“I don’t give a fuck who she was or what she did or didn’t do before she was taken. None of that concerns me or our family. What does concern me is that I have some tough decisions to make about you and the future role you will play in the family. Your poor judgment has forced me to leave my hospital bed to clean up your mess, and for that, I’m taking back my position as head of the family. You will no longer be acting head. You won’t have any position of power in my organization—not until you turn the girl back over to the handler who brought her in and make amends with the family.”
“I can’t turn her over, father,” Llir admitted.
“Because you’re thinking with your dick,” his father accused.
“No, because it wouldn’t be right. She did nothing wrong and turning her back over to the handler who brought her to auction will only end up getting her killed.”
“Either way, she’s dead,” his father taunted. “If you don’t return her, I’ll send my men out to find you, and when they do, they will kill her while you watch.” He knew his father meant every word. Llir had seen his father’s promises come to fruition one too many times, but this was the first time he was on the receiving side of things.
“You do what you must, father. I’ll do the same, but I won’t let you kill her. She’s innocent in all of this,” Llir said.
“She might be,” his father said. “But you are not. You understood what you were doing when you paid for her. You took her against my wishes. It’s a shame that she will have to pay for your fuck-up, Llir. Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” his father ordered. He wasn’t the one making things hard. Llir was doing something for himself for the first time in his life. He saw something that he wanted and he took it. He didn’t think about rules and what he should and shouldn’t be doing.
As the oldest son, doing his own thing wasn’t something that he had the privilege of choosing to do. He had to be an example to his brothers and others. He was the one being groomed to take over the family when the time came. He was the responsible one but taking a woman from auction wasn’t the responsible thing to do.
“She has my protection, father. I’ll make sure that your men never lay a finger on her,” Llir promised. He was probably biting off more than he could chew but what choice did he have?
“So be it,” his father growled into the other end of the cell. He ended the call and Llir tossed his cell phone onto the nightstand.
“What have I just done?” he whispered to himself.
Dinner was delivered shortly after his disastrous phone call with his father and he walked back to his bedroom to tell Elira that their food was there. “Hey,” he shouted through the bathroom door. “Food’s here.” He turned to walk back out of the room when the bathroom door opened. Elira came out of the bathroom wearing one of the nighties he had purchased for her. He suddenly felt like kicking himself for not going through everything that the boutique sent up to his room, personally. He would have definitely sent that one back for lack of fabric. It barely covered her ass and tits and God, the sight of her made his mouth water. She knew exactly what she was doing to him too. The sly smirk that played on her lips told him exactly what she was playing at. She was trying to seduce him and that would be a bad idea. Hell, it would be a fucking awful idea. His father had told him to keep his fucking hands off of her and return her to her handler but that wasn’t what he wanted to do with pretty little Elira. No, he wanted to toss her onto the bed plunge into her, balls deep. And from the way she looked him up and down, she might actually be on board for his plan.
“What changed?” he whispered.
“I’m not sure I follow,” she lied. Elira knew exactly what he was saying.
“When I left this room to go order our dinner, just thirty minutes ago, you seemed distant. Hell, you couldn’t seem to get rid of me fast enough. I gave you the truth and you couldn’t even look me in the eye. I admitted that I want you and that I feel a connection with you, and you couldn’t even look at me, Elira,” he said.
“You changed,” she said. “Or at least, you’re different than I thought you were, Llir. You aren’t like the men who abducted me. You haven’t forced yourself on me when you could have. You’ve been nothing but kind to me and you’ve kept every promise you’ve made to me. I don’t know, maybe I should say that you’ve changed me.”
She walked across the room and stood in front of him and before he could stop himself, he reached out and grabbed her arm, forcibly hauling her up against his body. He wanted to take her, claim her, make her his, but all he could hear was his father’s warning about going against his rules and his authority in the family. His dad didn’t give a fuck that he was acting as head of the family at the time. He saw Llir’s act of taking a woman from auction as an act of betrayal, and if he didn’t return her, there would be no forgiveness. His father would send his men to take care of her and teach him a lesson in humility and loyalty that he’d be sure not to forget. And if he was lucky enough to escape with Elira, he’d forever be looking over his shoulder, worried that his father’s men would one day catch up with them.
“You’ve been nothing but trouble since I bought your ass,” Llir hissed.
Elira pulled her arm from his grasp and stepped back from him. “If I’m so much trouble then why not just let me go? Hell why even purchase me in the first place? I could belong to someone else right now and all of your troubles would be over.” Jesus, he was fucking this all up. He was trying to tell her that he didn’t care how much trouble she caused him, he liked having her around, but that wasn’t what came out of his mouth. Instead, he sounded like he was complaining about ever meeting her.
“I’m not saying the right things,” he grumbled, rubbing his hands over his face and down the stubble that now coated his jaw. “I’m fucking everything up.”
“I’d say,” Elira agreed. “Why did you buy me if you don’t want me?” she whispered.
“Wanting you isn’t the problem, Elira,” he admitted. “I want you so much that it hurts to look at you. Touching you is sheer torture for me and who knows—maybe I like the pain that I’m left with, the longing for you that doesn’t seem to go away. I’m a masochist for keeping you around, but I can’t do as my father has ordered. I won’t give you back to your former handler and let someone else buy you. The thought of anyone else laying their hands on you drives me to the brink of insanity. No—wanting you isn’t a problem for me, Honey.”
“Your father has ordered you to give me back to that monster? Can he make you do that? I thought you said you were acting as head of your family. How can he give you such an order?” she asked. He couldn’t stand the sadness and fear he heard in her voice. He reached for her and when she let him touch her again, he took that as her giving him the green light to let him hold her once more, and he pulled her back against his body.
“I told you that my father doesn’t know where we are, Elira. He won’t be able to find us here. He might have men who are loyal to him, but I also have men who are loyal to me. They won’t let anyone get to us; they’d die before letting that happen,” he promised. She nodded and looked out the wall of windows that lined the room, staring off at the Ionian Sea. He was lucky enough to procure the apartment when the building was being built in the little tourist town of Vlore. It was absolutely beautiful there on the coastline and he hated the thought of leaving. But that might be the only way to secure both of their safety.