CHAPTER 2

ALESSIO

I opened the door to my bedroom and slammed it behind me. Viktor had been

busy with the clubs’ problems, to make sure all our businesses were running

smoothly, so house check-ups fell on me. That was Viktor’s job and I didn’t trust

anyone else to take care of it. So I went myself.

Shifting my weight on my feet, I jerked at my tie hard until it came undone

and I pulled it off my neck. As I was taking off my suit jacket, my phone

vibrated in my pocket.

Taking it out, I saw Phoenix’s name flashing on the screen.

“What is it?” I growled into the phone.

“Boss,” he said, sounding panicked and out of breath. I almost rolled my

eyes.

“What is it?”

“Boss…”

I didn’t hear the rest of his sentence,instead tuning him out.

My eyes widened when I noticed a white cloth extending from beneath my

bed. I walked closer, the phone still at my ear.

When I reached the cloth, I crouched down and touched it.

As I lifted the covers around the bed and looked down, my mouth fell open at

the sight, then anger coursed through me. I could feel my eyes narrowing into

slits.

A girl. A dirty-looking girl was hiding under my bed.

“Boss, boss, are you there?” Phoenix yelled through the phone.

“What?” I bellowed, as I kept my eyes on the little intruder.

She jumped at my tone and started shaking, her chin trembling and tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

I bared my teeth at her and she tried to scoot away from me, but I didn’t give

her a chance. Grabbing onto her white, shredded, dirty dress, I held her still. She

wasn’t going anywhere.

I fisted the material in my hand and pulled until she was no longer under the

bed.

“Boss! Someone broke into the estate,” Phoenix screamed through the phone,

sounding frustrated.

I smiled. The girl kept her knees against her chest, then wrapped her arms

around her head as if to protect herself from me.

I laughed at the thought. Poor girl. She didn’t even know what she’d gotten

herself into. Breaking into the house of the Bratva’s boss—the Pakhan—and

then hiding under his bed.

“Boss?” Phoenix said, sounding confused.

“I got this,” I growled through the phone, glaring at the intruder. I ended the

call before he could answer.

Putting it back in my pocket, I grabbed her arm and pulled her upward. She whimpered painfully and her sniffles filled the room. She kept her head down,

her hair falling like a curtain around her face, shielding her from me.

When I tried to pull her close, she resisted and tried to twist away. I tightened

my hold on her small wrist, and I knew I was hurting her. Her wincing told me

so, but I didn’t let go.

If I wanted to, with barely no effort, I could break her hands in half.

I let her go and took a step back. She did exactly what I expected. She ran

straight toward the door.

I smirked, pulling my gun from the back of my pants. I pointed it at her and

spoke calmly.

“Another step and I’ll shoot you.”

She stopped. Her body trembled badly and I knew it was from fear. What she

didn’t know was that I fed on fear.

I laughed and it sounded harsh to my own ears. She jumped but didn’t run for

her life.

“Turn around.”

She didn’t turn around.

Red hot anger coursed through my body. Nobody dared to ignore me. Yet,

this girl….

“Turn around,” I shouted at her back.

My little captive jumped again, but this time she swiveled around quickly.

She kept her face down.

I wanted to see her.

I blinked at the sudden thought. What?

Shaking my head, my brow furrowed as I watched her. What was she doing

here? Why was she here? By the look of her, she didn’t belong in a place like

this. Not in a Mafia house. Especially not in my house.

“Look at me,” I said before I could stop myself. My fingers tightened around

the gun as I waited for her to do as she was told.

She took longer than I expected. If she was one of my men, I would have

already shot her for disobedience. But I couldn’t bring myself to move.

For some unknown reason, the way she covered her face with her long dark

hair, looking so childlike, made my chest hurt.

What the fuck?

“Look at me,” I said again, this time my voice grating. She slowly brought

her head up and I saw doe-like eyes peeping through her hair. I sucked in a

breath and took a step toward her.

As she continued to lift her head, I saw a tiny round nose and then pink full

lips that had dried blood on them. Her cheeks were round, but obviously bruised.

I couldn’t see her face properly, it was so covered with dirt and bruises.

She was hugging her arms around herself, her body shaking with silent

tremors. The little intruder was obviously frightened. She was a tiny girl and I

felt my heart twisting at her fragile state.

Taking a step forward, I saw green eyes peeping up at me under her long

lashes. She blinked away tears as she saw me approaching, my gun still pointed

at her.

When I was close, I slowly brought the gun down and glared at her

menacingly. When she flinched, I felt my resolve slipping.

She took a step back and I growled, “Don’t move.”

She flinched again. My heart was beating fast in my chest. What the fuck is

wrong with me?

I moved closer until our chests were almost touching. I felt her tremble

against me, and she whimpered in fear. She hugged her body tighter and folded

into herself, as if she was trying to hide from me, even in plain sight.

I brought my empty hand up to her face. She winced but didn’t move. Silent

tears streamed down her cheek and I touched a drop, thumbing it away. She

froze and I felt her suck in a breath.

I froze too. Something was wrong with me.

Before I could stop myself, my hands went to the strands of hair hanging over

her face. I slowly moved her hair to the side until her whole face was visible to

me. Maybe my heart stuttered for a moment. I didn’t know.

She slowly lifted her gaze until she was staring at me with glassy green eyes,

the color of the rain forest.

I swallowed hard, slowly moving my thumb over her soft cheek. When she

winced in pain, I let her go, taking several steps back.

A wave of emotion ran through me. First sadness, then tenderness, and finally

anger. I decided to hang on to the anger and let it consume me.

There was no place for tenderness in my life. Tenderness made you weak.

Any emotion other than anger made you weak.

And I couldn’t be weak. I had thousands of people behind me and I had

thousands to lead.

So, I grabbed on to the anger and let it course through me until my body was

shaking.

Red hot anger. I glared at her and pointed my gun at her again. Her eyes

widened and she let out a cry, her hand coming up to her chest.

She shook her head repeatedly, her mouth opening and closing silently as if

she wanted to say something.

“Who the fuck are you and why are you here?” I growled at her, my voice

low, but my tone dangerous. It spoke volume and it was obvious the girl

understood it.

If she didn’t give me an answer that I was satisfied with, I would shoot her

without a second thought.

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