20 | Imprinted

"SHIT!" I CURSED IMMEDIATELY as I took a startled step back. The man I'd collided with was dressed in a pristine suit. He wore a red tie, like the other waiters, but his suit jacket and expensively gelled haircut suggested his position was somewhat higher. "I'm so sorry," I blurted quickly, taking in his expression of mild surprise. "I'm so clumsy."

He studied me for a moment longer and then his eyes seemed to widen as if he suddenly understood something. "It was my fault," he assured me. His accent was heavy yet smooth—so refined sounding that there was almost something uneasy about it. He took my hand in his, "and you are?"

"Um, Grace."

He quickly kissed my hand and then released it. "Grace," he repeated, nodding slightly. "Surely you are not so clumsy with a name like that."

At this point my discomfort was growing by the second. I glanced over to my dad who was still nursing his glass of wine happily. I wanted to get out of here. "You'd be surprised," I muttered. "I'm a klutz."

A smirk curled the man's lip. "Irrespective, this was my fault. Consider your bill taken care of."

"You don't have to do that," I said.

"I know. But I'm going to."

"That's very kind." Now desperate to escape, I attempted to walk around the man but his hand shot out to grab my forearm. His touch didn't hurt but it wasn't as light as I expected making me glance down uneasily. His skin was rich and tanned compared to my own ivory tone.

His dark eyes stared back into mine as he said, "my name is Luca. Do come back again, Grace." Luca's hand fell from my arm at last. "I'll look forward to seeing you."

I rushed back over to my dad feeling my face burning red. But it wasn't just embarrassment that spurred me on; a cold sense of dread had knotted in my heart the moment I set eyes on Luca. There was something about him I didn't like—a strange feeling I couldn't shake that almost seemed like the blood in my veins had turned to ice.

I wheeled dad out of the restaurant and didn't even hear his complaints.

Alexei | Grace

"Boss."

I glanced up from the paperwork at my desk and found Sergei standing in the doorway. "Is it important?"

Sergei let out a short breath that made his shoulders fall a fraction. I knew him well enough to know that meant yes. "It's Grace."

"What about her?" I kept the tension out of my voice despite the fact that it clenched inside me the second I heard her name.

"Well, we were tracking her—"

"As you should be."

"—and she wound up somewhere...unfortunate."

I skimmed through a dozen different places in my mind. Ending up somewhere unfortunate in London wasn't hard to do. The city was rife with crime. "Unfortunate for who?" I requested. "Us, or her?"

"Both. Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe?" I hissed finally putting my pen down.

"She's found her way into Luca Gambino's place."

It was a good job I'd put my pen down. Otherwise I would have snapped it clean in half, spilling ink all over my papers. I didn't lift my eyes as I growled, "how did you let this happen?"

"Boss, you never asked us to stop her going—"

"Fuck," I seethed immediately standing from my desk. "How long has she been there?"

Sergei followed me out of my office, explaining the situation as we made our way to the operations room. "A little under twenty minutes," he said, holding the door open for me.

"And it took you this long to tell me about it?" I fought the urge to rip the door off its hinges and slam it into Sergei's skull for being so fucking useless. "How the fuck am I supposed to run this shit show when my men can't even get simple information to me within five minutes? She's been in there twenty damn minutes and you didn't think to tell me? I swear, if she breathed a word of this to him...if he so much as lays a finger on her..."

"She's with her father."

I felt myself relax just a hint at those words. Grace being with her father was a good thing. It meant she'd be safer. It meant she had someone. Albeit someone who might not physically be capable of protecting her, but at least with her dad being there Gambino had a reason to let her walk back out again.

"B'lyad'," I cursed sharply under my breath. I could hear my father's voice from inside the operations room through the door. When Sergei caught my expression he nodded and let it close as I leant back against the wall. I stared up at the ceiling and then closed my eyes. Imagined I was someone else, somewhere else. Imagined a life where Grace wasn't probably about to be killed by the Italians, or my own father if he managed to get there first. Imagined a life where our first conversation in that cafe was only the beginning for us; not the beginning of the end. "He's going to kill her," I said, opening my eyes.

