Free Bought by the Russian Mobster by Bella Rose Page B

“Get out here. Come to me, Lily. Do it now! That bastard has no right to you. None! You belong to me!”
    She squeezed her eyes shut and dug her nails into her jeans. The pounding abruptly stopped.
    Lily’s eyes snapped open. What had happened? Surely he hadn’t just left? Her stomach knotted with nerves. Getting on her hands and knees, she crawled toward the front room. The wood floor was cold beneath her. She scooted past the door, barely allowing herself to breathe lest she give her presence away.
    Once she reached the fluffy area rug, she took a position beneath the window. Peering through a corner of the glass, she saw Vladimir speaking to two hugely built men. The aggressive stance of all three did not bode well.
    “Vasily. Georgy,” he said while rudely pointing to the taller man and then to other. “There is a woman in my brother’s house. Admit that to be true!”
    The two men simply stared at each other, and then at him. Vasily appeared to be the self-appointed spokesperson. Lily’s stomach cramped with nervous agitation. Did this Vasily not know the danger of arguing with a crazy man like Vladimir?
    Vasily tilted his head and stared insolently at Vladimir. “You should go. The council is looking for you.”
    “Everybody is looking for me.” Vladimir gave a derisive snort. “And the council will see me soon enough when they acknowledge me as my father’s heir.”
    From the safety of the house, Lily gasped in shock. There was no reaction from the men. Their glare simply grew hotter. Finally they started speaking to each other in low tones. The obscure Russian dialect they used was too difficult for Lily to make out, especially at a distance of ten yards or more.
    Vladimir reached out and slapped Georgy across the face. “Speak English, dammit!”
    Lily couldn’t decide who was more stunned by the slap, Vasily or Georgy. But it was Vasily who responded. He grabbed Vladimir’s forearm and began to squeeze. Vladimir tried to twist away, but the other man’s grip was too strong.
    “Let go!” Vladimir shouted. Instead of pulling away, he lunged forward. The momentum caught Vasily off guard and the two men went down in a flailing mass of arms and legs.
    Vladimir started punching before they’d even hit the ground. Just when Lily was afraid that Vladimir was getting the upper hand, Vasily landed one punch to the middle of Vladimir’s face. Lily saw Vladimir go limp. His body flopped about as though he were trying to rise, but his limbs apparently refused to cooperate. Lily’s relief was extreme.
    “Get the door,” Vasily grunted at Georgy.
    The door? Were they bringing him into the house? Lily didn’t want anything to do with Vladimir. He looked half out of his mind. Plus, he was screaming her name in a voice that sounded like a rabid animal.
    “Lily!”
    Vasily was half-dragging, half-carrying Vladimir. The two Pasternak enforcers dragged Vladimir down to the curb where he had left his car.
    “You can’t do this!” Vladimir told them. He spoke as though his tongue was too big for his mouth. His words were slurred. “I’m your boss now.”
    “No.” Vasily stuffed Vladimir into his sports car, nearly slamming his head into the doorframe on the way in. “You’re not our boss. That’s why the council wants to see you, Vladimir. You’ve been cast out.”
    “What?” Vladimir shouted. Lily squeaked as he reached for his gun. “They can’t do that!”
    Lily flung open the front door. “He’s going to shoot!” she shouted to Vasily and Georgy. She could not allow these good men to be hurt after they had just done so much to keep her safe.
    Vladimir got one shot off before the warning she called out to the enforcers sank in. They started shouting in Russian. This didn’t end the same way as Vladimir’s altercation with the tow-truck driver. There was no cowering. The big enforcers pulled their own weapons out and returned fire without batting an eyelash.
    Vladimir started the car and it