Page 3 of Paying the Mafia Don

Rosalyn’s reaction was all BFF. She demanded to come. When I refused to let her attend, she offered to lend me her Taser. “Aren’t Tasers illegal?”

“Isn’t sexual assault?” she deadpanned. “Besides, it’s registered, and I always carry the Taser with my ID card.” I shook my head and refused again. “Okay, well, at least take my pepper spray. It’s in a special plastic canister that will pass any metal detectors.”

I shook my head again. “Ms. Therapist, I think you need help.” I gave her a swift hug. I plastered a smile on my face, packed my checkbook, and left for the mystery meeting.

The Ismailov offices on the thirtieth floor are sleek and modern, with black granite floors and walls. The furniture is all black with chrome accents and looks comfortable, but before I can sit in the reception area, Kolya greets me and introduces me to his cousin, Rurik Ismailov.

“Miss Wright, welcome.” Kolya ushers me inside, where another man waits. “We appreciate your time.”

I remind myself of how many people witnessed me walking into this luxury building to calm my fears. I want to believe that they haven’t brought me here for nefarious purposes—but the way this stranger scans me quakes my core. Even though he’s seated, I can tell he is tall. His skin has the warm, lightly browned skin of a man who lives in the sun while his light-colored eyes speak of things done after dark.

My brows draw together. I don’t see my parents. “My mother and father…”

Kolya pats me on the arm. “Won’t be joining us today.“ He offers me a seat. “We wanted to meet with you.”

I sink into the seat Kolya has directed me to, my heart racing faster than the horses at the track my father loves so much.

The stranger leans forward and offers his hand. “Leandros Gataki.”

“Oh, ah, I’m Valentina Wright.”

He doesn’t smile and yet he’s still the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. His square jaw is dimpled with a cover model’s cleft and his eyes, now that I’m closer, match the churning waters of Lake Michigan. He completes his study of me and turns back to Rurik Ismailov. I release the breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. His words force a sharp intake of air when he turns to the others and growls. “She won’t do.”

The air leaves my body as if he’d punched me. I glance at Kolya, who has the decency to look embarrassed, then at Rurik, who frowns. “Why the fuck not?” Even though I don’t know what they’re debating, I’m asking myself the same question.

“She’s too beautiful. Too sexy. No way in hell she’s a virgin.”

My mouth drops as his words hit me. I immediately know what is happening. I claw my fingertips into the expensive armrests. “Is that why I’m here? Am I up for sale? Because, if so, then gentlemen, you’ll never get your money. Since before I hit puberty, men my father owed have offered to take my virginity as payment.” I wish my eyes could spray the room like a flamethrower, but since it can’t, I settle for a withering glare. “Never in such a luxurious environment, but whether it’s a twenty-dollar John or twenty-thousand, I’m not for sale.” I stand and turn when Rurik’s words halt me.

“Three hundred thousand.” I whirl around so fast I nearly trip over my feet, which are still heading towards the door. “Your father owes the wrong men three hundred thousand dollars. While you may not care about your piece of shit, Dad, I agree with you on that. They are not threatening him. They will take their money piece by piece from your mom until his debt is paid. You said tricks cost twenty dollars? Tell me, how long would it take her to earn three hundred… Thousand?”

“I’ll pay…”

He raises his brow. “With what? The hundred seventy-nine dollars and change you have in the checking and savings… combined.” I shiver because I checked my account on the way here, and his figure is the exact amount, minus the sixteen cents. “Even if you paid with your full salary, you’d barely cover the interest, which is compounding daily.”

I don’t know this man. I’ve only met him five minutes ago, but I loathe him with every fiber of my being. He’s got me, and he knows it. I’ve always refused this proposal before because I knew, even as a child I knew, it wouldn’t matter. If I sleep with some creep today, it will never pay the bill in full because my father will not stop. The best I could hope for in this situation is a temporary reprieve before he drives his bill up again with some other bookie, poker player, or loan shark. However, he’s threatening me with someone no one else has ever used—my mother. We don’t have a close relationship, because she’s always chosen my father and his disease over me. But I’m not hard-hearted enough to let anyone sell her on the street.

Tears burn in my eyes when I will myself to take her place. “What do you want?”

Rurik doesn’t answer. Kolya can’t meet my eyes. They both turn to Leandros Gataki, who looks me up and down again. Before he makes his demand, “You. I want you.”

I had a feeling it would be a sex-for-debt offer before the doorman let me into the building. Still, his blunt words stagger me. “Are you asking me to sleep with you?”

“No. I want you to be my wife.”

This… this drops me back into the chair when my knees go out. Shock is a tornado ripping through my thoughts so fast I can’t follow. Can’t form coherent sentences. “What? Huh? Why? Why would I marry you?”

“I will pay off your father’s debts, protect your mother so she never has to deal with these thugs again, and get your father into treatment so he can get the help he needs to stop his addiction.”

I scoff at that. “You think I haven’t tried. He won’t go. And even if he goes, he won’t stay.”

Leandros raises his brow. “He’ll stay.” He says in the firm voice of a man who gets what he wants. Always.

“But I heard you say you didn’t want me?”

“Then you misheard me. I said you were beautiful and sexy. My opinion hasn’t changed. I also said I didn’t believe you were a virgin. My belief hasn’t changed. “However, I’m in a hurry. Rurik promised me a wife a year ago. I only cared about the virginity because I’d hoped it would buy me your fidelity. Surely, if a woman can remain chaste, she can be faithful. But there are other means of keeping you faithful, including keeping you chained to my bed and locked in a chastity belt that only I have the key for.”

I can’t even process what he’s saying, with the image he evoked blazing through my brain.”I…”

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