The Romanov Series Book #1: My Rogue Girlfriend

Chapter One: What Could Have Been Mine

Katerina's POV
I never went back for her.

I broke my promise. It became too difficult to save her and I left her to fend for herself bearing the brunt of papa's ruthlessness. It's been over twenty years since I left her. I haven't seen her in a long time. I haven't been myself in a long time. I have become papa's puppet. He pulls the strings and I do his bidding.

This is just another night in his service. I have a backpack full of cash and probably a broken rib from a fight I had no choice but to win. Papa doesn't tolerate losers. He says a team is as strong as it's weakest member. In his team, there is no room for weakness. Weakness is terminated. We have to be strong no matter what.  If it's a fight you fight to the death. It is better to die than to come in second. For me, I can't die. I have too much to lose.

I grew impatient about the light still being red. I badly want to run the light but I can't afford to have anything as simple as a ticket for traffic violation. My presence here is supposed to be quiet. I can't make a sound. I answered my vibrating phone. "Da."

"What's your ETA?"

"I'll get there when I get there." I answered Alexei in a harsh tone. It's uncalled for given how decently he treats me.

I refused to apologize for my tone. I hanged up immediately. I'm tempted to disappear with the money in the back pack. It seems like the easier option. However, my father is not one to be robbed. I'll lose more than my fingers and sadly it's not my life. My mind drifted back to Katya. She thinks I'm dead. Everyone does. So many times I have been tempted to look for my little sister. When you have been away from someone for so many years, it becomes harder and harder to reach out. I miss her. I think about her often. But I'm also aware that papa is looking for her. We are one dysfunctional family in one city. We are the kind that don't talk for years and when we do we don't use words but bullets flying all over the place. The way Katya made her exit from the mob is not to be forgotten. She took papa hostage, knife to the throat. His little girl nearly took his life. He was absent from the scene for a while reeling in shock but he eventually got over it and accepted that a little teenage girl almost took him out. He is not invincible after all.

The sound of a roaring sports car that pulled up next to me pulled me away from the thoughts of my family. The slick black car makes a sexy sound that put a smile on my face. Most girls like flowers and shoes. I love cars and fast bikes. I'm different like that. I glanced to my side at the driver. My heart almost jumped into my throat.

It's him!

It's Nicko!

I faced the red light wishing that it stays that way a little longer so that I can take him in after years but the lights quickly moved to green and he was off like the speed demon he has always been. I followed him on my bike trying to keep up with the roaring beast. I want to talk to him. I want to make things right between us. Our split was sudden. I didn't want it but it happened.

He stopped the car in front of a fancy restaurant. It takes months to get a reservation here. It's just a plate of food but people pay for the ambience and the status of the place. He lives a comfortable life. I can't say that for myself because fear tends to overpower comfort. Living in the shadows is not living. Death is better. This man is not the teenage boy who took me in when I wanted to get away from papa. He's a grown man. He's even more sexier than I remember with an aura of power around him that is appealing!

He got out of the slick black Lamborghini. I got off my bike taking a step forward to approach him but I stopped dead in my tracks when he opened the door for a woman. He got down on his knee to fasten her shoe. My eyes trailed up the long legs as his hands did so. He is still naughty. He has his hand up her dress in the street, his body pressed on hers. The way her head fell back and her body stiffened said a lot about what he could be doing to her. I felt my throat drying up. He used to be this way with me too!