Page 24 of Debt to the Mafia King
Leah
His house came into view ten minutes later, half hidden through thick pine trees. I couldn’t help it. A gasp left my lips. Leaning forward, I tried to take it all in and failed. Even from a distance, it was huge, the kind of house that had tours of it. I had never in a million years thought actual people lived in these houses.
“Wow.” Over and over again, I let my eyes rove across itaki, tng in the white walls and towering columns.
“I take it, you approve?” Viktor chuckled. His earlier mood still pinched at his features, but there was more of a lightness to his voice at least.
“I—” god I was starting to sound like an uneducated fool, but I couldn’t help it. I’d never seen anything like this in person. “I just didn’t expect you to live somewhere so beautiful.” I finished lamely and forced myself to sit back. Not that I took my eyes away from the place as we pulled further along the narrow road and stopped at a tall wrought iron gate. A tall, sandy-stoned wall spread through the trees on either side, at least ten feet tall.
“Good to see you again, sir.” A man stepped out of the trees on Viktor’s side, ducking down to talk to him in quick-fire Russian.
I knew a little of the language, but not enough to keep up with their rapid conversation. Instead, I looked at that wall again and frowned.
Everything here was beautiful, but that wall and the guard posted outside the gates screamed to stay away. It was a wall to keep people out. Or maybe to keep people in? The thought made my frown deepen as I realized the truth. For all the beauty of this place, it was a prison.
My prison. I gasped. This was what I had promised, just minutes ago. I had agreed to this, to be a prisoner.
Silence filled the air, and I shook the thought away. Both men were staring at me now, like they expected me to say something.
“Oh, Hi.” I gave the guard a forced smile.
The guard stood back with a small shake of his head, and the gates opened. Pulling through them, Viktor remained silent.
And angry. It rolled from him in waves.
Pursing my lips, I blew out a breath. “I’m sorry if I did something wrong,” I whispered. I knew what happened when I displeased him, and my ass was still stinging. So I didn’t want a repeat spanking so soon.
Not that I minded the other part. The other part was great, so great that I still had a wet patch soaking the crotch of my yoga pants.
“It’s fine,” Viktor said in a clipped voice, which meant it wasn’t fine at all.
Sighing, I went back to looking at the house as we got closer and closer, and it got bigger and bigger. It was even more grand close-up.
“Your home really is beautiful.” I tried to break the silence.
“It’s not my home.”
I sighed. Ok, he wasn’t just mad, he was mad-mad, and I had no real idea of why.
“I am really sorry if I was rude back there, Viktor.” My hand trembled as I reached out and touched the back of the hand he had wrapped around the steering wheel. It was the smallest of touches, but he went rigid.
Fuck.
I drew my hand back sharply, and he caught it and entwined our fingers. Bringing my hand to his lips, he kissed the back of it softly, and I watched as the tension ran out of him.
“You weren’t. That’s not why I am on edge. Don’t worry about things, Leah. This is one of my homes, but not the one I usually live in. I have two places in the city. A penthouse.”
I nodded. I figured that.
“And a townhouse. This place,” he chin jerked ahead, “isn’t usually used, and I was told that things haven’t been prepared exactly like I asked them to be.” He side-eyed me, still holding my hand. “For your arrival.”
“Was there much to arrange?”
“Yes. The staff needed to be moved, certain belongings, and I wanted,” he dropped our entwined hands into his lap, “well, there should be enough there to make you comfortable.”
The car pulled up outside a wide set of double doors with columns on either side, and he killed the engine.
“I don’t need a staff to make me comfortable, Viktor,” I mumbled but didn’t look at him. I was too busy taking in all that grandeur. Because women like me didn’t live in houses like this. I was just a girl who lived paycheck to paycheck.
