Chapter 32 Welcome to my home
Maria’s POV
When I came out of the bathroom, I saw Aleksander from a short distance, looking like a Russian God with his muscles and tattooed arms flexing under the artificial light. He looked as if he was trying to calm a mirage of emotions that I couldn’t just pinpoint yet. We grasped hands and walked past the coffee shop inside the mall, where we had stopped earlier, where roasted coffee beans and espresso smelled like the scent of the Gods.
I don’t know what will happen in the next few minutes, much less the next few hours, but this is truly the happiest I’ve been in a very long time. As we walked out the exit of the mall towards Aleksander’s beautiful and sleek Mercedes sedan, Aleksander’s grip on my hand tightened and pulled me to a stop. Shoving me against the brick wall nearest to where the car was parked, he sighed, pulled a cigarette out, lit it, and exhaled.
“Maria, I heard from Dimitri,” he said with a slight grimace, “I found out who is behind everything, and you were right. It is someone from my past, his name is Viktor. He’s a rival boss who wanted me to marry his daughter, Alina, and work under him. I believe I told you in passing about him before, but we had no confirmation for sure until now.”
“But what does this mean, Aleksander? What are we going to do since it’s another faction of the Bratva behind all of this?” I exhaled while feeling like I should pull my hair out, because my God, I’m a small-town girl, how did all of this happen?
He rubbed his hands through his hair and then over his face.
“I don’t know yet, Maria. He’s always seen me as a threat to his mediocre operation, but threatening me this directly, and now you. I won’t let this stand.”
All I could do now was accept that the man I was falling hard for was not only into a dangerous life, but he was the danger. I had no choice about what happened in the diner, and I probably don’t have much of a choice now. But I do know one thing: I won’t leave him alone in this.
He unlocked his car, and we climbed in, and all I could feel was the cold, uncontrollable shiver going through my body. He had mentioned it might be Viktor previously, but fuck I never thought it would come to something like this.
All of a sudden, he slammed his fist on the steering wheel, and I jumped. “Fuck all of this, Maria. If it’s Viktor, it doesn’t matter how safe the safehouse is. We’re going to need backup, security, and more to keep both of us safe. It’s time for me to take you to my house and show you exactly how a Bratva boss handles things.”
What the actual fuck? I had just had the best day ever, trying to breathe and forget about all the craziness of the past week and a half. Now we’re leaving the second safehouse to go somewhere else? Will I ever stay somewhere for more than a few days again? I miss having stability and a routine.
Instead of turning back the way we came towards the safe house, he drives towards the exit to I-85 N and pushes up the speed to 80, driving like a man with a mission.
As he has told me a million times, his one mission is to keep me safe. But who is going to keep him safe?
We drive by exit after exit, and as I look at the clock, almost an hour has passed by since we pulled out of the parking lot at Lennox Mall. I would’ve thought, being the Bratva boss of the south, he’d be in Buckhead or even Alpharetta or Johns Creek. But the more we drive, the more I realize we are headed back into the rural countryside of North Georgia.
The car starts to slow, and he shifts from the left lane over to the right in preparation for the exit sign ahead of us that reads “Commerce”. The only thing I know about Commerce is the huge Tanger Outlet shopping center, where my parents brought me as a kid. As the car turns right off the exit, we head down about three miles before turning into a driveway and stopping in front of a massive wrought iron gate. He punches a code on the keypad, and it opens. As soon as we pull in, the first thing I notice is the other people: three armed guards standing behind the gate, next to a guard shack, looking like they just stepped out of a warzone. I’ve never seen so many weapons or body armor, and that’s saying a lot since my dad stocked for hunting season like the zombie apocalypse was coming.
“Welcome to my world,” Aleksander said as he rubbed his hand over mine. I held my breath as we pulled in front of the massive three-story cream home with a Spanish tile roof, more reminiscent of what you would see in Miami.
He got out of the car, lit a cigarette, which I haven't seen him smoke much, came over to me, and opened the door. “Welcome home, Maria,” he said with a smile on his face.
While I was still in awe of my surroundings, he gestured to a man in a navy three-piece suit with gold cuff links, “Adam, set up security to priority level 1. No one comes in or goes out without a search and clearance. Do you understand? We have a breach, and I will not let anything or anyone jeopardize this operation.”
“Yes, Boss!” Adam said, beginning to type vigorously on his phone.