that he did in the past. It certainly didn’t excuse what he was doing to her now. And just because her father did horrible things in the past didn’t mean he wasn’t a good father to her now. It didn’t mean she couldn’t love him for who she thought he was.

“Natalia.”

She caught her breath and looked up. Alek stared at her from the doorway. She didn’t even hear him open the door. Quickly, she stood and tried to straighten her dress. God, what if she had wrinkled it on the bed? He’d probably be furious. The damn thing probably cost an arm and a leg. “I’m sorry. I’ll return to the party,” she muttered.

As she tried to brush past him, he reached out and grabbed her elbow. “I shouldn’t have brought you here,” he said in a low voice.

He was angry. “You told me not to make a scene. I didn’t make a scene,” she said frantically. “There was just so much going on downstairs, and I just didn’t think I fit it. Plus your ex looked like she wanted to rip my hair out. I just needed some place to collect myself.” Why was she even explaining herself to him?

“Dorie told me what she told you. She shouldn’t have done that.” He sighed. “Get your coat. I’m taking you home.”

“You are?” What would he do to her when they got home?

“Yes.” He stared at her coldly. “Like I said, I shouldn’t have brought you here. The sooner we leave, the better.”

She felt a bloom of fear as he steered her out of the bedroom. For the first time, Natalia realized that she was probably safer here, rubbing elbows with the snobby rich, than she would ever be alone with Alek.

Chapter Seven

He was silent during the drive home. She threw a few wary glances at him before settling on staring out the window. The lights of the city blurred as her vision grew more and more unfocused. Even though she was away from the glitz and the glamour of the party, she still felt unsteady.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that a glamorous party hides such a seedy past,” she murmured out loud. She hadn’t even realized that she’d spoken until she felt the air around her grow even more tense.

“I’m not talking about my past,” Alek muttered. “And if you know what’s good for you, you will never bring it up again.”

“That’s healthy,” Natalia said sarcastically as she stared out the window.

“You and I are nothing,” he snapped heatedly. “Don’t believe for a second that this invitation for you to stay with me means we discuss personal matters.”

“Invitation? You’re kidding me, right? Believe me, I have no sugarcoated thoughts about what this is,” Natalia hissed. The tension between them grew dangerously heavy, but she refused to be scared of him. “I doubt you’re even capable of a single drop of compassion for anyone other than yourself.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. Didn’t she just witness an entire event to prove his compassion? To show what he was willing to do for the orphanage to ensure that no kid was in his position?

“I would ask you to apologize for that, but I think it would be best if we just dropped the whole matter,” he said softly. Natalia felt nothing but guilt as she stared out the window. It was almost absurd. Here she was, a prisoner, and she was guilty for the things she said about her captor.

She could practically feel him seething. When they finally got home, he got out of the car without waiting for the driver and marched back to the house. Natalia slowly followed him. When she entered the mansion, he was nowhere to be found.

“What did you do?”

She turned and found Ana with her arms crossed and glaring at her. “Can I just go to bed or are there more instructions for me?” she asked tiredly.

“Come on,” Ana said tightly. Natalia followed the woman up the stairs and was almost relieved to find the suite empty. “There are no instructions except that if you require more dinner, I’ll to make you a tray. He’s very upset.”

“I don’t need any dinner,” Natalia muttered. “I just need to get some sleep.” She felt the weight of the whole evening bearing down on her. Ana must have seen something in her face because she dropped her arms.

“You know that most of his women just do whatever he wants. They’re enamored by his money and status or they’re just plain terrified of him. I knew you two would clash, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so upset before. Whatever you did, just don’t do it again.”

“I don’t know what I did. I just tried to talk to him about something that I found out, and he snapped. And that just brought out the monster in me,” Natalia said as she began to yank her dress off. “And I am not one of his women. I’m just here to pay off a fucking debt, and apparently that includes emotional manipulation.” She was practically in tears before she finally got the dress off. Ana hurried to help her, but Natalia waved her away. She didn’t want the woman’s help right now. She just wanted to be alone.

