“What do you normally wear?”I shrugged. “The outfit you found me in was one the I liked the most. The jeans were from Target and the shirt was from Walmart.”His shocked face, mouth open just a little, made me want to laugh. It looked ridiculous on his face.“Target? Isn’t that a grocery store? Come to think of it, isn’t Walmart as well?”My eyebrow rose. “You’ve never been to a Target?”He countered. “You’ve been to a Target? You are a printsessa of the mafia. Your father isn’t stupid enough to just let his blood roam freely in the streets.”“I don’t think my father has seen me as human for a long time. He called me his pet but in all honesty I was his stray. On days that I could guarantee that he wouldn’t be back, I’d take a hundred out of the wad in his top office drawer and go out. Have a meal at the local diner and
Juri motioned me to continue.“Last night, Marek spoke to me in regards to the plan moving forward. He said he would feel better with me at the penthouse for the moment rather than here.”He nodded. “Yes, Marek informed me he is headed back there today with you. I won’t say I disagree with him but I don’t think he’s wholly correct in his thinking.”“He also told me that when we got back, he would get me settled in before leaving to Moscow in the evening for business.”I saw it. The immediate surprise and anger rise up in him. He slammed his hands down on the desk and was about to say something, or yell something, when I put up my hand.“My request is that you allow him to go.”Everything Juri was about to say died in his throat. “Wait…what?”I clasped my hands together. “I’ve upheaved so much of his life already. I never meant for this to
I looked up at him and he was standing within moments, squatting down in front of me and taking my hands in his. My eyes looked from the phone to his hands. I didn’t really want to explain why this brought a panic attack up.“Ria, what’s wrong? It’s not the newest model, I know, but it’s what we could get on short notice and Lev being out of commission.”“I…I don’t know how to use it…”Everyone in the kitchen stopped, the constant sound of movement ceased. It was a silence that made me want to run for the door.Marek’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean? You’ve never had this type of phone? Or…”God, I wanted to die right there on the stool. “No, I…it’s a touch screen? I use my fingers to open it?”Suddenly, realization dawned on him. “You’ve never had a cell phone before.”I shook my head. &ldqu
I held down on the box and it popped up. A little keyboard with the message bubble from Aleksei. I pressed each letter on the screen slowly.‘Fine. Marek is mad.’It took me about three tries to get it so it said Marek and not mark or mare but I hit the little paper airplane and watched the bubble pop up under Aleksei’s bubble.‘Look at you! Texting and shit! I can hear Marek screaming through the door of Juri’s office.’Hitting the window button, I rolled it down and Aleksei was right. Marek was bellowing Russian into the phone.‘Okay. I&
Letting his shirt go, I guided the cart away from him into the women’s section of clothing. Luckily, I nabbed a couple jeans in my size and threw in a few of their generic cotton shirts. There were some movie or internet related ones but nothing jumped out at me enough to swap out for the plain colors. Underwear, socks, and a couple bras were next. I was flat as a board but it felt good to have something more than just your nipples bushing up against a shirt. Plus, the black lace bralette was actually cute. Crossing the path to the shoe section, they had some off brand Chucks in my size that I threw in. I also grabbed a pair of slippers and a belt. They had purses but I snagged a backpack that was shaped like a cup of ramen that I could put all the clothes in.It was easy to see Marek’s towering figure in the men’s section. He was looking at the wall of shirts that were displayed with funny sayings or pop culture references. Walking the cart up next to him,
“All my siblings have access to the top floor. They do not have the code to get inside the penthouse itself. There is a little hallways that’s blocked off as an exit and entrance only. Vlad, Boris and Aleksei are the only ones who have access to this floor. Vlad and Aleksei are the only ones who have the code to enter the penthouse.”I nodded. The dial going past 50 floors and I started to feel a little weak. How tall was this building? Taking a deep breath, I let it out from my nose just as the doors opened. Glancing above me, the number glared 73. It wasn’t the tallest building but it was up there. Sure enough, there was an entryway area. Two benches, three different pieces of art, and some plants in giant pots that looked fake, were all that broke up the stark white walls. Marek didn’t even take a second as he strode to the right which had a large fortified door. It didn’t even look welcoming. It looked like you were walking into a vault
Vlad looked like a shell-shocked deflated balloon. His eyes went between Marek and I when I crossed my arms over my chest.“This mudak is the one you want to protect me? Seriously?”Now both of them were looking at me as I glared at Vlad. Yes, I’d called him an asshole in Russian. I wasn’t about to not learn the language and everyone knows the first thing you learn in a different language is the swear words.“Vlad Lenkov, I would you to meet Rosaria Baranov, my wife. She will be staying here until further notice. The issue is I need to go to Moscow for a week and with the Italians running around with a hit out on her, I’d like to make sure she’s safe. Inside and out.”Vlad seemed to not be taking this as well as Marek hoped he would. He just stared, slack-jawed at me.“Vlad…?”“Who the hell agreed to this? Her father is Carlo, right? Enzo is a fucked u
“Where is your phone?”I pointed to kitchen counter I’d placed it when we first walked in.“Keep this with you, Ria. I know it’s weird but think of it as a weapon. Always carry it around. Let me show you a couple important things.”He looked over me as he showed me the different paths to get to texting, phone calls, camera and video. I’d probably would have asked more questions, but his cheek was an inch from mine as he leaned over and showed me the different buttons. It was distracting as hell especially since he smelled like he’s showered just before coming down and his cologne mixed with whatever hair product he used should be illegal. My face was probably flushed through the entire explanation but it got even worse when his hand came up and he tipped my chin up to look at him.“Be safe. Don’t do anything stupid. If anything happens, you fight. Don’t give anyone the satisfaction of your