Seductive Salvation (Book One of The Mafia Heiress Series)

Chapter Nine

Valeria

Sergei held me until I stopped crying after an hour  to tell him that Ivan would be here soon. He helped me stand and get to my room. "Valeria, I'm sorry that my brother continues to torture you. I doubt he remembers signing the papers over but he did because I have them in my possession. I know what he's put you through and I swear to you that I didn't buy you to do the same things to you. I bought you to give your freedom from everything and everyone. I may own you but I will never treat you as if I own you." He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed my forehead.

"Amarissa told me how you felt about me." I whispered softly as I sat on my bed.

"One day that woman's meddling is going to get the best of her." He sat down on the bed next to me.

"She did it out of kindness and had hoped that I would feel the same. I don't know how to feel those things, Sergei. I've never known love and I'm hesitant to try because of how every man has turned out after he claimed to love me. I'm sorry." I looked to the ground as I waited for him to respond.

"I know that you were sent here because you were with another man after a drunken night. I know that you have never known what pure love feels like or even looks like. Your whole life has been filled with sadness, hate, pain, torture, and being told what to do. I know that I can't change the past but I would like to change the future. I don't care why you betrayed Ivan because it brought you here without him and I've had every second to look at your beauty and kindness as you help Amarissa, my sons, or even the staff." He put a hand under my chin and made me look at him. His eyes were soft, kind, and the most beautiful shade of green. He wiped a silent tear that fell from my eyes and pulled me into his arms.

There was a knock on the bedroom door as Amarissa stepped inside. "They said Ivan's plane arrived early. He'll be here any minute. The pilot said he's extremely angry so prepare yourself, Valeria." She looked sad for me as Sergei and I stood up.

"I won't let him hurt you, Valeria. I swear that if he tries to touch you that I will kill him." Sergei straightened up his tie and buttoned his suit.

"It will only make things worse if he knows about what is going on between us. Just try your best to stay calm and I promise that I can hold my own. I'm a trained assassin, remember?" I winked at him as I fixed my dress and followed him out of the room.

We all stood in the foyer to greet Ivan even if he wasn't wanted here. There were traditions and rules in place that not even Sergei would date to defy. The front doors swung open and in walked my worst nightmare. "Brother, I've come to check on my woman. Amarissa, you look well." Ivan smirked as his eyes found me. "I see that you've kept her in tip top shape, Sergei. I'm impressed, Valeria. You don't even look like a killer at all." His eyes were stone cold and I knew he was going to hurt me.

"Ivan, how about you settle in and relax? Amarissa has coordinated a very filling meal and I'm sure that you and your men are famished after such a long flight." Sergei suggested. He was trying to protect me  and somehow it worked.

"You're right, lets eat and then I'll see to my business." He held his hand out to me and I took it. My breathing was all over the place and my heart was racing. I tried to fake it but it was becoming increasingly harder. He forced me to sit next to him and kept a hand on my thigh through the entire meal.

"How is everything going in America, brother?" Sergei politely tried to make some sort of conversation.

"It's been well. You'll have to come and meet Oksana. I'm sure she'd love to meet the rest of my family." He ran his nails up my thigh and dig into my skin, causing me to wince.

"Who's Oksana?" Amarissa asked with a fake smile.

"Well, she's my wife. Valeria knows her very well. Valeria used to pleasure Oksana's husband but that was before I killed him for selling my secrets to the highest bidder." He dug his nails deeper and I winced again. Sergei's face has anger written all over it.

"If you'll excuse Valeria and I, we'd like to present dessert since it was her creation." Amarissa couldn't have had better timing. Ivan removed his hand and let me go. I followed Amarissa into the kitchen and sat on the stool as she got the dessert from the fridge. I pulled the fabric of my dress up to look at what he'd done. There were small cuts on my upper thigh where he had dug his nails deeply into my skin. Amarissa sat the dessert down and dampened a kitchen towel with some warm water. She handed it to me and I dabbed at the cuts, trying to keep my emotions in check.

"Thank you, 'Rissa for getting me away from him even it was temporary. I can't imagine what Sergei is feeling. I want Ivan to be gone already. I can't bear to tell Sergei what Ivan said to me on the phone before her got here. All hell would break loose." I sat the towel down and stood up, once again fixing the fabric of my dress. Amarissa motioned for me to take the pie out to the table.

"I'll hold his hand for you and kiss his cheek. He'll known it's from you, I promise." She smiled at me before we walked back into the dining room. Ivan's eyes found me again as did Sergei's. I sat the pie in the middle of the table and went to sit next to Ivan once again. Amarissa kissed Sergei's cheek softly as she picked up the serving utensil. She put a piece on everyone's plates except mine, I wasn't hungry and had barely touched my food at dinner.

After everyone was finished, the table was cleared by the kitchen staff and Ivan took me by the wrist and pulled me into him. "Valeria and I are going to have a conversation upstairs in her room. We won't be back downstairs until the morning." Sergei face saddened as Amarissa grabbed his hand and held it tight. Ivan dragged me upstairs and slammed the door behind us, locking the door.

"You've been a very naughty and disrespectful girl, Valeria. I thought I taught you better than to mistreat your owner." He raised his hand and smacked me across the face, pushing me to the floor. He crouched in front of me, grabbing my wrists and dragging me towards the bed. "Viktor isn't here to stop me this time. You're going to be sore tomorrow, whore." Ivan grabbed me by the throat, forcing me to my feet and threw me backwards onto the bed. I couldn't breathe as he continued to tighten his grip. I clawed at his hand, trying to fight him. It was useless as he touched me, forcing himself on me. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. I was frozen as he had his way with me.

Once he had finished with me, he got dressed and left the room. I tried to stand and walk to the bathroom but I was extremely weak. I gathered what little strength I had left to run a bath and carefully climb into the hot water. I saw the bruises starting to form and the cuts from his torture stung from the hot water. I cried silently as I just laid in the water, begging for Ivan to leave Russia.

There was a razor blade sitting on the edge of the tub. I smashed it open and grabbed one of the blades. I hadn't dared to do this since the first week after Ivan had bought me. I sliced into my skin and remembered the soothing feel of letting the pain just drip from my wrists. I drifted off into the water, trying to escape as it turned bright red.

There was a loud bang on the door of my bedroom but I had no voice to tell them to leave me alone. My eyes grew tired and weak as the water darkened. I saw a fuzzy outline of Amarissa's face as she screamed and grabbed towels from the sink.

There were voices softly calling me back from the darkness but I wanted to leave. I needed to leave. My eyes closed as I felt myself being lifted from the water and the cold air hitting my skin. I heard Sergei's faint voice screaming for someone to get the doctor. I fell into the darkness as he begged me to come back.