Unholy Tsar: A Dark Mafia Romance (Ruthless Dynasty Book 4)

Chapter 5

I don’t believe for a second that she’s sick, but I still let out an interested, “Oh?”

“Yes, Uncle Maksim.” My niece jumps in, rolling her eyes in exasperation. “I tried to tell Vincent, but he wouldn’t listen.”

Because I told the man to do everything possible to make sure Cecilia came to class. I knew the little liar would try to find a way to avoid me after what happened last night. It seems my niece bought her lies.

“She looks better now. The drive must have done her a world of good,” I say mildly. Bree gives her friend a second look.

“You’re right. She has more color on her face now,” Bree agrees. “But she could have felt even better resting at home.”

“What am I even doing here?” Cecilia asks, crossing her arms over her chest with a glare.

“Bree needs a partner to practice her self-defense on—that’s where you come in.”

“Oh, but how could I when she’s sick?”

“That’s okay, Bree,” Cecilia chimes in. “You know, a little anger can be just as good as any medicine. I already feel way better. I can’t wait to let out some of this steam.” There’s a hint of aggression in her voice as she turns to me. “I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to hit your precious niece, though, so can I practice with you? You’re just who I need to hit–I mean, practice with.”

I can’t help but smile at her audacity, which only seems to infuriate her even more. “You’re mistaken, Cecilia. You won’t be practicing, but rather, practiced on. You’re nothing but a live dummy for my niece to use for her lessons.”

Cecilia’s whole face turns red with anger, and her body vibrates as if steam were about to puff out of her ears and nostrils like in a cartoon. So much temper.

My smile widens.

Bree glances between the two of us in confusion, probably wondering why we’re so hostile toward each other. “Easy, you two. We’re all friends here. Be nice.”

“I am always nice. The issue is your old man,” Cecilia growls and spins away from me to collapse into one of the chairs. I let her have the last word and gesture to Bree to take her seat as well.

When everyone’s settled, I turn to the projector I’ve set up with the help of Rian, and a life-sized image of my nephew appears. “Rian!” Bree pops off her seat with a grin.

“That’s right. He’s here in spirit,” I explain to my niece. “We thought it might help with the lectures.” She plops back down into her seat.

I pick up a cane I got just for this purpose and point it at Rian’s eyes. “First of all, if you girls ever come across a real threat, you go in with this knowledge; you have no chance against any man worth his salt.”

“What? Isn’t the purpose of this whole thing to be able to have a chance?” Cecilia asks sourly.

“Let me give you an example. Does a cube of ice have any chance with a brick? The answer is no. The brick outweighs the cube, making the fight an unfair one. All the brick has to do is hit the cube and it’s crushed.” My students watch me in hushed silence, and I nod, knowing they’ve gotten my point.

“In any fight with a man, you’re overpowered. But you’re not outwitted. By dint of a man’s strength, the fight is already an unfair one. So, you’re not going to fight fair. You won’t win. What you need to do is neutralize him. Once that’s done, you run as fast as you can toward help. Understood?”

I wait for their agreement before I continue. “Good. In this lesson, I’m going to show you some weak points to strike.” I point my cane at the eyes again. “The eyes of your opponent should be your primary target for two reasons. One, they’re easy to reach in any circumstance, whether it’s a standing fight or you’re being choked on the ground. The eyes are just right there. Two, by hurting your opponent in the eye, you have a high chance of blinding him, which will obviously give you the upper hand.”

I myself don’t fight dirty, but I’m not about to teach the girls to fight fairly. Any man who wants to grab them isn’t going to have any honor, so he doesn’t deserve a fair fight.

“Now, when I say go for the eyes, I don’t mean a puny punch or slap. You’re going to poke those fucking eyes with your fingers or any sharp objects you may have on your person. A bunch of keys. A knife. Anything. The goal is to blind your opponent, and that’s the most efficient way. You have to get it right in one go, otherwise, you’re fucked.”

They nod in understanding, and I point at the next spot. “Next is the nose.” I spend the next few hours showing them the many weak points that can be used to incapacitate a man. Thankfully, my audience is fully enraptured, making my work easy.

At one point, I call in one of the men from Bree’s security detail and use him to demonstrate. Then, I let the girls try him out—without hurting the poor chap, of course. Teaching them in theory alone won’t do them much good; they need to practice as well.

At first, they’re sloppy, but with more practice, their movements become quicker, more precise.

By the end of the class, three hours later, they’re by no means ready to face a threat, but at least they’re not just the helpless kids who walked into the library this morning. Now, at least, they have a basic knowledge of how to get themselves out of trouble.

After the lesson, while both girls have their lunch, Vincent, Bree’s head of security, and I have a brief conversation about the recording he sent me last night of Bree and Cecilia. The recording was the real reason I made sure Cecilia was part of today’s lesson.

“Keep this new information to yourself,” I command him sternly. “Right now, only the two of us know. If it somehow gets out, then I’ll know you’re not to be trusted, and you’ll be harshly dismissed. Also, delete the recording. Make sure I have the only copy.”

He nods sharply and leaves me alone in the library. I clench the USB in my hand. I’ll toss it into the fireplace when I get home. Then I text my private investigator. I’m not going to go through Dante this time, even though I trust him. The matter is just too sensitive.

ME:

Stop your investigation on Cecilia Lombardi. Find everything you can on Cecilia Rose Bianchi.

Eventually, we’ll find out Cecilia’s real name, but Bree’s slip-up only makes it all the more difficult. I can’t believe my niece has willingly lied for this woman. Why?

I make my way outside and quietly shadow Bree’s entourage. Is it icky stalking my niece? Fuck yes. But I need to know what’s going on in her friend”s head. It’ll take at least a few hours for my investigator to find anything, so I’ll just have to follow her until then.

