Bought by the Russian Mobster (2 page)

Vladimir got into his car and looked in the rearview mirror. Nicolai knew what he was seeing. His brother was a sucker for the locks of soft, honey-colored hair that rested against the curve of Lily’s breasts. Her wide blue eyes were hooded, but clear and intelligent. Even Nicolai thought she looked good enough to eat. Getting Lily far away from Vladimir had just become Nicolai’s most important task. Once she was out of sight, he would forget her and she could live her life without worrying about the possibility of Vladimir’s dark intentions.

Chapter Two

“Where are you going?” Nicolai asked in Russian as his brother steered the car around a tight corner.

Vladimir gave Nicolai a sideways glance. “I’m dropping you at your place.”

“My car is at our father’s,” Nicolai pointed out. “We need to speak with him anyway to tell him the outcome of our meeting with Ivan.”

“I don’t want his interference,” Vladimir snapped.

Nicolai grimaced. “No. You don’t want to take a chance that he won’t agree to whatever it is that you’re planning for Lily.”

From the corner of his eye, Nicolai could see Lily growing restless in the back seat. They were speaking in Russian, but there was a good chance she was fluent, which meant she would know they were casually discussing her fate.

“I want her,” Vladmir said flatly. “There. I said it. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“I already knew that.” Nicolai had to tread carefully. “I’m just saying that you either go through the proper channels to get her, or you’re going to have hell to pay. Remember what happened last time.”

“You always bring that up!” Vladimir snarled.

Nicolai gazed at his brother. They were twins. It gave Nicolai unique insight into Vladimir’s emotions and behaviors, but it also meant that Nicolai understood his brother was far from fine. In fact, Vladimir was batshit crazy on the best of days.

“Fine!” Vlad spun the car in the opposite direction, heading toward their father’s home. It was the home territory seat of the Pasternak mafia. “I’ll go talk to our father.”

Mere minutes later they pulled up in front of the palatial house. Both brothers exited the car. It was Nicolai who carefully helped Lily out of the back seat. He gave her a warm smile, wanting to reassure her.

“What’s happening?” she asked softly.

“I’m not sure what will happen,” he told her honestly, “but I’ll do my best to protect you.”

“Why would you do that?” She cocked her head. “Why would you even care?”

He sighed. “Because someone should, Lily.”

***

Lily was afraid. These brothers were like a powder keg waiting to go off. The crazy one apparently wanted to keep her and the nice one was promising to try and prevent it. What was she supposed to do?

She followed their lead up the front steps of a huge mansion. There were men everywhere. They lounged about on the porch, not even worried that their guns were plainly visible in holsters at their sides. Once inside, there were more men in the kitchen and then a few more as she and the brothers made their way down the hall.

Nicolai suddenly turned around and gestured to a bench in the hallway. “I want you to sit here, all right? You’ll be perfectly safe here. Our father is the boss of all the Pasternaks, even your family. My brother and I will have a little conference with him, and then we’ll know more of what’s going to happen.”

“Okay.” She swallowed down a lump of fear in her throat.

She perched on the edge of the bench and tried to look composed. She was so tired of everyone else being in charge of her destiny. She just wanted a safe place to be for a while. Somewhere she could sleep without keeping one eye open. A place where there was food and shelter, and maybe even someone to talk to. Other people took that stuff for granted. Not Lily.

There was a crash in the kitchen followed by laughter from the men. She was tempted to peek around the corner, but settled for listening instead.

“You broke it!” someone shouted. “Too much more of that and you’ll wind up working in one of the whorehouses to cover your debt.”

Another man howled with laughter. “Can’t you just see him lining up with the ladies to see if one of the customers might want a taste?”

“You know how it works for the women in those places,” the first man said. “They spend half their lives on their backs and still never manage to pay off the debts that landed them there in the first place. Poor old Yakov will be there the rest of his sorry life to pay for one broken bowl!”

Lily froze, a horrible suspicion growing in her mind. Her papa had sold her to pay a debt. Did that mean she actually had to work it off?

