Relentless Sinner

Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Gabriella

I stand by the glass wall gazing out at the large infinity pool nestled in the middle of the garden like a jewel.

Jaxon is in it, swimming.

I didn’t know he was going to be here. I’ve been watching him for the last half an hour as he does laps from one end of the pool to the other.

I’ve never seen anyone swim with such grace and poise before. Jaxon moves through the water as if he was made for it. Like they’re one and the same.

Watching his powerful arms slicing through the water and his insanely muscular torso is making me think of Jason Momoa again. This time as Aquaman.

I haven’t seen Jaxon since the other night and I haven’t stopped thinking about him either.

About how he protected me from Dad, and that little conversation we had out on the balcony. The few minutes we spoke was the most normal I’ve felt with him since I’ve been here. I needed something close to normal that night. I was a mess.

I’m still a mess. That hasn’t changed.

I’m hoping that seeing Cora later will fix that.

It’s finally Friday. I’ve been up since six, eager for the time to fly by so I can see her. She’ll be here by midday.

I hung out in the bedroom for a little while thinking about everything I needed to tell her. When it got brighter outside I grabbed some coffee and went for a walk by the lake. Then I came here.

I found this little spot the other day. It’s on the other side of the house where there are fewer people to make me feel like I’m being constantly observed like a lab rat.

I’m sure the guards are still watching me through the surveillance. It’s just good to not physically see them. It makes me feel more relaxed. Even though I know that’s just an illusion.

Kind of like the one covering my mind about Jaxon. That illusion is trying to sway me into wanting him to be my savior. And other things I shouldn’t think of.

I think I’m so fascinated with him because this is the first time I’ve been around a guy without my father breathing down my neck.

Every guy I’ve ever been interested in has been wary of my father—definitely understandable.

At school, people had their suspicions about our ties to the mafia, so most guys stayed away from Natasha and me.

My father was so overprotective that he demanded we live at home when we went to college.

After college I actually wanted to go straight into med school but Dad insisted I do some work experience at the hospital first for a year before making the commitment to another lengthy study program. Truthfully, he was just being an asshole because he didn’t want to cough up the tuition fees even though he could more than afford it.

Being at home under Dad’s watchful eyes made it hard to date or meet people. The one boyfriend I had—Lucas, the guy I lost my virginity to—came from another mafia family. We saw each other in secret during my freshman year. When my father found out about us he raised hell and then some.

Lucas was already transferring to college in Europe so I think that was my one saving grace. But after that Dad got worse.

That’s why I was looking forward to heading out to L.A. to med school. The chance to go only came about because one of Dad’s high-profile clients is a professor at UCLA. He encouraged him to allow me to go.

Dad agreed because he thought it would get him in their good graces. It did but of course now things have changed.

Everything that’s happened over the last few weeks has thrown me off kilter.

My life has been so different from one day to the next, going from one extreme to another, that I don’t even trust myself anymore.

Jaxon is leaving later tonight for his trip. He’s going to San Francisco for the next three days, then he’s back for our engagement party. After that he’s off to Italy and he’ll return a few days before the wedding.

While he’s away it would be wise to strengthen my mind so I can set myself straight.

Jaxon swims over to the poolside. As he pulls himself out I’m shoved further down the forbidden path and so transfixed by him that I can’t look away.

Water slides down his hard body, tracing every ridge of muscle the way you would with your fingers. The sun reflects against the droplets of water that cling to his chest, making them sparkle like they have some kind of claim on him.

Water drips from the ends of his long hair, guiding my gaze down his body.

I bite my lip and push against the little voice that’s telling me I shouldn’t be watching him. Not like this. Yet like an insolent child who’s determined to be bad, I soak up the raw, untamed vision of him, taking in all the hard lines and intensity of his masculine body.

He's like a magnet drawing me in and I watch him, utterly mesmerized and unable to deny the heat curling through me.

Jaxon grabs a towel from the deck chair and rubs it across his chest, then over his hair.

When he sets it back down a woman I’ve never seen before walks up to him carrying a mug of what must be coffee.

The woman is a beautiful redhead who has a model-like face and body. She looks to be in her mid- to late twenties and walks like she owns the world.

As I observe her I can’t ignore the stab of envy that pierces through me.

