Page 13 of Tormented Heir

“No. Not them.”

She looks at me, and the air between us grows heavy. Her cheeks flush. “I don’t know what you’re alluding to, but my husband will be back any moment, and you’re a child, so whatever it is, the answer is no.”

“I just want to see your tits,” I say.

She gasps. “No. Get lost, you bastardo.”

“Just a look. What does that hurt?”

She bites her lip, and I stroke the letters in my pocket. Angrily, she pulls up her top, lifting her sweat-stained bra. Her heavy breasts flop out.

I stare at them and enjoy her humiliation and my power in this moment.

I enjoy it far too much.

Like Bettina says, the thing about sinning is knowing when to stop. So I make another vow. I’ll control this new beast inside me and keep it on a tight leash. I’ll control the beast, not the other way around.

I smirk at Bettina. “Thanks, but they’re not that impressive.”

What do I know? They’re the only real ones I’ve seen.

“Get out,” she screeches.

I shrug. “Thanks for the jewels.”

“You’re very not welcome. Don’t darken my fucking door again.”

I salute her and saunter out of the room.

When I get home, I hide the jewels inside a pair of socks and stuff them in the middle of my case.

The next day, we leave for America. Me and the new beast inside me.

4

DIMITRI

29-YEARS-OLD

The air is quiet and still. It’s that tense, heavy silence before a storm, except the storm coming our way is man-made, not meteorological. We’ve been following the battalion for more than three days, always circling around them, and staying far back enough to avoid being spotted.

So far this mission is reconnaissance only, but that could change at any moment.

The heaviness in the air, mirrored in my gut, tells me something big is coming, but I don’t know what. This is my second enlistment, and I’m getting close to the point where I must decide whether to reenlist again or look for civilian work.

When we arrived in America, I got into a lot of trouble. It turns out, once a beast comes alive inside you, it is hard to take it. I tried, but every now and then he’d roar to life, and I’d get into shit. Mamma was shredded to her very last nerve, she’d say.

Then she met Jacob, and I hated him. Another man to betray us. Let us down. But something happened. Jacob didn’t betray us. He was sad and quiet because he’d lost his wife. Slowly, he started to look at Mamma like she was the sun and moon together. They fell in love, and I got yet another father figure. Except this one truly cared.

Over time, Jacob taught me things. Things Anton should have taught me but never could, even if he’d lived. Jacob taught me about honor. About strength. About how men aren’t all pieces of shit. They can be protectors too.

I told him about my beast, and he showed me how to channel it. The beast could be a force for good as well as destruction. Jacob showed me how being active helped. I became a star on the sports field. Then I found my true calling. Being in the Marines is the best form of control I could find. The discipline has continued to shape my beast into a force for good not evil.

I’m due some downtime at the end of this mission, and I need to use it to think. I’ll miss the camaraderie I’ve built up with the men here if I decide to leave next year, but it feels like it’s time for a change.

In the Marines, I’ve felt as if I have a band of brothers around me. Yet, I also have a family back home, and I increasingly miss them. My stepfather, Jacob, is a good man who treats me like his son. He isn’t getting any younger. My stepsister is a cute ball of fun, and my mother is finally happy and settled. It would be good to spend time with them, but returning home and working a desk job, well, the idea bores me rigid.

Jacob would put me to work, but I don’t want to go into the family business. Let’s just say the Rudenko family business is not entirely legal. I’ve spent my adult life working to uphold the values of law, justice, and democracy, and to work with Jacob, as much as I admire him on a personal level, would betray that.

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