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“I remember the moment I saw her lying there on the floor, surrounded in a pool of her own blood, a jagged knife lying in the middle of it. There had been no gunshot or struggle to overhear. I can only guess that it was a group of individuals that attacked her. They had probably thought she was dead, but she held onto life at least until I came to her.”
I could feel her shaking and I held her tightly against me as she battled with her own grief and emotions.
“I rushed to her and cupped her head in my lap. She struggled to say something, and I hushed her, but she was so desperate to tell me that I leaned down and brought my ear close to her lips so that I could hear. She said only one thing. Too soon after that, her chest rattled and she didn’t breathe again,” she finished.
“What did she say?”
“Run,” she answered.
“I’m so sorry, angel.”
“My father is heartless. He’ll never stop looking for me. That’s why I need to get back to Poland,” she replied. She didn’t detail exactly why, but it wasn’t hard to guess. If she could get in contact with her father’s enemies, she might stand a chance against him, enough to take her own revenge. I wasn’t going to let her risk that, not when she had me.
“Kasia, you can’t go back to Poland,” I replied firmly. She tensed in my arms, getting ready to protest, but I cut her off before she began.
“I can protect you and if we need to handle your father together, then so be it.”
“You’re rich, but you’ve never met a man like him,” she scoffed.
“I beg to differ, angel. You don’t know it yet, but I’m far more dangerous than your father. I have enough money to buy whomever I need to buy. Alliances. Power. Soldiers.”
She furrowed her brow and I started to explain my world, how I owned a fairly large percentage of the city, along with several politicians and several members of the police force. I told her about the men that guarded my property, the security I had around the perimeter, and the endless number of properties that I owned around the world where I could take her and keep her safe. When I was done, her eyes were wide as saucers.
“You sound like something of a mafia kingpin in your own right,” she whispered.
“Should we need them, I knew several kingpins that owe me a favor right now,” I offered.
She fidgeted a little on my lap.
“Listen, Kasia. You’re going to let me protect you. It’s the only rule I’m going to give you. If you fight me or try to run off to seek vengeance of your own, I will find you and bring you back here for a punishment that you will never forget. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” she whispered. Her expression was contemplative for a minute before she spoke again. “Why are you so adamant about protecting me? I’m nothing special.”
“I lost my sister to a man like your father back when I was a young boy. I couldn’t protect her back then, but I can protect you now,” I answered fiercely.
She nodded once.
CHAPTER8
Kasia
“Will you tell me about her?” I asked tentatively.
“Yes, but I’m going to feed you first,” he replied. His eyes had taken on a turbulent sadness, and I decided I didn’t like it at all. I circled my arms around his shoulders a bit more tightly, wanting to make his pain better and not really knowing how.
Almost imperceptibly, he did the same. After trailing his fingers up and down my spine, he sighed heavily and held me close as he reached to pick up the phone on the nightstand.
“What would you like to eat, angel?” he asked. I pulled back a little to gaze up at him. The grief in his eyes had disappeared, offset by warmth that was solely directed at me.
“Pierogi,” I said jokingly. This was America. There wasn’t even the remote chance that they would know how to make it a proper meal. I expected him to brush it aside and ask me if I wanted a burger or pizza, but he surprised me.
“What kind of pierogi, angel?”
“I didn’t… I thought…”
“Shhh. Answer the question for me,” he pushed.
“Potato and cheese,” I said. He lifted the phone to his ear.
