I shook my head. That was not an option.“I don’t know when I will see Akira again. I can’t refuse to see him. We have to move first before someone catches on to what we are doing. Takumi might kill him once he finds out, and I can’t let that happen.”“You’re right. The Yakuza are Alfonso’s biggest allies. If we take them away, we take away some of his power.”As we were driven to the location where we would meet Akira, we went over what we would discuss. All we needed was to meet with him, give him our weapons, and then leave.The meeting didn’t even have to take that long. The ride out of town was not that long. Within minutes, we had arrived. Once we were there, we waited inside an abandoned building.We were there for ten minutes before Akira showed up.“You’re late,” I said to him as soon as he was there. I didn’t like it when people wasted my time.“I apologize for my tardiness. I thought someone was following me, so we had to lose them, but don’t worry, no one followed me here
Maxim was suspicious of me, I could tell. If I had just played it cool and acted unbothered, he would have never had doubts that I had something do to with whatever had happened in his meeting. He looked at me like he knew I was behind everything. It was clear something really bad had happened while they were out doing their business. “Did you know something would happen? You acted weird in the morning like you didn’t want me to leave. What did you do?”My acting skills were going to have to save me from the whole situation. I couldn’t let Maxim find out that I had put a bug on him. If I did, he would kill me, and Alfonso would kill Allegra. In that moment, I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me alive. “What happened? I didn’t even know something went wrong until you told me just now.” I said. He looked for any signs of deceit in my eyes, but he wouldn’t find any because I was a pro at acting like nothing was going on. “Maxim, talk to me. Did anyone get hurt?” I as
Livia fell asleep in my arms, so I carried her to her bed and tucked her in real nice. When she was asleep, I kissed her on the forehead and left her room. I went to the surveillance footage of her room and I didn’t find anything suspicious from the previous day. When she came from shopping, she stripped naked and went straight to the shower. It was an indicator that she had gotten upset over shopping. Her story about homesickness was checking out, but I needed to ask Sonya.I had to be smart about it, or else she wouldn’t tell me anything. She was bound to cover for her friend. If I worded my words the right way, she would sing like a canary. I picked up my phone and dialed her number. “Why do I have the displeasure of speaking to you this afternoon, Pakhan?”“I wanted to ask you something.”“Oh, and here I thought you wanted to say hi to me.”She was the only person who made me want to so something sassy like roll my eyes. She thought she was funny with her sarcastic remarks but
Carlos being in Russia made a lot of sense. It made sense why Akira was killed suddenly. That whole family was a thorn in my side. It didn’t even make sense that he knew what was going to happen.How did he know I was going to meet Akira? How did he even know I was working with the man? We had tried as much as possible to keep this thing a secret, but somehow, it got out.“I heard you think Livie knew what was going to happen.”I shook my head, thinking about it. I couldn’t see her willingly betraying anyone. If she was doing it, I couldn’t help but think that maybe she was being threatened into it or something.Either way, if she was the one who telling all my secrets, she needed to pay for it with her life. She was no exception from all the people who had betrayed me in my lifetime. She needed to pay for her mistakes.“I don’t think she was. Yes, she was acting weird, but she couldn’t have known what was going to take place. She doesn’t even know how the Bratva is run, and she makes
There was an increasing number of female kidnappings around the area where I lived; downtown Chicago. That’s why I hugged my body to myself after my bar shift at 3 am and rushed home. I held a small pocket knife tightly in my hand inside my purse. I didn’t want to take a risk. As I was walking through the dark streets, I thought I heard footsteps behind me. I looked behind but I didn’t see anything. I had seen too many thriller movies not to guess what happened after a woman heard rustling nearby. I walked quickly, looking behind to ensure no one was following me. When I looked forward again, a man was walking toward me. I stopped and contemplated running back the way I came from. Luckily for me, the man wasn’t a threat to me. He walked past me as though he hadn’t seen me.I continued on my way home. This time, my guard was lowered because I assumed I was growing paranoid. I walked safely for the next two blocks until everything changed. It all happened in an instant. One minute
“She’s a virgin. Her hymen is intact.” The man said as he removed his two gloves from inside of me.“You couldn’t find anyone to fuck you in the U.S., Livia? I thought you would have found a husband and had kids by now. But look at you, working waitressing jobs in downtown Chicago. Are you fucking stupid? You could have had everything in Italy with a rich husband.”“I was just eighteen and the man was forty years older than me!” I screamed.The image of the man I was supposed to marry before I ran away from the family almost made me vomit. He had yellowing teeth, a pot belly, and was bald.He had a reputation for only dealing with younger girls. Once his young wives got older, he sold them to brothels. Who wanted to live that kind of life?“I don’t hear Allegra complaining. In the face of you running away, she took your place and she seems to be enjoying it too.” Carlo said as he laughed. “It was the first time a man in the Mafia was grateful to have a sister as a substitute bride.”I
