I screamed when Artem tried to stop me from going outside and blocked my way. I have been cooped up in my room for a couple of weeks now, and I'm about to go crazy.

"I'm not allowed to go to college, I'm not allowed to go outside to see my friends, and I'm not even allowed to have them visit me?! What the fuck is happening here? Where is Papa? I want to talk to him."

I shouted at the top of my lungs because it was suffocating. I can't endure it anymore. I must go outside and see new people. These old faces were driving me crazy. Another hour of this and I will fucking kill someone.

"Ty tot, kto sdelal eto s soboy. Eto tvoy sobstvennyy vybor, Misha. Teper' zhivi s posledstviyami."

("You are the one who did this to yourself. It is your own choice, Misha. Now live with the consequences.")

Artem said, hissing, and for a second, I stood there staring at him without saying a word. Then I screamed and screamed, throwing anything in my way and crashing it.

After what felt like hours, I stopped panting, sweating, and a little dizzy, gasping for breath. I don't know what took over me, but this made my anger rise to higher levels.

"I guess I came at the right time."

Someone said from the door, and I glared at him, but the doctor grinned and walked inside,  not even blinking when he saw how messy my room was.

"I remember telling you that you need to rest for at least one month, your ribs need some more time to heal, Miss Yakov."

Doctor Luka said in a chastising voice, and I just followed him to my miraculously tidy bed and sat holding my head in both of my hands.

"I'm losing my mind, doc. I don't think I can endure it anymore, being locked up in my room doing nothing, meeting no one."

I said pathetically, making him give me one of his pitying looks, and I looked away because it made me feel like a little brat.

"I know, but it is for your safety, Misha. You know that they are doing this for your own safety, even Renzo. He is trying to find the people who almost killed you back then. He looks worse than you, actually."

The doctor said, tsking as he took my blood pressure and gave me looks of disapproval, but I didn't care cause I frowned at Artem for answers, but he just looked away.

"Yeah, I can see why you are confused, he looks like a cold motherfucker who only cares about himself, but trust me, he isn't. he is..... a good man or at least looks lik......"

something blew up, shaking the entire villa, shutting me up. Then we heard the sound of gunshots and screams.

I tried to stand up to check what was going on, but the doctor pushed me back on the bed, and his friendly face turned scary. Then he went to where Artem was watching outside my window.

"This isn't just a little game like last time, Artem. I can count over fifty men out there, and we don't know how many are inside the villa."

"My father isn't here. This is pointless, everyone knows that he is back in Russia doing some business."

I said in genuine puzzlement because no one was worth killing here, some guards, a few maids, Artem, and me. Then it hit me when the two men glared at me.

They come for me.

"Our priority is to save Misha. We need to get her outside of here, then think about motives and reasons." Artem said, making the doctor nod, and I kept silent because this is their task.

"No place is safe at the moment. We still don't know who is a friend and who is a foe. I can trust no one." Artem mumbled to himself, but the doctor touched his shoulder and put a finger on his lips as he tiptoed to my door, opening it slowly.

"Renzo Valentino is your only friend at the moment, his place is a small fortress that no one can enter it and no one dares to try. Our mission is getting out of here and going there safely."

My bodyguard opened his mouth to say something, but he closed his mouth again, maybe because he knew the doctor was right.

I mean, I hate that man's guts, but the doctor was right last time he saved me and brought me home in one piece, and from my papa's reaction, I think they are on good terms, so this is acceptable.

Luka helped me wear the bulletproof vest when I was getting my gun. And Artem nodded his head, then he headed to my walk-in closet, making us follow him. My mouth dropped when I saw him push a hidden button, and one of the walls opened for him.

We followed him silently, feeling our way because it was dark, but then light shone, and the doctor grinned behind his lighter.

"This will lead us to the back garden, it is close to the garage, we can take a car and leave."

My bodyguard said as we walked for a minute, then we stopped, and a blinding light surrounded us, and made us blink for a second, but we were outside.

He went out first to check the place, and when he found no one, he signaled us to get outside to go to the garage.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the familiar doors, but then I felt something hot splash on my face. For a moment, I stood confused as I touched my face and looked at my fingers and found them red.

My breath hitched when my mind registered the color and smell of blood, and I looked in front of me and found Artem holding his stomach as he was aiming his gun at someone behind one of the bushes.

"Artem!"

I screamed his name and tried to run where he was, but Luka stopped me, so I pushed him away, and because of that, I got shot twice. It's weirdly enough, I have no idea where the bullet hit me. I didn't feel the pain as I ran or when I dropped to my knees to hold Artem in my arms.

"Tell me that it's a minor thing and you will be ok."

I said pathetically, as I checked his body and found out that he was shot multiple times and was bleeding heavily.

"Oh no... I swear I will never do this again. I will not go to dangerous places to play. I will listen to you and never shout at you with any words...."

He gave me a bloody smile, then touched my cheek, caressing it softly, then he looked at the doctor who was covering us, "Take her and I've got your back, we don't have much time, they must have heard the gunshots."My bodyguard and the person who was the closest thing to an older brother to me said.

I wailed as Luka dragged me to the garage and then threw me in a car. He left Artem at that place.

I slapped the car window as hard as I could, leaving many bloody palm prints on it. My ears seemed to be useless because all the sounds were screaming together, it's too loud that it gives me a splitting headache. I couldn't hear clearly whether it was the sound of me hitting the glass or the bullets hitting the car body, accompanied by my crying. If there is any God in the world - although I didn't pay attention at all when I was studying something about God, I don't know what gods there are, any God is fine if you are here, just listen to my prayer - I'd give anything in exchange for my happy, simple life, which I know will never return.

I saw Artem struggling to stand up.

