Chapter 11
Eleven
E lias
I set a box down in the room I planned to convert into my study and stretched my arms above my head. I couldn’t express my relief at finding a suitable property for Avra and me. The fact the purchase went smoothly was a bonus.
We had to move the remainder of Avra’s things from Prague, which she had tucked away in a storage facility, and some of my furniture from Ozias’s estate.
That first night in the penthouse had made it abundantly clear that it wasn’t acceptable for my wife, no matter what Avra said. In her eyes, it was ten times the luxury of the apartment she’d shared with her sisters in Prague.
However, we had no privacy. It wasn’t possible to rage- fuck my wife in a building full of people. That woman knew the exact words to say to set me off.
And the very idea of bringing Avra back “home” to the estate was out of the question. Outside of not wanting her anywhere near Ozias, the cruelty of pushing her into memories of her loss wasn’t something I’d ever entertain.
The mere idea of anyone causing her hurt or distress set off a primal part of me to maim and kill.
I ran a hand through my hair and gripped the back of my neck.
It was maddening to feel so possessive and protective over a woman.
Maybe it was because Ozias had killed her mother, and I refused to subject her to a vile, despicable bastard.
Plus, I couldn’t chance leaving her alone with him, considering her performance at our wedding.
If my father deemed her a threat, it would be all too easy for him to slaughter her right in the home he’d stolen from her.
I couldn’t fathom the thought of losing Avra. We’d only just met.
We were beginning to understand each other. Still, it would be a long journey before I’d trust Avra. She had her agenda as I had mine.
She legitimized my hold of the Vitalis lands. Then again, they were hers and eventually our children’s.
That specifically was the one thing I could count on her to protect.
Our future.
Given the opportunity, she’d kill Ozias but wouldn’t destroy the Xenos empire.
It was part of her master plan.
I couldn’t help but smirk.
Two predators under one roof—no wonder we fought and fucked so much.
For forty years, I’d resisted the idea of settling down. Now that I’d married Avra, I had no regrets.
“Where should we put these?” one of my soldiers asked as a group of them carried in crates.
I pointed to a corner near my desk. “Over there.”
After they finished, they waited for orders.
“Go help Avra,” I ordered, then asked, “Where is she?”
“Last I saw, she was in the kitchen, unpacking some boxes.”
I sighed. “Make sure someone helps her with the heavy ones. Even if she protests, do it.”
One frowned as if he wasn’t sure about following my orders. “We were given strict instructions to stay away until the Vitalis women gave instructions to come in.”
For the love of all that was holy. Avra had my own people scared of her. Why the fuck had I agreed to a house close enough for her sisters to visit every fucking day?
“I’ll go down and tell her myself.”
They nodded and left.
This morning, we started the process of packing and transporting our things. I half expected Avra to turn her nose up at the idea of handling the chore of moving herself, especially when we had people to take care of the task. But she scowled at the mere suggestion of someone else doing the work. I stepped aside once I saw her particularities regarding packing and labeling appropriately.
This slender, sexy woman was nothing like what I’d expected. She was the furthest thing from a lazy, entitled woman expecting my men to do the dirty work for her.
And that wasn’t the only way she surprised me.
Mostly, I couldn’t understand my deep, persistent attraction to her. It hadn’t faded yet, only increased by the moment.
I’d slept with many beautiful women. I’d dated plenty of socialites. Most of them were calm and understood social nuances and women’s roles. And not a single one held my attention the way Avra could.
Her attitude and take-charge nature made conversations much more enjoyable, even if I disagreed with her, which was most of the time. Plus, she possessed a fire and spirit I’d never realized I needed. Only a strong woman who took none of my shit could handle my darkness, and she’d done that since the moment I grabbed her throat at the wedding reception.
It was more than the sex.
Her mind fascinated me. She viewed the world through a lens of action and consequence.
I smirked to myself, thinking how the terms had become more of a sexual reference between us than anything else.
There I went again, thinking of fucking her.
I walked around the boxes and made my way through the house.
The idea of people suffering the consequences of their actions was a fact of life. I was a practitioner of that very concept. Like the man who’d lied—I killed him for his betrayal. Like the soldier who’d hit a woman, he was beaten and punished. That was life.
As I turned a corner, I paused, seeing Avra carry a large box up a back set of stairs leading to the bedroom section of the house.
The chatter from earlier seemed to have quieted, so I could only assume the sisters had taken their leave.
I followed behind her with her completely oblivious to my presence. I needed to teach her to stay more aware of her surroundings.
No, I’d watched in public. Avra possessed a honed sense of everything around her. Here, she allowed her guard to drop because this was her home. She felt safe here.
A disturbing feeling settled in my chest. If I wasn’t careful, I’d come to love this wife of mine.
That was a weakness, a vulnerability—the last person to have a place in my heart died.
My mother.
I paused at the doorway as she carried the box into our bedroom. Leaning against the frame, I watched her as she moved about, unaware of me.
