Page 6 of Daddy's Reluctant Queen

My meetingwith Ignat and Cyrus comes just as I’m finishing breakfast. I decided to have it next to my pool. The air is already warm, telling of the coming heat of the day. We’re due for a heat wave and I, for one, am looking forward to it. I might be of Russian blood, but I hate the winter. The coming of summer makes me feel like I’m alive again.

I’m sitting in my robe with my bathing suit underneath. I’ve got plans to do a few laps before sitting down for morning ice cream with Luka, something I’m sure I’ll hear about from Natalie later.

But as informal as this appears, this meeting will be all business. I’m drinking my tea when the sliding door opens and Ignat and Cyrus walk onto the deck and around the pool to where I’m sitting. My two top men couldn’t be more different in appearance. Ignat is wearing a suit despite the warm weather, his silver streaked hair is cut conservatively short, and on his face is his normal, very serious expression. Cyrus, who is usually equally as serious, is more relaxed. He’s wearing slacks and a dress shirt with the first few buttons undone and his long, dark, stringy hair is pulled back into a ponytail. Ignat gives me a small nod of greeting followed by, “Good morning.” Cyrus does the same.

“Please.” I motion to the chairs around the table where I’m sitting. “Have a seat.” They both sit obediently. “It was a good night, wasn’t it?”

Cyrus smiles immediately. Ignat stays stone-faced, however. “That it was,” Cyrus says. “All but ten members of the Penza were eliminated last night. We’ve already located six of them. Ihave every confidence that they will be eliminated by the end of the week. And the rest will be found and taken care of before the weekend.”

I nod. “And Aristov’s heirs? Any word on them yet?”

Cyrus’s smile fades slightly as he clears his throat. “Not as of yet. But I put Cyril on it. Do you want anything special regarding the heirs of the former Aristov dynasty when they’re found?”

My mind immediately goes to the beauty I met at the bar just before the massacre began. All these years of watching the Penzas and I can’t believe I never knew how beautiful Marius Aristov’s daughter is. I sip my tea as I contemplate their fates.

“There are two of them, yes? He has a son and a daughter?”

“That’s right,” Ignat says. “May I suggest a public execution? Something special that we can film and send to your enemies?”

“Maybe for the son. The daughter… I think I have other plans for her. You have seen her, haven’t you?”

“Not before last night,” Cyrus says. “I had no idea Aristov had the kind of genes that would make a woman like her. She is one hot woman.”

“Hmm,” Ignat says. “I was aware of her existence, though I suppose I never noticed her beauty.”

Cyrus rolls his eyes. “It’s insane that you’ve never noticed.” I raise an eyebrow and he straightens up slightly, remembering his decorum. “She was easily the most beautiful woman at that party.”

“Beautiful or not,” I say, “they both need to be dealt with. I want them both alive… and Aristov’s daughter is to remainuntouched. And I do meanuntouched.Make sure Cyril understands that. If I find out that he or any of your people so much as felt her up, I’ll have their heads right alongside the heirs’.”

They exchange an unsure look between them. Ignat speaks up. “You… do plan on executing them?”

“The son, most definitely. But the woman… I think I can find use for her for a little while before we take her head as well.”

Ignat nods in immediate understanding. Cyrus still looks a little skeptical, but he doesn’t speak on it. Instead he says, “I will let my brother know.”

“Good. Get to work.”

They both stand and as Cyrus goes to leave, Ignat says, “Go on. I’ll be there in a moment.”

Cyrus nods and leaves. Ignat offers me a slow smile. “Aristov’s daughter, Titus? Grabbing her to get a little strange is a little low, don’t you think?”

I snicker. “Well, I figured I might as well have some fun before I finally close this chapter of my life, right? And if we’re being honest, fucking his daughter is lightyears better than pissing on his grave. The first time I take her, I want to make it really special in the hopes his soul is watching. Maybe it’ll kill him all over again to see me holding her down and spreadeagle.”

His smile drops to a smirk of approval and he says, “If there is an afterlife, I imagine that would be the thing to crush any man’s soul.”

And with that said, he leaves. I finish my tea and a little bit of excitement blooms inside my chest. It has been a while since anywoman has caught my eye long enough to distract me. It almost seems like fate that the woman should be Aristov’s daughter.

The door opens again and Natalie steps out. “Mr. Malkin, did you tell Luka you were going to have ice cream for breakfast?”

I set my cup down and say, “Yes. Chocolate, I believe.”

3

SOFIA

He’s got me bent over the bar, my dress pulled up and my panties around my ankles. He’s so deep inside me…

He pulls my hair and yanks my head back, his hot breath on my ear as he whispers, “You like that?” He thrusts hard, and the sweet pain pleasure sensation rips through me. “You like this monster cock, baby?”