Chapter 15 - Leon

The screaming and banging on the door have stopped, but I can hear her pacing the room like a caged animal. She would be furious if she heard me standing on the other side of the door, listening to her tantrum as she tried to escape from my house.

There is no escape for her. Not anymore.

She's a smart girl and a fighter, but she should never have looked for her family. Natalie should have accepted the good life I gave her in Russia and stayed there, getting married and having children. She should have spent the rest of her life happily, not knowing that her family was dead.

Smirking, I lean against the wall and listen to her soft curses, a muffled sound coming from what she does next. After a few more minutes, the sound of her retching comes through the door.

Satisfied with what I hear, I descend the curved staircase into the foyer and enter the sunroom, where my morning coffee still awaits me. Steam rises from the white cup as I sit on the emerald green couch and look out over the manicured garden stretching to the trees on this side of the house.

"Can I get you anything else?" Rosalie asks as she enters the room with her arms crossed and a feather duster in one hand. "Is there anything you want me to send up to the girl?"

"No. It's better if she sits in the room for a little longer. Pick her up in an hour and bring her here. If she tries to escape, use whatever force necessary to stop her."

Rosalie presses her lips together and bows her head slightly before turning around and walking out of the room. She clearly disagrees with what's happening here, but she won"t say anything about it.

I pay her good money to keep her mouth shut.

As I sip my coffee, I pull out my phone and call Boris. The line rings once before he picks it up.

"Boss."

"I have decided we will be gone longer than I originally thought. This is about breaking her and bending her to my will. I want you to check my businesses and ensure my men stay in line."

"Will do, boss. Is she alright after passing out?"

I sigh and swirl the coffee around in my cup before taking another sip to let the caffeine drive the last of the exhaustion from my veins. "She's fine. She"s banging on the door and screaming like a banshee. I think she's finally calmed down."

His laughter roars in my earpiece. "Sounds like she will give you a run for your money."

"One way or another, she will learn to obey me." I kick my feet up on the wooden coffee table. "It's better for her if she learns that quickly."

"Do you want me to tell Maxim where you are when he asks?"

"No. If anyone in my family knows she's still alive, they'll come after her."

"And we don't want that?" Boris asks.

I shake my head and hear footsteps echoing down the stairs through the house. "No. We don't want that, not yet. Keep things going while I'm gone. Any fuck ups are on your head."

After ending the call, I put the phone on the table, stand up and turn around.

Rosalie leads Natalie into the room and gives me a sassy look before she leaves. She closes the glass doors behind her before disappearing into the house.

I put my hands in my pockets and widen my stance slightly as she raises her head defiantly. I meet her eyes, which toss axes back at me, and the corners of my mouth tick upward; I bite my lip to stop myself from laughing.

Despite the brave show she is trying to put on, her fingers flex and relax, and her hands tremble as her gaze darts around the room.

"If you're looking for a way out, stop." I remain calm but firm, showing no emotion as I nod to the spot before me. "Come here."

The color drains from her pretty olive skin as she walks toward me and stops at the spot I indicated. She takes a shaky breath, closes her eyes briefly, and huffs loudly enough to show me her annoyance.

If she thinks this behavior will make me go soft on her, as infuriating as it is, she"s wrong. And it's time she learned precisely what kind of man she's dealing with.

I reach out and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, and her pupils dilate. "You're playing a dangerous game with me, Natalie. And you know that, too. You should have stayed home in Russia like a good girl, where Marina tried to protect you."

The sharp exhale reverberates deep in her chest as if she had been punched in the gut. The air quivers, charged with unspoken words.

My fingers glide along her jaw. "Look at yourself. You want to be brave. You're trying to stay strong and pretend none of this is bothering you, but I can see it in your face. You're terrified."

Natalie stands taller, her shoulders roll back, and she sneers. "I'm not afraid of you. Do you think you can kidnap me without anyone noticing? I have a roommate."

"Pearl Wilson? Don't worry. She's been taken care of."

Her hand flies to her mouth, covering it as she lets out a strangled cry. "You son of a bitch!"

My hand shoots to the back of her neck, grabs a fistful of hair, and yanks her head back, forcing her to look at me. Our faces are so close I can feel her warm breath and fight the urge clawing its way to the surface to kiss her. Fuck!

Instead, I clench my jaw and snarl. "You will not stand here and insult me, Natalie. This will be the first and last time I allow such a thing to happen. Do you understand me?"

"What have you done with Pearl?" She is flushed, and her voice is raspy. "It wasn't enough to kill my family. Did you have to kill her too?"

I take my hand off her, inhale deeply, and take a step back. "I did not kill her. Pearl is safe for now. I wouldn't dare harm a hair on her head unless you did something to piss me off, Natalie."

