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“Tell me about your siblings.”
“We were a simple family. That’s different in Russia than what you might think here in America. I come from a small village close to St. Petersburg, we had a small house, and all my life I’d only seen my parents making money by working the land. When I was about eighteen years old, my dad got a job in a city as a welder in a big metallurgical factory. It wasn’t a big career move, but for a man from rural Russia, who didn’t finish high school, it was more than ok. So, he took the job and started coming home only on weekends. Everything was ok for a while…” She stopped and bit her lip to stop another set of tears.
“It’s ok. It’s me, baby doll. You can tell me.”
“I don’t know what happened. For a few months he sent back home more money than usual, and then he showed up in the middle of the week, scared, telling us that he got himself into some trouble with some bad people from St. Petersburg. Later I found out he and a few other men decided to steal a car and sell it. Turns out, the expensive car they took belonged to Alexei.” I didn’t give a shit about his car. It gave him no right to touch her. “Alexei came to our house, and Dad sent my brothers, my sister, my mother, and me up into the attic. He said it was too dangerous to come out and that we shouldn’t show our faces no matter what. You see, Alexei is a psychopath, and the thing he hates more than anything in the world is people embarrassing him. He has this frustration deep rooted inside of him, and he’s desperate for people to fear and respect him. It’s why he pushes so hard for you to be with his daughter. Your father and family have that respect. Anyways, imagine how he felt when a poor welder made him look like an idiot.”
“He got angry.”
“Angry.” She laughed bitterly. “Yes, you could say that. He brought two bodyguards with him to hold my dad down while he was breaking his legs with a bat. I couldn’t stand to watch it. I couldn’t stay hidden and listen to them killing my father, so I came out and asked him to stop.”
“And that’s when Alexei saw you.”
“Yes.” The fucker saw her beautiful face and took her. The fury came back into my chest full force.
“He told me the only way this would be forgotten would be if I left with him, so I did. I became the wife of a very rich man. I’m ashamed to say that for a while I found him charming. About a year later, the beating started, but it’s not as bad as you imagine.”
“Ludmila.” I warned her not to push me. If he would have struck her just once in his pathetic little life, it would have been enough.
“I’m serious. He waves me around like a trophy and most of the time he’s preoccupied with other women, or he’s too drunk to care I exist. I prefer it that way.” Because when he focused on her, she ended up hurt. “I stay with him because I have no other option. I stay with him because he would get revenge on my family if I left. He knows that would hurt me. Sometimes I think about just killing Alexei in his sleep. Oh, trust me, I do, but Alexei Popov is the kind of man that would get revenge after his death. Here he’s no one, but in Russia he has connections, people that could easily make me pay. I can’t…my brothers, my sister…I can’t.”
That sick motherfucker. He didn’t deserved death, a bullet in his chest would be too easy. I wanted him to feel all the pain and fear I could read on Ludmila’s face right now.
“And what about your family?”
“I was never allowed to see them again, but once every six months, I’m allowed to call them for ten minutes.”
Jesus fucking Christ, this was an entire pile of bullshit. My gut was roaring at me to take her the fuck away, but I knew I had no chance. She was putting herself through hell for her family, so she’d never listen to me. I loved her too much to force her to make a decision. I just had to find a way to make it easy for her.
People would take a look at her and see a weak woman, a victim who was too afraid to escape her abuser, but in reality, she was a saint. She used herself as a shield and sold her soul to save the people she cared about. The least I could do was be the same for her.
So, what the hell was there to do? How could I just let her go back to Popov and go to sleep tonight thinking that he might hurt her? It was hard enough before, when all of this was just a possibility. But now that it had happened?
The desperation started to push hard on my chest, but I remembered the tattoo on my chest, the lion on his throne. I got that because at sixteen I was tired of everyone calling me prince, so I swore to become king and earn that crown. Popov was nothing in front of me. He would fall.
“I’ll take care of you. Somehow, I will make it right, Ludmila.”
“Enzo, you are the best and worst thing that ever happened to me.” She laughed, but there was no joy in it. “A blessing and a curse, you might say. You make me feel things – love. You pull me to you like I belong there and when we’re together…I don’t care about the risks. I don’t care that Alexei would break his belt on my back if he thought I cheated on him. You make me happy but being with you comes at a great risk. I don’t want you to get caught in my misery. You can’t help, so let it go.”
“I need you to trust me.”
“I do.”
“Then trust I will never let anyone hurt you again.”
This was ending now.
I took Ludmila back to her Jeep that was parked outside, and the moment I saw the car driving around the corner, I dialed Cristiano’s phone number. He answered after three rings.
“I’m listening, Nucci.”
“I have bad news, brother. You’re going back to Russia.”
“Ah, fuck this shit.” He sounded pissed, but it didn’t last for long. “I can leave in two hours.”
Good. I needed him to be fast this time.
Chapter 21
