Arranged Mafia Daddy

Chapter 20Viktor

20

Viktor

I thought I only wanted Sage to have my child, the next heir to the most powerful Bratva in the area, and that marriage was a formality to achieve that, but she’s taught me that my desires can change in an instant.

As she lays her head on my chest and I feel her silky hair flow over my skin, I feel a peace I haven’t felt in a long time. It brings back more memories of my childhood, but this time, they’re good ones.

Those summer nights in Russia were more beautiful than any I’ve seen in America. They were much quieter, without all the bugs, but they were still warm. Nobody wanted to work when it was nice outside, but my father was running a bar, so he’d have twice as much business on those days.

I used to just run around in the park across the street with my sister, Daria. She was older than me, and much more clever. She used to get us into all kinds of trouble, but our mother would talk our father out of a beating when we got home.

She was too soft with us, but we loved her for it.

After a long day of getting into trouble, when we went to sleep, our little bodies would be so tired that we’d fall asleep in an instant. Even the excitement for tomorrow couldn’t keep us up.

It’s how I feel now with Sage snuggled up to me in bed, only I can’t fall asleep. I feel that I need to speak to her about my past, the things I’ve kept hidden, so she’ll understand why I am the way I am.

Now, I want her to understand. Before, I didn’t care. That’s changed, and I hope she can appreciate that I’m making an effort, however terrible I might be otherwise.

“You asked what was bothering me today,” I begin, trying to think of a way to bring this up without creating another argument.

“You don’t have to talk about it. I’m sorry I pushed you,” she says.

It hurts my heart that she’s always so quick to apologize. I’m always making her out to be the one who is wrong, but in reality, I’m the bad one. I’ve always been the one who should be apologizing, but that’s difficult for me to do. It feels like I’m failing at being the strong man everyone needs me to be.

“Don’t say sorry, please,” I say, stroking Sage’s silky hair. “You deserve the truth. It’s just difficult for me to talk about things, especially when I don’t understand them so well myself.”

She snuggles closer. “Well, you’re doing your best, and that’s what matters.”

I laugh softly. “I’m not sure if I really am doing my best. A lot of this is new to me. Feeling this way is new. You’re new.”

“Surely, you’ve been with other women before,” she says, tilting her head up to look at me.

“Nobody who’s even come close to you, darling,” I assure her.

“That’s awfully sweet of you,” she says, tracing her finger over the tattoos on my ribcage. “I’m not sure I believe it, though. A man like you probably has a lot of experience.”

“Are you calling me a whore?” I ask with a chuckle.

“Oops, did I say that?” she teases.

“Not exactly, but it was implied.”

She pinches the skin on my stomach. “You know what I mean. I just don’t think I’m all that special.”

“Believe me, you are,” I say, and the words are genuine for once. So many times, I’ve faked how I felt to get things from people, but I don’t want to manipulate Sage. My emotions are real, and I hope that she can feel them just as strongly as I can.

She snuggles closer to me again, her warmth making me feel more comfortable with what I’m about to tell her. I haven’t spoken a word about this to anyone before, not even to Ivan or any of my men over the years. It’s been locked up in the back of my mind, unable to be expressed.

And yet, that one event is what made me the man I am today. It defines me in a way that nothing else ever could.

“So,” Sage says, her voice calm but curious. “What is it that bothered you so much about the man in the blue suit?”

I’m surprised by her question, and I can’t help but laugh. “This isn’t about him.”

“You kind of had a meltdown when you saw him, no offense.”

“No offense, but it had nothing to do with him. It was more about you,” I reply in an equally snarky tone. “You shouldn’t assume things about me. It’s dangerous.”

“No more dangerous than joining the Bratva.”

I grin. “You’re difficult sometimes, Sage, but that’s what I like about you. I need a good challenge in my life, and things have been a little too easy lately.”

“I’m all the fun you could ever desire,” she replies, wrapping her thighs around my leg and squeezing.

I reach down and rub her soft skin, breathing deeply as I prepare to change the tone. I wish I didn’t have to talk about such horrible things, but it feels right to open up to Sage. She’s the only person I’ve felt this comfortable around.

“I told you that my family had been murdered,” I begin, my throat going dry mid-sentence.

“Yes,” she replies simply.