***

Nicolai glowered at his brother as Vladimir spun some ridiculous tale about Lily for their father. Pyotr Pasternak was in his sixties now. He was round and balding with a jolly expression that could turn angry and vengeful in only seconds. Now he was peering at the older of his twins as though he had grown a second head.

“Ivan owes
me
,” Vladimir said emphatically. “It is my casino that suffers the loss when he does not pay his debt. Therefore this woman is mine to do with as I please.”

Nicolai snorted. “The casino is syndicate property. If you want to get technical, it belongs to our father since he’s still in charge.”

“Thank you, Nicolai,” Pyotr said drily. “Though I feel your comment is as self-serving as it is deferential.”

“I won’t lie,” Nicolai said. “There is something about this woman that makes a man want to have her. She’s a waif and yet she manages to be sexy.”

“So you want her in your bed,” Pyotr laughed. “My lusty sons!”

Nicolai shrugged. “Of course I want her in my bed. I also want to help her. I want to see what she becomes with a chance to be independent and healthy.”

Their father turned to Vlad. “So you said she is thin and needs cleaning up?”

“Yes.” Vlad gave a hard nod. “I will keep her in my home and break her in for the brothel.”

“No.” Pyotr shook his head. “I know you, Vladimir. You will use her until she is too far gone to be of any use in any of our businesses.” He scratched his bristly chin. “I will give her to Nicolai. But if she is not capable of earning the debt she owes in three months or less, you will be responsible for paying off her debt.”

“Agreed,” Nicolai said immediately.

“You cannot!” Vladimir shouted. “She is mine! I saw her first. I made the deal with Ivan. This is my woman!”

“Do you dare to argue with me?” Pyotr advanced on his son, glaring hotly at Vladimir until he looked down and began to squirm. “I may not be able to thrash you, but I have legions of men at my beck and call who can. Do you understand me, boy?”

“Yes, Father,” Vladimir spat. “I understand you perfectly.”

Nicolai watched his brother leave the office with angry strides. Then he looked at his father. “Vladimir will never give up. He wanted the toy, and you took it. Worse, you gave it to me.”

“Then perhaps you had better figure out a way to protect the toy,” his father said grimly. “We have always known it would come to this with your brother. He is headstrong, but he is still my son.”

Nicolai bowed his head, showing his father respect. Then he left the office behind.

 Lily was still sitting on the bench, but her posture was rigid. Nicolai approached with caution. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain under the best of circumstances.

***

Lily was relieved when the nicer brother returned without the crazy one in tow. Perhaps she could actually scrape together the courage to state her case. She took a deep breath and launched in before she could change her mind.

“I’m not going to be a whore,” she said in a rush.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Did you expect we would make you one?”

“I was listening to the men in the kitchen,” she explained. “They were talking about how women pay off their debts here.”

“Ah.” He sat down on the bench beside her. He was warm and his body language didn’t seem threatening. Then he smiled at her. “I have no intention of putting you to work in a brothel. There are other options. We will have to see. In the meantime, I have a responsibility to you—as you pointed out earlier—to see that you’re fed and taken care of. You need time. I will provide a place for you to have just that.”

“Where?” She could not even imagine such a place.

“In my home,” he explained. “I won’t ask any more of you than you’re willing to give. Do you understand?”

“I think so.” She felt eager and didn’t really understand why. “But what happens after?”

“I’m not sure.” He shrugged, his lopsided grin warming her heart. This man seemed genuine, even when he was being reserved. She liked that. Then he gestured to the door. “Let’s go. I think we should start with new clothes and a warm meal. How about you?”

She could barely speak, she was so stunned. Managing to nod, Lily walked out of the house and into what she hoped was a new life.

Chapter Three

Lily gazed around the clothing store and wondered if her eyes would pop out of her head completely. She had never seen so much stuff packed into one room. The colors were amazing. All of the clothes she currently had had been previously worn until the fabric was faded and thin.

“Go ahead,” Nicolai urged. “Find some things for yourself. You may touch or try on anything that you wish.”

