I didn’t know it was possible for things to get worse than they already were but they did. I thought I only had to worry about Veronika when she came around for events. I should have known the universe was working against me. I used to be free–a girl with a purpose. Life was so good in Chicago even though I barely had enough to eat. At least I knew my purpose on Earth was to dismantle the Cosa Nostra.Now, I was just a maid with no contact with the outside world. No, worse than a maid—I was a punching bag.Veronika had moved in a week ago, sweeping into Maxim’s house like a queen reclaiming her throne. First, she came with a suitcase the day Maxim left. However, the next day, she came with trunks of designer clothes, an army of beauty products, and a sneer permanently etched on her lips whenever she looked at me.She made me carry all those items by myself from the foyer to her room which was on the third floor of the West wing of the mansion. I wasn’t naïve. I knew my place in this
I may have promised myself that I wouldn’t break but I was slowly unraveling. I hated to admit that Veronika was slowly winning the one-sided war she had unleashed on me. Every day in Maxim’s house and in a foreign country and continent chipped away at me, breaking me down piece by piece.I barely slept. My body ached from exhaustion, and the bruises decorating my skin were fresh reminders that I was at the mercy of monsters. Polina and Veronika were the devil’s incarnate. They hurt me as a source of entertainment. And everyday, they grew old with the new tricks and came up with new ones. They got more cruel and creative with their means. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold on. I needed to get out of there. I didn’t know when Maxim would come back and even if he did, I wasn’t sure he would defend me. I couldn’t wait for some knight in shining armor to come and save me. I already knew that he wouldn’t. But I knew one thing—I had to get my hands on a phone.I didn’t know how
Maxim was mine, and I’d die before I let an ugly stupid American girl take him from me. She must have been crazy to think I would let her be with him. I didn’t know who she was or how she ended up on Maxim’s radar but I was going to make her wish she never met him. Luckily for me, Father had my back no matter what. He was the one who told me Maxim was going out of town a lot. Father may have been part of the biggest mafia family alliance in the world, the Omerta Alliance, but he wasn’t the leader. Maxim was the sole leader of the Bratva and he had a final say in a lot of decisions in the Bratva. He asserted dominance over the other members of the Bratva. The Omerta alliance was to make sure rules were followed. Some of the rules included: no killing of mafia members over personal reasons, once you signed a contract with a member of the Alliance, there was no turning back, and most of all, if one betrayed the Bratva, the five families dealt with them accordingly. There were many
The moment my phone buzzed in my pocket, I almost ignored it. Business in Europe was taking longer than expected, and I was in no mood for another disruption. All I wanted to do was hurry up and go back home so I could see Livia. And to do that, I required no disruption. But when I saw Mikhail’s name flashing on the screen, a gut instinct told me to answer. He never called unless it was an emergency. He was just as capable of handling things at home as I was. I pressed the phone to my ear. “Mikhail?” “You should’ve never let Veronika near Livia,” he said, sounding breathless. His voice was tight, edged with something I rarely heard from him—anger. He was always the happy one between the three of us–me, Nikita, Mikhail. Very few things fazed a man as composed as Mikhail. My grip on the phone tightened. “What the hell happened?” “I think Veronika has been physically abusing Livia ever since you left. Things aren’t how you left them, Maxim. That woman—she’s destroying your lit
I almost chewed out anyone who saw what was happening to Livia and ignored it. She refused to speak to me or anyone else. I almost got her a fucking shrink. The shit I was told was on those tapes was enough to drive someone crazy. I never even knew there were petty ways to torture someone like that. The first thing I did was fire all those maids I saw standing by and laughing while my woman was going through one of the worst experiences of her life. Most of them tried to beg but I wasn’t having it. I couldn’t afford to keep people who didn’t obey me. I had explicitly said Livia was not to be touched. And while they didn’t touch her, none of them made a move to try and stop the abuse. They were apparently threatened with Veronika’s status as my queen—a status I had never awarded her. Polina, on the other hand, was another case. She had grown to have a false sense of security with me. Somehow, she thought she and had an interpersonal relationship with me and she was exempt from be
When Vadim stopped by Maxim’s mansion, he found the place in a state of chaos. Maxim was reprimanding his workers for something.Luck was on his luck that day. He didn’t have to sneak around. He could just do whatever he wanted.Because Maxim wasn’t paying attention, he didn’t notice Vadim taking a quick picture of Livia. He suspected he knew who she was. He just needed someone to confirm it was her..If the mystery girl in Maxim’s mansion turned out to be the estranged Italian mafia princess, he was going to make a lot of money.The chances of taking the throne from right under Maxim’s nose seemed closer than ever.However, he didn’t want to get his hopes up. The Italian princess was supposed to be dead. She also had an Italian accent rather than the American one that Livia had.But it was still worth a try. He wouldn’t let an opportunity like that pass him by. If Alfoso’s daughter was so close to Maxim, they could use her to destroy the Pakhan and take his place.He booked the firs