But something pinched me, and suddenly all the fight in me drained, and I just saw black.

Chapter 7

Renzo,

"abbiamo una situazione, signore"

"We have a situation, sir."

Dino said cutting off my mussing, I have been on edge and nervous recently, it might be because of that girl and might not, but what I know is that I need to focus.

So when he entered my office abruptly, I welcomed the distraction. I can't be left alone with my...destructive thoughts. Thoughts that are telling me to keep someone here with me.

I stood up without asking him anything and just followed, but I had never thought that the reason behind all these thoughts of this messy mind of mine would be in front of me.

"che diavolo è successo e perché hai quella faccia? è viva? respira?"

"what the fuck happened and why are you looking like that? Is she alive? Is she breathing?"

I asked Luka who looked bloody and messy, he looked like he was fighting for his dear life and barely made it.

But then my eyes landed on the woman who was lying on my couch and breathing harshly and barely looking alive.

I crouched in front of her and touched her neck, trying to feel her heartbeat, and then I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding inside.

Luka dropped into a chair beside her and rubbed his face tiredly before answering me.

"I went to check on her as you said and found her throwing a tantrum, and after she calmed down a little, I began to examine her. But then shit hit the fan, and we were attacked."

The doctor said, making me frown deeply without saying anything because this didn't make any sense. Who would be stupid enough to attack the house of the leader of the Russian mafia?

But then the man whispered a sentence, and it made me freeze for a second.

"Black double headed eagle tattoo."

I threw my head back and cackled as if I heard something funny, which was true, but infuriating at the same time. THE ALBANIANS!

They are back! And they want to mess with me like they did before with my family.

"Tell fucking everything, I want to know how and when and why?"

The doctor told me everything that happened in the Russian villa and I took it all in. It was an awful experience for the girl but I won't lie I was happy when I heard that the Russian bastard was dead now.

Something was off about him and it wasn't the way he regarded me and the hatred that showed in his eyes. It was the way he looked at Misha.

It was full of possessiveness and love, the fucker acted and treated her as if she belonged to him and he wasn't just her bodyguard and it was his duty to protect her.

But in the end, I guess he did his job well, and he protected her till the last moment. Rest in fucking hell, motherfucker.

Misha began to stir, and I stood towering over her, waiting for her to wake up entirely. I have so much to tell her, but first, let me give her the news.

Let me tell her what has been plaguing me for days after that call with her father and I didn't give him my answer so far.

"Hmmn....where....ahhh...Artem! where is Artem? ARTEM!"

She started to say softly, then she screamed the dead man's name, making me grit my teeth, but it was ok. We will work on it.

"You are in my house, a Russian princess. My man had saved you and brought you here."

I said cocking a brow at her and she stared at me as if she didn't understand a word I said, she tried to stand up even though she seemed dizzy. The stuff Luka gave her must be strong.

"What? No, I need to go back and check on Artem, he is alive, I'm certain of it. He will never leave me like this. He always made sure I was safe and sound before even collapsing. This wasn't the first time something like that happened and won't be the last."

She babbled, and I cocked my head to the right, watching her as she stood up on shaky legs, trying to leave.

But when she figured out where the door must be, I gripped her by the collar and made her look at me.

"You are not going anywhere, you are here in my home now, under my protection and mercy."

"You can't talk to me like that and certainly can't treat me as if I was something you own or a property of yours."

I growled at her and she snarled back, making me smirk and I brought her face closer, our noses almost touched.

"Actually, I own you now, or at least for the time being, your father gave you to me, princess or I might say, piccolo schiava" "little slave."

She watched me as fear took over her features and all the fight lost her, making me a little disappointed, and then she kept chanting.

"No, my father loves me, he will never do that to me. He loves me."

I let her go, making her drop to the ground, then I headed back to my office and called Akim, he must have known everything by now, but I'm not sure if he knows about his daughter being here.

The man answered from the second ring and without any introductions he asked me directly.

"Is she alive? Did they harm her?"

I dropped in my chair behind my desk and turned around to the wall window, looking outside and watching nothing before answering him.

"She is wounded but she will survive, don't worry, I will take care of her. Did you know the identity of the people who did this?"

I gritted out the last part and I heard the man on the other side of the phone take a deep breath before he answered me.

"I'm not stupid Renzo, I know exactly who they are. I have known since that strip club incident but I wanted to be sure. I thought that they would leave us alone after what they had done to both of us."

The man said tiredly, and I just chuckled, motherfucker is delusional. He thought that this blood debt was over, but it was only overdue.

"You know them Akim, they are like rabid dogs with a bone, they want to swallow us and take over the state, I'm still trying to figure out what did Franco play in this charade but it doesn't matter the fucker was useless anyway."

The man didn't comment on what I just said, but I am sure that he knows I was right, this was never over, they were lurking in the dark watching us and waiting for the right moment to bounce.

"so I take it that you agreed to take her in?!"

He then asked softly, and I knew he was talking about his daughter, he wanted me to keep her safe and help her leave the country soon.

"I told you, Akim. I am a man with needs you can't expect me to have her with me 24/7 and be a saint."

I joked with him, trying to lighten up the mood even though I was telling him the truth. I have been craving her since the moment I saw her, but I have been controlling myself. The leash was so tight already and the temptation was stronger than my willpower.

"She is yours, Renzo, only while she is with you, but after that, you will forget about her and let her live her life. I don't want my daughter to suffer like her mother."

The man said, then he hung up, making me close my eyes tightly before hitting my head against my chair.

"Wasn't this what you wanted? You already called her a slave before the call."

Dino said from behind me, making me open my eyes then turn around to face him. He was right and wrong at the same time.

I want her but I don't as well, I was afraid once having her I would never let her go.