He's Strong. He's Hot. He's Foreign. (And He's in the Mafia?)

When we pulled up to the driveway, Peter’s car was already parked there. There Peter was, leaning against the black coated metal, his arms folded. I felt the happiest at that moment than I had at all today. Before Jeremiah could even stop the car, I had leapt out and was running up to Peter, jumping into his open arms.

“Hey Janey,” Peter whispered, stroking my hair.

“I missed you,” I cried, holding to him tightly, “Gabriel…he…”

“What did Gabriel do, darashya?” he said, turning deathly serious, holding my chin between his thumb and forefinger.

“He tried to rape me…and he was going to but Jeremiah saved me” I stuttered, my face flooded with tears.

“Honey…are you going to be alright?” Peter asked gently, leaning in so his face was level with mine. He stared at me, his blue eyes sober with grief and concern.

“Just…just please don’t leave…” I whimpered, wrapping my arms around his stomach, “I was so scared…”

“Don’t worry, darashya, I won’t leave you,” he purred, his arms around me.

Peter's Point of View

I had just put Jane to bed, promising I would join her later. I had made so many promises to her that I was afraid I would not be able to keep. Like the promise to protect her forever. Forever would be impossible if I was dead. Of course, I had already failed in that respect. I knew Gabriel was no good by the way he looked at her, but I didn't want to make Jane feel as if I thought I needed to protect her from everything. I know I didn't but I couldn’t stop beating myself up. I should have known better. Sure, I did not need to protect from things like her boss or the stomach flu, but this was a drunken, bitter, and somewhat mentally unstable ex boyfriend. I should have known better.

“What are you doing?” Jeremiah asked as I walked out of Jane’s bedroom. He had a beer in hand and a sulking look on his face.

“I’m going to get Jane some of her pills for her headache,” I said, rather stiffly, “Thank you for saving her.”

“Whatever, it was more a territory thing than anything. What would people say if they found out I let that crazy jackass rape my little sister? They’d say I didn't have any balls,” he muttered, taking a long gulp of his beer, “In fact, what I meant to say was…why the fuck aren't you kicking his sorry ass?!”

“He’s learned his lesson, Jane and I won’t be here much longer, honestly, I cannot wait to get out of god damned place” I snapped, walking past him and out of the house to the car. Jeremiah followed, shouting at me, still drinking his beer.

“She’s your fiancée…c’mon I thought you were a badass,” he said as I looked through Jane’s bag, “I mean…you’re a man…you gotta take charge and whoop that motherfucker’s ass.”

“Don’t tell me how to be man,” I growled, “Especially since how you have treated Jane…should I kick your ass as well?”

“Nah, I’m good, say…what do you do for a living again?” he asked.

“I run a hotel in New York with my family. We also have much real estate back in Russia,” I said, not really paying attention to Jeremiah as I continued to search through Jane’s bag.

“Then why the hell do you have a pistol in the passenger seat?” he asked, a grin on his face.

My head suddenly snapped to face him, “It is for self-protection.”

Jeremiah let out a loud laugh, “Hey that’s what they all say, bud, but we both know you could break my neck with your bare hands, so let’s cut the shit.”

“Do you want me to have to break your neck?” I growled. I had forgotten all about Jane’s pills now, being almost nose to nose with Jeremiah.

“What have you got to hide, boy?” Jeremiah whispered, his eyes narrowed, “You can understand why I don’t want my baby sister marrying some serial killer.”

“What is making you so protective of her so quickly? Not even a week ago you were throwing beer bottles at her and now you act so caring,” I murmured, smirking. This guy was of no threat to me. Jeremiah would probably forget about all this in the morning. I stepped back from him, never breaking eye contact.

“It’s reputation, ruskie! Haven’t I told you that?!” Jeremiah laughed.

“You think just because I have a gun I am a killer? If someone comes after me or my family I would need something quicker than just pure muscle,” I said coolly, my muscles relaxing as I went back to looking for Jane’s medicine.

“Do you think Jane is your family?” he asked. I could smell that the alcohol in his breath, even though we were a foot apart.

“Very much so,” I said, finally locating the correct pill bottle. I grabbed it and shoved it in my jean pocket, then turning back to Jeremiah, “And no matter how much you don’t like it, she is a part of your family as well”

“That’s something I’ve had to deal with since she was born…you know I much I was looking forward to being an only child?”

“Well there’s nothing you can do about that,” I smirked.

“That’s what I don’t get, you could high-tail it outta here whenever the hell you want, I mean it would take a whole plane to hold all of Jane’s baggage.”

“My family owns several private jets,” I said curtly before moving past him and going back into the house. There was nothing from Jeremiah I couldn’t handle. Drunks were too predictable. Being from Russia and belonging to my family, I knew a lot about dealing with drunks.

