Page 52 of For a Price

“Oh… I meant… no one here,” I stammer uncomfortably. “Once I lived with this foster family and… the father… let’s just say I chose the streets over living there.”

“How old were you?”

“Twelve, thirteen…”

If the air seconds ago was relaxed; it’s tense now. Roman says nothing, though I sense his anger. He still seems tempted to leap out of bed and spring into action. I’m on the brink of telling him to forget everything I’ve just said when he speaks first.

“No one will touch you again,” he says. “Only me, kitty cat. I will slaughter anyone who even tries. Understand?”

I can only nod, my voice lost.

“Go to sleep. Get rest.”

They’re the final words Roman speaks before the lights cut out and we’re plunged into darkness. I roll over facing the opposite way and tuck my hand under the pillow. My eyes slip closed and I let myself drift off to sleep, oddly secure in the fact that I’m sleeping in the bed with a man who’s practically a stranger.

Deep down, when he tells me this is the safest place to be, I believe him…

* Ya ne zhdal tvoyego vizita. No dlya menya bol’shaya chest’, chto vy prishli -I wasn’t expecting your visit. But it’s a great that you came.

* Ya byl v etom rayone, I tvoy otets ochen’ khorosho otzyvayetsya o tebe -I’ve been in the area, and your father speaks very highly of you.

* Yest’ vazhnyy vopros dlya obsuzhdeniya. Vy znayete o napryazhenii v pyati sem’ yakh -There is an important issue to discuss. Do you know about the tension between the Five Families?

* Da, my dolzhny byt’ umnymi -yes, we must be smart.

* Da -yes

* Da, brigadier -yes, captain

* Moy kot vyglyadit krasivo -my cat looks beautiful

* Naprimer, kakaya ty chertovski seksual’naya i kak mne ne terpitsya pochuvstvovat’ tvoye telo -like how damn sexy you are and how I can’t wait to feel your body.

CHAPTER 17

Roman

Some would saycuriosity is a bad thing. It can get you into trouble if you aren’t careful. I have always disagreed.

Curiosity can be a good thing in the right circumstance. It can lead you to discover information you never would have otherwise, if you search deep enough for it.

My kitty cat falls asleep at my side without a clue what she’s done. She thought she was sharing information that would be forgotten. That would go unchecked.

But she’s wrong.

She’s dozing softly at my side while I’m plotting my next massacre. Yet another addition to the record books.

Leonid will meet a grisly fate. It has already been decided, even if he’s unaware and my father disagrees.

Leonid must die for what he’s done. Perhaps not right now—the fat motherfucker is under the protection of my father so long as he’s at his residence—but hewillbe taken care of.

In the meantime, a new target has been added to my running list. I make a mental note to look into the background of my kitty cat. More than I already have.

A message is sent to my main soldier, Kazan, telling him to pull the records for her. Anything he can find on her childhood and history as an orphan.

The morning sun is rising when my phone buzzes with updates from Kazan. All it took was a couple late-night hours for him to dig everything up.

found the foster family. richard and debra hudson

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