The sun had long gone into hiding, and darkness had come to cover the tracks of the wicked. Aleksandr Evanoff was flanked by Misha and Sasha, his second and third-in-command. Leaning against the car, Alek surveyed the small home in front of him. There was no pity or remorse for what he was about to do, but he couldn’t help but wonder why a man who could barely pay for the small shack in front of them would continue to gamble away thousands of dollars.

“Boss?” Sasha prompted. “How do you want to do this?”

Alek rolled his shoulders. “Petr has been given countless warnings and extensions. We’re not leaving empty-handed,” he said quietly. He cocked his head and smiled. “Besides, I owe the old man.”

Misha and Sasha both pulled out their weapons and went in first. Alek followed behind them slowly. In fury, the two men before him kicked the door down and raised their weapons. “Get down! Get the fuck down!” they shouted as they entered the living room. The only occupant, fifty-year-old Petr Primac, cried out as he fell to the floor and put his hands up.

“Oh God, Alek,” he pleaded. “Please. Please.”

Alek held up his hand and his two men stepped back and quieted. “It’s been awhile, Petr. I’ve missed you.”

“If this is about the money…”

“Of course it’s about the money. What else would this be about?” he mocked. Petr immediately fell silent, and Alek tried to push his anger back. “I have been patient, and you know that I am not a patient man. Consider yourself lucky that it has taken this long for retribution. Now, we will go away quietly if you’ll pay twenty percent of your loss,” he said coldly.

Petr’s whole body began to shake as his eyes widened. “Please don’t kill me. I don’t have twenty percent yet. I’ve got some things in the works. Please. Just give me more time!”

“Shoot him in the leg,” Alek said calmly. The gunshot pierced his ears as the old man screamed and clutched his leg. Blood quickly began to pool on the floor. “Calm yourself, Petr. I can’t collect money from a dead man, so you’ll still have breath in your lungs when we leave. But I would hate for you to mount thousands of dollars in medical bills when you still owe me. I will ask again for that twenty percent.”

The older man groaned and rocked back and forth. Tears began to fall down his face. “Please. Please. I will give you everything that I have. Please.”

“Will it be twenty percent?” Alek asked as he looked around the room. The whole place was nothing but mismatched, torn and stained furniture. He couldn’t see a single thing that would even be worth a fraction of what the older man owed him.

“It’ll be something,” Petr sobbed. “Please.”

Alek nodded at Misha who immediately placed the heel of his boot on the man’s wound and applied pressure. Petr collapsed against a table. The howl would have been enough to raise goosebumps on his arms, but Alek was used to the screams of others. It was nothing to him.

He derived little pleasure from hurting others. When he was younger, the thrill and excitement spurred him to move quickly through the ranks of the mob, but now that he was boss, he was jaded to the point of apathy. Nothing broke through his exterior anymore. He didn’t fear. He didn’t stress. He didn’t excite or mourn. He didn’t even get angry anymore.

But Petr was a different story. He and the old man had history, and Alek would be lying if he didn’t admit he was getting a little pleasure from seeing the man crying on the ground.

Alek was only thirty-five, but he had plenty of blood on his hands. And while he ached to end Petr’s life, there was something bigger at stake here. “Boss, I don’t think he’s good for the money,” Misha said as he looked up. Of the two brothers, Misha was always the least bloodthirsty. He believed in other means to collect money, and his intelligence was why Alek chose him for second-in-command to begin with. Of course, when he needed Misha to be brutal, Misha didn’t hesitate.

Sasha, on the other hand, didn’t even bat an eye at the violence. In fact, he always volunteered for the more gruesome jobs, and he did so with a smile on his face. Alek often wondered if the younger brother was too violent, but he’d never rebelled against Alek’s orders, and in his line of business, that kind of loyalty counted for something.

“I suppose you’re right, but we’re not leaving here empty-handed. Mr. Primac is going to give us something, or he’s in for a long night,” Alek said as he flickered his eyes toward Sasha. The younger brother stepped forward, pulled Petr upright and wrenched his arm behind his back. There was a sickening crack and a high-pitched scream.

“Stop! What is going on?”

Alek whirled around and confronted the intruder. Standing in the doorway with a look of horror on her face was a beautiful woman. Her long and dark silky locks framed her creamy complexion, and her full lips were parted as she stared at the scene before her. There was panic and defiance in her hazel eyes.

“Go away,” Petr wheezed. “Go stay with a friend. This is nothing. I’m fine.”

Brave words from a man who was in incredible pain. If he wasn’t asking the woman to call the authorities, then it meant he was trying to protect her. And if he was trying to protect her, then she must be important.

“Who are you?” Alek asked quietly.

The woman opened her mouth, but Petr cut in. “No! Don’t answer him!” Sasha wrenched his arm back farther, and the man howled.

“I’m calling the police,” the woman said as she stepped back.

“If you do, he will be dead before you even complete the call,” Alek said calmly.

“No,” Petr moaned on the floor.

Alek gazed at the beautiful woman. “Come in. Join us.”

