Brielle Clarke~•~“Willing to make it up to me? After all these years both of you treated me like shit.” I flared up.“It wasn’t our intention,” Aubrey added. “We were just naive, we didn’t know what we were doing.” Were they really being serious right now? Using naive as an excuse to justify all the trauma they put me through ever since we were kids. Forget being kids. When they turned adults; when they were able to tell right from wrong, they still had the audacity to use being naive as an excuse. They had to be fucking kidding me.“Y’all weren’t only shitty to me, but you also watched Father treat me like shit.” It was always hot and cold with our father. Some days, he acted like the best dad in the world while other times, he acted like a nut in his head was loose. If he was angry after a day’s work, he was going to take it out on us, especially me, because according to him, I was of no use to his mafia.I didn’t really care about how they treated me in the past anymore. I would
Maxim Vasiliev ~•~For a long second, time was frozen as I tried to process what the fuck just happened.When I did, I turned around just in time to see Andrei falling to the ground and I could swear I felt my heart stop.Without thinking much, I rushed towards him, hearing another gunshot behind me. The men who had accompanied Andrei also started shooting. Bullets were flying around by the time I reached Andrei.I knew men were bound to die in a battle but this was a personal feud between my brother and me. No one had to be dragged into it, especially not Andrei.There was blood coming out of his chest, which scared me. Was he going to die?I didn’t care that other people were shooting behind me. I put my arms under his legs and his back, raising him. Before we could go out of the restaurant though, Landon approached us.Andrei was dying, but the gun was pointed at him, so I couldn’t move. I didn’t want him to get shot twice, but he was losing a lot of blood. “Aww,” Landon said in
I was at the mall when my phone started ringing. I could hear it ringing from the dressing room. I was trying on the yellow flowery dress the shopper had handed to me. She insisted I try on the dress because it would fit me perfectly. This dress was made for me in her words. The dress was halfway up when the phone stopped ringing. I didn’t have many people that called me, which meant it had to be important.By the time I had finished putting on the dress. My phone started ringing again. After the third ring, I came out of the dressing room wondering who would be blowing my phone up. I was thinking it would be Maxim. Maybe he wanted to ask me how my meeting with my brother went. Besides, he also had to meet with his brother. I opened my bag and brought out my phone. It was still ringing, I looked to see the caller and it was Mikhail. Mikhail usually called once and texted if I didn’t reply. This was extreme for him. Why was Mikhail blowing up my phone? I hope Maxim was okay. I pick
I walked out of the room and went downstairs hoping to see Andrei. I was worried about both men. One was physically hurt while the other was emotionally hurt, along with being imprisoned mentally. It was obvious he was not going to seek help from anyone, including me. It was what he was used to. He had been living that way all his life.As I descended the stairs, I saw Mikhail on the way. “How’s Maxim doing?” He asked me, obviously worried about his friend too. The house was eerily quiet, unlike other times, and it was expected, since everyone’s focus was on Andrei, hoping he would get better.“He’s not okay, but he won’t admit it. He’s taking a shower now.”“Okay.” He sighed, dragging a hand down his face. He was just as exhausted as I was, even if none of us were in the place where the shooting happened. Knowing Maxim didn’t tell me everything that happened, I asked Mikhail and he relayed the information to me as we went to the sick room together.I was in shock. I’ve always hated
Maxim Vasiliev~•~Andrei was getting better each day and he was finally awake, although still bedridden because the doctor wanted to keep a watchful eye on him. The bullet had hit very close to his heart. It was a fucking miracle he didn’t die on the spot. However, I was having mixed feelings, because anytime I saw Andrei, I remembered Landon. I never went back to check the state of the restaurant, but since it didn’t come up on the news, I had a feeling my men took care of it diligently.If Landon wasn’t so blinded by rage, he would have been alive by now. If I had been able to talk to him, maybe we would have been able to put this lifelong feud behind us. We would have been able to start over. We would have known the root of our problem was the man we called our father.Landon’s death affected me more than I cared to admit, but Brielle was able to see through me. She always made sure to stay with me at all times, only leaving when she had to force me to eat.I probably looked weak
Brielle Clarke~•~“Your sisters are here.” One of the men from the gate came to inform me about my sisters’ arrival. I wasn’t expecting them until 3 but it was only 2:15 pm. Why did they arrive so early? “Send them in,” I instructed him.I honestly had no idea what we were going to do. I didn’t know how I was going to manage to bond with people I’d hated my whole life. I didn’t want it to be awkward, so I told one of the men to set up the movie room and prepare snacks and drinks as well. At least no one is expected to talk during a movie. I went to my room to freshen up and prepare to face them. I put on the yellow flowery gown I had gotten from the mall the other day and threw on a pair of grey fluffy slippers. I heard the door open and I figured it was them and went down to welcome them. “Hi, Brielle.” Aubrey greeted me. She wasn’t even focused on me. Her gaze was focused on the beautiful interior of the house. She was probably admiring it and maybe wishing it was her here in
Maxim Vasiliev ~•~It was the third time I was visiting my father and this time, I didn’t bother to wait for him to welcome me at the door.I pushed the door open, strolling in like I owned the house. Two women who were slightly older than me sat on the couch having a conversation. One was blonde. The other was brunette. Just the way my father liked them.I wondered how they managed to live together peacefully without ripping each other’s heads off. Surely, my father must favor one more than the other. It was impossible for him to share his supposed love equally among them.Both of them stood up at my arrival. “Maxim.” The blonde one called out.“Where is he?”They immediately knew who I was talking about so the brunette pointed toward his office. Before they could say anything else, I walked right past them, heading for my father’s office.Andrei was a lot better now. He could go on with his life like every normal person but he had to avoid heavy lifting and hard labor. Aside from t
Brielle Clarke ~•~I was in the shower when I heard my phone beep multiple times. Who could be blowing up my phone again? The last time something bad happened. But I didn’t worry because they were just text messages and if it was something very serious I would have gotten a phone call.I took my time and did my lip and skin care before coming out of the bathroom. As I picked up my phone, I noticed the texts were from Aubrey. I couldn’t see the content of the texts because the phone was locked. I wondered why she was blowing up my phone. We weren’t very close yet so it was weird. Maybe she was just checking up on me. I dropped my phone to get completely dressed without looking at the texts she sent. After I got dressed, I went downstairs for breakfast. I had to eat alone because Maxim hadn’t returned the previous night. I was worried but I had been calling him all night and he didn’t respond. I didn’t know what else I could do. He had promised to come home but he didn’t.It was in
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