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“No, he took off like a little bitch,” I answer with a grunt, my fists clenching.
Anatoly stands, clutching his arm, and groans. “Fuck, you’re worse off than me. Sit the fuck down and let someone take a look at you.”
“No, they’re bringing medics in,” I insist. My father has the best team of doctors just perfect for a job like this.
“You need to stop the bleeding, Ilya. One of the girls is a nurse, and she can assist.” He calls for one of the young ladies, who is clad only in a skimpy outfit and carrying a medical kit.
“Nyet. I will wait for my father’s doctor.” I don’t want the hands of a whore on me while I lay dying. I should be with my love instead of this place.
He looks frightened of me; I would be too because I’m out for blood, even if I’m losing my own by the second. “My friend, you don’t have time to wait.” As the words come out of his mouth, I know he’s right because it’s too late and my world goes black.
*****
My eyes open, but they’re heavy as fuck and blurry. It unnerves me, so I reach for my weapons but I’m not in my suit, and I feel bandages.
“Mom, Misha, Nikolai, Mikhail—Ilya’s awake.”
I hear footsteps racing quickly, but luckily I know it’s coming from my family. “Oh my goodness. My baby, you’re finally awake,” my mother’s voice echoes in my ears, but I can’t quite see her yet. I blink my eyes, trying to fix my sight. The room grows brighter and less blurry.
“Mom, I’m fine. I need to get up and go. There are things to do so I don’t miss Natalya’s birthday.” My eyes adjust a bit more, and I focus. I’m in my bedroom, but I’m not alone. My parents along with my siblings are all gathered around. They stand at the foot of my bed as if they’re waiting for me to pass on. It’s a bit unsettling and I sit up, feeling the burn in my stomach and I want to vomit, but still, I push past the pain and the nausea because I have things that must be done.
“No, Ilya. Take it easy.” I don’t see my father anywhere around, so I wonder where he is.
“No. We’re supposed to be leaving tomorrow,” I tell them. I can’t be in bed when I should be on my way to see my wife on her special day.
“Bro, that was two days ago,” Nikolai says.
“What?” A new feeling overcomes me, washing away the ills of my body: rage.
My mother squeezes my hand and says, “You haven’t been awake for more than a few minutes a day.”
“What? No. That’s not fucking acceptable. I missed her birthday.” She must think I’m not coming for her. “Did anyone explain what happened?”
“We can’t. Not until the matter is resolved. With the rogue Fratelli member running loose, Drago wants her kept safe and well protected.” Fuck.
“Please leave me. I need to rest.” And to come up with a plan.
Chapter Six
Natalya
It’s been over a year since I’ve seen Ilya, and we’re in Russia instead of his family coming to visit us. We’re in Omsk, to be exact. We’re not here to see the Semyonov family. My mother brought me here to meet men for the first time as husband potential, even if my father isn’t ready for me to date or marry.
Up until my eighteenth birthday, my heart only belonged to one man. He had stolen it without knowing it. Then, my world crumbled when I learned he wasn’t coming. It was what came next that annihilated me.
“Ah, that hot guy isn’t coming this year,” Rachel said. I ended up hanging out with some of my old friends, and they were invited to my party. Jordan hadn’t returned to our school after the summer break, but I never asked my father about the details. I doubt he went that far because she slipped me some booze or something, but he is kind of crazy.
“No. Ilya will be marrying a woman in Russia in the coming year.”I’d been grateful that I had nothing in my hands, or it would have fallen. For the rest of the party, I pretended that everything was fine, but the tears were seconds from falling.
When I asked him about it after the guests left, he said that he wasn’t sure who, but that he wanted to make an alliance with the daughter of one of the Russian families. I did my best, but my heart cracked in half.
From that day, I no longer wear the pieces he gave me. They are trash to me, a reminder that I am just a foolish child with an infatuation for a man who has no interest in a little girl.
Today I’m considered an adult, and my mother is taking me around to meet the best available men of our acquaintances. The Petrov family is the first, and they are well respected, wealthy with beautiful daughters, and I hate them all. Bitches. They’re gorgeous and perfect for someone like Ilya. Completely Russian beauties; I’m only part Russian and not even remotely fluent enough to live here or be worthy to be his woman.
The day in the guest bedroom was a fantasy mixed with reality. I can’t figure out what was real or what I made up. My father was pissed when he found out Jordan slipped some drugs into my drink. I don’t know who told him or how she did it, but if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have had the nerve to corner Ilya, and then he wouldn’t have touched me. The pleasure was intense, even if it wasn’t real.
However, I don’t care about the pretty bitches; I’m meeting their brother, who is considered equally as handsome, although he owns a strip club. I have no interest in meeting Anatoly Petrov II. He’s gorgeous, for sure, but no one matters to me but Ilya, even though I know he’s an asshole who thinks I’m a child.
