Filthy Secret

Yelena

It’s been over a month since I was drugged and things between Nikolai and I are messier than ever. I’ve tried staying away from him but I can’t. I’m drawn to him like a moth to a flame. I’ve tried fighting the attraction, tried so hard to bury it deep inside, but it’s futile. The man isn’t giving up and every day I tell myself no more, and every night, I’m being fucked out of my mind by the man that I’m falling so hard for.

I finish sending Nikolai a text, letting him know that I’m just having a coffee and then I’m leaving. He wants to take me out for dinner and while I know I should say no, I can’t.

“Ah good, you’re here.” I tense as I hear the sound of my mother’s voice. I had no idea that she was back.

I spin on my heel and see her walking into the kitchen, looking every bit glamorous, as always. She’s dressed in a tight red pant suit that really suits her, her blonde hair pinned to her head, a few tendrils falling around her face, she’s painted her lips bright red to match her outfit, not to mention the heels that she’s wearing.

“Hey, when did you get back?” I ask as I bring the coffee cup to my lips.

Her eyes rake over my outfit. I’m wearing a tight purple dress, one that showcases my legs and ass, because I know how much Nikolai loves to stare at them.

“A while ago, I’ve been staying away from the house.” Her voice is cold and calculating.

I place the cup onto the counter and cross my arms over my chest. “Oh and why’s that?” I ask as I lean against the counter.

I’ve seen this look on her before, the disdain in her eyes. She’s a hard woman to please, something I stopped trying to do at the age of seven when I realized how manipulative she is. She’s pissed about something and she’s about to let me know.

“You were supposed to be gone,” she says, her voice low and calm, yet her eyes tell a whole other story. They’re swirling with rage.

A sickening feeling coils in the pit of my stomach. She knows.

“Grandfather told me to stay for another month,” I reply, I’m not lying, he did. I think after what happened he wants me out of harm’s way, and I have to admit that the past month has been blissful, but at the same time, I miss the adrenaline-the rush-I get from a kill.

She glares at me. “This isn’t your grandfather’s house,” she hisses at me.

I sigh, already bored of the bullshit. “Whatever you have to say, mother, just say it.”

She takes a step closer to me, her eyes filled with so much rage that it’s a wonder she’s not gone crazy from it. “I want to know what you’ve been doing with my husband.” Again, she’s not raising her voice or snarling at me. She’s calm, way to calm about this.

“Mother-” I begin, unsure of what to even say. Hell, their marriage is a sham, I doubt that she’s been faithful to Nikolai.

“Don’t,” she hisses, finally letting her anger out. “I know you’ve been fucking him. I know your dirty little secret. You filthy whore.”

Her words don’t hurt me, they never could. “What I’ve done is wrong, yes.” I’m not too proud to admit when I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve made a hell of a lot of them. “But you’ve never had sex with him, and you’ve spent the past month away from him. So, don’t stand there and tell me you’re upset that I’m fucking him.”

Her lips twist into an ugly sneer. “No, the asshole has always been wary of me. But he wants something and until he gets it, I’m staying put. You see, I get a nice monthly allowance from the bastard, one I’m not willing to lose, especially because of you.”

“Seriously?” I can’t help the laughter that comes out of me. “You got all of Dad’s millions, not to mention every time you divorced one of your exhusbands you received a hefty sum. So why on earth would you need money from Nikolai?”

She glances away. “I lost it all, alright? Everything is gone.”

My lip curls in disgust. “How?”

She carelessly shrugs as if she hasn’t lost the guts of ten million dollars. “Investments,” she tells me as she straightens her suit jacket.

“I’ve always known when you were lying, you never did quite grasp how to get the act of deceiving down right. So, we’ll try it again,” I hiss as I step forward, my hands falling to my sides where they ball up into fists. “Where’s all the money gone to?”

“You think I got this far, climbed this high without having to pay my way?” She looks at me in disgust, her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. “You got to where you are because of who your family is. I, on the other hand, had to work my way out of the trailer park.”