“Well, it really wasn’t just a quick hit. There was more happening at the time. The people who were responsible were ruthless in ways I could never be. I know that sounds crazy, but you’re going to hear some serious shit in a second.”

I feel Sage’s body grow stiff against mine, like she’s bracing for a physical impact. I think she might prefer one over what I’m about to say.

“My father’s bar was doing well. Too well, in fact, and it started drawing attention from the local mafia. But these people were destined for prison with the way they operated out in the open. It actually shocked me that not all of them ended up behind bars after what happened to my family,” I begin.

“They were never arrested?” she asks.

I shake my head. “Not all of them, but I’ll get to that later. I just want you to understand the gravity of this lifestyle, what these people could do to someone like you. Death isn’t the worst thing.”

“You did bring me into this. It wasn’t exactly my choice,” she replies, running her fingers through my chest hair as though to show me that she’s not angry. She’s just pointing it out.

I take a slow breath, feeling the warmth of her hand and wishing we could stay in this bed forever. “Right, I did bring you in, and I will protect you. I promise I’ll do that for you because you mean the world to me.”

“Do I really?”

“Yes,” I reply with the utmost confidence. “You do, and that’s why I want you to understand the forces we could be up against. They don’t care about rules, laws, or what’s civil. They’re evil, and not in the same way that I am. If you care about people too much, you risk being destroyed by them in the end.”

“They turn on you? I wouldn’t do that,” she says. Her words have an edge of defensiveness to them.

“Perhaps not, but if someone did to you what they did to my family, it would destroy me. I remember clearly the day it happened. I was playing in the street with a rubber band I found on the road just outside the bar. My sister had already gone inside with my parents, and I was supposed to come inside. That’s when they arrived.”

“Who were they? The mafia?”

“Right, a couple of guys who had already told my father to close down his business and move, but my old man was hardheaded and didn’t like being bossed around. He stood his ground, and they made him pay dearly. The only reason I didn’t die along with everyone else was because I was outside when it happened, watching through the window while they defiled my sister and mother before murdering them all.”

“Oh my god,” Sage whispers, gripping my chest hair so hard that it hurts.

“I don’t know how long it went on, really. I was fixated on it, torn apart by the image of my mother and sister being assaulted while my father was beaten senseless. I wanted to do something, but I couldn’t. I was stuck. I think for a long time, I felt guilty about not helping, but now I realize I would’ve been killed had I intervened. They knew I was out there watching, but I think they enjoyed making me suffer, knowing I was helpless.”

“I hate people so much. Why is the world like this?” Sage asks, and I can hear in her voice that she’s crying.

There’s a lump in my throat too, but not a single tear is shed. I’m incapable of it.

I just let out another long sigh, continuing my story. “A few of the men who participated in the attack were held accountable, sentences to life in prison, but not everyone ended up in jail. One person in particular got away with it until I hunted him down years later and shot him dead in his own house. I fled the country after that, finding myself in a few different places until I came to the United States.”

“You shot him?” she asks, sounding surprised. She shouldn’t be. She already witnessed me kill her father.

Or Mr. Thompson, as she wants me to call him. I don’t blame her from wanting to distance herself from him emotionally. I tucked all my dead family members in a pine box in the back of my head.

They had their own funeral, albeit a quick one. When you’re alone on the streets as a boy, you don’t have time to dwell on your sorrow. Besides, we all end up in the same place eventually.

I stroke Sage’s hair idly, thinking about the past. I’ve never been one to revisit the my memories unless they were particularly good, but it does feel nice to talk about this. The weight on my shoulders has gotten a little less heavy since opening up to Sage.

“I did kill him, and he was my first,” I finally say. “Not the last, though, obviously. I went on a bit of a spree before I knew what I was doing, before I got organized.”

“That makes you a serial killer.”

I laugh through my nose. “The difference between me and those lunatics is that I only kill people who deserve it. I’m not into whacking strangers.”

“Just impregnating them,” she replies with a smile in her voice.

“Only you, and you’re not a stranger anymore.” I roll over suddenly, pinning her to the bed and spreading her legs with my thighs.

I take her hard, muffling her moans with the pillow as I ensure that she really is going to get pregnant. I’ll do this as many times as it takes.