Chapter 4

Vladimir:

“Fuck” I hissed before coming undone. My eyes screwing shut as my body tensed.

The woman, Nina, shrieked under me as she reached her point before I pulled out of her.

My chest rose and fell as I caught my breath and Nina smiled laying on top of me, her finger running over my chest as I wrapped my arm around her waist pulling her to me. I smiled down at her as she laid her head over my racing heart.

“I thought that I wouldn’t be seeing you again” she spoke after a while of silence. Her brown hair curled over my chest slightly tickling me.

“Now, why would you think that?” I asked looking down at the woman who smiled at me.

“Well, with the rumors that have spread…”

“They weren’t rumors” I said stopping her. Her eyes widened and she tensed for a second before nodding.

“So, it is true that you got married” she stated. I raised an eyebrow at her questioning, reminding her of her place despite not saying a word “my apologies, boss”

“I believe that you can get dressed and get out” I said glaring down at her. I sat up, and rested my back against the bedrest as I waited for Nina to leave the room.

I had called for her to wait for me at the hotel the second the plane landed at the airport. She had been my favorite of all the women under our service, but she was getting too nosy for my liking.

She walked out of the room in silence, her head down as she held the sheets to her body, covering it making me roll my eyes at the fact that she didn’t even bother putting any clothes on. But I wasn’t one to question what she did or didn’t, she was here for pleasure after all.

“What happened this time?” Luka asked not bothering to knock the door as he walked inside the room. He raised an eyebrow at me at the sight of me still in bed under the blanket as I scrolled through my phone.

“Nothing out of the ordinary, she simply believed that she could question me” I shrugged and Luka nodded. I raised an eyebrow at him, wondering what on Earth he was doing here to begin with “what happened?”

“Nothing, but you asked for information, and I came to report back” Luka said casually. I raised an eyebrow at him and he handed me a folder of papers. Nodding, I took the papers from him and started reading through the papers which had a picture of my wife “I’ll leave you to read, though there is nothing out of the ordinary; I still believed that you might want to take a look”

“Keep me posted on whether or not you find anything. On her, her father, brother, mother, or even maid. I don’t care, I want to know everything there is to know” if the woman was to live under the same roof, then I had to know everything about her, and judging by what happened at the wedding; I guessed that she wouldn’t be giving me any information on her own. Not that I could blame her, she didn’t know me any more than I knew her.

The two of us have barely seen one another at events or galas which were held on a seasonal duration. However, her and I never had the chance to speak, especially since her father wouldn’t let her out of his sight. If it weren’t him, men followed her wherever she went, and if the rumors that were heard true, the man had tried bargaining her to the Italians.

“Who are you, Eliana Romanov?” I asked voicing my thought out loud. The woman was carrying my last name now, there was no point in using her previous one, but I was still curious at who she was. She was known for being the perfect child growing up, she didn’t cause any trouble during her studies, and she excelled at university. However, there was no record of her ever going to a university, therefore, I assumed she was homeschooled when it came to that.

Her mother’s past was unknown, it was like she was hidden throughout the years and suddenly appeared as the woman of James and the mother of his child. However, who she was and where she came from was something that none of us knew of, and no matter where we searched, the woman’s name didn’t appear. Which means that she had changed both her name, and surname.

I dialed Luka’s number who picked up almost instantly making me raise an eyebrow “do you ever put that phone down?”

“Knowing that you would call, no” Luka answered making me chuckle “I want everything about Anastasia, something about the woman just suddenly appearing in James’s life seem off”

“What are you thinking?”

“Nothing so far, just curious on who she is and why there’s nothing about her past when her husband who is the don of his family has everything out in the open” I said and Luka hummed in response. I hung up not saying another word, not that I needed to, if it weren’t me hanging up, it would have been him.

Sighing, I got out of bed and to the bathroom. I needed to freshen up and get ready to go back home, I still had work to get done with, and heading off to Rome to get married seemed to delay it a little. But that shouldn’t be an issue as it would just need a day’s work to get done with, however, that wouldn’t be happening if I stayed in bed wondering who the hell I was married to.

*******************

“Need I know where you two were?” Dad asked the second we entered the house. I had to fight back rolling my eyes at him as I entered the house. However, he wasn’t making the case any easier.

“Working”

“With lipstick?” Dimitri asked noticing the lipstick on my shirt. I raised an eyebrow at him noticing Eliana who was sitting with Aubrey in the living room, her eyes met mine before she lowered her gaze to her lap. I rolled my eyes at her before returning my attention back to my dad who was glaring daggers at me. His blue eyes meeting my brown ones.

“You just got married, Vladimir”

“I believe we have already established the deal with my wedding” I said looking dad in the eye “the woman is sitting in the living room and she hasn’t made a sound about it”

“She just arrived here, might as well be subtle about it”

“What I do, and do not do concerns no one, dad. The faster she gets used to it, the better” I said glaring at dad.

“You needn’t worry, Vladimir, believe me I have no interest in what you do and do not do” Eliana said walking toward me. She nodded at dad before looking me in the eye “you can screw a thousand different women if you are up to it, it does not concern me, has never, and will never”

“See the woman knows her limits and place…”

“No, love. I have value for myself, you can screw all the women in the world. However, you would never be laying a hand on me” she said calmly. Her eyes were fixed on mine as she spoke, and I had to fight back laughing at her words. The confidence she had was funny, especially since she knew that SHE was the outsider here, and that this was MY family.

“Well, little miss value, I do suggest that you tone your attitude down…”

“Else what?” She asked raising a challenging eyebrow “remember, you have nothing on me. I may be your wife, but it is only on paper, a contract. Therefore, I can say, do, and act as I please just like you can”

“Thank you for the lovely morning, Audrey. I will surely be wanting to repeat it again” Eliana said and Audrey nodded watching as my wife went up the stairs ignoring our presence.

“I must say, she does have a strong personality” Luka said following my gaze as I glared at the woman.

“She will be taught her limit else she would be getting herself into more trouble than necessary” I said walking toward my office. I could hear dad mutter ‘this man was hopeless’. But I paid no attention to him as me an Luka entered the office. The two of us heading toward my desk, me sitting behind it on my brown leather chair, and him in front of me on his own. He poured the two of us glasses of whiskey and handed me my own before taking a sip of his.

“So, what do you want to start with? The club, or the business?”