What the fuck was I doing?
I rubbed my hand over my face.
She straightened, noticing me.
“Are you bored?”
I lifted one brow. With you?
“The other truck isn’t here yet,” I replied. I didn’t owe an explanation, but it wouldn’t kill me to admit why I was standing around.
“Want to get some food then? Before they arrive?”
“As in what a normal couple would do?”
She strolled up to me, tipping her head back. “There is nothing normal about us.”
The banter we had and this small interaction brought the uneasiness forward.
“That’s true. Where do you want to go?”
“I know a place.” She gave me a sly grin. “Up for a stroll?”
I offered her my hand. “Let’s check out the neighborhood.”
An hour later, after a simple but satisfying lunch at a small place that could only be described as a hole in the wall, Avra and I took the same route back to our house.
“I missed seeing this area,” she admitted. “It makes me so happy that Anna’s is still open. Papa would bring me there when we came into town. It was my special place with him.”
I kept walking, letting her talk. Not once while we ate had she mentioned how much that place meant to her.
I wasn’t sure why she’d decided to bring me there or share the vulnerable memory.
Was this some game?
Then she continued, “He would tell me the same story of how he met Mama at a bakery near here, and she didn’t like him. ”
A trip down memory lane was probably a bad idea. It might remind her my father had killed her mother.
“Well, that changed.”
She smiled. “Not before she tried to run Papa over with a car.”
I stopped to look at her, and she nodded. “Mama was learning to drive, and Papa jumped out in front of her, and she says she forgot to brake.”
Avra air-quoted the forgot part.
“Is that how they fell in love?”
“No. It took Papa another few months. Papa said she hated him until she couldn’t help but love him.”
Her words seemed to have solidified something between us that I refused to acknowledge.
Instead, I changed the subject. “I’m sure you’ve explored other favorite spots since you returned?”
She smiled. “Laya and I, yes. Cali, on the other hand, is on a mission to discover the best dance clubs.”
I almost gave in to a smile in kind. “She’s young and has yet to discover life. We can’t expect anything else.”
“Laya likes barhopping, even if she thinks I don’t know about it.” Avra grinned. “Since Laya enjoys my adventures and Cali doesn’t complain too much when we make her join us, I let them have fun.”
Avra fiercely protected her sisters, but seeing her give this insight into their bond was like learning a secret. I looked forward to learning more about them. Sooner or later, I’d need to find matches for them. As Avra’s husband, that responsibility should fall on my shoulders .
“Layana does seem more…athletic than Calista.”
“That’s an understatement. Laya loves combat training of any type. Cali, not so much, but she does the required practice Vik assigns. We accept Cali for who she is. As long as we add in architecture and take her to the tourist spots, she’s a good sport about all the extra walking.”
I took a chance, grabbing her hand to hold it. This more straightforward, more basic form of intimacy and affection was harder to get used to than the raw, harder kind of fucking her. As she loosened up and talked more about landmarks and other things she and her sisters enjoyed, holding her hand and reminding her that she was mine felt natural.
“I was in Prague six months ago,” I replied when she asked if I cared to travel. “The day after the holiday, I met an associate at a fantastic new restaurant, Gilded.”
She turned toward me, eyes wide. Her fingers remained twined within mine as we walked. “Gilded? My sisters and I often went there.”
I wondered if we’d visited on the same day, at the same time, probably passing each other without realizing it.
“It seemed like a popular place,” I said as I gestured to a shadier path toward our house.
As soon as we changed our route, I noticed a young girl out of the corner of my eye. She was walking by herself. Someone that young, maybe three or four years old, wouldn’t be left alone to roam.
My senses prickled. This child shouldn’t be here.
Avra continued talking about Prague and the delicacies she enjoyed there. Then, her tone grew quieter as she took in the state of the little girl farther down the street.
Her fingers flexed in mine when a man approached the child.
“He’s not her father. She’s afraid of him,” Avra whispered. “Do you see her body language?”
I nodded and tugged both of us into the shadows of the building. Whatever this fucker planned, it wouldn’t come to fruition.
“Do you know where your mommy is?” he asked.
She shook her head, glancing back toward the small market stall we’d passed.
“I’ll help you find her.” He reached for her hand, but the girl jerked back.
“I don’t like you,” she whimpered, trying to run, but the asshole grabbed her again. “I want Mama.”
“You will like me once I help you find your mama.”
For fuck’s sake.
Had he lured her there? Whatever it was, it was apparent he was going to kidnap her.
Rage boiled up. The fucker had just signed his execution order.
I adjusted my stance, ready to sprint into action, except Avra dropped my hand and darted toward the girl and growled in a tone full of fury, “I will kill him before he takes that baby.”
“Shit.” I chased after her as Avra rushed the man, shoulder-checked him, causing him to stumble, and then swooped down to pick up the girl .
