Page 89 of Twisted Proposal

This mansion was tastefully decorated. Even I had to begrudgingly admit, I was impressed.

All modern furnishings, clean and new, but with a homey feel. Gregor had it completely redone and retrofitted for security, even though he didn't know who was going to live here.

"It's done. As long as she's alive, she can be mad all she wants. She can pace around this entire mansion until she drops from exhaustion, but she'll be alive. Having her alive and pissed off is far better than having a pretty corpse with a bullet in her brain."

The intensity in my voice caught me off guard.

This wasn't business anymore.

This was personal—uncomfortably so.

"Well, that got dark fast," Pavel said as he opened a door off to the side that showed the surveillance systems that had the entire house wired.

"After last night, I'm not taking any chances."

"Last night when she ran away or last night when we sent a very bloody message?"

"Both."

It was true. It seemed like every single day, more and more dangers were piling up that put Viktoria at risk. I couldn't have that. I just could not risk her life. It didn't matter if the person holding the gun was trying to settle a debt because of her father or if they were trying to hunt me down. I didn't even give a fuck if it was some random drunken college student trying to cop a feel.

No one was getting their hands on her.

The desperate need to protect her clawed at my chest like a caged animal.

This wasn't just about possession anymore.

Somewhere along the way, she'd become necessary.

Vital.

The realization sent a cold wave of panic through me.

"So why does Gregor have this place all ready? It just seems so wasteful. Why spend the money on this massive mansion for no one to live in it?"

I grabbed my brother's arm and pulled him through the formal dining room and into the kitchen to the back patio. The house was surrounded by thick, dense trees on either side, but it backed up to a small lake. If you looked across the lake, you could just make out Gregor's home.

"Ah," Pavel said, understanding sinking in.

This house could have been a weak point. If Gregor didn't buy it and put it under the umbrella of his security, someone else could have bought it. Snipers could have laid in comfortable chairs until they got his wife in their scope and they would have never seen it coming.

This way, not only did it provide that extra security and privacy, but it was available when visiting family members needed somewhere to stay. Or maybe if their family grew even larger. Either way, I was grateful.

The cabin we were staying in was secure and on Damien's property, but it wasn't fit for her. It was fine for any of the men. It would have been fine if it had been just me. The cabin was clean and cozy, but my princess deserved a palace and that was what I was going to give her.

There was a small part of me that hoped the house would soften the blow of the other things I had to do, but I doubted it.

A part of me wanted to show her that even when we were in hiding, even when the stakes were higher, she would always be kept in the lap of luxury. Always.

I found myself planning for a future that stretched beyond the next power move, beyond the next kill. Since when did I think like this? Since when did I cave to the whims of a woman I hadn't even fully broken yet?

Pavel and I came back inside to complete our tour of my new temporary home when a knock at the front door pulled our attention and four of my men walked in. Eyes wide as they took in the grandeur of the home.

"I need all of these rooms dusted and cleaned. The security systems need to be checked and rechecked. I want to make sure no one else is getting the feed from inside the house and every single camera and motion detector within a mile radius is working and nothing is blocked. Check and recheck every single lock, every window, to make sure this place is tighter than a nun's cunt."

The men nodded, and Pavel showed them to the security hub.

They would start there, get familiar with the system, and start walking every single camera. Normally I would never waste their time with tasks such as cleaning. Instead, I would offer to pay their sisters, daughters, wives, mothers, baby mommas, significant others, whoever, to come and do that work.