Page 34 of Disgraced (Russian Sinners 3)

Sergei

Isat in my penthouse and watched Scarlett along with her friends on the security flatscreen. There was no room for error tonight. It was either this girl Anastasia or my Scarlett. The whole kidnapping didn’t sit well with me, but it would keep Scarlett safe. That was all that mattered to me.

I gave my team the excuse of having to handle business out of town so I could get this done without anyone knowing about it.

Scarlett and her girlfriends came onto my flatscreen that was connected to the security cameras for all the businesses I owned. Today, my only focus was on the Russian Orchid.

Scarlett looked beautiful. She wore a sparkling silver dress with her long, dark hair down, just the way I liked it. It killed me that I would have to stand her up tonight. I wanted to see her and dance with her.

From the moment we bumped into each other in the lobby, my life had taken a turn for a better and brighter future. Till fucking Boris’ old gang followed her friend and connected Scarlett to me.

After the phone call I received demanding I deliver Anastasia, or they’d go after Scarlett, Michail and I went hunting for information and the men. They didn’t even bother covering the trail. The whole gang was bigger than I thought. And there were connections to the Polish mob and Lebanese. Our two damn favorite fans! If we consider who wanted us dead the most, we’d make the top of the list with those two groups. Unless I went into a full-blown war, there was no way I could quietly eliminate them. And I couldn’t pull Dimitry and Nikolai into it right now. We were trying to pull out of this world, not get sucked in deeper. No, the best thing was to let it all lay in the past and we just delivered this girl.

Furious at this damned situation, I balled my hands into fists. For a brief moment, I debated whether to call my brothers.

And say what?

I knew without even asking that Dimitry and Nikolai would be against giving them what they wanted in order to leave Scarlett alone. After all, her friend was innocent and we got tattoos as a reminder to help innocent people. But Scarlett was innocent too.

Calling Scarlett’s father was out of the question. He would attack the entire damn country to keep his daughter safe, and again, my brothers would be pulled into a war. If it was just me, I’d go all in but I knew how much Dimitry and Nikolai wanted out. Fuck, so did I! It would be nice to grow old without the constant stress of this kind of life. If they got Scarlett, a full-blown war would happen. I wouldn’t tolerate it and neither would the Boston mafia.

No, it was the only choice to deliver Anastasia to these men. Her friend’s family would pay ransom, and it would be all behind us. I’d ensure she was safe by planting a few men into the group. I still had some spies among those assholes. I’d pay them well to ensure nothing happened to the girl.

I watched the screen with the three women smiling at the doorman. He was checking them all out like a dessert and I wished I could punch him. These feelings were stupid. It was precisely the reason I put Pavel to be the doorman that evening. I knew he’d let them in. As the girls passed him, he ogled after them. All three of them were truly beautiful, but it irked me that he’d even lay his eyes on my Scarlett. The bodyguard Scarlett mentioned to me, Brian, barked something at Pavel, which made him avert his eyes.

Good!My Scarlett.Immediately following that thought, I scoffed to myself. I was behaving like a possessive boyfriend.

Would she be mine? I still wasn’t sure. If she ever found out about this, she’d probably never speak to me.

If she found out you lied to her about who you were, she’d never speak to you.

I was really stacking up things against myself, wasn’t I? It was too early to tell her who I was. I needed her completely in love with me. When I was sure she’d stay with me, then I’d tell her. I just needed Scarlett to be my wife, give me children, give me family. She’d forgive it all once she loved me.

I could almost hear Dimitry’s and Nikolai’s voices in my head but I firmly shut them down. Those two were thousands of miles away, taking care of legalizing everything we owned. They didn’t need this on their plate. I’d handle this and it would be nothing to worry about.

I made the assumption those men were just desperate for funds. Boris used to kidnap women from rich families and blackmail them for money when we were growing up. They were more than likely doing the same. Anastasia’s family would pay a ransom and she’d be fine. If something went awry and they didn't pay the ransom, my men would contact me and I’d pay it. The step after not payment was to send the girl to human trafficking to be sold, and I’d never allow that. I saved women and children from that life, not condemned them to it.

It was a risk, this entire ordeal. But I was doing all this to keep Scarlett safe.

All is fair in love and war. Right?

I swore I could hear Nikolai’s patient voice already, demanding I think through it and explain my logic, or Dimitry’s anger at my logic he always called irrational. Well, to hell with both of them.

Scarlett would be my wife, even if I had to lie, steal, and kidnap in order to achieve it.

With that final resolution in mind, I focused on the screen, watching Scarlett with hunger. All three of the girlfriends were dancing happily. I caught Scarlett glancing around every so often and it was a punch in the gut. She was bathed in the light, her sparkling dress capturing all eyes. She represented everything I ever wanted. She could give it to me, and she wouldn’t leave me for a richer motherfucker like Irina.

I stood up and changed into an all black wardrobe, black t-shirt, black jeans, and combat boots. It was time to go to the club. My plan was to go through the back door into my office and get Sasha to bring Anastasia to me. I already found three men to implement into Boris’ group that wanted to kidnap her. They’d report to me to ensure nothing happened to Scarlett’s friend till her family paid the ransom and she was delivered safely back to them.

Switching the security onto my iPhone, I walked out of the penthouse and straight into the elevator. My heart didn’t race and my nerves were stealth. It was always the same with me, once I made my mind up, there was no sense doubting it. If only I could get rid of this damn feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Driving from my penthouse, and passing the sights I’ve shown Scarlett, I knew this was all for her. She would be safe and that was the most important thing to me. She was it for me. I might not have much of a heart to give but whatever was left it was hers.

The city of Moscow glimmered with nightlights, so opposite of the darkness within my mind. For once, I’d like shit just to be simple. Boy meets girl, they get married, have kids, and live happily ever after. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Irina betrayed me after she promised to marry me, it was a stab in the back and through my heart. Now I have sunk so low, I have to resort to kidnapping to keep my intended bride. I just needed more time to hear those words of love from Scarlett. She was so different from Irina. Irina flaunted those words almost from the first day, professing her love and devotion. And the first chance she got, she moved on to a richer fucker and took those words from me and gave them all to him. Scarlett gave her body freely and completely, but she kept her heart and words of love under guard. Instinctively, I knew once she gave them, they would be for life.

I pulled into the street where Russian Orchid was the only business currently open. The location was secluded and hard to find. It was by design. I didn’t want anyone and anything hitting this club. Our connections and business associates were the main clientele.

I parked in the spot where I knew outside surveillance cannot pick up the sight of me. It was the only blind spot in the whole parking lot, the size of a small garage. I had been meaning to have it covered for weeks now, and thanked my lucky stars for not handling it. There was another car parked not too far, right on the edge of the blind spot. Although if they knew that, they would have probably parked somewhere else. This spot was excellent when you needed to make a quick getaway.

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