It was clear as day that Maxim was trying to make up for what happened to me because of Veronika. From what I had gathered, Polina had been fired but Veronika was still in the house.I didn’t see much of her. She had been moved to Polina’s old bedroom and she stayed away from me for most part.Also, I didn’t have to see much of her since my duties as her maid had been revoked. I solely tended to Maxim which was not a difficult task. I was starting to feel comfortable again.I wasn’t sure whether that was a good or bad thing considering I was still on enemy property.The other staff, however, still looked at me sideways and sent snarks and scoffs my way. They were mad that I had gotten Polina fired.I wanted to yell and tell them that she had gotten herself fired because of what she had done. No one should have had to endure the embarrassment and humiliation that I did.It wasn’t fair to me or to anyone for that matter. Polina deserved everything she was getting.A good part of me symp
The man was dressed in a leather jacket, dark jeans, and his hair was styled Italian style. He looked intimidating but he had a gleeful smile on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes. I could see a resemblance between him, Mikhail, and Maxim. It was like they were all related in some way, shape, or form. “I’m sorry,” I muttered and tried to walk past him but he didn’t let me. He stood in my way and shook his head. I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. His eyes were all over me like he was studying me and trying to figure me out. “What’s your name, sweetheart?” He asked, and I looked around, hoping Maxim was nearby to save me or anyone else for that matter. It was pathetic how I always thought I was entitled to his help when in reality, I wasn’t. I was nothing but a slave to him, and he hadn’t even bagun to use me. For the first time in my life, I looked to the future and it was blank. I couldn’t tell just how badly he and I would end. The man in front of me laughed w
I did the work of shame back to my room while smiling like an idiot. I bit my lip nervously and rushed to my room while I skipped happily. As soon as I was in my room, I closed the door and leaned against it.“This is crazy,” I whispered as I closed my eyes and touched everywhere he had touched me. It felt like I was reliving every moment that we shared together.The way touched me, kissed me, fucked me…It was the best thing I ever had—the best thing I had ever experienced. It felt so good for him to hold me and cherish me.I walked towards the bathroom and stared at my reflection in the mirror. There were bruises all over my body— hickeys and handprints.Years ago if someone had told me I would enjoy rough sex like that, I would not have believed them. But even I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed being dominated like that.I removed his shirt that he had given me because he tore my bra and stole my panties. I jumped into the shower and stood under the water as the hot water droplets hit
In one swift movement, he put his hands on my waist and perched me on his desk. He ripped my gown from my body and discarded it somewhere on the ground."You drive me crazy, little firecracker, " he said. "Do you know that? I think you do and that is why you strutted into my office wearing nothing."Before I could find some lame excuse for my behavior, he kissed once more, with both his hands on either side of me, locking me in place.His mouth was addicting. He kissed me with so much passion and lust that it drove me insane. It felt like he was making love to me with his mouth, giving me a teaser of what would come as he fucked me."God, you don’t know how much I have missed being inside of you. " He said into my mouth.He trailed his mouth down to my neck where he bit and sucked on the flesh as he fondled my breasts over my bra.I threw my head back and moaned, loving the sensation he brought. With just one touch, he lit every single port of me on fire.I quivered and shivered as h
I knocked on Maxim’s office. I hadn’t seen him in a week and I was hoping to maybe to talk to him. I had missed him, and I wanted to talk about Sergei. I didn’t know he was looking into me.It hurt even though it was selfish for me to yearn for him to trust me.The only problem was, I wasn’t there for any “talk” or pleasantries. All I wanted was Maxim inside me, panting and moaning in my ear.I loved his sex voice, domineering and powerful. He claimed me as his every time he was intimate with me. With him, sex felt so special. “Come in,” I heard his gruff voice through the door.I cleared my throat and opened the door. I was in a black lace lace gown with lingerie inside. I was wearing all- black matching bra and thong paired with a garter belt.But you couldn’t see the state of undress underneath my gown. I strutted towards his desk with black woolen fluffy shoes. He didn’t even look up from his laptop.“What do you want?” He asked rudely. I thought he would at least acknowledge my