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When I entered her bedroom, Jane was sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, I set the pill bottle carefully on her bedside table, kissed her forehead, and went out as quietly as possible. She must be exhausted. The mere thought of Gabriel putting his filthy hands on Jane made me enraged. But I couldn’t focus on that right now, I had bigger problems to deal with.

When I entered her bedroom, Jane was sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, I set the pill bottle carefully on her bedside table, kissed her forehead, and went out as quietly as possible. She must be exhausted. The mere thought of Gabriel putting his filthy hands on Jane made me enraged. But I couldn’t focus on that right now, I had bigger problems to deal with.

“Father, did the package get delivered on time?” I was in the car, talking to my father back in New York.

“Yes, you and Dmitri did good work today, but you better be back from this silly little vacation of yours as soon as possible. I did not have to go through this much trouble when Nicholas got married,” my father spat, “That girl of yours will not last even a month, Peter, she does not have the spirit to cope with what we do.”

“You’ll be surprised at what Jane can deal with,” I replied, my voice hard, “Now what do we have to do next?”

“Some new…technology has just been released in Sweden. Russian and American cooperations alike are flocking to acquire this new piece of machinery. Since it is still illegal in both countries, it is our job to bring it to them.”

I suddenly heard someone opening the passenger door. I sat back in my seat, relieved to see it was only Jane. She climbed in and leaned against my shoulder, waiting for me to finish.

“We will have a lot of competition,” I muttered, “How are you sure we can even access this technology?”

“Waltersen, my son, he works for the company that produces them and is in good terms with the Swedish government. For a price, he will send a few thousand our way,” my father said. I could hear him exhale sharply and the clicking of his lighter. He was probably struggling to light his pipe.

“What exactly is this…technology, father?” I asked, putting an arm around Jane as her eyes met mine. She pursed her lips, frustrated that she could not understand me.

“Nothing you need to worry about, your only job is making sure this transaction runs smoothly,” my father growled. Being the youngest, I was never really allowed to know what was going on. My father never thought I had the capability of doing nothing other than the dirty work.

“Fine, I shall call you to check in tomorrow,” I muttered. With that I hung up and looked down at Jane, her big green eyes still staring up at me.

“You look horrible,” she commented.

“Thank you, darashya, just what I needed to hear,” I murmured sarcastically, brushing some hair behind her ear.

“I didn't mean it like that. It’s just…you look more tired than I am,” she said, letting out a long exhale and leaning back on my shoulder once more, looking out the window.

“Did you take your medication?” I asked, changing the subject. I was much more comfortable talking about somebody else than I was about myself. I had never been much of an “open book” and since Jane more about me than anyone else, I was not eager for her to know more, even if she was to become my wife.

“Yeah, but I wanted to find you before they knocked me out,” she giggled, “I wanted to make sure you weren't up all night doing ‘business’.”

I chuckled and began to stroke her hair, noticing her eyes were drooping. She needed to go to sleep, to get away from this nightmare, “Don’t worry, honey, I’m all done for tonight…honey?”

She was already sound asleep. I got out of the car then picked her up, cradling her in my arms. I carried her carefully into the house and into her bedroom, laying her down on her bed. My eyebrows rose when I noticed she had purple and blue marks covering both of her wrists. I pushed up the sleeve of her shirt to find black and blue going all the way down to her back. My fists clenched. I think I needed to go have a chat with someone.

“Jeremiah, do you know where Gabriel lives?” I asked, walking into the living room where he was watching college football.

He looked up at me, grinning, “So you’ve finally come to your senses, huh ruskie?”

“Just tell me where he is,” I growled, crossing my arms. I didn't have time for his racist bullshit.

“I can show you were he is,” he said, getting up, throwing his empty beer can in the trash.

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“So how you gonna kill him when we get there?” Jeremiah asked as we were driving down the highway.

“Who said I was going to kill him?” I muttered, “I think intimidation will work just fine”

“Oh come on Dombrovski, I already softened him up for you, this has nothing to do with your ‘morals’, this is about reputation!” Jeremiah exclaimed.

“Trust me, I know plenty about reputation and pride, Jeremiah, and I do not need to prove I have either to some lowlife.” I snapped, tightening my hold on the wheel, my knuckles flexing.

“Whatever you say, Dombrovski, oh turn here.”

“He lives in a trailer park?” I said with a raised eyebrow.

“Sorry we’re not as flashy as you are, ruskie, with your fucking huge cars and designer clothes,” Jeremiah smirked.

“Well let’s get this over with, shall we?” I said briskly, stopping outside of a particularly run down silver bullet trailer. Maybe this asshole would finally get what was coming to him.