Chapter 46: Love Untold

▪ A L E K S A N D R▪

After the events of Jade's twenty-first birthday party, I needed to take care of some business.

I was deep in thought as I stood in the foyer of one of my main brothels.

The lavish building was disguised as an upscale hotel that offered spa services.

"Martha Miller..." I softly murmured Jade's real name.

The young woman had left an impression on me and I had found myself in awe of her over the last few years. I remembered the first time I had ever seen her. It was at Quintin's eleventh birthday party.

Dominic and the rest of us were in a sectioned-off area having a quick meeting when Jade had walked in and interrupted us. She was calling

Dominic to come get ready to watch Quintin cut his cake, and the way she tugged on his sleeve, I could not help but smile.

There she was, this little girl with a big toothy grin, ordering around the most violent and feared mafia boss of Aelbank City.

We had all been surprised that Dominic had let her touch him, but everyone could see that there was just something special about her. Truth be told, none of us would have been able to deny her anything, especially after all she had been through.

It was then that she had looked at me dead in my eyes and asked Dominic who I was.

From the way she firmly shook my hand, I knew she would be a force to be reckoned with when she got older.

We all knew what Jade and Quintin had been through and I admired their fearlessness, for they had experienced so much during their short lifetime.

Especially Jade, hearing how she bit Enzo's calf was something that I would never forget.

In my line of business, I had come across many abused women, and most never recovered.

Jade was different though.

Even though she had not escaped unscathed, as I watched her grow, I respected the way she carried herself, doing everything to get stronger each and every day.

From the way she spoke to the way she stood proudly, my trained eyes saw that the young woman was anything but weak. She might have once been a victim, but I knew that she was a fighter and a survivor. Jade was most definitely not as defenceless as she often pretended to be.

I knew she had her own inner demons to battle, that much was obvious.

However, I admired her strength as she clearly fought them every day.

It was hard for me to admit to myself, but I secretly revered the now purplehaired beauty, and thankfully, no one really knew how deep my appreciation for her ran. I doubt that they would even understand if I tried

to explain it.

Raeni and the others thought it was merely a perverted fixation, but really, it was more of an intense admiration that grew into love, or at least what I felt love was if I had a description for it.

Contrary to popular belief, while I may have been a man-whore, I was not a pervert!

I had never involved myself with underage girls and I had never once looked at Jade that way until she was an adult. I would never harm Jade. I would do anything for her, as I felt a strong need to protect her. Had she not grown up within the Calvetti residence, I would have taken her for myself once she had come of age.

Since she had turned eighteen, many other mafia Dons from neighbouring cities had asked for her hand in marriage. I myself had constantly battled with wanting to ask Dominic the same, for I could see her being at my side, I would have loved to have made her my wife.

That wrath and passion I saw brewing inside of her. She would make a great mafia boss; her strength and fearlessness were the traits of a leader.

Not to mention that since Jade was now studying Forensic Accounting at university, I knew she would make an excellent Deryhatel Obschaka. This was essentially a bookkeeper within the Russian mafia, a person of important rank, and she would be perfect for the role. Especially where bribery was concerned, her sadistic and manipulative talents would come in most handy.

With a heavy exhale, I shook the thought away.

"I don't really know why I'm still hoping. She'll never be mine," I said to myself.

Of course, I knew better. I saw the possessive way in which Dominic had recently started to look at Jade. What was once a look of protective love was now a look that all but mirrored my own.

Although, I had to give the man credit for hiding his feelings so well. Either way, I knew that I could not approach the mobster with any proposition where Jade was concerned, she was definitely off limits. I

would simply continue to admire her from afar, though I would not hesitate to claim her as my own were the opportunity to arise. But I would still seek to have Dominic's blessing, as having his respect was something that was very important to me.

I owed a lot to Dominic.

The silver-haired criminal mastermind had helped me gain control of the Aelbank City Russian mafia from my uncle Vadim. The ex-KGB lieutenant had been too stuck in his ways, acting as though they were still living in the Cold War era.

Vadim ran a tight ship, treating his employees like slaves. I had never seen eye to eye with my uncle's ideologies and we often disagreed. But he was always quick to remind me that I was still too young, and with my father's death he was the head of our family, and it was his responsibility to run things until he thought it was my time.

