Chapter 4

Maxim

Riley was a very, very naughty girl.

I hardly knew anything about her aside from her name, but just from knowing her for the timespan of less than an hour, I knew she was making a series of bad decisions that could ruin her life for absolutely no reason.

The first one was Gregor Orlov.

The second one was fighting my protection.

The third was running from me.

I was going to put a stop to it as soon as I got her to my home.

Despite her naughty streak, and actually maybe because of it, I felt more drawn to her than any woman I'd met since my wife passed away.

I flinched.

My wife's death had been sudden. There were complications with the birth of my daughter, Irina, and the doctors had done anything and everything to save her, but it hadn't been enough.

Again, I was reminded that my very own daughter wasn't much older than Riley.

I shook my head.

I wasn't looking for love. Not again.

No, my goal was to make sure that Riley remained safe in my care while my brothers and I dealt with the fallout of whatever came with Gregor Orlov's death.

I couldn't even say I felt a shred of remorse over the fact that he was dead either. He wasn't the first man I killed, and I had no doubt that he wouldn't be the last. It was just the nature of the world I lived in.

If anything, I was happy he was gone, especially knowing that he had been trying to lure the poor girl next to me into whatever wicked plans he had for her, although I had a feeling Riley had something to do with all of it.

I'd find out what that was later.

The image of him grabbing her flashed before my eyes and I gritted my teeth.

My anger boiled over at the thought of him putting his hands on her. I'd heard his threats. If I hadn't come to her rescue, Gregor would have probably raped her in the middle of my bar, or worse.

It was the ‘or worse' that made me decide exactly how to handle the naughty girl sitting next to me tonight.

I gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying to get a handle of my emotions.

Riley was safe. She was in my car with me on the way to my home. Gregor may have threatened her, but he was dead now, and he would never touch her or hurt her again.

I turned my head to look at her. She was sitting quietly, her arms crossed in front of her and her gaze out the window. She was pouting about being made to go along with me, but other than that, she was holding herself together well.

In a little while, she was going to learn the hard way that there were very real consequences for her reckless actions, but I found little need to make her worry about them beforehand.

She'd understand well enough when she was over my knee with her ass bare for a spanking that turned her lily-white cheeks cherry red.

My cock hardened into steel, and I shook my head.

I needed to keep it together. Riley needed to learn that I wouldn't tolerate disobedience and a hard spanking was just the thing she needed.

The more I thought about her recklessness, the more I steeled myself against my own arousal and focused on the fact that she needed a spanking, a very hard one, to teach her what happens to little girls who make bad decisions that put them in danger in my world.

If I was lucky, she'd only need one lesson to set her on the straight and narrow.

But if she didn't, the next one was going to involve my belt.

My cock got even harder.

Fuck me.

I cleared my throat and tried to erase my mind of all thoughts of Riley's bare bottom writhing under my punishing hand. Riley was a girl that needed someone to look after her, someone to punish her and teach her right from wrong and from now on, that man was going to be me.

I wouldn't push the boundaries any further than that.

Her life depended on it.

The Orlovs might very well retaliate. I don't know who he was in relation to the kingpin, Mikhail Orlov, but he could be someone important, or someone low on the totem pole. My brothers and I were going to need to find out.

That would take place in the morning.

Tonight, I was going to put Riley over my knee, spank her bottom until there were pretty little tears dripping down her cheeks, and then I'd put her to bed.

That's it.

"You'll be safe at my home," I told her, trying to calm her down. "We have security, and you will not have to worry about anything at all."

"What are you going to do with me?" she snarled, her arms tightening over her chest.

She was the very picture of a pouty girl who needed her bare bottom spanked bright red.

"I am not going to hurt you," I assured her, knowing exactly what was running through her mind. "But you do need to be punished, malyshka."

"What does that mean?" she pressed. For the briefest of seconds, there was a flash of worry that crossed over her face.

Good.

She should be nervous.

I would never hurt her, but the spanking I gave her was going to sting quite a bit.

"You'll find out when we get to my home," I answered.

Her bottom lip jutted out in a pretty little pout, and I had to fight the urge to reach over, grab her chin and kiss her.

I shook my head.

I was going to take care of her. That's all this was. When things were handled, I'd send her somewhere safe, but until then, she'd remain with me.

Riley didn't say anything for the rest of the drive, and I didn't press the matter. I had a feeling she'd be saying plenty when she finally got what she had coming.

When we pulled up the driveway and the gates to my home slowly swung open, she stared in awe.

I smiled.

It wasn't the largest house in Boston, but it was still pretty nice. I wasn't one to show off my wealth, but from the look on her face, it was clear that Riley had never lived in luxury.

The more time I spent with her, the more I wanted to know about her.

"This is your home?" she asked as I parked the car.

"Yes," I said. "Now, let's go inside and then you and I can have a little discussion about what comes next."