I thought Carlo would sell me immediately, kill me, or ‘service me to his men’ like he promised as he beat me to a pulp. Instead, he locked me in a basement with no lights. I had to endure the cold concrete, the screams of men being tortured, and constant hunger. No matter how much I screamed and shouted, no one let me out of the cage. The bars were too strong for me to try and break. And even if I could free myself, it was too dark for me to see a thing. The fear that a snake or rat would come and bite me was constantly haunting me. But it wasn’t greater than the fear of Carlo sending his men to come and rape me.I became so anxious that I picked up the habit of scratching my left arm to the point that it became raw. I also bit my nails until there was nothing left to bite anymore. Only when I got tired of screaming for help did Carlo’s men bring me food and water. I regained strength and screamed for help and later received a beating. The cycle continued until I finally learned
Did Carlo sell me to the Bratva to make amends with Maxim? If so, I was in for a life of suffering. I was scared for my life. If the Bratva was anything like the Sicilian Mafia, I knew I would wish I were dead. Viktor, the man who bought me, and the other one who he spoke to, started walking while dragging me with them. I wanted to run away but I was in a foreign country and I didn’t want to get beaten. I wouldn’t get far anyway. I was tied up and blindfolded and who knew how many men were in the house? I had to bid my time and wait for the right moment. I was hesitant in my movements but the man who bought me was resilient. “You’re giving me a fucking hard time!” He yelled and slapped me across the face. He pulled my hair and shook me around a little. “Either be compliant or I’ll cut off your legs.” I nodded my head profusely in fear of what he would do. He had a temper. Suddenly, everything and everyone was quiet. There was tension in the air and I could sense the fe
Carlos being in Russia made a lot of sense. It made sense why Akira was killed suddenly. That whole family was a thorn in my side. It didn’t even make sense that he knew what was going to happen.How did he know I was going to meet Akira? How did he even know I was working with the man? We had tried as much as possible to keep this thing a secret, but somehow, it got out.“I heard you think Livie knew what was going to happen.”I shook my head, thinking about it. I couldn’t see her willingly betraying anyone. If she was doing it, I couldn’t help but think that maybe she was being threatened into it or something.Either way, if she was the one who telling all my secrets, she needed to pay for it with her life. She was no exception from all the people who had betrayed me in my lifetime. She needed to pay for her mistakes.“I don’t think she was. Yes, she was acting weird, but she couldn’t have known what was going to take place. She doesn’t even know how the Bratva is run, and she makes
Livia fell asleep in my arms, so I carried her to her bed and tucked her in real nice. When she was asleep, I kissed her on the forehead and left her room. I went to the surveillance footage of her room and I didn’t find anything suspicious from the previous day. When she came from shopping, she stripped naked and went straight to the shower. It was an indicator that she had gotten upset over shopping. Her story about homesickness was checking out, but I needed to ask Sonya.I had to be smart about it, or else she wouldn’t tell me anything. She was bound to cover for her friend. If I worded my words the right way, she would sing like a canary. I picked up my phone and dialed her number. “Why do I have the displeasure of speaking to you this afternoon, Pakhan?”“I wanted to ask you something.”“Oh, and here I thought you wanted to say hi to me.”She was the only person who made me want to so something sassy like roll my eyes. She thought she was funny with her sarcastic remarks but
Maxim was suspicious of me, I could tell. If I had just played it cool and acted unbothered, he would have never had doubts that I had something do to with whatever had happened in his meeting. He looked at me like he knew I was behind everything. It was clear something really bad had happened while they were out doing their business. “Did you know something would happen? You acted weird in the morning like you didn’t want me to leave. What did you do?”My acting skills were going to have to save me from the whole situation. I couldn’t let Maxim find out that I had put a bug on him. If I did, he would kill me, and Alfonso would kill Allegra. In that moment, I wished the ground would just open up and swallow me alive. “What happened? I didn’t even know something went wrong until you told me just now.” I said. He looked for any signs of deceit in my eyes, but he wouldn’t find any because I was a pro at acting like nothing was going on. “Maxim, talk to me. Did anyone get hurt?” I as