Who is she?

I thought I’d met everyone who works here.

Maybe that’s it. Perhaps she doesn’t work here. She’s dressed in a black business dress and six-inch heels. She looks like she works in an office.

Jaxon smiles and takes the cup from her. They start talking but I’m too far away to hear them and the wall is separating us.

Whatever she’s saying to Jaxon makes him smile and I’m surprised to see him actually laugh.

He looks so… happy .

Happy and so unlike the dark menacing man I’ve known since I’ve been here.

He looks way too comfortable with her for her to be someone who simply works for him. I could be wrong. Or I could be right.

What if she’s his girlfriend?

I’ve been here for all of two minutes but I feel like I know his type— her .

God, am I about to enter a marriage where my husband will have all these sidechicks and I’ll be left alone wondering whose bed he’s sleeping in at night?

That’s not how I want to live my life.

Against my better judgment my heart refuses to let go of being the hopeless romantic who wants the fairytale guy with a happily ever after. It feels so silly to fill my head with such shit when I’ve ended up with the villain who stole me.

It’s like some kind of dark, twisted version of the life I wanted.

The combo of my fascination and the intensity of my gaze seems to alert Jaxon to my presence and he looks around at me.

As our eyes lock the same heat I felt earlier slithers back into my core, stirring that attraction for this man I’ve so desperately tried to stave off.

It only tames when the woman looks at me, too.

The look she gives me isn’t exactly friendly. It’s not bitchy either. It sits somewhere in between, like when you’re not sure about something.

The woman speaks to Jaxon and he looks back at her. Then they carry on their conversation as if they never saw me.

Nice. How I wish I really were invisible.

I shouldn’t feel a thing. It’s not like I’m standing next to them and they’re outright ignoring me. I just feel… uncomfortable .

“There you are.” Eve’s soft Russian accent draws my attention away from the couple . “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

I face her, giving her a polite smile. “Morning.”

“Are you okay?” she asks, looking me over. She’s taken such good care of me over the last few days. I was right about that grandmotherly vibe I sensed in her when we first met. I know she was appalled by what Dad did to me.

“I’m fine,” I tell her with a reassuring nod.

“Are you ready to meet the seamstress?”

No. I’m not, but what choice do I have? The seamstress is coming by today to fit my wedding dress. After that I’ll see Cora. “Sure, I’m ready.”

“Perfect.” Eve gazes out to the pool where Jaxon is still talking it up with the woman and smiles. “Jaxon likes to have a good swim before he heads off on his business trips.”

I look back at the woman still talking to Jaxon. “Who is that with him?”

Eve stares at me, catching the concern in my tone. “That’s Estelle, his assistant from Bortsov Tech. Looks like they’re catching up on business.”

I want to ask her if that’s what it really looks like to her but I hold my tongue. I would have thought that any business-related catching up could have been done over the phone or at the office. And when Jaxon had more clothes on.

There’s no way Estelle is talking to him without ogling his body.

“Is she going away with Jaxon?”

Eve smiles. “Always. She’s like his wing woman.”

Why am I not surprised? And from where I’m standing she looks like she’s a little more than a wing woman.

Oh God . Listen to me. What kind of craziness has come over me? I’m not supposed to care. And I don’t. Not about him or her.

Jaxon isn’t mine. And I am not his, regardless of this stupid contract.

This whole arrangement is crazy and the sooner I can get out of it and away from everyone here, the better. I’m praying I can talk to Cora about that.

“Come on. I made us some cookies. We can munch on those while we wait for the seamstress.”

“Okay, thanks.”

She waves me forward and I follow, glancing back at Jaxon over my shoulder. I’m surprised to find him staring at me again.

This is the last I’ll see of him until he returns.

I need to remember who he is and that no matter what he says, I’m a thing to him. An asset worth two hundred billion dollars. If I don’t find a way out by next Saturday, I’ll become his wife.

I look away, deciding to focus. Staying focused is my only hope. If I lose that I’ll truly be lost.

The moment I walk out onto the terrace and my gaze lands on Cora sitting on the wicker chair the weight of everything I’ve been through pulls me under.

All the strength I’ve built to keep myself together vanishes in an instant and I run toward her, needing my cousin more than ever.

