MAFIA BLOOD

DEJA VU

10 Years later...

Lavender’s point of view...

Arbat Moscow, Russia...

My body throbbed in pain as I rolled onto my back on the bed. Through my slightly opened eyes I could see the sun rays shinning into the room. I slowly opened my eyes with a groan. I blinked a few times, trying to adjust my vision. After a few blinks I could see clearly.

I turned my head and looked at the clock on my bedside table. It read 08:30AM. I groaned again as I turned my head to Vladimir’s side of the bed and found that it was empty. It was only then that I heard the shower water running. After a few seconds of just laying there, staring at the ceiling, I finally forced myself out of bed and took small painful steps towards the window. Vladimir definitely had no mercy on me for trying to escape yesterday. The sound of my own blood curling screams were repeatedly playing in my head like a broken record.

I thought I could escape. I mean, Vladimir was away at a three hour conference meeting. So I managed to bribe and convince the gate guards to let me go, but while I was still packing myself a little escape bag; Vladimir stood at the doorway of our bedroom with his arms crossed on his chest and with blazing rage in his eyes. Because of that I was met with brutal consequences.

I pulled the curtains further apart and looked out the window. For the first time in a long while, the sun was out and you could hear the birds chirping in the distance. I smiled a little as I looked at the sun and twiddled my fingers.

Today looks promising. I thought to myself.

As I stood there admiring the weather and twiddling my fingers, my index finger brushed over the cold metal of my promise ring. I then looked down at my finger and frowned. Yeah, that’s right. I am now engaged to the monster in our bathroom called Vladimir.

Flashback: 2 Weeks ago...

I was sitting by the dresser on Wednesday night, brushing my hair before bed. Vladimir was already in bed sitting up against the headboard, reading the weeks newspaper. When I finished brushing my hair, I opened the dresser drawer on the left and put the hair brush back inside. Just as I was about to close it, I saw a small black box staring back at me.

With shaky hands I slowly grabbed it out of the drawer and opened it. Inside laid a beautiful gold, diamond studded engagement ring. I immediately turned on my seat to face Vladimir. I held the box out for him to see.

“Wha... What’s this?” I stuttered, more out of fear than surprise or excitement. He lowered the newspaper from his face and when he saw what I was holding he smirked.

“I see you found it.” He said. He then quickly jumped out of bed and came toward me. He took the box from my hand and grabbed the ring. He then roughly took my left hand into his and slipped the ring on my finger. After a moment of awkward silence, he looked me straight in the eyes and said:

“We are now engaged and there is nothing you can do about it. The wedding will be in two months. It’s time I made you my legal wife.” With that said, he leaned into me and forcefully kissed me. He then causally walked back to the bed, climbed on and continued reading the paper. He left me stunned, terrified, anxious and anything else you could think of.

End of flashback...

I stared at the ring for a while before turning on my heels and slowly walking towards the bathroom door. When I neared the bathroom door, I heard the faint whispers of Vladimir talking to someone. When I realized he was probably talking to someone on the phone, I pressed my ear against the door and attempted to ease drop.

“I hear you Konstantin. Yeah, I’ll probably kill her after the wedding anyway and then I’ll have full custody of the kids. She’s too soft on them. I’ll teach them to be strong like real Mafia children. Then when that is complete and the children come of age; I will start off by marrying my daughter off to our rivals as a declaration of peace. Then I’ll deal with my sons accordingly.” Vladimir said to my father on the phone.

As soon as I heard him say that he would kill me after the wedding and take full custody of the kids just to make their lives miserable, I slowly back away from the door and stood by the bed. I stared at the bathroom door in a terrified, traumatized state. Suddenly the bathroom door swung open, revealing Vladimir covered in nothing but a towel around his waist.

“What are you doing?” He asked in a daring tone, when he saw the guilt in my eyes. I immediately put an innocent smile on my face and said:

“Nothing. I…I was just about to knock.”

“You were ease dropping weren’t you?” He asked, taking a few steps towards me. I tried to back away from him, but I forgot I was already standing by the bed. So I fell flat on my back on the soft bed. Vladimir was quick to close the space between us and he towered over me. “Weren’t you?!!” He yelled, his spit landing on my face.

“No. I...I promise I wasn’t.” I finally managed to say. Vladimir shot bullets through my head with his heated stare, but ultimately backed off and causally walked over to the walk in closet.

Seconds later, Terrance’s cries echoed through the baby monitor. I then quickly made my way to his nursery, which was adjoined with our bedroom. I picked him up from the crib and began rocking him as I made my way to the wooden rocking chair in the corner of the room. I quickly sat down and began breast feeding him. Vladimir never allowed me to feed the children baby formula. He says breast feeding is the best to make them strong, because he wants and I quote; “strong children who will be strong leaders in the future.”

Speaking of the children, Vladimir and I have three children in total together. Terrance is the new born, he is only six months old now. Then there is my first born son, Vladimir’s heir; Royal Iannov. We call him Roy for short though and he’s five years old. Then there’s my princess, my daughter; April Iannov and she’s three years old. Unfortunately though, Vladimir isn’t very happy with his children, especially Roy. Roy was born with a lame left leg due to Vladimir forgetting that I was pregnant and abusing me constantly. He can’t stand or walk on that leg without the assistance of a crutch. So because of this, his father says he is not leadership material. As for April, she suffers from asthma and panic attacks. She was born premature due to Vladimir punching me in the stomach during my seventh month. I’m just grateful that she survived though. Terrance is the only one who had a normal birth and seems to be normal so far.

