Page 54 of Alexei (Belles & Mobsters 4)

He pulled out his phone and my phone beeped the next second. Without a word, I slid it open.

Nikola for Alexei’s sins.

Ivan’s threat lingered in the air. Vasili shut the door behind him, leaving me alone with my fucked up past.

When I walked away from Ivan, he lost my skill set. He considered me his asset, the one he groomed and nurtured.Nurtured. I had to scoff at that. But I really fucked him up badly when I went back ten years ago and took another piece of precious cargo from him.

Kingston Ashford, Aurora’s brother.

Now he wanted the debt paid.

I fucked up. I knew I did the moment I set foot on Russian soil.

Fucking pride. Yet, how would one admit to being the one to lead Ivan to an innocent little boy and girl? The shame ran deep. I saved myself at their expense. It wasn’t right.

Now, I came back to right the wrong. To save him. The little boy that saved his sister, Rora. To uphold the promise given to a little girl.

I might have built a name for myself now and could afford the nice things in life, but nothing could erase who I was. A monster dressed like a gentleman. I’d done unimaginable things. Unforgivable things. Though until that winter day in the zoo, I comforted myself that all those I killed, all the havoc I caused, was on bad men. The men that didn’t even deserve death.

But that day in the zoo I crossed the line.

I should have never led Ivan to them. I should have sent them a warning. It was their father that ripped him off, not his children. But I learned a hard lesson throughout my life; it was usually the children that paid for their parents' sins.

The cold wind wrapped around me. Winters in Siberia were no joke. And after years of staying away from this Godforsaken country, the cold quickly seeped through my bloodstream and straight to my bone marrow. Fuck, when I got old, I was certain I’d have arthritis or some shit.

Courtesy of Ivan fucking Petrov.

I lurked in the dark, right outside Ivan’s known location. The compound. It was where he kept his boys. It was where I hoped to find the boy who I owed so much to.

In all my years, I never thought I’d hate myself so much, but since that day ten years ago, self-hatred consumed me.

I had been in this country for the past five days, stalking Ivan’s men and the surrounding area. What worried me was that I hadn’t seen any boys or the men Ivan had used during my confinement here. Usually, he gave them an hour per day outside, regardless of the freezing temperatures.

My breath clouded the freezing air in front of me. I stood still in my hideout in subzero temperatures, watching the Belgian Malinois prowling through the snow, circling the property. Every so often, one of them stopped about twenty feet from me.

I recognized her. The dog I called my own. Puma, I named her. Not a very original name, yet it was the first living thing that loved me unconditionally. Blindly even. I’d helped bring the litter of her mother’s into this world. Somehow she was the only one I connected with.

Bright lights from the house illuminated the immediate yard, and I could see Puma inching closer and closer to me with each parameter around the house. Until she was right in front of me.

Her tail wagged and before I could send her away, she plowed into me. Despite the blanket of snow on my back, it was the best welcome ever.

“Kotyonok,” I whispered, as she licked my face. It was a pet name I used for Puma, because she was like a cat. She opened her muzzle, getting ready to bark happily and I gently wrapped my hands around it. “Shhh.”

I ran my hand through her fur, hugging her tightly. “God, I fucking missed you.”

Another lick to my face. It must have meant she missed me too. My heart squeezed in my chest that I left her behind. Ivan and his men weren’t any better towards the animals than they were the boys.

“I’m going to get you out,” I rasped, guilt clawing at my chest. I fucked up so many things. “You and me. And we’ll save the little boy. Maybe all the boys.”

It had been ten years. Ten fucking years.

Except, he was no longer little. I wasn’t even sure he was alive. Not many boys survived into adulthood under Ivan.

But the world had changed; I had changed. I managed to make a life for myself and build up my own wealth. After I abandoned Ivan, I roamed the States for years before I ran into Cassio. Turning over a new leaf and living on the right side of the law wasn’t an option for me. All I had was my first name and date of birth. No money. No resources. Nothing.

So I did small, odd jobs for different gangs, but never stayed in the same place for long. Ivan had put a price on my head; he wanted me back under his control. When I made the connection with Cassio, Ivan backed off. Though he still lingered in the shadows, waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

It wasn’t until this year that I finally had resources and a way to penetrate Ivan’s establishment to come back for the boy. The one with dark hair and dark eyes, just like his sister’s.

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