Brielle Clarke~•~My breath was caught in my throat as he approached me.I felt very vulnerable baring my entire back to him as there were scars scattered around it but there was nothing I could do about it. These scars were here to stay. Thankfully, he did not mention it.I felt him stand behind me, a little too close for my liking, but I kept my mouth shut as his hand traced down my back. I sucked in a sharp breath at the contact and I tried to keep my breathing steady as his finger continued its path until it found my zip.Slowly but surely, he zipped up the dress but I didn’t dare move. Any small movement would have my back connecting with his front. I was not prepared for that.He moved back a little and I was about to breathe in relief when his hand found my waist and he spun me around. A gasp escaped my lips when I came face to face with him.I had seen him this up close before but I never bothered to appreciate how handsome he was. He had dark hair that fell in waves and par
Brielle Clarke~•~I was not a woman who liked attention, so you could understand how embarrassed I felt when Maxim and I were walking into the hall.It was like everyone stopped what they were doing and decided that staring at us was better.My hand was tucked in his and I tried to hide my face as we walked in. Maxim, however, seemed used to this as he was not bothered by the numerous people staring at him. “Why are they so many?” I whispered.“There are very big families, Brielle. Very big.”I wanted to bite down on my lip but I knew it would ruin my lipstick so I took a deep breath and tried to ignore the onlookers.I wanted to ask him where exactly we were going when he spotted a man and walked toward him. The man seemed like the Italian version of him. From what I’d seen around the house, Maxim didn’t like the Italians.“Why are you walking towards him? I thought you didn’t like Italians?”Surprisingly, Maxim didn’t dismiss my questions or answer me rudely. “I like that Italian an
Brielle Clarke~•~While I knew there was a huge possibility they would be here, I was banking on the low probability that they wouldn’t show up.For some reason, it caught me off guard.They were looking impeccable, as always, like they were a happy family meanwhile they all held grudges against each other.I bit down hard on my lip. What would happen if he saw me? What would happen if I were to walk up to him?“Don’t you know that it’s rude to zone out when you’re in a conversation with someone?” Jordan asked, making me break my stare to turn to look at her.“Huh?” I asked stupidly.“What’s got you so distracted?” She looked behind us.I laughed nervously. “Nothing, really. It’s just my family has arrived.”“Oh.” She was excited. “Aren’t you going to say hello?”I sighed. “I am. I’ll be right back.”Even if my gut was telling me to stay where I was, I found myself sliding out of the stool. I smiled at Jordan before I finally left, clenching the material of my dress to ease my anxiet
Brielle Clarke~•~Expecting a hit from my father who didn’t care that there were people around, I was surprised when I felt nothing. I was even more surprised when I saw that Maxim had intercepted his hit. He held my father’s hand, stepping in front of me.“What the fuck do you think you’re about to do?”Some men behind my father stepped forward, drawing out their weapons. Before I knew it, men at my back also stepped forward, most likely Maxim’s men. Suddenly, we were surrounded.“She’s my daughter.” My father gritted out. “I can do to her whatever I like and she needs to be taught a lesson.”“I think I will be the judge of that. I don’t care what truce you have with my father, but the next time you raise your hand at her, it won’t be funny.”My dad snatched his hand away from Maxim’s hold. “And who are you to decide that?”He laughed like something was funny. “I don’t answer to you.”Maxim and my father stared at each other for some minutes before my dad signaled to his men to bac
Maxim Vasiliev~•~“Dumayesh', Klarki stanut problemoy?” Andrei asked me as he peeked over my shoulder at the said family. [Do you think the Clarkes are going to be a problem?]“YA uveren, chto oni ne budut. Edvard — kozol, kotoryy ne khotel by brosat' mne vyzov pered nimi, potomu chto on znayet, chto proigrayet.” I was very certain about it. I had seen the anger on his face when I stopped him from hitting his daughter. I was testing him but fortunately for the man, he had tolerance. [I'm certain they won't. Edward is a pussy that would not want to challenge me in front of them because he knows he'll lose.]I needed an excuse to take him down since he was so sly and messed with me without making it obvious. That excuse was his daughter. It was clear he resented her. More so he despised the fact that she was under me now.“Tvoya devushka v bare.” He cocked his head to the side and even if I had convinced Mikhail she wasn’t my girl, I still turned around to look at her. “I don’t think s
Brielle Clarke~•~We were attacked on the way home. According to Maxim, it was nothing serious because it didn’t escalate, but Maxim and I had never shared the same opinions.I was beginning to sober up, trying to remember the activities of the past few hours when I heard a loud bang. Apparently, a rival family was shooting at the car behind us which was filled with Maxim’s men.I screamed in fear, not knowing what to do. However, Maxim, seemingly having much experience, instructed me to duck. He told Andrei to move to the other lane and suddenly stop the car.I looked at him like he was crazy but I couldn’t talk. I was shaking as I kept my head down. Andrei, not doubting his boss, did as ordered, and with two clean shots, Maxim deflated their tires, sending them into a pole.He called to make sure the guys were okay. They were and they continued like nothing happened.It was a lot scary even if Maxim had seen it as nothing. My father had always protected me from the violence of the
