★★★★★★

Amy and I are in the living room watching television.

"Hey A, am I a slut? Do I look like a prostitute? Do I act like one?"

Amy has a puzzled look on her face.

"Just answer me A."

"Okay, you're a twenty six year old virgin. So yeah, that makes you the biggest slut in the history of sluts." Amy said all too sarcastically.

"Where is this coming from B?"

"When Nikolai dumped me, he said I was so easy."

"B, you fell in love with him. Of course you would easily give up everything for him. That's what people who are in love do. They do stupid things."

"My boss kissed me last night and he said he wants to fuck me. There must be something wrong with me A. I must have given the wrong signal or something."

Amy parted her lips. "What? Omg B. What happened?"

"I slapped him."

"You slapped your boss on your first day? Way to go B!" She said while patting my shoulder.

Amy did not help with my confusion at all. What happened last night was unacceptable. Im going to make sure that will not happen again.

I decided to text Dardan that I won't be able to continue my work with his Boss anymore. I know it's unprofessional to text my resignation but what he did to me last night was way beyond human decency.

Uhh, but when I think about Aria, my heart just quickly softens up. That little girl is such an angel. Aria is like a tiny piece of sunshine.

I'm looking blankly at the TV screen, silently battling my internal struggle. All of a sudden, pictures of familiar looking men flashed on the screen. It instantly took mine and Amy's attention. Those were the two we left with Alexei's men last night. The reporter said the dead bodies of the two were found at a dumpster near the stadium and that the police believes it is connected to a gangland hit.

Oh my god. Amy and I looked at each other in horror. Nikolai or Alexei ordered those killings.

"B, I think you're right."

★★★★★★

After everything that I have been through, Amy said I deserve a break from the world. Amy and I spent all day in bed binge watching chick-flicks on the internet. The latest one we are watching is The Bodyguard. We squeal every time we see Kevin Costner's enigmatic eyes.

We are in the middle of the movie when all of a sudden, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it B." Amy quickly hopped out of bed and exited the room. All of a sudden, I heard the main door being shut hard. What the hell?

I was about to get out of bed but Amy went back to the room all too excitedly.

"B!!!!!!!!!! There's a ridiculously good looking guy at our door and he's looking for you." I swear Amy's eyes are glittering. Who could it be?

I slowly walked towards the door while Amy is following me from behind.

When I opened the door, I saw Alexei wearing a dark blue suit and his magnetic charm. He instantly grabs me by my waist and wraps his arms around me. I just let him do it. I realized that I actually miss him. I miss him so much. His scent, his beautiful hazel eyes, his presence. Oh god. Why am I feeling like this?

At this point I can feel that my eyes are being pinched by tiny needles. My tears are already starting to fall.

"Everything is going to be fine my princess."

He wipes my tears off and plants small kisses on my cheeks.

"I want you to tell me everything Alexei."

"That's why I'm here."

Alexei and I are standing in the living room. I looked around but Amy just magically disappears. To my surprise Alexei removed his jacket and tied the sleeves around our waist tightly.

"What are you doing?"

"Relax, I'm just making sure you wont walk away from me before I could finally tell you the whole truth." Oh my god, this is it.

While we are tied together, Alexei brushes strands of my hair off of my face. He wraps his arms around me while looking me in the eyes intently.

"We are the Russian Mafia. My brother and I are the Boss and the Underboss of the Volkov crime family. We lead an organized crime ring all over New York and other states where we have affiliates. We traffic mostly drugs and guns, and other contraband. We run superclubs, sex clubs and gambling rings. We eliminate whoever gets in our way. We are criminals."

My hunch has been confirmed. I am surprised by my own calmness. I took every word Alexei told me and I'm not even frightened or fazed by this reality.

"What about Volkov Holdings?"

"Volkov Holdings serves as our front. It's or dummy company. We have many legit investments and holdings all over New York. Some businesses we are in full control and some we are part owners or partners. We invest to legal transactions through the holdings but it is also where we funnel dirty money to make it appear clean."

Alexei cupped my face and connected his lips on my forehead.

"You really got us worried princess. You know how to go under the radar. I must say I'm quite impressed." I smack him on his shoulder in response. "Us? You mean Nikolai as well?"

"Yes, he is the Boss, he ordered everything."

Nikolai had a hand in all of these. My Nikolai.

"One way we could have tracked you down was through the necklace, the one my brother gave you but we both know why that's not a possible option."

It makes sense now, that is why Nikolai made me promise not to remove it from my body no matter how much I hate him. It's because he placed a tracking device in it.

"We can't also track you down on the phone he gave you because you threw it away." Geez, Nikolai was a creepy boyfriend. Now I'm afraid to know what else he did just to keep tabs on me.

"Why did you and Nikolai look for me? Your brother said he just played me then why did you two even bother looking for me?"

"My brother will tell you in time. It must come from him. The important thing is that you know that he is still in love with you."

My heart is suddenly filled with warmth. Nikolai loved me and is still in love with me.

Moments later, my legs grew tired so I asked Alexei if we could just sit on the couch. He romoved the jacket that was tied to us and made me sit on his lap. I wrapped my arm around his neck while my breasts are pressed on his upper chest. His arm is wrapped around my back while his other hand is holding on to my thigh.

"What about Calvin. Were you the one responsible for what happened to him?"

"Who's Calvin?"

"Amy's ex, the one who wanted to put us in jail."

"Oh that one. Well, we tried to talk to him but he did not listen so we did what we do best." Alexei is saying this like it's just a normal thing to beat people down.

"The money in my bank account. Were you the one sending money in it?

"Yes, just for you to get by." Get by? Is he kidding me? Six hundred thousand dollars just for me to get by? That amount of money can feed a small community back home for one whole year!

"I want you to stop it Alexei. What do you think I would do with that money? I don't need it. I'm sending it back."

"Okay do that, Ill just double the amount when I deposit it back to your account." My eyes widened in disbelief. Is he being serious right now?

"For as long as you're still not back in our lives and our home, it will keep on coming. It would at least give me a little bit of peace of mind. You are family, we take care of family. That's what we do."

My heart instantly melted. I wasn't able to respond.

"We used all our resources to find you. And it paid off. I called Dylan to get you. Nikolai forbade me from seeing you that is why we needed Dylan on this. Since finding you, our men have never took their eyes off of you. We still want to protect you without alarming you or else what Nikolai sacrificed will all be put to waste."

Alexei and I went silent for several seconds.

"You said Nikolai forbade you from seeing me, then why are you here? Why risk it Alexei?"

"Because I think letting you go was the worst decision that my brother has made and he will regret this for the rest of his life if I don't do something about it. He's a broken man without you. We need you princess. Nikolai needs you. We just need to smack some sense on him."

"Smack some sense?"

"Yah, we just need to remind him of what he has been missing all these time." Alexei said while almost kissing my cheek.

"Come to my birthday party tomorrow night."

Oh my god, that's right. Alexei is two months younger than Nikolai.

"I will have my men pick you up at seven in the evening, they will wait for you outside. If you decide to go, I will take that to mean you are ready and willing to accept Nikolai back to your life. All of Nikolai, the Mafia, including his past and his future. If you decide not to go, I will make sure that we will leave you alone. You will never hear from us anymore."

I did not answer Alexei and just look him in his eyes.

"If you decide to come, I will take it from there on. All you need to do is to trust me. I will deal with everything, including Nikolai. Help me bring our family back together princess."

Alexei left me in the living room with an enormous decision to make that could possibly change or completely ruin my life for good.