by Bella Rose
Vladimir narrowed his eyes to slits. “Actually, you belong to me,” he corrected. Reaching out, he took hold of her chin and forced her to look up at his face. “Do you have a way to live on your own?”
“I could do it,” she insisted.
“Do you have a job?”
She tried to look away, obviously ashamed. Vlad wouldn’t let her. “No.”
“Do you have money to pay rent, buy food, or clothe yourself?”
“No.”
“Do you have family to which you could go for these things?” Nicolai was interested in this as well. He needed to know if she had family that would object to the Pasternaks’ arrangement with her father.
“My Pasternak cousins would take me in,” she insisted.
Vladimir only laughed. “Your cousins owe their loyalty to me, and to my brother Nicolai. If I told them you were my property, they would hand you over immediately.”
“But that’s not fair!” She sounded outraged. “No man can own another. Slavery is illegal!”
“It happens all the time, love,” he said carelessly. “And as of now, you are my slave.”
Nicolai saw her clench her jaw, but she did not argue with Vladimir anymore. Perfect. Nicolai glanced next at Ivan. The bleary-eyed drunk was probably already contemplating his next bout at the gaming tables. In no time, he would be back in debt and their father would send Vladimir out here once again to settle up. It was a very frustrating fact of life.
“Papa?” Lily whispered. “You have nothing to say?”
“Good riddance,” Ivan snapped. He said something else in Russian, but it was too garbled and slurred for Nicolai to make out.
Lily pursed her lips. He could see big tears in her eyes, but she never lost her composure. “Shame on you, Ivan Denisovich,” she said. “Shame on you for turning your back on the one person who has cared for you over the last ten years.”
She straightened her spine and walked out of the dingy kitchen as though she were the daughter of a czar and not the forgotten child of a dead mafia enforcer. Nicolai could do nothing but hide a smile and follow her outside. Vladimir was right behind him. Nicolai could almost feel his brother’s fascination. This did not bode well for Lily’s future prospects.
Nicolai reached out and gently tapped Lily’s shoulder before gesturing to her feet. “What about your shoes?”
“I haven’t got any.”
“None?”
She shrugged. “I have a pair of cheap flip-flops I wear when I go to the store and that is all. Since I’m your property, I suppose I am also your problem.”
“You act like that and you’ll be Nicolai’s problem,” Vlad retorted. “I have no patience for sass.”
Nicolai sighed. There was a little bit of sass in her and he couldn’t bring himself to quash it. Not now. She was going to need every ounce of backbone she could muster to get through the next few months. After she settled in, he would have to force her to show respect. But for now he could let the little things slide.
“I suppose you are my responsibility,” Nicolai said as he opened the rear passenger door of his brother’s car. It was early fall, but the evenings were starting to get chilly. “Go ahead and get inside before you freeze.”
“Are you certain you want me to?” She gaped at the leather interior of the car. “What if I get it dirty?”
Vladimir growled. His patience was obviously wearing thin. “I’m going to paddle your behind if you don’t hurry up. I have other things to do, you know.”
She looked over at Vlad, obviously surprised. But she got in the car without further argument. Nicolai sighed and gave himself a brief moment to catch a breath and formulate a plan while he got into the front passenger seat of the vehicle. He needed to get Lily away from Vladimir.
First Nicolai needed to win her trust. That was paramount. If he were ever going to get her to a point where she would be an asset at one of the syndicate’s businesses, she had to be a little more polished. At this point, she had beaten and starved until she was little more than an angry waif. In any other case he would have considered her too far gone to bother. Somehow, Lily had a little extra that made her more than just a good prospect. She was intriguing in a way he hadn’t expected.
Vladimir got into his car and looked in the rearview mirror. Nicolai knew what he was seeing. His brother was a sucker for the locks of soft, honey-colored hair that rested against the curve of Lily’s breasts. Her wide blue eyes were hooded, but clear and intelligent. Even Nicolai thought she looked good enough to eat. Getting Lily far away from Vladimir had just become Nicolai’s most important task. Once she was out of sight, he would forget her and she could live her life without worrying about the possibility of Vladimir’s dark intentions.
Chapter Two
“Where are you going?” Nicolai asked in Russian as his brother steered the car around a tight corner.
Vladimir gave Nicolai a sideways glance. “I’m dropping you at your place.”
“My car is at our father’s,” Nicolai pointed out. “We need to speak with him anyway to tell him the outcome of our meeting with Ivan.”
“I don’t want his interference,” Vladimir snapped.
Nicolai grimaced. “No. You don’t want to take a chance that he won’t agree to whatever it is that you’re planning for Lily.”
From the corner of his eye, Nicolai could see Lily growing restless in the back seat. They were speaking in Russian, but there was a good chance she was fluent, which meant she would know they were casually discussing her fate.
“I want her,” Vladmir said flatly. “There. I said it. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“I already knew that.” Nicolai had to tread carefully. “I’m just saying that you either go through the proper channels to get her, or you’re going to have hell to pay. Remember what happened last time.”
“You always bring that up!” Vladimir snarled.
Nicolai gazed at his brother. They were twins. It gave Nicolai unique insight into Vladimir’s emotions and behaviors, but it also meant that Nicolai understood his brother was far from fine. In fact, Vladimir was batshit crazy on the best of days.
“Fine!” Vlad spun the car in the opposite direction, heading toward their father’s home. It was the home territory seat of the Pasternak mafia. “I’ll go talk to our father.”
Mere minutes later they pulled up in front of the palatial house. Both brothers exited the car. It was Nicolai who carefully helped Lily out of the back seat. He gave her a warm smile, wanting to reassure her.