"Then where does she think I am?" Natalie wipes her face with her hand and seizes the reins of control over her emotions. A stony mask settles into place, but her eyes still look like she could burn down a house.

"I left a message for her. You told her there was a family emergency in Russia and you had to fly back home. You don"t know exactly when you"ll come back, but you"ll come back eventually."

"I'll come back eventually?" She mockingly mimics me.

"I think that depends on you, Natalie."

"If it depends on me, then let me go." Her brows narrow. Fuck, she is cute when she is angry.

I close the distance between us and purr in her ear. "That's adorable, Natalie. So, fucking adorable."

Her head snaps back. "You want nothing to do with me. You"ve already killed my family. You mocked me for that. Taunted me about all the things you"ve done, and now you"re standing here telling me I'm adorable? You took everything from me. Fuck you."

My hand wraps around her throat, fingers pressing into her side as I pull her close. "Do you want to try that again? You have no fucking idea, Natalie. You're nothing more than a confused woman looking for answers she"s not strong enough to hear."

"I am strong enough," she gasps, looking up at me. Her hands grab mine to pull them away. "Let go of me."

"Don't provoke me, solnyshko. You will learn, one way or another." I press harder on her throat and grin as her nails dig into my hand.

When I let go of her, she gasps for air, leaning forward with her hands on her thighs. "You're a fucking monster."

"Yes." I crouch to her level. "I have tattoos older than you, Natalie, so it would be wise for you to sit your ass down on the sofa and listen to me."

The glare she gave me would make weaker men run in the opposite direction. But her attitude and fury only turn me on. I want her even more. She's like a fucking siren, and I"d willingly wade into the darkest waters to touch her, to have her again.

This woman will be my undoing.

Her whole body is tense as she sits down, coiled tight like a snake that could strike at any moment.

I would like to see her try.

Things might have turned out differently for her family if she had been older then. Though her brothers might not have been able to fend me off, but the fire in her eyes tells me that she would have done everything in her power to kill me first.

My cock swells when I think of how she would fight me before finally begging for my touch, as she did before.

She likes the passion between us. I saw it the night I fucked her. She pushed when I pulled and played cat and mouse until she was putty in my hands. Even now, I saw the flash of lust in her eyes as my hand was around her throat.

I'm not going to fuck her again until she's begging for it and desperate for me, soaking wet and wanting nothing more than to have my cock buried inside her.

Until then, she will learn that I am in control here.

As I stand before her, she looks around the sunroom. She looks back and forth between me and the garden. For a moment, I think she will get up and throw herself out of the window. After the show she put on upstairs, I wouldn't put it past her. She reminds me of a wild horse that needs to be tamed, but I will be the only one to rein her in.

"Stop thinking about running away, Natalie. It may not look like it, but the fences behind the trees are too high for you to climb over. There"s barbed wire at the top. There's no escape here unless I'm the one who gets you off the property."

"You could just let me go," she says, wrapping her arms around her body as if she's sulking.

"Oh, no. I can't do that." I sit on the table"s edge in front of her, my knees brushing against hers.

Her eyes challenge mine for a moment too long, and her cheeks flush before she looks away. Her mind may fight her, but her body betrays her. She still wants me. She craves my touch, and I can work with that.

"All these years, I was the one who kept you alive. I was the one who made sure you could live with a good woman. I was the one who made sure she always had the money she needed to take care of you." My voice was calmer than I thought.

"You took everything from me and sent me to the other side of the world." The bitterness in her voice pierces my heart like needles, but I keep my composure and ignore it.

"If I hadn't done it, someone would have killed you." I slowly trace my finger over her thigh. "You think I'm horrible, Natalie, but you haven't seen the rest of my family. They make me look like a fucking angel."

She scoffs and shifts away from me. "Maybe I"d be better off dead, then I wouldn't have to deal with you."

"If you want to die, just say the word."

Her full lips press into a thin line, and I can almost hear her brain ticking. Although she talks as if she were willing to do anything to avoid me, people value their own lives greatly. She doesn't want to die, even if she says she'd be better off that way.

I wait for her to say something else, but she doesn't.

"Good, that's what I thought." I lean forward and rest my forearms on my thighs. "After all the work I"ve put in over the years to keep you alive and safe, you owe me, I"d say. You"re mine, and I"ll do what I want with you."

Her eyes are glassy and there is a slight quiver in her voice. "Why?"

Because I can't get you out of my head the way you pleased me.

I want to devour every inch of you, body and soul until I no longer know where mine ends and yours begins.

Shrugging, I give her a smug smile that I know will infuriate her. "You were a good fuck."