So yeah, Vladimir loves him way more than the others. As for me, I love all my children equally. Even though I was forced to be a mother as soon as my puberty hit at the age of fifteen, I see all my kids as a blessing.

As soon as I finished feeding and burping Terrance, I got up from the rocking chair and walked back to my room with Terrance in my arms. To my fortune, Vladimir was no longer in the bedroom when I returned. I placed Terrance in the crib in the corner of the room and decided to make the bed. While I was busy doing that, April ran in and hugged my leg, taking me by surprise.

“Mommy, mommy!” She chanted.

“Good morning princess! How are you today?” I asked as I got down to her level and hugged her.

“I’m fine mommy.” She replied.

“That’s good sweetheart. So where’s your brother?” She turned and pointed her little finger to the door. Just as she did, Roy walked in using his crutch for support. “Morning my boy. Are you okay today?” I turned towards him and opened my arms for a hug.

“Hi mama. I’m fine.” He replied as he leaned into my arms. When we pulled away I saw his eyes glistening with tears.

“You don’t look fine, Roy. What’s wrong baby?”

“We don’t want to go to wayning.” He informed me as he burst into tears. Translation; they don’t want to go to training. Now training is something that takes place every day. Vladimir and his mentor friend take Roy and April and they train them on how to behave and Vladimir disciplines them. If you’ve been paying attention to the story so far, you would know that Vladimir’s discipline methods can be brutal. Fortunately though, the training is more mentally brutal than physically brutal. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when he gives them spankings that can be too rough and that can have them crying for like an hour or so.

“Mommy, pwease help us.” April said with tears trickling down her cheeks. Moved with sympathy for my children, I grabbed April and pulled her in for a group hug. My children deserve a better life than this and a better father figure than Vladimir.

“I’ll try, okay? Mommy will try.” I told them. As I was bonding with my children, Vladimir walked up and stood by the doorway, leaning against the door frame.

“Roy, April. Let’s go, it’s time for training.” He said with a voice full of authority. I pulled away from our group hug and stood up.

“Vladimir, why don’t you give them a break? They’re tired and they deserve a break.” I said in a low voice. Suddenly, Vladimir was right in front of me staring me down with his cold gaze.

“Are you telling me what to do? Are you telling me how to raise my children?” I remained silent. “Are you?!” He yelled and I shook my head vigorously.

“Roy, April in the foyer now! Don’t waste my time!!” The children jumped at his command and fled from the room. As soon as the kids were out of sight, a fist connected with my jaw and sent me stumbling back. My body collided with Terrance’s crib and he instantly woke from his sleep and started crying.

“You are still treading on thin ice after the stunt you pulled yesterday. So I suggest you just keep your mouth shut.” Vladimir said and then stomped out of the room, slamming the door shut. Ignoring the pain in my jaw, I quickly reached for Terrance and began rocking him and humming some lullabies to him to stop his cries.

Forty five minutes later I was standing in front of my full length mirror, tying my hair into a neat ponytail. I am really beginning to look like my mother, with her curvaceous body and facial appearance. To make matters worse, I was living the same abused and controlled life she lived with my father.

I picked Terrance up from the bed when I finished and just as I was about to walk out of the bedroom, Inna walked in.

“Good morning Miss. Mister Iannov wants to see you in his office immediately.” She informed me and then left. Knowing better than to waste Vladimir’s time, I immediately made my way to his office bringing Terrance along.

I stood outside Vladimir’s office and knocked on the French double doors. I only entered when I was given permission to. I slowly walked in and closed the doors behind me. Vladimir was seated behind his large work desk, speaking to a man I’ve never seen before. The man was sitting on the black leather couch by the large and only window. The man didn’t look Russian, but more Spanish or Mexican and he had beautiful eyes that I could just stare into all day. The man smiled when he caught me staring and I immediately averted my eyes. After a few minutes of waiting for them to finish their discussion, Vladimir finally acknowledged me.

When he saw Terrance in my arms, he stood up from behind his desk and walked towards us. He then put his arms out for me to hand Terrance over and I quickly obliged.

“How’s my strong little boy today?” He spoke to Terrance. He then made his way back to his desk and sat down while bouncing Terrance up and down. A few seconds later, he stopped and looked me straight in the eye.

“I’m going to cut to the chase here and tell you that because of the little escape stunt you pulled yesterday, I realize that I can’t trust you. So I’ve hired this man right here to be your 24/7 watch guard.” He said while gesturing to the man sitting on the couch. “Oh, and the nice thing about this guard is that he doesn’t take bribes. Romeo, this is my fiancée, Lavender. You will be required to follow her everywhere she goes. If she tries to bribe you or run away from you or anything like that you tell me. Lavender this is Romeo. Make sure he doesn’t catch you scheming any evil plans against me, because I will know and you know the consequences. Okay Romeo, she’s all yours.”

Vladimir then stood up again and returned Terrance to me before going back to his desk. I was about to leave when Vladimir said:

“Oh and don’t get the wrong idea by that statement. Keep your hands off my fiancée, Romeo and Lavender keep your hands off of him. If I catch either of you making improper advancements towards each other, I will kill you both before you can even beg me not to. Now out of my office, I have work to do.”

With that said, I nodded at Vladimir and quickly left his office as I was followed by Romeo, my watch dog. This must be the past repeating itself.