Darkest Sin (The Dark Mafia #1)

1. Chapter One

Chapter One

Mikhail

I watch her dance.

The graceful way she moves is stunning. I can’t take my eyes away. It’s like she’s floating on water or flying through the air.

She’s the best dancer on the stage.

Even in a sea of ballerinas, she stands out.

I clench my teeth together when she’s lifted into the air by a male dancer. The way he grips her waist looks too tight for me but she doesn’t seem to mind. Her expression doesn’t change. She still looks just as beautiful.

I want it to be me that’s gripping her waist. If I had my way, I’d kill that fucker for touching her.

But he’s just a male ballerina. He’s not a threat to me.

I will make Natalya Petrov mine, sooner or later.

She will dance right into my arms and I will make sure I take her pure innocence and corrupt it.

Natalya

I’m the principal dancer for the New York City ballet. I’m the lead in Swan Lake and I’ve worked for countless of hours to get here. Even though my father is a powerful man in the city, I still did this on my own.

At least, that’s what I tell myself.

I don’t want to admit that my father might have had a hand in helping me get here. The great powerful Lev Petrov. He’s the Bratva – the Russian mafia.

He’s not the only one in power in this city but he’s near the top. He holds a lot of sway.

If he wanted me to be the principal dancer, then he would make sure to make me one.

Which is why I’ve worked as hard as I’ve done. I don’t want to credit my success to my father.

At twenty, I’ve spent my entire life dancing and training for this very moment: to be the lead in Swan Lake.

To dance both dual roles. The innocent white swan and the seductive black swan.

The innocent one has always come easy for me.

My father has made it clear I’m not allowed to date.

My fate will be to marry another Bratva man to secure my father’s fortune and power.

He just hasn’t married me off yet, saying he wanted to wait until I was in my twenties.

I know he wanted to give me a childhood and I’m appreciative of him for that.

The downfall of my father being as protective as he is, is that I struggled to tap into playing the black swan. She’s much more powerful and seductive and bold than I’ll ever be.

I’ve reminded myself that it’s just acting. That I don’t have to be like any of the characters I play in real life. I just have to dance.

Which is what I do tonight.

I dance with everything I have inside of me. Tonight is the premiere of our show and I want to make an impact. If tonight goes well, more people will be coming back for the whole season.

As I dance all over the stage as the night goes on, I spy my family in the audience. Third row, front and center. Close enough to the stage to see everything but not so close that they have to crane their necks back.

My three younger sisters are in attendance. Sasha, who’s only a year younger than me. She looks bored but tries to look interested. I know ballet is not her thing.

Next to her is Irina. Unlike Sasha, Irina looks fascinated by the dance.

She’s a ballerina like me but at seventeen, she was too young to audition for the lead role.

Instead, she’s been cast as one of the background dancers but she doesn’t dance every night since she’s still in school.

She performs the weekend shows and I know she’s been practicing like crazy to get it just right.

Anastasia is the youngest at fifteen. She keeps trying to go on her phone but our mom keeps grabbing it out of her hand and making her put it back in her pocket.

Ana hasn’t always followed the rules. She tends to be the most bratty out of us being the baby.

I think our father spoiled her rotten sometimes.

Beside her is our mother. Tatiana Petrov.

She is a striking figure with her brown hair cascading over her shoulders and her green dress hugging all the right parts of her body.

My mom is only forty, having had me at twenty.

She’s still so beautiful and other men notice.

It’s always driven my father insane. If he had his way, no man would ever look at her.

But he can’t keep her locked up – not when she needs to show her face in public.

It’s good for the family. She can be the beautiful front to her husband’s operation.

My sisters and I all look like her, something she’s very proud of. I think she always hoped we wouldn’t look like our father. He’s a lot older than her – in his seventies now. They had an arranged marriage, something he strove for and something my mother never fully wanted.

It’s the reason he’s always been possessive over her. I think he’s worried she’ll leave him given the chance.

But I know my mother. She’s loyal to a fault. She might not have chosen Lev to be her husband but she’s never strayed from him since they married. She can be a stern mom at times but she’s always ready with open arms in case one of us girls need her to comfort us.

