9. Yuri

I meet Anton and Maxim early in the underground garage attached to my apartment building. Katya is still asleep, I don’t want to wake her but more importantly, I don’t want her to hear any of this.

I nearly tremble in irritation but control myself. Being the boss means control over everything I say, over body language, over everything I communicate to my Vors and the men. “This is a dangerous plan, Anton.”

“I’m aware,” he says. “But it’s the only one we know for sure it’ll work.”

“Maxim. What do you think of Anton’s plan?”

He considers, “If we do that, we’re inviting the wrath of whatever Bratva that’s backing Petya.”

“So, what,” Anton asks Maxim harshly. “We’ll fucking show them who’s boss around here. That Kolesova Bratva won’t back down from any other Bratva, from any fight. We don’t fear anyone.”

“It’s not fear, Maxim.” Anton answers slowly and calmly. “It’s being careful, knowing ourselves. Viktor has run this Bratva into the ground for four or five years now. We need to recover, build our strength back up. Build our money back up. We are the weak Bratva right now, that’s why vultures like Petya think they can take over.”

“Enough,” I interrupt them before the argument gets heated. “You both bring up good points. The way to lure Petya to get him for sure, is to use Katya as bait. But we’re not going to do that because Petya isn’t the important thing here,” I tell them. They had been kept in the dark long enough. Time to tell them my new plan.

“When Katya marries me, Petya is out of the picture. No need to kill Petya and risk starting a war with whichever Bratva is backing his play against us. Kolesova Bratva isn’t strong enough right now, not until we take out Viktor and shore things up.”

“Marriage?” Maxim exclaims.

“The way to solve a problem is to solve it forever. Killing Petya solves the problem, anything else doesn’t.” Anton adds.

“I agree, Anton. But Viktor first. If I take him out without Katya, some may not follow me. They might follow her, though. Find out what Viktor owes Petya, or what Petya has on him if not a debt.” If I find out Viktor knew anything about the kind of man Petya was, the kinds of things he likes to do to women, I will kill him with my own two hands. I’d rather kill him before he’s, my father-in-law. Proof would make her forgive me… why didn’t Viktor look into Petya. He should have had me do it for fucks sake.

“You have the old financials?” I ask Anton.

“Yes. Hard copy and electronic,” he takes a briefcase out of his car and holds it out to me to take from him.

“Give it to Tasha, not me,” I bark at him. “That’s a RICO prosecution and 20 years prison.” Fucking Viktor, certified accounting records for a criminal fucking conspiracy.

When they leave, I call up Viktor and try to control myself while I talk to him.

“Yuri? So good to hear from you, how is my Katya?” Viktor asked. His voice was full of love as if nothing happened. As if he hadn’t hit her last time, he saw her. As if he hadn’t sic’ed this Petya monster on her – promised to give her to him as a bride.

“None the worse for wear,” I lie to him. “Petya showed up here and tried to get her away.”

“Petya? You don’t say? Well, a guy must try, right? She’s got a good head on her shoulders, but her taste for independence might lead her astray. Do whatever is necessary to keep her safe.”

“Of course. And you? How’s your protection there without me?”

“Nobody is chasing after me – well only the usuals. Katya needs to be your only concern,” Viktor said in a low voice.

“I can do two things at once,” I told him. “While your daughter is in class and studying, I’ll need something to keep me busy.”

“Always need to be in control,” Viktor chuckled. “All right. I’ll make sure my men get in touch with you.”

I hung up and remembered the scene 4 years ago.

Viktor towered over me with a look of rage in his eyes. “Dmitry is dead.”

My heart dropped and my hands shook. “Dead? How?”

Viktor stared intently at me, and for a moment, I was taken aback. Dmitry was Viktor’s son. His only son. His oldest child. He was Victor’s pride and joy, but there was more rage and anger on his face than sorrow and grief. What had happened?

“Car crash,” Viktor said evenly. “He died in a car crash.”

A car crash? I searched beyond the words. A mere accident wouldn’t make Viktor angry. “Deliberate?” I asked in a soft tone. If someone had failed to protect Dmitry, there would be hell to pay.

Viktor watched me closely, and then he suddenly straightened. His eyes softened, and the tears slowly trickled from his eyes. Suddenly, he wasn’t full of anger and wrath. He was a broken man who had lost his son. “No,” Viktor whispered. “Not deliberate. All that money I put into protecting those I love, and it simply wasn’t enough.”