When Dominic rose to power among the criminal underworld, I had sought his help and together, we created a new alliance. I was the rightful heir to the Russian mafia in Aelbank City, and with Dominic's assistance I was able to usher the organisation into a new era.

Since then, I had sworn my allegiance to Dominic. As such, it was one of the main reasons why I never made any effort to approach Jade in any indecent way.

It would be considered a form of great disrespect to even attempt to seduce her. However, if she had shown an interest in me, it would have been a completely different story. In that situation, perhaps Dominic may have been more willing to negotiate some sort of deal.

But Jade had never showed any interest in dating anyone. In fact, it was only around two years ago that I had noticed a change in her behaviour, and over time I could tell that Jade had fallen madly in love with

Dominic, even though she did her best to hide it. I could see the fire in her eyes whenever she looked at the Calvetti mafia boss, it was different to the way she would look at Cristiano.

Not to mention the way she seemed to get upset whenever one of my call girls were nearby. It was more than obvious to me that she was jealous and in some strange and unofficial way, had claimed Dominic as her own.

A small smile played on my lips as I continued to think about Jade. My thoughts soon faded as I heard the voice of my second in command.

"Well, tonight was interesting..." Sergey said as he entered the room. From the playful smirk tugging at his lips, I just knew that he was seconds away from saying some shit. Not wanting to give him the chance, I quickly spoke.

"Not now, alright?"

"Fine, I'll harass you about it later. Anyway, I've got the women lined up in the dungeon as you ordered," Sergey stated, the humour erasing from his face.

"Perfect," I replied as we walked to the elevator. Upon entering the dungeon, my black shoes clicked against the tiled floor as I walked a circle around the kneeling thirty-five women. A softly crying

Alena had been placed to the front, stripped naked as she knelt before the other women, cradling her injured hand. There were seven heavily tattooed Russian men standing to the back; they were bareback and wore black leather pants and combat boots. Their faces remained void of expression as they kept their gazes forward.

"I'm sure by now you all have heard about what transpired at Jade's birthday party?" I enquired with an arched eyebrow.

The sound of hushed whispers was suddenly heard among the group.

"What have I told you all about mumbling? I asked you all a question! Use your words, speak up!" I ordered, my voice raising.

"Yes master!" the women all replied at once.

Stopping next to Alena, I said, "Now, you all know that I pride myself on delivering an efficient and professional service," I paused to tightly fist my hand into her red-hair, "imagine my surprise when one of my best girls goes and attempts to touch Dominic Calvetti."

Various audible gasps filled the room, a few women's eyes bulged, the shock was evident on their faces.

"Silence!" I commanded as I brought a whimpering Alena to her feet.

With a nod of my head, the shirtless men in the back walked forward and started herding the women into groups of five, forcing them to take their clothes off.

"It's clear that you all need a refresher in knowing how to behave. Let Alena's punishment serve as a reminder that I will not tolerate disrespect!" I bellowed, my voice echoing.

In the past, former Russian mafia leaders like Vadim, would have simply shot and killed the call girl as a lesson to the others. However, Alena was one of my best, and I was adamant about not running my organisation using such tactics.

To me, the old way did not make much sense.

That, as well as the fact that the women were not slaves, but had chosen to work for me and had signed contractual agreements. This made my way of running things more profitable for everyone.

Nonetheless, there were still rules of etiquette to follow and I needed to make an example out of Alena.

I approached a large bondage wheel and strapped her with her back facing the room. Alena sniveled and quivered, her tear-stained cheek pressed against the device. My eyes took in her trembling form as I removed my jacket and shirt, giving them to Sergey to hold. As I went over to the wall rack and removed a whip, the dim light of the dungeon illuminated the numerous tattoos that decorated my entire torso, both front and back.

Walking up to the wheel, I gently kissed the back of her feverish neck, then softly whispered, "Don't worry, everything will be as we agreed upon."

"I-I know master, I'm just s-so sorry for disappointing you," Alena hummed, then screamed as my whip sliced across the skin of her back.