She has a slight smile on her lips as she watches me dance. I know she’s proud of how hard I’ve worked to get here.

My eyes slide over to the seat next to hers and I almost stumble. The seat is empty.

My father is supposed to be in that seat. Why isn’t he here?

He’s always bragged to his friends about what a wonderful ballerina I am. He’s never missed any of my shows. So why isn’t he here tonight?

I miss my cue to run towards Jake, the male ballerina, because I’m distracted. He makes up the distance and grabs my waist, lifting me up. I have to get my head in the game. Tonight is very important. I can’t let whatever is going on with my father affect my dance.

Jake gives me a concerned look but I smile, letting him know I’m all right.

He sets me back down and we continue our dance with little problems. Once our dance is done, we leave the stage to catch our breath and change costumes. It’s time for me to become the black swan.

“Are you ok?” he asks me, chugging back water.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” My breathless voice doesn’t help to make me sound convincing.

“Because you stumbled out there and you never stumble.”

“I’m fine.” I hurry to my dressing room to change.

Once I’m in the black swan costume and makeup, I hurry back towards the stage.

I’m in a long, quiet hallway. My dressing room is in a more secluded area of the theater.

My father made sure of it, saying I shouldn’t have to share a dressing room with the other, ‘lesser’ dancers. His words, not mine.

The only downfall is that I have to move faster being so far away from the stage.

There’s no one else in the hallway as I hustle down it, my slippers thwacking on the ground.

My toes are covered in tape to help protect against blisters and from breaking any of my toe nails.

Ballerina feet are notorious for being ugly.

My father always told me that I had to make sure my feet were just as beautiful without my ballet shoes on.

I go to pedicure salon once a week to make sure my feet are taken care of. I have to make my father proud.

I pick up my pace to reach the end of the hallway. I only have a few minutes before I need to be back on stage.

Out of the shadows, a man turns the corner and stops at the end of the hallway.

I stumble to a halt. I don’t know this man.

He doesn’t work here. I know everyone who works here from the ballerinas to the stage hands.

It’s important that I’ve taken the time to get to know everyone.

If I’m kind, then no one can hate me for my father’s influence in getting where I am.

“Excuse me, sir,” I say, breathless from running. “I need to get past you.”

The man stares down at me with an intense gaze. It’s then that I really look at him and I’m struck by how handsome he is. Probably in his thirties. He’s young but not too young. Black hair. Blue eyes. Stubble. Broad shoulders. He looks like he walked off the cover of a magazine.

“The black swan,” he murmurs, nodding towards my costume.

For some reason, I feel the urge to fidget.

I’m not used to being in the presence of a man like him.

One that screams power. My father does too but he’s my father.

As for Jake, my fellow dancer, he’s gay so I’ve never felt anything weird around him.

He’s always been respectful and I’ve been respectful back.

But the way this man is looking at me tells me that he’s not gay. It tells me that he’s interested in me, even though we’ve never met before.

“Yes,” I say. “And I need to get back to the stage soon.”

“Of course.” He steps out of the way. “I came back here to tell you that I thought you did a beautiful job as the white swan. I’ve never seen a dancer more beautiful.”

I can’t stop my face from blushing. “Thank you.” There’s just something about his stare that makes me want to duck my face and giggle like a schoolgirl.

“I’ll leave you be so you can finish the show.” He doesn’t move so I have to slowly walk past him. He looks at me the entire time and normally it would be unnerving but with this man it feels electric. A man like this is someone you want looking at you.

“Thank you,” I repeat.

“So polite,” he murmurs. “I like that in a woman.”

I need to get back to the stage soon but I have to know… “What’s your name? I’m Natalya.”

“I know.”

I frown.

He holds up the program. “Your name is listed in here.”

Right. Of course.

He doesn’t offer me his name, I notice. I would feel silly asking for it again so I only offer him a small smile and walk away.

When I’m further down the hallway, I glance back but I find that he’s gone.

For some reason, disappointment flutters through my chest. But that’s absurd.

I don’t even know that man’s name. It’s just because he’s handsome.

My father has kept me from a lot of men so for someone who looks like that man did, it’s exciting.

But thinking of my father only makes me wonder why he isn’t here tonight.