Maxim Vasiliev~•~It had been two days since I last saw Brielle. It was obvious she was avoiding me intentionally. She was smart to do that because after our kiss the other day and having just the smallest taste of her, I had decided what I wanted to do with her.Brielle was shy and reserved but she had a fire in her that needed a little coaxing to come out. My father had good plans for her. She was fit to stand by my side. I did not care about love. I never did, but I was going to marry Brielle. That was only after I made her stronger; after I broke her out of the little shell she had been living in.Fuck, if she could hear the depraved thoughts I had of her, she would probably try to escape because while I wanted to get into a loveless marriage with her, I wanted to fuck her against every fucking surface in this mansion.I didn’t know why I was thinking about Brielle by this time. It was very late and I had just finished working.I only went to the kitchen to get myself a drink be
Brielle Clarke~•~I stood in my closet in front of the full-body mirror, staring at myself. There was also one out in my bedroom but I didn’t want to use that one Incas anyone barged in.The events of three nights ago were still replaying in my head. I would think it was a dream if the red spot on my neck was still visible.I touched it carefully, holding back a blush. It was the first time I had gotten a hickey. It was the first time a man ever marked me and it just had to be Maxim. I could still feel his mouth on my skin, hot and searing.The things he said that night were stuck in my head and I refused to believe them. He wanted to make me the woman he wanted. How did he plan to do that? Was he even serious or was he drunk? He had been drinking after all.The craziest part was that I had allowed him to do all those things to me. When he had ordered me to clean up my mess, I had obeyed. I liked it when he called me his dirty little whore. What was wrong with me?I could not stop st
Brielle Clarke~•~Maxim had no plans of making use of the toys anyway.It was very late at night and every sane person that was present at that party was asleep already, but not me and Maxim.I was naked and on my knees. The only accessory on my body was the collar that Maxim made me wear. It was black with a silver pendant that had his name on it. It was very derogatory, but it felt hot as fuck.Maxim had me waiting on my knees while he freshened up, which made me anticipate what was going to happen. Only thinking about sex with Maxim had my arousal dripping down my thighs and he hadn’t done anything yet.I heard the closet door open and my eyes snapped up. Maxim was still fully dressed in his three-piece suit, with his tie in place.“Who said you could look at me, whore?”My gaze dropped immediately before I could think twice about it. I heard him approach me and in no time, he was squatting in front of me.He lifted my chin, finally giving me permission to look. My eyes were stuck
Brielle Clarke~•~I knew Maxim had plans for my birthday, but what I didn’t know was that he planned to have a party as big as this.I almost chickened out from descending the stairs when I saw the crowd below it. Maxim had given me a black sleeveless dress to put on and Marina had helped me with my makeup and all that, keeping me inside the room for hours, giving him enough time for all the guests to arrive.“What’s this?” I questioned, my eyes stuck on the people who were eagerly waiting for my arrival.“I told you you deserve to be celebrated, baby. Didn’t I?” I was speechless. I couldn’t fucking speak. “That’s what this is. Now, stop putting on that alarmed face. One would think you were being kidnapped.” My eyes snapped to him and he raised his hand in surrender. “Too soon, I guess.”I laughed, kissing him shortly before he led me downstairs.“Happy birthday, Brielle.” They screamed in unison, making my pale face turn pink.It was night time already and I thought Maxim wanted to
Brielle Clarke~•~After the whole thing, Andrei helped me and my sisters get to the car and drove us home. Maxim didn’t even bother looking at me when we were leaving. I didn’t speak to him either because I knew he was in a difficult state. I didn’t know what to say to him and I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. “Take them home,” Maxim told Andrei. He didn’t flinch. He acted like he was okay like he didn’t just end his father’s life. Throughout the ride home, I was thinking of how Maxim felt. He was definitely angry at me because I wanted to shoot his father. Did I cross a boundary? But I only tried doing it because I wanted to protect Mikhail. “Are you okay?” Aubrey broke the silence in the car. I sat in the middle of both of them and hadn’t moved since the ride started.“Yes, I’m okay.” I lied. I didn’t want to talk about what just happened. I was still trying to process it. “It’s okay if you’re not okay. What happened back there must have been traumatizing.” She didn’t buy m
