Chapter 3 Rafail
RAFAIL
That could have gone better.
I glance back at my passenger. Hailey’s limp body lies crossways along the back seat. I strapped the belt around her waist to keep her from rolling off as my driver rounds corners too hard. Her head lolls, spreading her beautiful thick curls over the gleaming black leather.
I scrub my face with one hand.
My printsesa is going to hate me. Now, she knows what I truly am.
“What should we do about her car?” my driver asks me in Russian.
“Get rid of it.” I don’t need to spell it out.
He understands what I mean. By this time tomorrow, that heap of junk will be nothing but scrap.
Lila Davis, as she has been calling herself these past five years, will go missing as quickly and quietly as she appeared.
There is only one loose end left to tie up—the matter of our wedding.
Considering Hailey’s reaction to our…reunion, shall we call it, I might have some difficulty convincing her to go through with it.
I need her agreement, in person, for this to be legal.
I break far too many laws to risk her safety by skirting this one.
A mistress wouldn’t have full protection.
Nor would our children. I fully intend to make her the mother of my heirs.
I want her to be mine.
I always have.
She was just a child when we met. Beautiful. A rose about to bloom but not yet ready to be picked. I let her go. Told myself to stay away.
I couldn’t.
Hailey Bennett disappeared. I found her again by accident, when her mother made a mistake and sent Dmitri divorce papers.
He signed them. Let go of the woman he loved for her own good.
She died of a broken heart. My father became a shell of a man.
He loved her that much. Adored his stepdaughter, too.
Lost his edge.
Got caught.
Went to prison.
He’ll die behind bars. I am the one had to pick up the pieces of the empire my father had built. Five bloody years spent asserting myself as leader of this branch of the bratva brotherhood. Now that I have established my leadership, I can finally claim my bride.
My mouthy little printsesa might have an opinion about this when she wakes up. A smile tugs at my lips. Only she does this to me. She’s…entertaining.
Being alone with Hailey is dangerous for both of us. I can’t allow her to make me soft, the way her mother did to my father.
“What will you do with the girl?” my driver asks. This isn’t his first kidnapping. He knows to keep his mouth shut. But I can tell he is curious. I’ve never displayed much interest in women. A night here or there with a beautiful stranger. No commitments. Never anything long-term.
“Put her in the apartment,” I tell him. This one is rented, paid in advance.
I’ll be gone in a week, the name it was rented under wiped from the face of the earth.
I just need long enough to satisfy the forty-eight-hour required waiting period before I put Hailey in a wedding dress and drag her before a priest. Hailey needs a little time to adjust to the fact that she is mine, forever.
She has a little less than two days to come around. I will make her see reason.
The driver opens the door and moves as if to touch my bride. I push him out of the way and gather Hailey’s limp body into my arms. No one lays a finger on her except me. Knocking her out was a last resort, but necessary. We needed to get her out of that garage quickly.
Her head rolls onto my shoulder. She smells like the bar she was working at. She’ll be tired when she wakes up. Inside the immaculate apartment, I consider my options.
The bed?
I ignore it in favor of a wooden dining chair with arms. A bed is too much of a temptation, and she might misunderstand my intentions.
I prop her gently in the chair and cut the zip ties off her wrists.
I bind her arms with a pair of silk ties.
Then I do the same thing with her feet. When I’m done, she is stirring but still limp, held upright by her bonds.
Gently, I caress her soft curls away from her face.
“Wake up, printsesa.”
She stirs. A low moan comes from her lips. My cock twitches eagerly. She is no child anymore. That tight black tank top reveals her generous breasts, and the black pants hug her hips and thighs. Bad luck for me, it isn’t a skirt. We could have a great deal of fun together like this.
I know she felt it that night at her birthday party, even if she was too young to understand what I meant. Beyond slipping the security passkey into her sash, I didn’t touch her. I wasn’t as successful at scaring her off as I had hoped.
Now, though she’s dressed for serving drinks rather than a party, she is more beautiful than ever.
She should be dressed like a queen, not a servant.
Her dark lashes lay thick along the curve of her cheek.
Her lips are soft and full, her hair falling in waves around her shoulders.
It was in a ponytail when I saw her working.
Somewhere between the bar and arriving here, the elastic band fell out.
“Hailey.”
Her name feels light on my lips. Once, I thought hers was the same as the comet, but the asteroid is actually called Halley’s.
Still, the association stuck in my mind.
The way she came into my life like a bright star, full of innocence.
Shimmering and bright. I stared in wonder—then watched her disappear again, just as quickly.
“Wake up, printsesa. You have a wedding to attend.”
Finally, her eyes flutter open to reveal striking green flecked with gold. She straightens with a gasp. I tell myself I’m not offended at the way she recoils from my touch. Lying to myself.
“Whose wedding?” she gasps.
“Yours.”