Chapter 23

**Alexi pov**

She is so fucking fierce, it honestly impresses me, and not much can do that these days, nothing surprises me, except for her. She is full of them. She knows she is walking to a life she doesn’t want by staying with me, and yet she chose it anyway, all for the possibility that i will save her sister.

And i will, i will make sure that kid has a good life, either with us, or away from us. That all depends on Stephanie and her behaviour. Eventually, if she learns to obey me, i will let her sister live here, with us. It is a dangerous life, but nothing more dangerous than what she has already faced.

I was certain it would take me moving the moon for her to agree to be mine, but the fact that her sister was in danger worked in my favour, i can save her, i already have. David will never lay a hand on her. When i am finished, he won’t even have hands.

i push my little Malyshka further into the wall, pressing my body against hers, i won’t force myself on her, i will wait until she is ready. But that doesn’t mean that i can’t have a taste.

I press my lips against hers, and she gasps in my mouth, leaning against me. When i pull back, she winces, leaning on her good leg. The broken one must really hurt, this is the first time she has shown any ounce of agony that comes with a broken leg.

I pull her against me and lift her from the ground, cradling her, “Does it hurt?” i ask.

She looks at me with those beautiful wide eyes and shakes her head, “It’s nothing i can’t handle.” she tells me.

Such a brave girl. That deserves a reward.

i walk towards the medical wing of my mansion, taking her with me, at first, she struggles, but when she sees that i will not let her down, she relaxes. She has no choice but to. She will only hurt herself more if she fights me.

“I have some morphine in the medicine cabinet.” i tell her, unlocking the door to the office beside the surgical room. “You can have a small amount to take away the pain.”

“I don’t need it.” she says, gritting her teeth.

I wrap my hand around the broken leg and squeeze, her eyes going even wider from the pain as she cries out, “Do not lie to me, Malyshka.” i warn her.

Sephanie looks up at me, “Fine, but only a little.”

Stubborn as always. It's one of the reasons i like her.

i place her down on the sofa in the office and go straight to the cabinet, pulling out the vile of morphine and transferring some to a syringe. I have done this a thousand times, mostly for myself. But administering medicine to someone else is different. I will start with the smallest dose i can and work her up.

The last thing i want is for her to overdose. All my hard work would be for nothing.

I turn around, needle in hand, and her eyes go even wider, something i thought was impossible. “It’ll only hurt for a moment.” i assure her.

“Isn’t there something else you can give me?” she asks, “A medicine that doesn’t require you sticking me with a needle.”

I shake my head, “You will be taking this, even if i have to pin you down.”

She sighs, growling a little, “Fine.” she snaps. “But i have never been good with strong medications, they make me sleepy.”

I nod, morphine makes most people sleepy, that is completely normal. But she doesn’t need to know that.

I slowly walk towards her, marvelling at her beauty, even with the bruise on her left cheek from where i hit her. “Lay down.” i tell her.

For once, she does as i ask, laying down on the leather sofa, her eyes softer, less afraid. It isn’t much, a normal man wouldn’t notice. But i do. And to me, it is progress.

She is trusting me not to kill her, and that says more than words ever could. Even if she doesn’t realise it, she has relaxed. She knows that i will take away her pain. It doesn’t matter that i am the one that caused it.

I kneel down beside her and take her arm, injecting the needle through her fair skin, and slowly, very slowly, pushing the morphine in. She winces, but she doesn’t pull away or try to stop me. She is behaving exactly as i want her to.

When i pull the needle out, i apply pressure, making sure she doesn’t bleed all over my expensive leather sofa.

“there.” i say softly, “that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

She laughs nervously, “Sorry, i have never been very good with needles.”

I raise a single eyebrow, “Why not?”

She shivers at whatever vile thought is running through her head, but before she can answer my phone rings in my pocket, i take it out, checking the caller ID before answering.

“Misha.” i say into the phone, my eyes still on Stephanie.

“I have the male runner.” he says, “He put up quite the fight.”

“And what about the girl?” i ask, my voice cold. “IS she somewhere safe?”

“Yes sir.” he says, the line crackling, “No one will find her.”

I stare into my malyshka’s bright eyes, “If she is out of the city, change it, i want her somewhere close in case i need to use her.” i pause, “Bring the runner to the interrogation room, i want all the information he has before nightfall.”

Stephanie opens her mouth to speak, but i silence her with a look and hang up the phone, “What i do with Jack is none of your concern, love, he will get his punishment.”

“You don’t need to torture him.” she argues, “he will tell you everything you need to know.”

I smirk, “Are you sure about that?”

She nods, fire in her eyes, “I’m sure.”

I stand, pulling her up into my arms, “Let’s get you to your room, i have a lot to do and i cannot have you distracting me.” She opens her mouth again to protest, but i silence her with a kiss to her lips, “Not another word, otherwise i may go back on our deal.”

She frowns, but she doesn’t speak again, not even when i lay her down on the bed, her eyes are heavy, but she is fighting it. She wants to argue, i can see her skin twitching around her lips.

She wants to fight me on this, but i will not allow her to. We made a deal; she should trust that alone is enough to keep her friend alive. For now.

“I will come back later.” i tell her, placing a kiss on her temple, “Get some sleep, let the morphine help you.”

She watches me leave, and then watches the closed door for even longer, but eventually she rolls over and closes her eyes, just as i knew she would.

She likes to act brave, and strong, but she is afraid. I can smell the fear on her breath.

My little malyshka has a lot to learn.