Sergei could tell that Grace wasn't just some employee, but he didn't say anything about it. I knew from the way he was looking at me; he was the only man in the world from whom I could hide nothing. The only person, except from Mama. "She's with her father," he repeated. "Luca wouldn't. He's not bold enough."

"I wasn't talking about Gambino."

"Viktor." Sergei said his name with a sigh.

"The second she walks out of that place he'll put a bullet in her brain."

"You don't know that."

"I know my father," I scoffed. And I did. I knew exactly what went through his sadistic head because it was imprinted on my skin, beneath my shirts, beneath my tattoos. "If he's feeling kind he'll shoot her point blank. If not—"

My words hung in the air like suspended bullets. I couldn't bring myself to finish the airborne ammunition so instead I shook my head. Even to Sergei I couldn't admit what my father had said to me in his cold, uncaring tone. I couldn't admit that the gun wouldn't be in his hand but mine.

"It won't come to that, boss."

"Glad one of us thinks so. Come on."

The second I stepped into the operations room I regretted every single decision that had brought me up to that moment. I regretted talking to Grace in the hospital, buying her breakfast, tracking her down. I regretted every since second of eye contact we'd shared, every smile, every single word I'd ever said to her. Because the thought of never speaking another one killed me. And the smug look on Viktor's face killed me twice.

"Alexei," he greeted, turning away from the control panel to face me in my leather chair. He took the cigar from his mouth and blew out a heavy plume of smoke. "Glad you could join us. I was just enjoying a little evening entertainment courtesy of your little pet. What was her name again, Gloria? Gabby?"

I didn't rise to his goading. I didn't tell him to put his fucking cigar out in my operations room, much as I wanted to.

"Come and join me." It wasn't a request. I crossed the room and stood beside my father, staring at the wall of computer monitors. He pressed a button and they all shifted to show the same, grainy image. It was Grace walking into the Luca Gambino's restaurant, the wheels of her Father's chair just barely visible from the doorway in front of her. The same fragment of time played again and again over all the screens at once. We had corrupt politicians and police officers who had allowed us to access some of the city's CCTV, but we'd never get into the Italians' place.

"Grace," I muttered inaudibly the moment I set eyes on her. It was almost like I was chiding her, asking her—begging her—why she'd do such a thing. But she wasn't here to respond. That stupid messy ponytail flew out behind her in the footage as she marched inside, but I couldn't reach her. She was just an image now, and there was nothing I could do.

Viktor hit another button and the clip stopped playing. "So you see we have a problem."

"Grace is getting something to eat with her father," I shrugged. "Sounds like the sort of thing normal people do."

"It sounds—" he hissed, "—like the sort of thing a rat would do."

"She's not a rat."

"And you know that?"

I swallowed back the truth and settled for something slightly less worrying. "It doesn't matter either way. She doesn't know anything."

"Really?" Viktor smiled disbelievingly and I could tell he was about to make my life hell. He took another drag on his cigar. "Well, Alexei, I truly hope that you're correct."

He stood from the chair and put the cigar out on a nearby table. "Clean that up," he barked to Dmitry who rushed to sweep away the burning embers. Viktor turned just as he reached the doorway and I felt my stomach jolt at the grin on his face. "I really hope you'll be joining the family for dinner tomorrow night, Alexei. Your mother would appreciate it."

And with that he exited the room, letting the door slam closed behind him.

"That was remarkably..." Dmitry trailed off.

"False," I filled in.

Yury, who had been occupied elsewhere, walked into the control room a few seconds after Viktor had left, carrying a tray of donuts. "Who's sent Vik on a murdering spree this time?" he joked but nobody else cracked a smile.

The reality of those words had me feeling nauseous.

"What are you going to do, Boss?" Sergei wondered, grabbing a donut off the tray and leaning on the table beside me.

It was a good question. Viktor had yet to hand the reigns over to me fully; technically I was still under his command. What could I do? Defy him? Run away with her? I almost laughed at the thought. Even if I could walk away from all of this—even if I wanted to—how far would I get? I wouldn't even make it out of the country. But I also couldn't let my father get to Grace. I was the one who'd dragged her into this mess. I was the one who'd endangered her. It was my duty to get her out again, safe.