“Sir,” I started, but my own hands were trembling. Dmitry was my friend. My boss. And now he was dead. The whole world was starting to darken.

But something was missing. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Something I was afraid to admit to myself.

I walk back to the elevator and take it up to my penthouse apartment.

I’m actually glad to be going back inside. It feels like more than just a place to sleep, it’s a place I want to be. With Katya there it feels like home.

She looks like she belongs here.

And there might be a little spring in my step because I know I must punish her for trying to escape.

Most of the time I didn’t think about it, but every once in a while, I realized she was important to me.

She had a nesting instinct, which was part of what made her a woman. I’m not the type to be domesticated, though. She’d have better luck trying to domesticate a tiger. I won’t go quietly but I might go.

“Hey,” I greet her as she’s sitting on the couch, working.

She jumps. She’s miles away. But when she sees me, her face lights up.

“You’re back. I thought you might be working all day,” she says.

“What are you working on?” I ask.

“A paper for one of my classes. It’s not very good.”

“You shouldn’t waste your time on it then.”

She frowns at me. “It’s required. This and midterms coming up too — should I not waste my time on them either?”

“That’s not what I mean. Why is it not very good?” I ask, start at the beginning.

“It just isn’t. It’s not interesting, and I’m honestly just trying to fill the pages at this point.”

“So, your effort isn’t good. You can control your effort, that’s about all you can control. Results will lie to you – success, failure, etc. have too many variables and sometimes you get either with poor effort. But good effort always will get you more consistent good results. Don’t waste your time if you’re half-assing it, put your entire ass into it or do something else.”

She smiles and shakes her head, then puts her face back behind her laptop screen.

“When you finish, we must talk about your escape. Disobedience has consequences and I must show them to you. But don’t get anxious — you’ll probably like this part.”

Every move I make is strategic. I must punish her; we both know it. It doesn’t matter that I want her body, that I need her to be naked and spread for me right now.

Katya stares back stubbornly. “And what if I don’t want to?”

I knew she would bristle at that. She won’t like it at first — I know that much about her. But she will by the end, I know that about her, too. This part is just her defiant personality — she can’t just go along easily with me; she has to fight tooth and nail every step of the way. She had no fight in her for anything for years after Dmitry passed so it’s nice to see it, even if it’s almost 100% focused on me. She’ll learn to fight for herself in the rest of her life eventually.

“Then you’ll be punished for that too. You never promised obedience but it’s what I require of you. This is a lesson in obedience.” I stand. This is unacceptable behavior and if I let it go, she’ll never learn. I crossed the room and stood over her.

“Get up.”

I see another flare of stubbornness in her eyes. I glared back.

Katya looks away first. She gets to her feet, still reluctant.

“Go upstairs,” I order her softly. “Take off your clothes and get on your hands and knees in your room. Wait for me there.”

I hear her breath hitch. Now, there’s desire in her gaze. “Fine,” she huffs, clearly excited. She practically scampers out of the living room and off to her bedroom. I take a moment, watching her go. She thinks this will be fun for her, a sexy game, but it’s so much more.

There is no place for disobedience.

My will is absolute.

I decided to take a shower and change and leave her waiting for twenty minutes or more. The anticipation of pleasure or pain is a powerful tool, and by the time I slowly climb the stairs and push open the door, Katya is flushed with excitement, on her hands and knees as I required.

She’s taken off her clothes, but she’s not naked yet. She’s wearing lingerie and a pale pink silk slip.

Gorgeous.

Her full breasts swell under their laced cages, her rounded ass inviting my cock.

I close the door and turn the lock. She jolts, breathless at the sound.

“Each time you defy my command, you will be punished,” I tell her sternly, pacing closer. “There’s no room for fear or disobedience in this relationship. Follow the rules, and I’ll reward you. Break them and suffer my consequences which are a great deal better than the ones waiting outside for you. Let’s not revisit that, now or ever, but we both know, that’s why you need to listen to me. I can only protect you if you let me. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Yuri,” Katya whispers.

“Very good. Now, because you have been childish, I’m going to have to punish you like a child.”

I can see the anticipation on her face, the nervous mix of excitement and fear. I remind myself that she’s a complete novice to this — she’s never had someone teach her like this before.

I need to show her the pleasure that only some pain brings. Introduce her to the delicious sting of sensation that will heighten her pleasure.

And remind her who’s boss, here.

