Chapter Eight
Rodion
The air wrapped around me the second I stepped out of the auction hall.
My jaw tightened as I exhaled. Anger simmering beneath the surface, threatened to explode.
I paced along the gravel driveway, trying to put things together.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, dragging my attention away from my spiraling thoughts.
The name on the screen wasn’t one I could ignore.
“Speak,” I said into the phone, my voice cutting through the stillness.
“Boss.” The familiar voice of Pavel, one of my most trusted men, filtered into my ear. “About Salvatore, we’ve been keeping tabs on him as you ordered, but he’s disappeared. No one has seen him at his usual places. We suspect he’s meeting with an informant, but we haven’t confirmed.”
Salvatore. That son of a bitch. He was just like his brother Marco. The very mention of his name made my blood boil.
“What about the safe house? Have you checked?”
“Empty. He left nothing behind. But the surveillance tapes caught him meeting someone two nights ago. We’re working on identifying who it was.”
I pressed two fingers to my temple, the tension building like a storm inside me. “I want him, Pavel. Do your job.”
“We’re close,” Pavel assured. “We’ll—”
Footsteps approached from behind, snapping my attention away from the call. I spun on my heel, phone still pressed to my ear. Matvet walked toward me. His hulking frame moved with purpose.
I didn’t bother hanging up.
“What is it?” I demanded, already anticipating a report about the auction.
He stopped a few steps away, his hands clasped in front of him like a soldier awaiting orders. “The auction is still going on.”
I frowned. “Still? I told you to end it. Alessia is to be dealt with and forgotten. What’s the holdup?”
A flicker of unease crossed his face.
“Leonid is the highest bidder.”
My entire body tensed, a hot surge of anger igniting in my chest. “Leonid?” I hissed.
The name was venomous on my tongue.
“Yes, boss. He’s outbidding everyone else. No one dares challenge him.”
The world blurred for a moment as rage clouded my vision. My grip on the phone tightened, and Pavel’s voice became a distant hum in my ear.
“Pavel, give me a report soon,” I snapped. Ending the call without waiting for a response, I advanced toward Matvet. “You’re telling me that you let that snake think he can walk into my auction and take what he wants?”
Matvet squared his shoulders, but I could see the unease in his eyes. “Boss, he is—”
“I don’t care who he is,” I cut him off, my tone sharp enough to slice through steel. “Leonid doesn’t win. Not under my watch.”
He hesitated. “What do you want me to do? He’s bidding under your rules. It’s your property.”
“Then break the rules,” I snarled. “Be a bidder and bid against him. Double his offer. Triple it, if you have to. I don’t care what it costs. I’ll burn this entire place to the ground before I let him win.”
Matvet nodded. “Understood.”
“Leave,” I ordered, waving him off like a dog.
As he disappeared back inside, I stood rooted in place, my chest heaving with barely contained fury. Leonid had been a thorn in my side. I didn’t care that he had once been my father’s close friend. To me, he was a snake.
All Italians were snakes. And now he dared to show his face here, in my domain, and make a play for something that belonged to me? I raked a hand through my hair, trying to steady my breathing, but it was useless. The longer I stood there, the angrier I became.
Alessia. She was nothing more than a complication, a nuisance I should’ve discarded long ago. And yet, the thought of her in Leonid’s hands was unbearable.
“Fuck it,” I muttered to myself. I couldn’t let a snake win this. I would rather punish Alessia in other ways than let Leonid have her.
Without waiting for Matvet’s return, I strode back toward the auction hall, my steps quick and purposeful. The doors swung open with a resounding crash, and the chaos inside stilled for a moment as all eyes turned to me.
The air was thick with tension. Leonid directed his glare at me. He wanted her, and even though I already knew she had no connections to my enemies, I would rather keep her than let Leonid win her.
Matvet stood a few feet away as he bid against Leonid.
The room erupted in shouts and jeers, the two men locked in a battle of egos and wealth. Other bidders had long since given up, their interest fading as the stakes rose impossibly high.
I could feel their eyes on me as I made my way to my seat. They were probably confused about the change of plans. My gaze swept the stage, landing on Alessia. She coiled in on herself, trembling like a leaf in a storm.
Her wide eyes darted around the room, maybe wondering what the fuck this was.
I hated her at that moment, for causing this mess, and for making me feel anything at all.
She was a liability, a weakness I couldn’t afford to have.
But the thought of Leonid claiming her sent a wave of rage crashing over me.
“Nine hundred thousand,” Leonid called.
Gasps echoed through the room.
I didn’t hesitate. I raised my bidding paddle, my voice cutting through the tension like a blade. “Five million.”
The room fell silent, the weight of my words sinking in.
Leonid’s smile faltered, his composure slipping for the briefest of moments before he recovered.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze locked on mine, a silent challenge burning in his eyes.
I didn’t look away. I stared at him, with a promise of violence should he dare defy me.
“Going once,” the auctioneer began, her voice trembling.
Leonid didn’t move. No one did.
“Going twice.”
Leonid’s jaw clenched.
“Sold!”
The gavel struck, sealing the deal. The tension in the room dissipated, replaced by hushed whispers and stolen glances. I could feel Dmitri’s eyes of disbelief on me, but I never looked at him.