“Your cat let me pet him today,” Ana said quietly. “I think we’re making progress.”

“He’s a sweet cat,” Natalia said tiredly. “He’s just a little prickly in the beginning.”

“He’s not the only one,” Ana said tightly and left the room. Alone, Natalia trudged into the bathroom. Apart from the large oval bathtub was a large walk-in shower around the corner. It was completely tiled with two horizontal showerheads on both sides and a drop down rain shower overhead. There were two tiled benches on either side.

When the steam began to rise from the shower head on the left, she pulled the silver knob to activate the rain shower. As she stood under it, she scrubbed her face clean. Although she wanted nothing more than to wash away the events of the evening, she was consumed with seeing the replay of the party in her mind.

It wasn’t until a hand touched her that she realized she wasn’t alone. She gasped and tried to whirl around, but she was anchored in place. “Don’t move,” a husky voice said in her ear as a body pressed against her back. She knew it was Alek, and even though she was furious with him, she couldn’t stop her body from reacting. His heavy erection pressed up against her, and she wanted desperately to turn around and drink him in.

She also desperately wanted to run.

“Alek,” she said in a shaky voice.

“No talking,” he said harshly. She swallowed hard, but she obeyed. What did she have to say to him anyway? That she was sorry? That she was angry with him? That she wanted him to go, or that she wanted him to stay?

Slowly, his hands moved from her hips up her sides. Natalia resisted the urge to reach up and circle her arm around his neck, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from drifting shut. His touch was light as a feather and made her heart beat a little bit faster in anticipation.

“Last night, I gave you just a taste of what I was capable of,” he murmured in her ear as his hands drifted around to her abdomen. Her muscles tensed under his touch. “Now it’s time for you to show me what you’re capable of.”

There was something harsh in his voice, and her heart started to pound from more than just excitement. He reached up and roughly pinched her nipples. She couldn’t help but immediately cry out in pleasure and pain.

His teeth scraped over the crook of her neck, and she tried to pull away, but he anchored her to him. “Spread your legs,” he muttered.

“Alek, wait,” she said.

“Spread. Your. Legs.”

There was no arguing with him. This was what she had signed up for, and he would no doubt remind her of that if she continued to resist him. Swallowed hard, she slowly widened her stance. His hand slipped down her body, and without any warning, he pushed one finger up inside her.

“Good. You’re already wet. Bend over.”

“Please don’t,” she whispered as tears pricked her eyes. “Please.”

“I said no talking,” he said harshly as he whirled her around. Scrambling out of his grasp, she backed up, but soon her back was against the tile of the shower. There was no escape unless she got past him.

Although she was terrified, she couldn’t help but notice he was absolutely magnificent. The water pulled his dark hair around his face and caressed his sculpted muscles. Green and black tattoos decorated his body, and there didn’t look to be an ounce of fat on him. She’d barely seen him the night before, but now his naked body was hers for the taking. All she had to do was give him what he wanted.

“Are you denying me?” he asked softly as he advanced toward her. “You do realize what that means, right?”

“You would take a woman that doesn’t want you?” she said in a trembling voice. She was so completely torn, and he knew it. A wicked smile crossed his face.

“You don’t look like you don’t want me,” he said as he reached out. Quickly, she slid along the wall to the left out of his reach, but her legs hit the bench, and she stumbled onto it. Thinking as quickly as possible, she righted herself into a sitting position and squeezed her eyes shut.

“I’m not denying you. I just ask for more time. Please. I’ll just…I’ll pleasure you with my mouth tonight. Will that make you leave me alone?”

She felt his hands grasp her chin roughly and pull her face up. Opening her eyes, she braced her hands on the bench and waited.

His eyes searched hers coldly. She had a feeling he would take her up on her offer if only to find another way to knock her down a peg or two. He knew he could have her. She wouldn’t tell him no twice. Her body wouldn’t allow it.

“Close your eyes,” he said in a voice thick with lust. She felt the tears slide down her cheeks as she obeyed him. Waiting for his next command, she reached up to grasp his hips, but there was nothing there.