Maxim and I didn’t talk for three days. Despite his silence, there was a trainer that came to teach me more about playing the piano named Gretchen. She was in her late forties and she rarely cracked a smile on her face.She was stoic and firm and she meant business. The only time I saw her move was when I played the piano. I was a bit rusty from years of not playing–only a professional could hear that. But after a few pointers from Gretchen, I was doing so well. That she managed a half smile. She asked me why I never pursued it professionally. I told her vaguely that life got in the way. She was no doubt repeating everything I told her to Maxim. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she waved and left the house. I watched her get into an SUV that no doubt belonged to Maxim. He didn’t let anyone come or leave his house unsupervised. My phone had been given back to me but I wasn’t sure if I was still on good terms with Maxim. I still didn’t understand why he blamed me for Sergei’s de
As he strangled me almost to death, I kept wondering what I had done wrong. I had done a lot of things, but it wouldn’t have to know what I’d caused my death. I tried to speak, to claw his hands with my nails, and to play with him with my eyes, but he wouldn’t let me go.I swear I felt the life draining out of me. I could practically taste death. I couldn’t believe I was going out like that. I always thought I would have a chance to fight for my life, but it seems like I wouldn’t.He seemed to notice his irrational behavior and let me go. I broke into a coughing mess, falling to the ground and holding my neck tightly. My head was pounding, and the air felt like a gift. For a moment there, I was sure I was going to die. I wasn’t sure why he let me go, but I was grateful. But his actions only confirmed to me the ease at which he was capable of killing me.“Sergei and his wife are dead. That can’t be a coincidence.” He said.I looked up at him, eyes bloodshot, mind foggy with confusion
There, on the ground kneeling was Mira. She had bruises and cuts all over her body. She looked beaten down and tortured. I could try to hide my shock but it was impossible. I could tell she had suffered all night and I couldn't help but wonder what she had said as she was being tortured. Even a chunk of her hair was gone from her head and blood was dripping down to her face. I felt sorry for her and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for myself as well. Who knew if she had something on her that could link her to me. Things were bad and all I could do was hold my breath and watch all of it unfold. “You know this girl, Mira? Or we should call her Clarisa Sanchez. She thought she was slick sneaking into a party and pretending she was just someone normal. She’s FBI.” Maxim said as he gauged my reaction.I was already so scared and shook that I was speechless. It felt like everything was falling apart and I was coming to my end soon. I couldn’t help but wonder what life had in store for me
I should not have trusted anyone to rescue me. I should have known the FBI would never forgive me. They were out to get me from the very start. I thought they would have my back when things got tough.Turns out they wanted to use me and stab me in the back.That night, after talking to Mira in the bathroom, I went home with Maxim. He immediately noticed my bad mood. Instead of being annoyed or irritated, he stopped at a bakery.He quietly went inside and came back a few minutes later with cake in his hands.“You love blackberry cake so I thought I would get it for you.Maxim was so good to me sometimes, that I questioned whether it was a good idea to plot to leave him.I quietly took the cake from his hands and smiled gracefully. He noticed the little things. He knew when I was sad, happy, angry or frustrated.It was a mystery sometimes why he pushed my buttons so much. But I guess you are all human and we weren’t perfect.“Thank you,” I said shyly.He just nodded in agreement and tur
“She is just someone that I used to know. She and I were neighbors and then suddenly she stopped seeing me around. When she saw me here, she was worried that I was in trouble. She told me she heard rumors that you were in the mafia and she was worried for my safety.“Oh yeah? If she was your neighbor, what was she doing at this party?” He asked.He was getting suspicious and I was worried he would find out that Mira was FBI and kill us both. There was no way I would have made it through the night if he had found out who Mira was and what she was planning.Her family had been killed as a result of gang wars while she was in Mexico. She and her older sister had to move to the U.S illegally to find a better life. Once she got to Chicago, it was hard for them to get a job.Her sister had to result to prostitution just to make ends meet. That was the story she had given me. It was no surprise that she resented the mafia and everything it stood for for that reason alone.It was the speech s
By the time I was done with my errands, it was already late and I couldn’t go back to the penthouse. I had to go to the ball directly. I changed into a tux, and slicked my hair back as a way of styling it. On the way to the ball, I went to Cartier and picked out a diamond necklace. Livia deserved the best, and even though I was mad at her, I couldn’t help but want to spoil her. When I got to the venue, I saw many cars lined up. The ball, unlike others I had ever been on, I was not a mafia one. It was a charity ball for the homeless. Every now and then, I gave back to the community. It was the least I could do considering I sold drugs and guns for a living. But just because it was not a mafia ball didn’t mean it would not have influential people in the underworld. I was meeting an important politician there since it would raise eyebrows if we met officially. He was supposed to uphold the law, not break it. “Where is she?” I asked John as soon as I saw him. He pointed at Livia sp