I shook my head. That was not an option.“I don’t know when I will see Akira again. I can’t refuse to see him. We have to move first before someone catches on to what we are doing. Takumi might kill him once he finds out, and I can’t let that happen.”“You’re right. The Yakuza are Alfonso’s biggest allies. If we take them away, we take away some of his power.”As we were driven to the location where we would meet Akira, we went over what we would discuss. All we needed was to meet with him, give him our weapons, and then leave.The meeting didn’t even have to take that long. The ride out of town was not that long. Within minutes, we had arrived. Once we were there, we waited inside an abandoned building.We were there for ten minutes before Akira showed up.“You’re late,” I said to him as soon as he was there. I didn’t like it when people wasted my time.“I apologize for my tardiness. I thought someone was following me, so we had to lose them, but don’t worry, no one followed me here
Livia was acting weird. I could tell something was weighing heavy on her, and she didn’t want to tell me what it was. When she told me she was homesick, I didn’t believe her.But when I was in the shower, I tried to put myself in her shoes. If I were the one who had been kidnapped and sold to the highest bidder, I would miss home as well. especially because she was in a foreign land that she wasn’t used to. Most people never adapted to the cold weather in Russia.And she seemed to hate it at first, but I thought she had already gotten used to it. Looking back, I realize it was naïve for me to think such a thing. She probably was not used to it, and she wanted to go back.However, I wouldn’t let her go, so I had to find a way to get her not to miss more.Even if she was struck with homesickness, I knew there was something else that bothered her. I let her be, thinking that she would probably tell me when the time was right. And even if she didn’t, I would respect her wishes.She helped
I looked at the bug in my hand, wondering what would happen once I planted it. I couldn’t help the tears that fell down my face. I didn’t dare sob because of the driver.If he was working for Vadim, he would tell him everything I did. I couldn’t risk all that. I had to pretend I was cool with everything.Just as I was starting to be happy, Vadim came and ruined everything. It was clear he wanted the throne for himself. If he thought Alfonso was above killing him just to control both the Russian and Italian mafias, he was wrong.Alfonso had no loyalty to anyone but himself. He only looked after himself and did anything that would make him happy or bring him more wealth. That was why he was willing to sell his own daughters.Vadim was better off accepting the high rank in Maxim’s organization rather than aligning himself with a man like that. However, something told me he wasn’t any better.“We’re here,” the driver said.I hesitated before getting out of the car. How could I go out ther
I scooted as far away from him as I could, and he just laughed it off. He enjoyed making me squirm and nervous. I wished I could control my emotions quickly, but I couldn’t. I had just seen Carlos.Wherever Carlos was, Alfonso was probably lurking in the shadows. He liked his children doing his dirty work for him. I wouldn’t be shocked if he was nearby, watching me getting scared and getting a good laugh.“You seem happy, Ottavia. Your father doesn’t like that. He thinks we should spice things up.”I knew he was watching me. I should not have been foolish enough to think I could be happy after Alfonso found me. I should have known the burst of joy would come at a cost. He hated seeing others happy.“What do you want?” I asked as I looked out the window.“Oh, don’t look so sad. It’s not a bad thing. Honestly, I think you should have known better than to fall for a man like him. Maxim will kill you the moment he discovers you are nothing but a traitor.”I didn’t dare look at Vadim. He e
“We should just go. I don't want to be here anymore.”So we paid and left. He didn’t try to follow us, and he didn’t try to speak to me. He was reminding me that he was still around and that I wasn’t supposed to forget what Alfonso had asked me to do.“What was that back there? You seemed like you just saw a ghost.”I didn’t answer her question truthfully.“Nothing. I thought I saw someone I knew but it was a mistake. It shook me up, and that’s why I wanted us to leave. I’m sorry we had to.”“You don’t have to apologize for that, do you hear me?”“Yes.”With that said, we went to a lingerie shop where we chose very cute sets. I had never worn a leather lingerie before, so Sonya picked out one for me.“Since you have golden skin, you can wear a red one. I think with red lipstick and red heels, you will pull it off really, really well. Maxim will lose his shit when he sees you in this.”I smiled at first before I realized what she had said.“How did you know about Maxim and I?”“Oh, ple
Things were going great with Maxim. We went on multiple dates and hung out more. Despite him being very busy, he found time for me. I couldn’t have been happier about this.A week later, when Sonya came to visit me, she screamed excitedly.“I don’t know what is going on with you, but girl, you’re glowing,” she said. “That's the work of Vitamin D.”I blushed and swatted her on the arm. I was embarrassed that she was talking about this out loud. I had only ever been with one man, and sex talk always made me nervous.“Wow, you’re blushing. I can see that I am right.”She was at the house, and she was wearing jeans, four-inch stilettos, and a casual top. It was unlike her. I had logged into Instagram, and from what I could see, she liked to dress up and wear makeup.That day, she had on blush and lip gloss. She even had a very tiny bag, and I wondered what she came by to do. I thought we would hang out for two hours tops, and then she would leave.She had mentioned she had an important me