When they get to Bree’s apartment, Cecilia whispers something into my niece’s ear. Bree gives her a worried glance but then nods. Cecilia offers her a quick hug, and then she walks away.

I contemplate tailing her with my car, but that risks tipping her off, so I get out and track her on foot while keeping a discreet distance. A few minutes later, her steps falter, as if her feet got caught on something. My heart skips, and I have to restrain myself from rushing over to see if she’s okay.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Suddenly, my phone pings with a text. I take it out of my pocket and look down. It’s Dante. Before reading the message, I glance up at Cecilia to make sure she’s okay, but she’s gone.

I freeze.

What the hell? I stuff the phone back into my pocket without reading the message. Where the fuck did she go?

I scan the sidewalk as I make my way to the spot she was standing before. There! Just ahead, a small path turns into an alleyway.

What is with this girl and alleys?

Sighing, I venture into the alley. Like last night, it leads to a dead end, but this one is empty. She’s not here.

So where is she? I turn around to leave and… bam.

There she is, standing at the opening of the alley.

“Still stalking me, old man? Have nothing better to do?” She twists her lips and lifts her hand to admire her nails. But she’s not fooling me. Her feet are tapping the concrete floor. She’s nervous.

“I’ll admit, you’re good,” I sneer. “More than any spoiled rich girl has any right to be.” I can’t wait to hear back from my investigator so I can finally know everything about this woman —there’s so much more to her than meets the eye.

“There you go again with your assumptions. Why do you think I’m a spoiled rich girl?”

“Because you’re friends with Bree, obviously. My niece went to the finest private schools, and her movements have always been regulated, so she only meets people in her circle.” As I speak, the movement of Cecilia’s feet on the pavement distracts me. That’s when I notice how tattered her shoes are.

“Shame on you and your family. I didn’t meet Bree in school anyway. We only became friends last year.”

My eyes snap back to her face in surprise. Nolan mentioned they met in college three years ago. They’ve been lying to him too? My gaze wanders to her shoes again. Is that a hole? “You’re not a rich girl, are you?” I realize. “That’s why we couldn’t find anything about you.” Plus, we had the wrong name, obviously.

“You didn’t find anything about me?” she taunts. “What a shame. From what I heard about you, I thought you’d be better at your job.”

“Or maybe you’re just a nobody, Myshka,” I shoot back.

“Myshka. You keep calling me that. What does it mean?”

I raise a brow at her. “I do the questioning, Myshka. Now answer my question—you’re just a nobody, aren’t you?”

She shrugs nonchalantly. “That’s what I’m trying to be, Maksim. A nobody with no connections. Is that too much to ask?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She shrugs again, but this time, her gaze drops to her worn shoes. I take advantage of her distraction, silently circling the alley until she’s backed into the dead end. When she looks up again, her lips part in surprise at how expertly I’ve cornered her.

She steps back, and I move with her, dancing back and forth until I have her exactly where I want her: backed against the wall. I place my hands on either side of her, boxing her in. Her wide eyes drop to my lips and her pupils dilate. She swallows audibly, and my pants tighten as I imagine her doing just that with my cock stuffed in her mouth.

I shake the thought out of my head. The little mouse wants me. And I’m going to take full advantage of that. I lift my right hand from the wall and caress her soft cheek. “Tell me what I want to know, Myshka.”

“Or what?” she asks quietly.

“Or I’m going to take you right here in the open,” I threaten softly, watching as her breath hitches and her eyes dart down to where my cock is tenting my pants. A pretty shade of red colors her cheeks. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Her pink tongue swipes across her lips, and I lean closer until our breaths mingle. The sweet aroma of honey and vanilla washes over me, and I inhale greedily. She gulps.

“N–no,” she stammers. “I’ll t–tell you what you want. Just back off. I can’t breathe.” The last sentence is a breathless whisper. I smirk but move back a little.

“Look, I’m a parasite, okay?” she exhales. “I needed security badly, but I’m not the rich girl I’m pretending to be—which means I can’t afford one. Then I accidentally stumbled into Bree one day. She had the security detail. She’s also a kind girl, and I noticed she was lonely. So, I latched onto her. I became her friend, so I could always be next to her… with those security guards watching over both of us.”

“And what do you need security from so badly?”

“None of your—” She trails off with a soft gasp when I invade her personal space again. Her eyes flutter close. “Alright, alright. My past, okay? I needed—I still need protection from my past.”

“Tell me,” I demand, my tone sharp and insistent.

“I–I can’t,” she cries, tears suddenly slipping down her cheeks.

The sight grips my heart. I”m the only one allowed to make her cry. “I promise you, I’m more dangerous than anything in your past,” I growl, angry at her for making me feel this way.

I take a few steps away from her, needing to clear my own head. I’ve inhaled too much of her scent; it’s making me delusional, giving me a hero complex. I’m no hero. Fuck, I’m too old to be playing savior for anyone.

“I know. But you and the Kilpatricks, no matter how dangerous you are, you-you work within a code. You have honor. The people in my past? They don’t know what honor is.”

“Who are they?” I press again.

“You’re the expert, Maksim. Why don’t you figure it out?”

I narrow my eyes and take a threatening step forward. She whimpers, and the tip of my cock leaks precum as that sound shoots through my veins. A grown fucking man creaming his underwear like a randy teenager.

I turn from her, disgusted with my own lack of control. “Get out of my sight,” I command before I do something stupid like kiss her. Only I know I wouldn’t be able to stop at just a kiss.

Thankfully she doesn’t question me and just scurries away like the little mouse I’ve been calling her.