He told her she would not be able to come back.Anastasia knew she would miss her parents, but freedom meant more to her than being trapped in a prison with a powerful man.
She had been saving for this moment.Since she was ten years old, she had saved every cent of her allowance and any money she had been given over the years.There was no great fortune, at least, not to many, but twenty thousand dollars across eleven years had meant she could leave, get a job, make rent, and survive.
She learned to survive first.Trust no one.Being raised in the Bratva, that had come first.Locks on her doors were a must.She took self-defense lessons, and she found the means to take care of herself.
Until six months ago.
She hadn’t seen her family in four years.Well, apart from her father, who would make random stops to the artisan supermarket to see her.There was no love or affection, but in his own way, she knew he cared.
Her family was now all dead.Her three brothers, her mother, her father, her two grandparents, all of them gone.
When she had woken to Dmitriy in her room, she knew he was the ghost, the devil that many feared.The man who did Gnesin’s work.Killed without mercy.She had no idea if her parents deserved death, but to come from Gnesin, that was on strict order.Dmitriy would have no choice but to abide by it.
That night, alone in her apartment, facing certain death had terrified her.She knew the risks.Even though she had been cast out, her father had warned her that if it was deemed the family needed to be removed, that would include her.It was why she never dated and didn’t allow herself to get close to anyone, and why at twenty-five years old, she was still very much a virgin.She would not bring an innocent person into the life she was part of.
She glanced across the cabin, and saw it was a little after six.Dmitriy usually arrived, and he would be quiet for some time, then ask about her day.There was not much to tell.She had read the books he had on the shelves, about forty.She had worked from most of the cookbooks.He didn’t have a television.It was a cabin in the woods.The days were spent out in the garden, tending to the vegetables and keeping her mind busy.
Dmitriy had saved her.She knew she should probably hate him, but against all odds, he had saved her.She had no idea why he had opted to save her.
Anastasia had no idea he was the “ghost devil” people talked about.She had thought it was stupid when people called him that.At least, she assumed he was the ghost devil.He had admitted to killing her family, but he didn’t mock her, or make it worse.All he did was tell her the truth.
She checked the clock again.The first month, she had hated him, and every time he had come through that door, she had attempted to attack him.That anger was gone.
Next, she had felt the tears.She had wept for days.Then, it was like a light switch had gone off, and all her father’s warnings over the years had come back to her, and she realized the danger Dmitriy had placed himself in.
She was alive, and he had saved her.
Then, little by little, she had come to see what he did for her.He protected her and took care of her.He brought her food, or whatever she had asked for.In her spare time, she had learned to craft.Back at her apartment, he had taken some of her things and placed them in storage.In the beginning she didn’t realize he had done that.Her little sewing machine, overlocker, and some fabrics, as well as some of the crafting items she had managed to accumulate over the years—they were all there—and he had even set them up in the corner of the cabin for her to have something else to do.Whatever she wanted, he got her.
Slowly, against all odds, she was falling in love with her captor—or her savior—whichever she wanted to fantasize about.
Chapter Two
The cabin where hehad placed Anastasia was in the middle of nowhere.It was deep into the woods, off the beaten track, and not able to be detected.He had paid for it in cash, under a fake name, and then he had made sure all those documents were gone.
No one knew where he lived.This was one of many locations he had.There were some safe houses with a lot of security.This one didn’t have quite so much, because it wasn’t as easily detected.However, he had placed sensors a mile from the property that would send him an alert.He had also placed cameras around, and he was able to access them by his cell phone.