On my feet, my gaze locked on Leonid as I stepped outside. I had broken the auction rules. The auction rules didn’t allow owners to bid on their property. If they did, they had to compensate the second-highest bidder to retain it. But in California, I had a reputation for bending the damn rules.
The ride back to the territory was silent. My jaw clenched, and my mind spiraled into a storm of fury. Matvet drove with Alessia in another car ahead of me. I didn’t need to look at her to feel the fear radiating off her.
She should be afraid. She had no idea what awaited her, but I did. The auction had been a failure—a damn disaster that humiliated me. Who does that? I wanted her gone, yet instead of selling her away, I bought her.
The leather seat squeaked as I shifted, trying to ease the inferno blazing inside me.
I should have relished the fact that Leonid walked away empty-handed, but my mind churned with the cost of tonight.
She ruined my carefully orchestrated plan for the auction.
Alessia was now a thorn in my side. She dared to stab Renat and now stood as both an inconvenience and a liability.
My SUV pulled into the compound, the gates shutting behind me with a metallic clang.
My men were outside, stationed around the courtyard, their eyes alternating between the car and me as if they sensed the storm brewing.
They were right to be cautious. Tonight had soured me in ways I couldn’t even put into words.
Matvet stepped out first, dragging Alessia by the arm. She staggered, her feet catching on the uneven ground. She still wore the white lace dress from the auction. It clung to her like a ghost, a reminder of her fragile, pathetic existence. Her disheveled hair fell over her face like a curtain.
I stepped out of my car and walked toward the entrance. Before I reached the door, I stopped. Matvet halted immediately, his grip on Alessia loosening as he looked at me.
Alessia stumbled, and this time she didn’t catch herself.
She dropped to her knees, the lace of her dress pooling around her like a broken halo.
In a second, she got up and fixed herself.
Her head remained bowed, her face obscured by the tangle of her hair.
I pulled a cigar from my pocket, biting off the tip with a sharp snap of my teeth.
The act steadied me, gave me something to focus on other than the rage clawing at my insides.
I lit the cigar, taking a slow drag. The smoke curled around me, the scent mixing with the cold night air.
My men were watching, their eyes flickering between Alessia and me.
They were waiting for a show, for an example to be made. And I wouldn’t disappoint them.
“Leave,” I instructed Matvet.
He hesitated for a fraction of a second before stepping back. He knew better than to question me when I was in this state. Alessia stayed where she was. I exhaled a cloud of smoke, and the ember of the cigar glowed brightly in the darkness.
“Look at me,” I commanded.
She didn’t move.
“Look. At. Me.”
My voice cut through the silence like a whip. Slowly, she lifted her head, her face pale and streaked with tears. Her eyes were glassy with terror. It was almost pathetic how fragile she looked, how easily I could have broken her with a single move.
“Apologize,” I said.
Her lips trembled as she tried to form words, but nothing came out. She lowered her head again, her hair falling forward like a shield. I couldn’t see her face, but I heard the faintest whisper.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured.
It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough to quell the storm inside me.
“What was that?” I barked, taking a step closer.
Her shoulders shook, but she didn’t speak again. My patience snapped. I pulled my gun from its holster and fired at the ground near her feet. The sound was deafening, echoing through the courtyard. She screamed, recoiling in fear, her hands flying to cover her ears as she scrambled backward.
“Kneel and fucking apologize.” My voice boomed.
She collapsed onto her knees, her body shaking so hard I wondered if she would fall apart entirely. Her sobs were loud now, uncontrollable. For a moment, the sound grated against my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.
“I’m sorry,” she cried, her voice cracking under the weight of her fear. “I’m sorry.”
Smoke filled my lungs as I took another drag from my cigar, dulling the edge of my anger. For a split second, I considered firing another shot, just to make sure she understood the gravity of her actions. But the sight of her crumpled on the ground, trembling and pathetic, was enough.
Dropping the cigar, I crushed it under the heel of my boot. The ember died with a faint hiss. Without another word, I turned and walked toward the main building. My men scattered, their gazes averted as I passed.
I didn’t know what infuriated me more: the fact that Leonid had nearly outmaneuvered me tonight, or that Alessia existed at all.
She was a nuisance, a problem I didn’t need, but now she was mine to deal with.
She had stabbed Renat, disrupted my plans, and yet there was something about her that lingered in my mind like a splinter I couldn’t remove.
Once entering my private quarters, the door shut behind me with a heavy thud. The silence was a relief. My dog, Artur, lifted his head from where he was lying by the fireplace. His dark eyes met mine, calm and steady, and I felt a sliver of peace.
Kneeling beside him, I ran my hand over his thick fur. He watched me with the kind of quiet understanding only an animal could offer. He was the only thing in this world that didn’t demand or expect anything from me.
The anger didn’t fade, but it settled, coiling in the pit of my stomach like a snake waiting to strike. Tonight had been a disaster, but I would deal with Alessia.
Artur and I walked to my room, and I sank onto the sofa, shutting my eyes as I caressed him. If I wanted to teach Alessia manners, I had to keep her close. I had to make her my maid.