“What’s happening?” she asked softly.
“I’m not sure what will happen,” he told her honestly, “but I’ll do my best to protect you.”
“Why would you do that?” She cocked her head. “Why would you even care?”
He sighed. “Because someone should, Lily.”
* * *
Lily was afraid. These brothers were like a powder keg waiting to go off. The crazy one apparently wanted to keep her and the nice one was promising to try and prevent it. What was she supposed to do?
She followed their lead up the front steps of a huge mansion. There were men everywhere. They lounged about on the porch, not even worried that their guns were plainly visible in holsters at their sides. Once inside, there were more men in the kitchen and then a few more as she and the brothers made their way down the hall.
Nicolai suddenly turned around and gestured to a bench in the hallway. “I want you to sit here, all right? You’ll be perfectly safe here. Our father is the boss of all the Pasternaks, even your family. My brother and I will have a little conference with him, and then we’ll know more of what’s going to happen.”
“Okay.” She swallowed down a lump of fear in her throat.
She perched on the edge of the bench and tried to look composed. She was so tired of everyone else being in charge of her destiny. She just wanted a safe place to be for a while. Somewhere she could sleep without keeping one eye open
. A place where there was food and shelter, and maybe even someone to talk to. Other people took that stuff for granted. Not Lily.
There was a crash in the kitchen followed by laughter from the men. She was tempted to peek around the corner, but settled for listening instead.
“You broke it!” someone shouted. “Too much more of that and you’ll wind up working in one of the whorehouses to cover your debt.”
Another man howled with laughter. “Can’t you just see him lining up with the ladies to see if one of the customers might want a taste?”
“You know how it works for the women in those places,” the first man said. “They spend half their lives on their backs and still never manage to pay off the debts that landed them there in the first place. Poor old Yakov will be there the rest of his sorry life to pay for one broken bowl!”
Lily froze, a horrible suspicion growing in her mind. Her papa had sold her to pay a debt. Did that mean she actually had to work it off?
* * *
Nicolai glowered at his brother as Vladimir spun some ridiculous tale about Lily for their father. Pyotr Pasternak was in his sixties now. He was round and balding with a jolly expression that could turn angry and vengeful in only seconds. Now he was peering at the older of his twins as though he had grown a second head.
“Ivan owes me,” Vladimir said emphatically. “It is my casino that suffers the loss when he does not pay his debt. Therefore this woman is mine to do with as I please.”
Nicolai snorted. “The casino is syndicate property. If you want to get technical, it belongs to our father since he’s still in charge.”
“Thank you, Nicolai,” Pyotr said drily. “Though I feel your comment is as self-serving as it is deferential.”
“I won’t lie,” Nicolai said. “There is something about this woman that makes a man want to have her. She’s a waif and yet she manages to be sexy.”
“So you want her in your bed,” Pyotr laughed. “My lusty sons!”
Nicolai shrugged. “Of course I want her in my bed. I also want to help her. I want to see what she becomes with a chance to be independent and healthy.”
Their father turned to Vlad. “So you said she is thin and needs cleaning up?”
“Yes.” Vlad gave a hard nod. “I will keep her in my home and break her in for the brothel.”
“No.” Pyotr shook his head. “I know you, Vladimir. You will use her until she is too far gone to be of any use in any of our businesses.” He scratched his bristly chin. “I will give her to Nicolai. But if she is not capable of earning the debt she owes in three months or less, you will be responsible for paying off her debt.”
“Agreed,” Nicolai said immediately.
“You cannot!” Vladimir shouted. “She is mine! I saw her first. I made the deal with Ivan. This is my woman!”
“Do you dare to argue with me?” Pyotr advanced on his son, glaring hotly at Vladimir until he looked down and began to squirm. “I may not be able to thrash you, but I have legions of men at my beck and call who can. Do you understand me, boy?”
“Yes, Father,” Vladimir spat. “I understand you perfectly.”
Nicolai watched his brother leave the office with angry strides. Then he looked at his father. “Vladimir will never give up. He wanted the toy, and you took it. Worse, you gave it to me.”
“Then perhaps you had better figure out a way to protect the toy,” his father said grimly. “We have always known it would come to this with your brother. He is headstrong, but he is still my son.”
Nicolai bowed his head, showing his father respect. Then he left the office behind.
Lily was still sitting on the bench, but her posture was rigid. Nicolai approached with caution. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain under the best of circumstances.
* * *
Lily was relieved when the nicer brother returned without the crazy one in tow. Perhaps she could actually scrape together the courage to state her case. She took a deep breath and launched in before she could change her mind.
“I’m not going to be a whore,” she said in a rush.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Did you expect we would make you one?”
“I was listening to the men in the kitchen,” she explained. “They were talking about how women pay off their debts here.”
“Ah.” He sat down on the bench beside her. He was warm and his body language didn’t seem threatening. Then he smiled at her. “I have no intention of putting you to work in a brothel. There are other options. We will have to see. In the meantime, I have a responsibility to you—as you pointed out earlier—to see that you’re fed and taken care of. You need time. I will provide a place for you to have just that.”
“Where?” She could not even imagine such a place.
“In my home,” he explained. “I won’t ask any more of you than you’re willing to give. Do you understand?”
“I think so.” She felt eager and didn’t really understand why. “But what happens after?”
“I’m not sure.” He shrugged, his lopsided grin warming her heart. This man seemed genuine, even when he was being reserved. She liked that. Then he gestured to the door. “Let’s go. I think we should start with new clothes and a warm meal. How about you?”
She could barely speak, she was so stunned. Managing to nod, Lily walked out of the house and into what she hoped was a new life.
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