And then leave her on the outside, where she should always have stayed.

"Show me Viktor's location," I commanded Dmitry. He typed something into a keyboard and the wall of computer monitors flicked to an image of my father climbing into his car. Immediately I grabbed my own keys. "Keep all eyes on him," I ordered, heading for the door.

"All eyes?"

"Did I stutter? And I want updates. If he turns down a side alley, if he changes direction or even so much as the lane he's in, you tell me. Got it?"

Sergei shot me a weary glance. "Alex—"

"I have to."

Vadim was waiting in the SUV by the time I emerged from the warehouse, the engine purring idly. I climbed inside and before I'd finished shutting the door we were moving. I pulled out my phone and checked for an update on Viktor's location from Dmitry.

D: looks like he's headed straight for Grace

"Gambino's place," I instructed Vadim while staring out of the window impatiently. My fingers tapped an irregular rhythm against the back of my phone, anticipating a notification.

"Traffic's bad," Vadim grunted staring at his sat nav. "Want me to take a diversion?"

"Do what you have to. Just get us there."

"Yes, Boss."

Vadim swerved to the right and dove down a side-street. I didn't pay too much attention to where we were headed nor how many laws we broke in the process; he knew what he was doing. Vadim was one of the few people I'd trust with my life.

Every second we spent in the car increased the tension in my chest. I didn't normally feel like this. I appraised situations from a detached perspective; did what needed to be done. Things were different with Grace. It was my fault she was in this situation, and unlike the scumbags and criminals I usually dealt with, she was innocent.

"Two minutes," Vadim announced.

I already knew how close we were but I suspected he was trying to calm my nerves. Or stop me smashing the car to pieces. One or the other.

A message came through on my phone.

D: V has arrived at the location.

"Fuck!" I threw my phone against the dash.

A few minutes later we turned onto the street where Gambino's place was and I instantly spotted Grace. It was like my eyes were always drawn to her before anyone else. It took me half a second longer to realise that my father was already stood talking to her. I clenched my jaw and stepped out of the car.

"Grace," I called out immediately. Her eyes flickered from Viktor to me and seemed to widen. As I approached I could already see she was uncomfortable. Like most people, she'd picked up that there was something not quite right about my father; something dangerous.

Just as I reached them Viktor turned with a wicked grin on his face. "Alexei."

"Grace," I hissed, "come with me." Her reaction wasn't what I'd hoped for. She looked between both of us warily, uncertain who to trust. I couldn't exactly blame her. "Grace," I repeated.

"Alex—" she began but was cut off by Viktor.

"I was just inviting Miss Perne here over for dinner tomorrow night," he drawled. "I know how fond of her you are, and your mother and I have been just dying to meet her..."

Grace's soft pale cheeks flushed pink and I wanted to punch Viktor even more. I hated him for putting her in this situation.

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said between gritted teeth. I tried to catch my Father's eye but he only smiled wider.

"Nonsense!" he continued the stupid fucking charade. "At the very least we should be celebrating our new employee."

This whole performance was aimed at me and I knew it. This was his way of punishing me. And if it just affected me, I could take it. But it didn't. This was too far.

"No," I hissed, but I felt Grace's hand lightly rest on my forearm. A jolt of electricity shot up my arm and the rest of my argument lost its train in my head. Damn it.

"It's okay, Alex," she said gently. "I'd love to. Thank you, Mr Ivanov."

Viktor nodded and took a step away. "I'll be seeing you soon, Miss Perne."

A/N I know I've had exams on but I just HAD to get this update posted. I'm too excited for you to read it! Let me know your thoughts:)

In other IMPORTANT NEWS, somebody has stolen this book and published it on Amazon multiple times. I've still got three exams left so right now I don't have the time to do anything about it - but PLEASE BE AWARE THIS BOOK IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON WATTPAD. It is MY PROPERTY. Not only that, but it is also unedited and unfinished; I wouldn't pay money for it, and you shouldn't either.

Please do not support these fraudsters:(

Thanks,

E