Cora is on her feet, too, rushing toward me, her face twisted in a mass of emotions.

We meet each other halfway and I fall into her waiting arms. Then I crumble.

The sobs break free from that fragile place deep inside me that’s been shattered by what I’ve been through.

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. There’s too much to talk about and I’m not a crier. But my God, I’m only human. If I’m not affected by all the crazy shit that’s happened in just this one month I’m no better than a robot.

I’m glad I can have this moment to release the angst that’s been brewing in my soul.

Eve allowed me the grace of meeting with Cora outside instead of the living room, where I’d met my father. It was she who offered.

There are also no guards around. I know that doesn’t mean we’re not being watched but, again, that illusion of privacy I need is there.

“Gabriella?” Cora whispers into my ear, holding me closer.

“Oh, Cora,” I manage, my voice shaky and raw. Then I bury my face into her shoulder and she holds me like she’s never letting go.

All the fear, pain and helplessness pour out of me in a way I couldn’t allow until now. But I need to rein it in. If I don’t I’ll never stop crying. Tears like this come with the added baggage of everything sad that hurts your soul. For me that started with losing my mother.

Cora pulls back just enough to look at me, her hands still on my shoulders, her face streaked with tears, too.

We look similar enough for people to tell we’re related, but she has bright green eyes and honey-blonde hair. She’s also two inches taller than me and has the willowy figure of a ballerina. In her light pink summer dress she almost looks like one.

“I’m so sorry for what happened to you,” she mutters. “Are you hurt? Please tell me no one hurt you.”

I can’t. “I was but I’m better.”

“Did Jaxon?—”

“No. Not him.” How strange that the one person I expected to hurt me hasn’t. Instead, he’s saved me every time I was meant to be hurt worse than I was before. “I’m okay now.” My voice breaks on the last word, betraying the truth, but it’s what I need to say for both of us.

Cora’s lip quivers and she lifts a hand to my face, her thumb brushing my tears away. “Let’s talk.”

I nod and gesture toward the wicker table where she previously sat.

Eve prepared sandwiches, fresh lemonade and some Russian-style cookies I’ve grown to like since I’ve been here.

Cora and I sit. She looks around us, assessing the area.

“How much privacy do we have?” She drops her voice to a whisper.

“Not a lot. We have to be careful. Keep our voices low.”

“My God, Gabriella, this is a nightmare.”

“I know.”

“And as for your father…” She balls her hand into a fist and shakes her head vigorously. “He’s evil. Pure evil. I’m ashamed to call him my uncle. No one else in the family behaves like him. I don’t understand what the hell he was thinking. All of this is his fault.”

Her father, Uncle Russo, is my father’s younger brother and absolutely nothing like him. It’s like my father was adopted from the devil.

“It most definitely is his fault. I think he’s in trouble.” That was the answer I came to and I don’t think Dad is only in trouble with Jaxon. I think it’s bigger than that.

“You shouldn’t have to pay for his trouble. Nor Natasha. I pray she’s safe wherever she is.”

“Me too.” Guilt weighs on me at the mention of Natasha’s whereabouts. I want to tell Cora where she is but I mustn’t even be tempted. I trust Cora but I won’t put her in danger with that knowledge. I also won’t betray my sister’s trust. Natasha told me where she was because she didn’t want me to worry. For that I’m grateful. Worrying about her in such a way would have made everything so much harder.

“Talk to me, Gabriella. Tell me everything you couldn’t over the phone. I need to know.”

I rest my hands on the table, calm my breathing, and blink away the brewing bout of tears, then I look back at her and talk.

I fill her in on everything. All the parts I couldn’t speak about in detail over the phone. When I’m done fresh tears stream down her cheeks and she looks so distraught for me anyone would think it was her who had been through it all.

“I can’t believe it was so bad. I just can’t. You went through so much.” She grabs one of the napkins and dries her eyes. “Your father is such a bastard, Gabriella.”

“I know.”

“Oh Gabriella, you shouldn’t have run away. Can you imagine if those men had done worse to you? Or if your father had caught you. He made you sign that contract at gunpoint.”

“I fucked up, but I couldn’t sign my life away. I still can’t.”