Brielle Clarke ~•~I looked up when I heard the door open, already knowing it was going to be Maxim.I felt awful. Maxim had seriously told me not to leave the house yet I did, putting myself and my sisters in danger, along with Maxim because who knew what his father wanted to do to him.From the snippets of conversations I’d heard around the house, Maxim had been provoking his father. Maybe, it was finally time for his father to retaliate and he was only able to get to Maxim through me.I was scared as fuck, but I felt even more guilty.Maxim looked right at me and took a step forward, only for his father to point the gun at me, making him come to a stop immediately. “Not so fast, boy.” He shook his head mockingly. “Are you that eager to save her?”I saw him clench his fists before putting them in his pocket. “What do you want?”“For you to undo all the stupid stunts you pulled.”“I’m sorry I can’t restore burnt buildings.” Maxim gritted out, unable to withhold his sarcasm even in
Maxim Vasiliev ~•~I received an enraged call from my father this morning. He was pissed as fuck, but that did not stop me from going on with my plan.When I woke up this morning, I saw that Brielle wasn’t in bed with me, which meant she was still mad at me, but I didn’t have the time to stick around and wait to apologize to her. When I was done dealing with my father, I would explain everything to her.“You’re not taking it easy on the poor man,” Andrei said. He had also been pained by my father’s betrayal because he was a man we all trusted.“He deserves it,” Mikhail replied from the back seat. “He should have seen it coming. He knows the kind of son he raised.”Not to brag but Mikhail was right. He did know the kind of son he raised. Unlike him, I didn’t hide any parts of myself. I didn’t pretend to be who I wasn’t, so he knew me. He knew what I was capable of and he knew how I’d react to a betrayal. Betrayals were something I didn’t take lightly because a betrayal could ruin the
Brielle Clarke~•~Just because I slept in the same bed as Maxim last night didn’t mean I’d forgiven him which was why I sneaked out of the bed early in the morning before he could wake up.It was a first for me.“Good morning, Mrs. Vasiliev.” Aubrey joked immediately after I answered her call.I rolled my eyes. “More like Miss Clarke.”“You could’ve fooled me. You said you weren’t sure about today because of your husband’s disapproval?”“He’s not my husband.” I gritted out, irritated by her teasing.“Okay, then how come he’s making decisions for you already?”I sighed. In the beginning, Maxim used to be very protective and controlling, but now, I knew that he wouldn’t tell me not to go out for no reason. He probably had something up his sleeve. The problem was that he didn’t trust me enough to tell me what it was and it aggravated me.That was the main reason I was ignoring him.He got so mad at me when I didn’t trust him and now that I trusted him with my life, he couldn’t share sma
Maxim Vasiliev ~•~Brielle’s bright idea was to ignore me. She didn’t talk to me all day when on a normal day, she would come into my office at least, five times. She didn’t sleep in the room as well and I hadn’t seen her all day, except for when we all had breakfast together this morning.I didn’t know why she was acting up when all I was doing was for her safety. I didn’t tell her she couldn’t go out. I just told her she shouldn’t go out until it was relatively safe; when she could go out without me worrying that my evil father would get to her.“Trouble in paradise?” Mikhail laughed as he joined me in the gym.I rolled my eyes. It was obvious she had told him about it already. Sometimes, I wondered if he was my best friend or hers, but then again, aside from Marina, he was the only close friend she had.“She’s being a child.” I understood that she had been locked in all her life but she was twenty-two, an adult, and now exposed enough to know that I was only looking after her.“I
Maxim Vasiliev ~•~I had put Brielle through a lot this year. I had put her through too much in general. Aside from the hell I gave her, she was kidnapped because of me and she was made a target because of my numerous enemies.Climbing up the ladder wasn’t so easy in our world. It meant making a lot of enemies. It meant defeating these enemies, but the problem was that some always came back.I wanted to give Brielle the perfect gift for her birthday, which was in five years, which was why I focused all my attention on stripping my father of everything he owned.He was the man that killed her mother. He was the one that made her go through all the shit she endured from her so-called family, and if I didn’t take care of him fast enough, I knew he was going to go after Brielle. She was my weak link. Everybody knew that:I wanted her birthday to be a special one. I wanted to throw her a grand party. Something told me she didn’t usually celebrate her birthdays because of the kind of famil
Brielle Maxim~•~“Why don’t we throw a party?” All eyes, except Maxim’s turned to Mikhail. Why was he talking about a party when Maxim hadn’t settled his score with his father yet? Everyone would finally be able to relax when we knew the man was behind bars, paying for his crimes.“Why? The alcohol you are consuming right now is not enough for you?” Andrei asked sarcastically. We were at a bar, drinking together and I was the only woman among them. I wanted to stay at home and let them have a boys’ night out but Maxim refused and demanded I follow them.It was just me, Maxim, Andrei, and Mikhail. I wanted to bring Marina with me so I wouldn’t be the only female but she happened to be busy. Sometimes, it sucked that I didn’t have any friends, but most times, I was grateful for the tight-knit circle I had. I didn’t have to worry about betrayal and someone giving out my information to the enemy.Being with Maxim meant I inherited all his enemies and I could never be too careful. I had