Chapter 3

Nikolai's POV. 

I sat in the private room, my feelings a weird mixture of shock and arousal as I watched Amaya hurry out of the room. I didn't even bat my eyes at the money she took from the table, she deserved a lot more than that if I truly wanted to pay her back. I looked down at the hardness straining the front of my pants, solid proof that my body still reacted to her in the most intense ways. I recalled the looks anger and hate she directed at me, knowing fully well that I deserved those looks because of how badly I had treated her. I never meant to leave her immediately after taking her virginity all those years ago, but my time in the outside world was coming to an end, as my responsibilities to my family were only growing. 

Now, I was the head of the Russian mafia in California, I could have any woman in my bed whenever I wanted, so why was I pining over her like a lost puppy after just one encounter? 

Sure, I felt guilty when I though about my actions towards Amaya, but that didn't automatically make me a good man. I didn't get to where I was by being soft or beating myself up for past mistakes, because that was all I allowed myself to think of her as, a mistake. She was a factor I never expected to come into play, and cutting off whatever we had at the roots seemed like the best decision at the time. 

I just never thought that I would see her again. 

She was just as perfect as I remembered, even more so because of her new found maturity. Her mesmerising blue eyes, her luscious curves squeezed underneath my grip, the heat of her body pressing into mine…

I felt myself getting even harder at those thoughts. 

I shook my head to rid myself of all thoughts of her. She was a part of my past, a past I had no intention of revisiting. 

I cleared my throat and called for the manager of this club. 

“Paul,” The name had barely left my mouth before the man came scurrying in. 

“Yes sir. Was the girl to your liking?” He asked placatingly. 

“She was alright. How long has she been working here?” I asked in return. 

“About a year, sir. She's one of our best dancers here, sir. She never fails to pull a crowd.” He supplied. 

I nodded and waved him away, thinking about what he said. If she had been working here for about a year, that means she started about a year after finishing college. What made her take that kind of decision?

I chided myself for thinking about her again, before willing the care out of mind and getting up from the booth. Once outside, my two most trusted men, Lev and Kolya, materialised in front of me. 

“What next, boss?” Kolya, an absolute mountain of a man, asked in that gruff voice of his. 

“Let's head to the office, then we head to that man who owes us. It's about time he paid up, I've been to lenient.” I said, leaving the building and walking towards my car.

“Great call, boss,” Kolya smirked, cracking his knuckles. “It's been a while since I got to beat someone up.”

“You brute,” Lev joked. 

“Shut up you two and let's get some work done.” I said, entering the back seat of my car. 

“Yes boss.” They echoed, Lev entering the passenger seat and Kolya slipping behind the steering wheel. 

I guarded my thoughts as we drove, purposely not allowing myself to think about Amaya. She already hated me, and that was perfect, because I couldn't let myself feel anything for her. Yes, I admit that I was attracted to her, but I chalked that up to being very busy lately and not having the time for a pretty woman in my bed. 

I was going to fix that as soon as we were done with our activities today. 

Kolya pulled up at a nondescript building that served as one of our offices and a base for some of our more illegal operations. I passed the men packing crates of weapons downstairs and headed up to the second floor, where the offices were located. I scanned my fingerprint and retina at the door at the end, then unlocked the door and entered the room. It didn't contain much, except a desk, two chairs and a number of safes and locked cabinets. I looked through the desk drawers for the file of the man whose debt we were going to collect, rummaging through until I found the manila folder. Trent Kingston, 53 years old, widowed with two daughters and had a wicked alcohol addiction, in addition to his gambling habit. He had racked up a debt of about four hundred thousand dollars, and even though that sum was nothing to me, I wasn't just about to let the piece of scum go, especially one worthless enough to use his first daughter as collateral. My lip curled up in disgust as I took the file and left the office. 

Kolya drove us to the dingy trailer park where Trent lived. We stormed into the living room, finding him nodding off while watching a football game. An open can of beer, was clutched in his grip, while a ton of empty cans littered all around him. Kolya went and shook him awake, causing the beer to spill on his already stained shirt.

“Wh…who's there?” he stuttered awake, his face lined with confusion, then terror as he noticed me. 

“Mr. Petrov…I…what are you doing here?” He stammered. 

“Are you really asking that, Kingston? You owe me, remember? I'm here to collect my debt.” I stated, repulsed by the trash lying all around me. 

“I remember, Mr. Petrov. I…I don't have it yet, but I'll be playing another round tonight. I'm confident that I'll have it ready for you.” He said, terror evident on his face. 

“I'm afraid that can't work, Kingston. You see, I need my money.” I craned my head to look at him. “So I'll be getting my money either way. Remember the deal?”

His features contorted into one of absolute horror as he remembered, begging, “Please, Mr. Petrov, leave my daughter out of this. She's innocent.”

“Too late for that, Kingston. Since you can't pay, she'll pay on your behalf.” I turned to address my men, “Lev, Kolya, let's get out of here.”

We left the room, leaving the man a sobbing mess on his disgusting floor. Lev typed the address of the daughter's apartment into the GPS, and Kolya began to drive. 

I wondered how to put the girl to use once we took her. Maybe I'd let her work as a bartender in one of the clubs, or maybe as a stripper of she was really pretty. Or maybe I could keep her to myself, because I was really in need of a little female companionship. 

Before long, we stopped in front of an old apartment building that looked like it could collapse at any moment. Lev, Kolya and two of my other men went into the building, while I remained in the back seat of my car, scrolling on my iPad. A few minutes later, I heard aggrieved screaming from the front of the building, before the door to my car opened and a shouting girl was tossed in. 

Imagine my shock when I recognised the girl as Amaya, the same girl who had been plaguing my thoughts for the past few hours. I watched as she banged on the window and fumbled about looking for the lock, making no progress. Amused at the unexpected turn of events, I chuckled, making her freeze and turn towards me slowly, her face frozen in shock. 

“Well, well, well, Amaya. We meet again,” I said, expecting the surprise and confusion on her face. 

What I didn't expect was the slap to my face.