Lily felt embarrassed. The salesclerk was staring at her as though she were garbage that had walked in off the street. Worse, Lily knew that the clerk was right about her in a way. Lily was wearing a thin cotton dress that was several sizes too small. She was barefoot and her hair was a tangled mess. She couldn’t remember the last time she had used makeup or even a nail file. Occasionally she could get away with purchasing those items, but generally her papa had kept a close eye on what she bought at the corner market. Lily had never known another life. Now she felt as if everything were changing.

It was impossible to keep her eyes from drifting over to Nicolai. She had thought him an unfeeling jerk to participate in a scheme to take a woman as payment for a debt. Now she was beginning to see him as her savior.

She ran her fingers over a dress with fabric that was particularly soft. She removed the hanger from the rack and searched for the fitting room.

“You like that one?” The clerk seemed to realize that this was likely to be a very large sale. “I can find a few others in a similar style or pattern. Here, why don’t you start with this one, and I’ll bring you some other items?”

“Okay?” Lily said uncertainly. From the corner of her eye she saw Nicolai smile. It gave her courage. “That would be very nice. Thank you.”

The clerk grinned and showed Lily into a tiny room with a bench and two full-length mirrors. Lily locked the door and pulled her dress over her head. It was a shock to see herself in the mirror. Every one of her ribs was visible. She looked away and picked up the new dress.

It only took seconds to try on the pretty blue garment. Lily stood in front of the mirror and turned from side to side. The improvement was dramatic. The color made her eyes stand out and gave her pale face some life. She certainly liked that.

“Here are a few more.” The clerk swung an armful of clothing over the top of the door. “And your gentleman friend said you’ll be needing some underwear and lingerie as well.”

“He did?” Lily was astonished. She had thought Nicolai simply didn’t want to be seen in public with a woman in a dress that was too small and without shoes.

“He seems very eager to fit you out properly.” The clerk’s tone was kind. “I was sorry to hear about the fire. He said you lost everything.”

Lily was taken aback. “Yes. I have nothing left.” It was unusually thoughtful of Nicolai to come up with a story to cover the truth about Lily’s embarrassing circumstances. Perhaps he was avoiding his own embarrassment? “Thank you for your help,” Lily said quickly. “I’ll just try these on.”

It seemed as though only minutes passed, but it had to have been more like an hour or two. Lily tried on so many things that she soon couldn’t decide what she liked best and simply began putting things into two piles—what fit and what didn’t fit.

There were chemises and slinky satin nightgowns, socks, and silk pantyhose, and shoes with heels so high that she despaired of ever being able to walk in them. Skirts, blouses, dresses, jeans, leggings, sweaters, and even T-shirts that were snug around her breasts all went into their respective piles. Finally she heard the clerk speaking to Nicolai out front.

Lily opened the dressing room door and peered out. Nicolai was at the front counter, handing the woman his credit card. Had he chosen a dress for her after all? She was almost disappointed. While it would be heavenly to have a new dress, she had really wanted to choose for herself.

The clerk strode over a few minutes later with the very first dress she had tried on. “Here, sweetie. He says to put this one on and find some sensible shoes to wear.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Lily dutifully took the dress.

Inside the dressing room, she chose a bra and a pair of panties with lace and bows. She put the clothing on, finishing up with the dress and a pair of sandals. Hopefully whatever Nicolai had paid the store would cover these items.

Lily left the fitting room behind and walked to the front of the store. She felt uncomfortable with the amount of attention she had received. “Thank you,” she said to Nicolai. “I very much appreciate the new clothes.”

The salesclerk smiled at them both. “I’ll have everything boxed up and sent to the home address you’ve given me. It’ll all be there by later tonight.”

Nicolai winked at the clerk, making her blush. “Thank you.”

The wink did funny things to Lily’s stomach. She had never been proprietary about anything, but seeing Nicolai give special attention to the clerk made Lily feel warm under her dress. The angry sensation was uncomfortable. She had no right to feel like this about him. He did not belong to her. It was the other way around. And for all she knew, he might own fifty other women. Perhaps people paid him in women all the time.