“Hello, Andrei,” I say, taking the seat across from him.
He sits up straighter. “Who’s there?”
“It’s Boris. Can you really not see at all?”
“I can see shapes but not exact features. Mikhail fucking ruined my eyesight. It’ll never fully return.”
“So, you want to hurt him, I take it?”
A slow smile stretches across Andrei’s face. “I would love to hurt him for what he did to me.”
“I also know you have an interest in his wife. I’d like to offer you a proposition. You and me work together. I want Mila, and you can have Sofiya. I say we take them out right under Mikhail’s nose.”
“But how? He has them under lock and key. Either he’s with them, or a guard is.”
“He’s throwing another party. I can sneak in unnoticed and hide within his house without him knowing.”
Andrei takes a sip of his drink. “You seriously think you can do that? Mikhail is a smart man.”
“Oh, I know he is. But he has a weakness. Sofiya. If he’s paying attention to her, he won’t notice anything else. Trust me, this will work. I’ll smuggle the girls out of the house, and you’ll wait outside. Obviously, we’ll need a driver, but you can help us tell us where to go. And then, you’ll have Sofiya for yourself. How does that sound?”
“I think that sounds like a wonderful plan.” He holds his glass up before chugging it back.
At the party, I blend in with the rest of the men in attendance. Mikhail doesn’t even look my way once. It just so happens that everything works in my favor. Aleksander makes a mockery out of Viktoriya.
Good. That bitch needs to be put in her place.
That leads to Sofiya becoming upset with Mikhail, which I use to my advantage by sneaking into the library near the back of the penthouse. I’ll take the girls later. I just have to wait for Mikhail to clear everyone out and lower his guard.
Then I’ll strike.
I can’t believe how easy this is. Maybe Mikhail isn’t the super smart Bratva leader everyone thinks he is. It’s time for me to show Mikhail someone else is in charge.
SOFIYA
Eventually, I leave Vik’s room and head back to my own. I’m all cried out. There’s nothing left inside me.
Mikhail is waiting in our bedroom. I almost jump at the sight of him. I’m so used to him being in his office or out of the penthouse. Rarely is he just … there.
“Things didn’t go to plan tonight,” he says.
“No? What did you have planned?”
“I don’t appreciate your attitude, Sofiya. I’m going to punish you for how you acted. You embarrassed me in front of my men. That’s unacceptable.”
“Well, you let that man embarrass my sister in front of all your men! You made me cry, Mikhail.”
“I know.” His words throw me up short.
“You knew?”
“I heard you,” he admits. “But you still need to be punished, Sofiya. You know you are not to disobey me. I know you feel happier when you’re submitting to me.”
I hate that he’s right, but,… he’s right. I’m happier when I let Mikhail control everything. It’s strangely freeing.
But he didn’t stand up for my sister when she needed help. Vik told me she doesn’t feel fully safe here, and Mila said the same thing. Mikhail is just proving to me that their worries are valid.
“I still need you to protect my sisters,” I tell him. “I will submit to you, Mikhail, but only if I know, for a fact, that you will be there for them. That you will make sure no other man ever hurts them.”
“You’re not in a position to bargain with me. I will punish you, Sofiya, and then we will talk. I think that’s fair. Now, lie on the bed. I won’t be gentle with you.”
When is he ever?
I lower my eyes because I know Mikhail wouldn’t appreciate me staring him down. Besides, I do need this. I need to know he’s not upset with me.
I also need to know I can depend on him.
With a deep inhale, I lean over the bed. Then Mikhail steps up behind me, and before I can even prepare myself, he spanks me hard. I clamp my lips together to keep from crying. He doesn’t even bother lifting my dress to spank me. For some reason, that makes everything less intimate. It feels … colder. Like Mikhail is still keeping a level of distance between us.
He spanks me again and again and again. Each time, he uses more force. I never thought his hand could hurt more than the paddle, but he’s proving that right now.
Each spank forces me up onto the bed, but Mikhail keeps grabbing my hips and moving me back into position.
“Stay still,” he growls.
“It hurts.”