“Alek?” she said after a moment. Her eyes popped open, and she was alone in the shower. Relieved and disgusted with herself, she pulled her legs up on the bench and cried.

***

His whole body was tense as he wrapped a towel around himself and left Natalia huddled in the bathroom. Even with the sound of the shower, he could hear her crying. It pissed him off to no end.

He’d dressed her up and taken her to one of the biggest parties in the city. He made her shake from an orgasm last night. Hell, she’d almost given it up to him in the car, but when he was ready for her, she’d panicked like a virgin.

A blow job. Did she really think that a forced blow job was what he wanted? He wanted her naked and willing and screaming his name. He wanted to bury himself so deep inside her that he couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.

Damn it, she was wet for him. And there was lust in her eyes as they had roamed his naked body. If he had pushed, she would have been his and he’s be sinking himself inside her and listening to her moans echo from the bathroom walls.

Instead he was pacing in one of the guest rooms and shaking with anger. Force a woman? He had never forced woman in his life.

“Fuck,” he roared as he sat on the edge of the bed. His entire body was alive with desire, and there was no outlet. He wanted to put his fist through a wall.

“Sir?” There was a knock on the door.

Narrowing his eyes, he opened the door so hard he nearly ripped it off its hinges. Anastasia blinked and took in the towel that slung low on his hips. “What?” he said tensely.

“I just wanted to know if there was anything else you needed before I go to bed. If you want to stay in here, I’ll be happy to turn down the bed.” She met his eyes boldly. His half-nakedness did not intimidate her.

That pissed him off even more. Was no one under his roof scared of him? “Why would I sleep in this bed when I have a perfectly good bed down the hall?” he said softly.

“I imagine it has something to do with the crying woman in your shower.” She cocked her head and studied him cheekily. It was obvious she could see his erection under the towel. “Want me to call someone to take care of that for you?” she said with a smile.

“Why don’t I get you to take care of it for me?” he said darkly.

“I don’t think bedding a lesbian was on your list tonight,” she said dryly. “Look, I don’t know what the hell happened between you two tonight, but if you keep pushing her, you’re going to break her.”

“I want to break her.”

“No. I don’t think you do. If you wanted a simpering idiot under you, you’d be fucking Claudia tonight. Natalia is a strong woman, and she might take everything you throw at her, and you like that. But in one week she’s lost her freedom and the respect she had for her father. You may hate the man, but the Petr who recruited you and the Petr who has tried to give Natalia everything are two different men. You keep stripping everything she loves, and there will be nothing left of her.”

Her words punched him like a fist to the gut. Wordlessly, he stared at her. She was right, and they both knew it, but he was doing everything he had planned to do. Everything, short of leaving her alone in the shower simply because she cried, had all been part of the plan.

“That’s the point,” he said harshly. “I can’t punish the man who led me by the hand into this life, but I can bleed the man he became dry. Petr cares about nothing except his daughter, and when I give her back to him, I want there to be nothing left but hatred and terror.”

Ana’s mouth dropped open and she stared at him. “So you would destroy an innocent life as vengeance on the man who destroyed yours? When does the circle of broken bodies end, Alekandr?”

“It’s none of your business, Anastasia.” He got up and moved toward her. She didn’t give any ground, but he could see the spark of fear in her eyes. “You knew who I was when I employed you. This is what I do. This is what I was raised to do.”

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Ana said, but her voice trembled.

“Watch your tongue, Anastasia. You’ll find your ass back out on the streets if you don’t show me any respect, and there isn’t a big market for lesbian whores.”

She gasped as he struck a nerve, and he smiled at her. “Go to bed. I suggest you have an attitude adjustment in the morning.”

“She hides a picture of a man. And when she thinks no one is looking, she hugs that picture to her chest. You don’t give a damn about what might have happened in her past. The only thing you’re concerned about it Petr. It hasn’t even occurred to you that you might be ruining her life. She’s not Petr. She’s nothing like Petr.” Without another word, she fled the room. He watched her go with a heavy heart. That made two females that couldn’t wait to get away from him tonight. It only fueled the fire to his anger.