“Gabriella, listen to me. You have to be careful you?—”

“I can’t stay here,” I whisper-shout, then carefully look to my right and left, making sure we’re still alone.

“What do you mean? Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of trying to run from Jaxon Bortsov.” Cora stares back at me with eyes so wide her pupils dilate, almost swallowing her irises whole.

I reach across the table to take her trembling hand. “I can’t stay here.” My voice is firmer, underlining my seriousness but more importantly, my desperation.

“Gabriella, what are you thinking? Jaxon Bortsov is not like your father. He is what you call danger . The thing the monsters fear. I told you why he was called the Beast and that wasn’t even half of what I know. Nor do I know everything about him. Fuck, I’m willing to bet my life that the men who took you are nothing compared to him. The only difference is he’s so powerful he doesn’t need to do what they do.”

Her words echo in my mind and my heart triple-beats. The cold grip of dread tightens my chest, making it hard to breathe as I process the reminder about the man I’m supposed to marry. “That’s who you want me to marry? You want me to stay with someone like that?”

A helpless look enters Cora’s eyes and grips my heart, too. “Please don’t think for one minute that I want this for you. I don’t. I just know the consequences would be bad if you tried to run from him.”

“If I stay here and don’t follow my dreams it would be like turning my back on my mother’s sacrifice.” My eyes fill with tears again as memories of that horrible night my mother was taken from me fill my mind. “I can’t forget, Cora. I can’t. She died so I could live.”

A little breath escapes her lips and she brings her hands up to her cheeks. I know she’s remembering that night, too. She was there.

We were at a wedding in Sicily. At a beautiful villa on the beach. The bride was my mother’s youngest sister. She was marrying my father’s cousin. The reception continued late into the night, way, way past our bedtime. Everyone was having so much fun it was like they were all trying to hold on to the day.

Looking back now it feels like a cruel joke because that night was the last for many. It was like the universe was letting them enjoy one last moment of fun before death came for them.

Dad took Natasha and Cora to the beach with a few of our other cousins. Mom and I were dancing. She was teaching me the two-step. Dad must have been gone for ten minutes or so when gunmen burst in and opened fire. Just like that.

I remember the deathly sound of bullets and screaming. And the horrific sight of blood everywhere.

Mom took my hand and ran with me to the caves. Masked men followed us, shooting, but Mom kept me safe. We ran into the cave where Mom put me in one of the old elevators that would take you into the tunnels. There was only room for one person.

I begged her to come with me and tried to make room but she refused.

As I cried, she made me promise that I would live and do everything in my power to achieve my dream of becoming a doctor. She said there were lives waiting for me to save them. Then she told me she loved me and released the button to send me to safety while she stayed back so the men wouldn’t follow.

Dad found me hours later, but it was too late.

Mom was gone.

“I can’t give up, Cora. And I need your help,” I rasp, tightening my grip on her hand. “You know people who can make me disappear for as long as I need to. I’ll come back in a year to sort out my inheritance. Things should blow over by then.”

“How do you know that?”

“I don’t know. I’m just hoping. It’s a year. That’s plenty of time for Dad to find another way besides me to get himself out of trouble. And Jaxon will have to find someone else to marry.” I don’t know the circumstances of his family or what’s going on but a man like him will have no trouble finding a woman to marry. “Please help me.”

Cora’s gaze falls to the space on the table between us, then she looks back at me and nods so slowly her head barely moves. “Okay… I’ll see what I can do. But you need to be able to get off the property first. No one I know is going to risk their lives coming here to break you out.”

A glimmer of hope rises in me on hearing she’ll help me. “I’ll work on that part. Jaxon said we could talk about me leaving the property when he gets back from his trip.”

“Well, that’s something we can work with. Gabriella, this is going to be dangerous. You do know that, right? Your wedding is two weeks away. You’re going to have to be ready to run.”

“I’ll be ready. I will.” My mind whirrs with the implications of this new plan and the consequences of being caught, but I can’t give up.

To get my freedom I’ll have to play the game.

Play the game of being compliant so Jaxon thinks I’m following orders.

I just hope that whatever I do with him doesn’t push me any deeper into that haze of attraction I feel every time I’m with him.

I can’t allow that to be a problem or stand in my way.