“Give her back,” the man shouted as he righted himself and lunged at Avra. “She’s mine.”
“The hell she is.” Avra turned her attention to the child who clung to her tightly. “Do you know this man?”
She shook her head. Tears poured down her plump cheeks as her lips trembled.
“That’s— No. I know the girl’s mother.” The man stood to his full height, towering over Avra and making him larger than I originally thought.
If he laid one hand on my woman, he would beg for death by the time I finished with him.
He tried to intimidate Avra with his large body and reached for the little girl. “She’s lying. Give her to me.”
“If that were true, she wouldn’t fear you,” Avra sneered, shifting the child away from him. “You don’t know this girl or her mother any more than I do. Leave before it gets you killed.”
“The fuck I will.” He reared back his fist to strike her.
In that second, my vision blurred into a haze of red. A roaring erupted in my ears, and the only thought pumping through my mind involved destroying that motherfucker.
Avra was mine to cherish, protect, and kill for.
She ducked in time to dodge the blow he tried to land. She lost her balance while avoiding a second swing, and he attempted to snatch the girl from her arms.
With him distracted, I shoved him hard enough to insert myself between the fucker and Avra.
“Take the kid and back up,” I ordered, and I had no doubt that in this situation, she wouldn’t argue but would follow my command.
I glared at the bastard who thought to take a child and hurt a woman—my woman. He was a bulky fucker, tall and ripped, easily twice my size. It’s good that I trained with some of my men who were just his stature. Working with them had taught me how to deal with jackasses like this one.
“I take it that bitch is yours. I’ll teach you the lesson she needs to learn.” The shithead charged at me.
With a quick sidestep, I punched him in the stomach.
Fucking hell, he was built like a damn tank.
My knuckles cracked with the impact on his hard torso, but the pain was worth it, hearing the howl he released.
He circled back, his anger now higher than ever and eyes glazed with murderous intent.
Whatever he felt was nothing compared to the volcanic ire I planned to unleash on him in my workroom.
He pivoted, nearly landing a blow to my face. Ducking to avoid his next attempt, I grabbed the fucker’s hair, wrenched his head to the side, and punched him in the temple. I repeated the brutal, precise strikes until I forced him down.
The echo of footsteps rang out around me as my men surrounded us. They remained in their positions, knowing to step in only if I signaled.
Now, if it were Avra, they wouldn’t hesitate to engage immediately, but they would keep watching with me.
“Who…” The man knelt and brought his hand to his head, where I held him. “Who the fuck do you think you are? Getting in my business and… ”
I cut his words off as my grip tightened. “Xenos.”
Immediately, the man stilled, and all the resistance in his demeanor left his body.
“Elias Xenos,” I replied, my anger growing with every second this piece of shit stayed in Avra’s and the little girl’s presence. “You disgust me.”
I released him, letting him collapse into a heap on the ground. He pushed up with his hands and staggered to his knees as if in prayer and ready to plead for mercy.
Any excuse he gave would only incite my desire to slice his skin from his face right there in the streets as a lesson to others thinking of copying his behavior.
“It was, uh, it was just a miscommunication. A mistake.”
My hands shook, ready to follow through with the vision of filling the streets with the music of his screams.
However, with Avra holding the child behind me, it wasn’t something I could indulge in.
The little girl hadn’t a clue as to the monster I was, but Avra knew. Would she look at me differently now, knowing what I planned to do with this fucker?
“A mistake.” I repeated the idiot’s words, looking at his pathetic form. “Is that right?”
He nodded like a puppet. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Oh, I’d make sure of that.
I said nothing, only watched as the asshole crawled backward and tried to gain his feet. Avra moved closer to me with the child tucked close to her side. She set a palm on my forearm, and we watched the man stand and run.
I shook out my wrist. That fucker was big .
“Dumbass,” I heard Avra say as her fingers tightened on me. “Make it hurt, Eli. Don’t let him get away easy. I want him to suffer before you end it. Make him beg for you to end it.”
I glanced at my men, who all stared at Avra. I had no doubt every one of them had just fallen in love with her by making that request .
“You can always join me.”
She lifted onto tiptoes and whispered, “I’m saving my skills for three others first, then I’ll consider joining you in the future.”
Immediately I grew hard and wanted to fuck her. My reaction to this woman made no damn sense.
The mood instantly vanished as a woman screamed, “Isabella!”
Her frantic cries prompted the girl to wiggle for freedom from Avra’s arms.
“It’s okay,” Avra cooed. “We will get you to her.”
We rushed toward the harried woman, panic etched all over her face, and my men pursued their quarry.
Barely a second before we reached her, the little girl jumped into the lady’s arms, screaming, “Mama.”
The worried mother’s features relaxed into sheer relief as she clutched her child close, and then she lifted her gaze to mine, inclining her head in a gesture of gratitude.
I released a deep breath and said, “At least we don’t need to worry about her identity.”