4

Natalya
A shudder races down my spine. “What exactly do you intend to do to me?” I ask, hating the way my voice shakes.
His smirk widens, and he brings his other hand up to cup my breasts through my blouse, making hate coil through me. “Whatever the fuck I want. Tell me, Gurin, are you a virgin?”
Heat floods my entire body as I try not to look him in the eye, shocked at the turn this conversation has taken. “That’s none of your business.”
“It’s my business if I say it is, or do you want me to direct Lebedev straight to your beloved brother’s doorstep?” he asks.
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “Don’t.”
He chuckles, the sound so callous it grates on my nerves. “That’s what I thought, now are you a virgin or not?” He forces my face up again. “I want to know if I’m dealing with damaged goods.”
I glare at him, acrid hate coiling through my blood and infecting my veins. “Yes, I’m a virgin.”
His shoulders relax, and the tension in his expression vanishes. It’s as if he’s relieved to hear that, which makes little sense.
Why would he care if I’ve been fucked before or not?
“Perfect.” He presses his lips to the side of my face and licks at it like a fucking dog. “Because I’m going to claim it this year. It’s mine to take when I want. Do you understand?”
My gut twists with nausea as I pull back and stare dumbfounded at the boy who has tortured me since I was twelve years old. “No. I’d rather die than let you take that part of me.”
His nostrils flare. “I’m sure that can be arranged, along with your mom, sister, and brother.” His eyes narrow. “I wonder if Grigory Lebedev would spare his own daughter after all these years? Or perhaps he’ll be angry that the man who ‘kidnapped’ her, as your grandfather claims, died ten years ago, and she still hasn’t reached out to him.” He drums his fingers on his chin. “Not to mention, she’s living so close to your grandfather as well, over in Russia.”
If he thinks I’m worried about what happens to my mom, he’s wrong. She’s never been there for me. A coward who couldn’t face living in a country that was now home and looking after her children without her husband. Although it’s not like I want her to come to any harm. My brother, Mikhail, is a different story entirely. I know what it would mean for him if our grandfather on my mother’s side learned the truth.
“How do you know all this?” I ask.
He moves his hands to my hips, grabbing them in a tight, possessive grip. “Because, Gurin. I know everything about you.” He yanks me hard against him and then spins me around so I’m pressed face first against the wall. “I know everything, which means you’ll give me your innocence without complaint when I demand it or everything daddy worked for will be gone.”
I shiver as his hard body presses against mine, his chest molded to my back. Sickness, shame and desire morph into one as I feel the hard press of his arousal against my ass.
“Do you feel what you do to me, Gurin?” he asks, reaching a hand around the front of my blouse and sliding it up to grip my throat firmly. “Arch that pretty back and grind that firm ass on my dick,” he orders.
I swallow hard, hating the way my knees shake with anticipation. And yet, my desire to protect my family forces me to do as he says, as I arch my back further and roll my hips, hoping I’m doing it right. It’s embarrassing how inexperienced I am with guys, but I sense I have Alexander to thank for that. Before he arrived here, all the boys were constantly chasing after me, but that all came to a halt the moment those ice-cold, calculating eyes met mine and he made a clearly unfounded decision to ruin me.
A part of me is thankful, as my so-called friends Jeanie Doyle, Anita Henderson and Kerry Garcia, were never truly my friends. They were false and only cared about appearances and still do to this day.
I can’t deny that if it weren’t for Alexander knocking me off my pedestal, I never would have been friends with the three most amazing girls at this school, Azira Sidorov, Giorgia Damato, and Adrianna Vasquez.
Alexander grabs a fistful of my hair, groaning against my ear. “That’s it, Gurin, just like that,” he breathes, his deep, velvety voice almost alluring if it weren’t for the fact he’s literally blackmailing me right now. “I bet your tight virgin cunt is dripping wet right now.”
“No chance,” I say.