“Christ, you were born in Boston and you didn’t live in a trailer park.” Her eyes widen at my words. “I’m sick of your lies. Not once have you ever told anyone the truth. I mean, do you even know what it is anymore?”

I should have seen it coming-it wasn’t the first time she’d lost her temper-but I was too angry, too focused on that to pay attention to what she was really doing. Her arm moves and something smashes into the side of my head, pain bursting through my temple as my eyes start to blur.

“You really should have stayed away, Lena, if you had, this would never have happened.”

I throw a hand out to try and steady myself, but it’s too late, I’m already falling. I don’t remember hitting the ground, the darkness had already pulled me under.

The creaking of a door opening has my eyes fluttering open. Within seconds of seeing the bare, off-white walls, I remember everything that happened. Where the hell am I? This isn’t Nikolai’s house. In fact, the coldness of the room tells me that this house hasn’t been used in a while. I also realize that I’m bound. My hands tied together behind my back, making it impossible to do anything and my ankles are smarting from whatever they have used to keep them together.

“She’s fucking cold. This is her daughter,” I hear a gravelly voice say. It sounds as though he’s far away, but I know by the stale smell of tobacco and cheap aftershave that whoever’s talking is in the same room as I am.

“Who the fuck hits their child hard enough to knock them out?” another voice says, this one not as gravelly as the first.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

I don’t dare turn, I have no idea who these men are.

“She must have done some fucked up shit for her to be on Nikolai’s bad side,” the second man continues. “She’s his stepdaughter, but then again,

this is the fucking sadistic Russian we’re talking about.”

Wait. They think that Nikolai ordered this to happen? I laugh at the ludicrousness of this situation.

“What the hell are you laughing at?” I first guy questions.

“You,” I reply, my voice hoarse. I twist in the dirty bed that I’m lying on and see that both men are standing against the door. I blink a few times, trying to see them properly. I’m lying on my side facing them. “You really think that Nikolai ordered this to happen?”

One of the men is tall and muscular, the other is short and chubby, but both have the Babics’ branding on their hands. These fuckers are Croats. Vindication hits me. I fucking knew she set me up, but why?

“She’s his wife, why on earth would she lie?” the taller of the men says.

“Why would Mrs. Vasiliev tell us that her husband wants you dead?”

I shrug as I manage to sit up. “I’m not sure, but I have a feeling that she knows that once Nikolai finds out that I’m gone and that you’re the ones that have me, he’s going to kill you and effectively take care of her problem.”

The two men share a worried glance. “Not a fucking chance,” the gravelly voice says, and it belongs to the shorter of the two men. “Nikolai Vasiliev doesn’t care about you,” he tells me and while hearing those words are like a knife to my heart, I also know they’re not true. “His wife on the other hand-” He grins as he walks toward me. “-she’s really cut up that her daughter’s going to die.” I bet she fucking is.

Within seconds he’s in front of me. “She even told us that we were allowed to touch you.” He stretches his hand out, running one of his disgusting fingers down my face, to my neck and then to my breasts. I shudder in revulsion.

Can my mother get any lower?

My head snaps to the side as the asshole backhands me. My head swims with pain and blurriness.

“Disgusted?” he sneers. “I’ll show you what you’ll be disgusted about.” He pushes me back down onto the bed, his fingers pulling at my dress.

I try to fight him off but it’s difficult with both my arms and legs tied up. Every time I move, the room feels as though it’s spinning, and having his weight on me is too much, it’s useless.

“You’ll end up enjoying this bitch,” he growls, his fingers digging into my cheeks as he makes me look at him.

“I doubt that you could even get that small cock of yours up, let alone do something with it. Do the women you’re with ask if it’s in, I mean, being that small, I’d have a hard time feeling it.” I’m antagonizing the bastard, but right now, it’s my only choice.

“You fucking whore,” he snarls, his fist smashes into my face and, once again, the abyss is pulling me into it. The fucker doesn’t stop, he lands punch after punch to my face.

As I’m being pulled under, I hear gunshots and I inwardly grin. These fuckers are going to die.