Page 7 of Bound By Longing

In my gut, I know nothing good can come from a random man showing up at Vik’s house to meet me.

But my curiosity wins out in the end.

“I’ll see who it is.” I walk past Nika and approach the front door. Peering through the peephole, I see an older man, probably in his fifties, with already silver hair but youthful enough eyes, standing on the other side of the door. I open it a crack. “Hello?”

He smiles down at me. “Are you Mila?”

“Who’s asking?” I hope my sisters would be proud of my answer. I know Vik would be … though she’d also be mad at me for opening the door for a man I don’t know to begin with. My eyes flit to Aleksander’s guards in the front yard. I’m safe, I remind myself.

“I am Vladimir.” He doesn’t give me his last name. “I was instructed to care for you.”

A strong sense of Deja vu hits me. When Boris entered my life, my father instructed him to find me a marriage match. Instead, he set his sights on me. After he died, another man, Gleb, showed up, instructed by Boris to watch over me. And now, here’s Vladimir, saying the same thing.

“By who?” I ask.

“By Gleb Vesna.” The moment he says the name, all my fears come true.

“How? Why?”

“He told me that if he died, he wanted a man to watch over you. I am that man.”

“I don’t need your help,” I say, closing the door.

He shoots his hand out, slamming it against the door, stopping me. “I never said you needed my help, but I’m offering my help anyway. You’d make a good little maid. I have use for you.”

My stomach roils. “I am not going to be sold again.”

“Hey!” Vik’s familiar voice sounds out. She and Aleksander pull up to the house, and she hops out of the car, running over. “Who are you?”

Vladimir steps back, eyeing Vik over. She crosses her arms and sneers at him. He smirks, which I can tell upsets Vik even more. “I was just getting to know Mila.”

“Who are you?” she demands.

“Vladimir,” I tell her.

“Get inside,” she tells me, not even looking in my direction.

Aleksander walks over, making a point of standing taller than Vladimir. “I don’t appreciate unknown guests showing up at my house. Leave.”

Vladimir stares Aleksander down for a moment before nodding. Without a word, he walks away.

I sigh in relief.

Vik storms into the house. “Are you ok? We leave you alone for one moment, and some weirdo shows up.”

“Why are you home so early?”

Vik ducks her head, her cheeks turning red. It’s strange to see my sister look so bashful. That’s not exactly her style. “Something in my gut told me to come back home. I wanted to make sure you were ok. And it was a good thing, too.”

I throw my arms around her, and after a moment, Vik hugs me back. “I’m glad you trusted your gut. Never ignore it.”

“I won’t.”

Once I pull back, I notice Vik and Aleksander share a private look. I know it’s about me. They’re worried.

I can feel the vise of the Bratva closing in around me, choking the life out of me.

First Damien, now Vladimir. I’m not safe here.

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