2. Astor
CHAPTER TWO
ASTOR
A s expensive as this place is, the fucking lack of security has me on guard. There were two girls that walked in completely unaware of their surroundings. Alessia thought I was watching for sexual purposes, and I don’t know why it makes me happy that it pissed her off. It shows how na?ve she is. Anyone could take her from this building and no one would know. There are only two cameras in the whole fucking place, and the one out front barely catches anything. I know because I hacked into the system to see for myself. There’s no way she should be living here, and alone, at that.
She’s been changing for the last fifteen minutes and waiting for her is starting to irritate the shit out of me. I should’ve let her skip the fucking dinner. She’s done it before, and while our parents bitched about it, the one that was most upset was Els. My eighteen-year-old sister, who gets no freedom between my dad, his guards, and me. It’s not that I don’t think she’s capable of handling herself, it’s the fact that our family is a part of the Bratva. In the last three years, there have been four attempted kidnappings of her and two attempted murders on me. So, for the last two months, she hasn’t been allowed to do anything. Her only time to have conversation and fun is at these family dinners.
I look at the closed door and throw my head back, looking around her apartment. It’s neat and everything is perfectly placed. I walk over to her door and push it open.
She glares at me from her bathroom. “Can I help you with something? Get the fuck out.”
“I’ll get out when you’re done.” I look her up and down. She curled her hair and applied a little makeup. I sit on her bed and she puts her hands on her hips.
“You know what? Just leave. I’m capable of driving myself, I have a car.” She turns back to the mirror and applies her lip gloss. I stride over to her bathroom, hovering behind her. Her breath quickens and I tilt my head, watching her.
“What?” she asks, looking at me through the mirror.
“Hurry up.” That’s the only response I can force out. I turn around and walk out, because there’s no way I can be in a confined space with her right now. Or ever, for that fucking matter.
I wish I could hate her. It would make everything so much easier, but I can’t. I can’t because it’s not her fault that she lost her memory. And it’s not her fault that she still doesn’t know that . From the moment we met, I knew she’d be the death of me. I knew she’d be the reason I wanted to set the world on fire. For years, I’ve chased off every boyfriend, every fucker who thought they’d get a piece of her. Why? Because it felt like my job. She’s close with my sister, she’s her best friend. It's a role I stepped into without thinking twice about it. It was something that I just knew to do, even when it became gut wrenching. Our fathers instilled in my mind that her and my sister were my responsibility.
Take care of them, Astor. Protect them , especially Lessia. She’s yours.
Mine, except I was too young to know what the fuck that meant. Now that I know what it means, I want to hate her even more. Because I’ll have to spend the rest of my life fighting off the entire fucking world and I’m already up to my fucking ears in bodies because of her.
There’s so many things she has no idea about. So many people who have been a threat to her and she just allows them in her life.
“I need to look my best, maybe I’ll actually get fucked tonight. I might go out with Caroline.” She pushes her head up and continues to apply her lip gloss. I grind my teeth and push against her. She gasps and looks at me with hooded eyes in the mirror. “What are you?—”
“No one will be fucking you. You’re going to dinner and then you’re coming straight back home. So, you can tell Caroline that someone else will have to take your spot at my bar you seem to love to hang out at.”
“How did you…” She gulps and turns to face me, pushing me backwards. “You don’t tell me what to do. And I am going to your bar tonight.” She steps around me and grabs her purse, looking back at me.
Her dress is four inches too fucking short, and the front cuts so low I’m afraid her fucking tits will fall out if she moves wrong, She’s showing every tattoo she has, some in places that shouldn’t be seen, like the one that’s on her upper thigh that’s currently taunting me. You can only see a slither of her shoulder tattoo while her wrist tattoo and full sleeve is on display. I follow behind her, shaking my head, reminding myself that she is not my fucking problem. Yet .
When we get to her father’s mansion, our parents are at the door waiting for us, as usual. The rain has stopped and the weather is cool. Alessia shivers a little as we step out into the air and I chuckle. She glares at me and I raise an eyebrow. “Cold, malyshka ?”
“Fuck you,” she says as we approach the front door.
“Alessia Catalina!” I smirk at her as her mother scolds her.
“Sorry, Mom…” she mumbles. “Hi, Papa.” She smiles at her father and he pulls her into his arms.
“That dress is too goddamn short, figlia .” Ander looks over his daughter and then glances at me in question. I shrug and walk into the house. She’s not my fucking responsibility. She’s twenty-two-years-old.
“Fuck, finally. What took you so long?” Elsi asks, wandering over to me. I ruffle her hair and smirk at her.
“Your beloved Alessia. She took forever getting dressed.”
“Wait, you came together ?” She smirks at me and I shake my head, ignoring her. I walk to the bar and pour myself a drink, quickly downing it as our families start to gather in the dining room. This conversation is about to set off a very strong-willed, emotional girl. I can’t tell if it’ll push me over the edge, I’ve fought so hard to not step over.
“She’s going to be pissed, so I hope you’re prepared,” my father says behind me. I turn to him and grunt.
I stare at the man who has raised me to be strong, to not be afraid of anyone or anything. To always put my family first and never blink when it’s a life-or-death situation. He doesn’t look any older, it’s like he doesn’t fucking age. If it weren’t for the crow’s feet around his eyes, you’d never know his years.
Xavier Pavlov, the man who would burn the entire world down and not show an ounce of remorse for it. He puts his hand on my shoulder and grins. This was their plan ever since Alessia was born and I only recently became aware of it. Their plan to put the two most powerful families together. Their plan to make me the most powerful man and her the most powerful woman to take over their business when the time came.
My father and Ander grew up together. They both have no problem eliminating problems nor do they have problems showing their Achilles’ heel, being their wives and children. They are known for being cutthroat and not giving second chances—especially when it comes to their family.
“Yeah, well, I’m not too excited, either.”
“Ah, you can do this. This is exactly what you both need.”
He’s lost his fucking mind if he thinks I can handle this, if I can deal with this on top of everything else they’ve thrown at me.
No, he hasn’t.
“I don’t understand why you all are so adamant on this. Why are you all making me do this? You want me to marry her after everything that’s happened?” He pats my back and gives me a knowing look as we take our seats.