I ordered her firmly. “Crawl to the bed and lift up your skirt.”

Katya quickly complies, hiking her slip up over her hips and exposing her creamy buttocks, divided by a lacy thong.

God, she’s a fucking goddess, innocent and stubborn, her body crying out for my hand.

“I’m going to spank you so grab hold of the sheets to steady yourself.”

“Not going to bend me over your knee? Or use a riding crop or something?” She asks, but there’s the cut of sarcasm in her voice.

She uses sarcasm when she’s afraid, so I let it go and try to ease her mind a little. “I don’t need any extra help to punish you. I’m more than capable of making you beg with just my own two hands.”

Her pupils flare. She wets her lips, nervous, and the gesture goes straight to my cock. Damn. I want to own that mouth so badly, to thrust into her wet, empty mouth until my cum is spurting hot down her throat.

Soon.

I stride back to the bed and lean over her, running one hand through her silky hair and down over her back. I rest it gently on the swell of her ass.

She gulps, grabbing onto the sheets, clumping them in her fist. Her thighs part, revealing the scrap of pink lace covering her mound. Now her body is braced and open to me.

I spanked her hard and without warning.

Katya shrieks, jolting forward against the bed. Before she can recover, I spank her again, a series of short, sharp blows. She yelps every time my hand makes impact with the smooth skin of her ass, but I’m careful to vary where each slap falls, never hitting the same spot twice as I continue, relentless.

Two. Three. Four.

I can feel her body bracing against impact now, feel the tremble in her limbs.

“Please,” she gasps.

Five. Six. Seven.

She lets go of the bed, throws the sheets from her hands and tries to scramble away. “No. Stay.” I clutch her hair and wind it into my fist in one hand, yanking her back in place as I let the final blows rain down with perfect accuracy.

Eight. Nine. Ten.

I stopped.

Katya collapses forwards, sobbing against the bed. I let her weep.

She’s not crying from the pain, just the shock of it. I was careful, never applying more pressure than necessary, and although her ass is mottled red now from the impact of my hand, the marks will soon fade.

This lesson won’t.

I see every handprint like a victory mark. Power courses through me like a drug, but I don’t pause to savor it. She’s felt the pain of disobedience, so now she can learn the pleasures of obedience, of submitting to my will.

“Good girl,” I murmur softly. I gently caress her back and ass, smoothing softly where I just struck hard. My fingertips whisper over her skin, soothing. “You’ve been such a good girl.”

Katya swallows back her tears. She lifts her face to me. “That hurt!”

I smirk. “It was supposed to.”

She clenches her jaw stubbornly. “So, was that it? My punishment?”

I stroke again, this time delving deeper between her thighs. Katya catches her breath. I tease over the damp silk there, nudging gently.

“What do you think?”

Katya pushes back against my hand. “That feels good,” she whispers.

“That’s because your body is in a heightened state of awareness,” I explain to her, stroking and smoothing, delving back to that wet pool of tension. “The pain shocks your nerve system wide awake, and makes every pleasurable touch feel that much sweeter.”

I nudge the silk aside and skim my fingertip into her slick heat.

Fuck, she’s so wet.

Katya lets out a moan. “Please,” she gasps, clenching around my finger.

“Please what?” I ask, pulling back. I lift my finger to my lips and slowly lick it clean.

My cock swells, achingly hard. God, this is so much better than I imagined. Hearing her beg for me. Seeing the marks of victory branded on her flesh. Tasting her sweetness.

“More.” She wriggles her ass back, wanting me to touch her again.

“More pleasure, or more pain?” I counter. “You can’t have one without the other.”

There’s silence. I can feel the indecision in her body, the tension as she weighs my offer.

“More.” She says it again, and this time, there’s a note of raw need in her voice. “Please, do whatever you want.”

Those are my magic words.

She’s learning so fast.

Her eyes are wild, her body shaking.

“This is your punishment,” I tell her grimly. “You don’t get to come until I say so. Until you’ve earned it with your obedience and submission and learned that I’m the one calling the shots.”

She gapes at me. “Please, Yuri—”

“Pull up your panties,” I order her. “Clean yourself up. And don’t even think about touching yourself,” I add sternly. “Your release is mine, and mine alone. Do you understand?”

She gulps, but nods. There, that’s an improvement.

“See you at dinner,” I smirk, and walk out of the room—before she can realize just how far she pushed me, how close I came to losing control.