He watched as her hands shook when she stepped in, but there was no hesitation in her movement. Fear, bravery, and defiance all in one delicious package. He felt a strange stirring within him. “I’ll make you a deal, my dear. For every question you answer, I’ll have my men ease up the pressure on Petr.”

She nodded, and Petr began to weep softly. Alek ignored him. “Your name?”

“Natalia.”

Alek nodded to Misha, who eased up his pressure on the wounded leg. “How old are you, Natalia?”

“Twenty-four.”

There was a small sound of relief as Sasha released Petr’s arm just a fraction. “And what is your relationship with Petr Primac?”

“He’s my father,” she said softly.

“You’re lying. Petr Primac has no family. Sasha, shoot the man in the other leg.”

“No wait!” Natalie cried out. Alek held up his hand to still Sasha’s movements. “I’m not lying. He is my father, but he’s not listed on my birth certificate because my mother never told him. I only found out about it a few years ago. I don’t live here. I just come to visit every few months.”

Interesting. “Your mother?”

Her lips trembled. “She passed away.”

“I see. So your mother passed away, and you went looking for your father. I’m sure you were disappointed when you found Petr, but that’s neither here nor there. Gentlemen, if you would please release Petr. I’d like to reward him for doing so well at hiding information from us. Kudos, my friend.”

“You’re not mad?” Sasha said with a dark look.

“At you two for not getting me all the information? Oh, I’m furious,” Alek said mildly. “But that’s not the conversation we need to have right now, is it?”

Petr grunted as he tried to raise his head to look at them. Natalia raced to her father’s side and stripped off her sweater. As she bandaged the wound around Petr’s leg and helped him into a more comfortable position, Alek couldn’t help but admire her bare shoulders and the tempting curve of her neck. The lacy black tank top she wore did not cut nearly as low as Alek would have liked.

“If he owes you money, I can help pay,” Natalia said. “But he will never be able to pay you if he has to add hospital bills on top of it,” she snapped. “This is barbaric.”

“Stay out of this,” Petr hissed. He looked at Alek. “Natalia has nothing to do with this.”

“On the contrary, she’s not only witnessed our barbaric acts, but I’m allowing her to comfort you in your time of need. I’m afraid she’s quite involved with this.” A slow smile spread over his face, and he made a flippant decision. “In fact, I’m prepared to forgive your debt entirely.”

Petr’s mouth dropped. “Really? Wha-what do I have to do?”

“I’m afraid it’s not going to be up to you, Petr.” He nodded toward the woman. “This will be her decision.”

Horror bloomed on his face. “No. Whatever it is, no. I will not get her involved in this.”

“What do you want?” Natalia asked in a cold voice.

“Company,” Alek said softly. His eyes lingered on the hollow of her throat where her pulse jumped. “You’ll live with me under my roof and follow my orders for one year, and I will forgive the nearly hundred thousand dollars your father owes me.”

“No,” Petr moaned.

“She’s an adult. You can make her own decisions,” Alek said as he stared at the woman.

“If I decide not to, I suppose you’ll keep shooting him until he pays?” she muttered.

“It’s how I usually get my money,” he said mildly.

Natalia narrowed her eyes. “Do you normally trade people for debts, or am I a special case?”

Alek chuckled. “No need to be jealous, my dear. I promise that I’ll give you plenty of attention this year.” Her eyes rounded, and his smile grew wider. “Oh, have I not made myself clear? You’ll be sharing my bed.”

She inhaled sharply, and Alek felt a shudder of excitement streak through her. What else would make her breath catch like that?

“I want it written on paper that the moment I step inside your home, the debts against my father are forgiven in their entirety, and you will not harm him anymore. Furthermore, in exactly twelve months, I’ll be released, and you will never contact me or come near me again.”

“No, Natalia, please no,” Petr said as he closed his eyes and crumpled to the floor.

“You leave my family alone, and I’ll do it,” she said firmly. She bent over her father and pressed her fingers to his pulse. “He needs to go to the hospital. Help me get him out to the car.”

Alek nodded to Misha and Sasha. They picked up the man and carried him out. Natalia got up to follow, but Alek grabbed her arm.

“I will give you two weeks to take care of your father and get your affairs in order,” he said softly. “You will not have the freedom to leave for work, so you will quit your job. You are not to bring any clothing items with you. You will wear only what I provide for you.”

She whipped her head around. “I have to work. I have bills to pay.”

“I will cover your bills,” he said softly. “If you please me.”

Her lips parted, and he had an insane urge to lean down and taste her. It took all of his willpower not to bend her over and take her right then and there. He hadn’t had a reaction to a woman like this since he’d been a teenager.

“I will have a car pick you up in exactly two weeks. In those two weeks, you and your father will be closely monitored. If either one of you tries to flee or go to the police, I’ll have you both killed. Do you understand me?”

She jutted her chin out. “I don’t go back on my word. See that you don’t go back on yours,” she snapped as she jerked from his grasp and hurried out to take her father to the hospital.

“Follow them,” Alek commanded as Sasha looked at him. The man nodded and went after them.

“Boss? What the hell was that?” Misha muttered. “You do realize that even with a contract, it’s still illegal.”

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