“Hmm, I wonder if you’re a liar,” he murmurs, his hand inching up the skirt of my dress. “I think I’ll find out.”
I kick out, trying to get away from him. “Let go of me.”
“No, because you know the deal, Natalya.” His hand continues to move up my bare thigh until his fingers skirt the edge of my panties. “Do as I say, or lose everything.”
I grit my teeth, as doing anything this man says goes against every fiber of my being. He doesn’t have the right to touch me and yet I’m backed into a corner with no escape. I can’t let him destroy the one thing I care about most in this world: my brother and our family’s legacy.
I’m not stupid enough to believe that me or my sister Yana would get off lightly if Alexander unveiled the truth to our grandfather, even with the protection of the cartel. He’s had a price on my father’s and mother’s head since before I was born.
“What secrets are you hiding under that skirt?” he breathes as he pulls aside my panties and slides a finger through my shamefully wet pussy. “Fuck,” he groans, shoving it inside of me roughly. “Do you like it rough, Natalya?”
“I don’t like anything from you.”
He chuckles. “Such a naughty little liar. Perhaps I’ll make you come right here and prove how untrue that statement is.”
I jolt as his finger bumps against my clit, driving me wild. Sinking my teeth into my lip, I silence my moan. Suddenly, chatter erupts outside the classroom and a bell chimes, signaling that we’ve missed the first welcome back meeting in the main hall.
He makes a groaning sound. “Looks like my fun has been cut short.” He removes his hand from under my skirt and then his fingers dip into my pocket and he grabs my cell phone out of it.
“Hey, give that back,” I say, spinning around and trying to grab it from him.
He holds it out of my reach, eyes narrowing. “Remember your place, or do we not have a deal?”
It kills me to bow to this bully’s demands, but I know I can’t risk our grandfather finding us. Father always warned us about the feud between them and how he was furious when he took our mother. It was a rather strange star-crossed lovers story in which they turned from enemies to soulmates. “Fine,” I grit out.
“Passcode,” he demands.
I glare at him before telling him the code, which is my birthdate. “Eight, twelve, zero, three.”
His eyebrow raises. “Birthday?”
I shrug. “Perhaps.”
He shakes his head, keying in the code. “At least I know you’re legal, then.” His eyes narrow. “Eighteen years old and ripe for fucking.”
I wrinkle my nose in disgust. “You’re a pig.”
What the fuck is he looking for?
He laughs as he scrolls through my phone, setting my nerves on edge. And then, his expression turns lethal as that smirk drops.
“Who is Darian?” he asks, eyes zeroing in on me.
My stomach churns as he’s going through my messages. Darian is a boy I met over the summer and we’ve been seeing each other. “A friend,” I lie.
His eyes narrow. “He seems a bit too friendly to me. You won’t text him anymore.” He passes me back the phone. “I’ve deleted and blocked his number.”
“What the hell?”
He lunges forward, wrapping his fingers around my throat. “You don’t seem to understand the power I have over you, Gurin. You speak to no other boys except for me. My number is in there and I have yours. I’ll be watching every fucking move you make this year, and one wrong move will land your brother in serious shit.”
The door to the classroom opens, and Professor Luigi clears his throat. “Hands off of her, Morales,” he says, his voice so lethal it’s enough to turn my bully pale.
He releases me and turns away, whispering. “I’m watching.” As he walks out of the classroom, leaving me with Luigi, who is eyeing me.
“I’ve got a class starting in two minutes. Out,” he barks.
I nod, grabbing my bag and rushing past him into the corridor. My hopes of this year being easy have been squashed before it starts. The promise of escaping my tormentor feels so far away, as he’s going to make my life a living hell, deepening the dark hatred I have for him.
I’ve got no choice but to do as he says, as I won’t gamble with my family’s wellbeing. One year can’t be too hard to endure, I hope. Giving him my virginity on the other hand, is something I’m not sure I can stomach.