Hi All,
Here is chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you to my cleverly brilliant or brilliantly clever editor who shall not be named.
All feedback is appreciated but please do not use the comment board to trash other writers. -- thanks -- Tatum
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Nadja's sadistic words and laughter filled the room. "Yes, you ugly little thing. We killed your mother. We were so sad when it was ruled a suicide. We wanted you to know that your mother was murdered and now you do. This is a truly joyous occasion." Her wicked haunting smile portrayed a giddy evil only present in horror movies
.
I am going to make her face look like a fucking warzone!
Visions of Nadja being curb-checked, strangled, and shot exploded through Lexi's mind and she almost returned her shitty smile.
The fantasy of ripping Nadja's face into a thousand pieces was the only thing she could hold onto.
They killed my mom. Mom.
What did my father do to these people?
Lexi knew what happened to Dmitry but only because of mutual allies talking but Lexi had never heard of the others. They blamed her mother and she had already paid the ultimate price.
The rage she felt towards these cronies consumed her. Lexi wanted to kill them all and leave a wake of carnage behind her.
The speculum burned and throbbed inside of her as Vascak continued his exam. Nadja's cold voice proved unrelenting, insult after insult rained down on Lexi. Offense after offense was meant to destroy her remaining dignity. She was naked, exposed and defenseless.
Lexi's anger kept rising but the burning pain from the speculum was becoming unbearable. Vascak took his time and was disgustingly thorough. Lexi could feel his breath on her delicate abused flesh and almost vomited when she felt him play with her clitoris.
Amir and Nikoli gripped her wrists and ankles and she could still feel Dmitry's hand attempting to comfort her, the gentle caress on her calf was a complete lie.
I hate him!
Lexi tried to jerk her leg away from him but Amir's grasp was too tight and the motion caused the speculum to move. Dmitry frowned and stopped the caress.
He's upset? Are you kidding me? He raped me! Beat me! I've got Doctor Warren Jeffs between my legs, a crueler Kathryn Montreuil with a hint of Heather Chandler and an overdose of Annie Wilkes explaining how my mother was murdered and currently my life is a waking nightmare. He has taken everything thing sacred; my mom, my freedom, my virginity. But he's upset? Fucking lunatic!
Nadja leaned down to Lexi's face, "Oh Dmitry, look how angry she is. Her pupils are tiny. She has beady little snake eyes. How fitting? The little snake." Nadja hovered directly above Lexi's face, the closeness forcing her to break her eye contact with Dmitry. "Did you know that your mommy begged for her life and the life of her child? I am assuming she meant you. There is no one left to beg for your life now Traitor's Daughter. No one will even know you are gone. No one will even care."
True.
With the most condescending tone Lexi could muster she insulted Nadja.
Fuck her!
"I don't know which is worse, your pathetic words or the fact that your breath smells like a bag of assholes." The shock of finally hearing Lexi's voice and brave words silenced the room. Nadja's sinister grin grew impossibly larger.
She growled into Lexi's ear, "You will pay for that Traitor's Daughter. Just like your mother. You will beg just like her." Nadja backhanded Lexi, hard, sending a searing pain across her face. The impact added to the continuous pounding in Lexi's head. Spots danced across her vision and the image of her mother's lovely face flashed before her eyes.
Mom. Mom. Mom.
Lexi tried so hard to fan the flames of her burning anger but the memory of her mother's caring smile forged an overwhelming and all consuming sadness. Lexi began to lose the strength to be angry, to fight. She just wanted to go away. She wanted to mourn for her mother again.
Mom. They hurt her. She begged.
Lexi latched onto a favorite memory and the soothing tones of her mother's voice.
"You can do it Alex just let go and jump." Helen Winters' arms extended toward the scared little 4-year-old standing on the diving board. "You promise to catch me mommy?" Alex's question was more of a demand. "Only if you promise to make the biggest splash possible." Alex smiled in determination and inched towards the edge of the diving board. "Here I come!" She practically belly flopped into her mother's arms. "Gotcha! You did it!"
Alex sputtered water and frantically wiped her face smiling the entire time. "I did it! I did it!"
"Yes you did my brave little girl." Helen swam besides Alex and she doggie paddled to the pool ladder. "I think I can try it by myself now. It's not that scary." Helen helped Alex up the pool ladder and watched her walk her little walk back to their diving board. "I will be right here. You can do it." Alex leapt off the diving board with an excited squeal as Helen cheered her on. She always cheered for her. They had always found humor and joy when they were alone. They managed to spend every summer in water; pool or ocean, just the two of them.
...........
Helen and Lexi could never leave him. You cannot divorce or escape a member of a powerful crime organization without forfeiting your own life. Helen tried to protect Lexi from him but there were times when he managed to get a hold of her. "You are not even my daughter are you?" Smack! "She gave you his name." Smack! "How stupid do you and your slut mother think I am?" Smack! "I give you both everything." Smack! The verbal and physical abuse always followed with his frantic grandiose atonements and gifts the next day, a pattern Lexi learned to hate, and a pattern she will be reliving soon.
Divorce was never an option for Helen and she tried to make the best of a horrible situation. Lexi's mom encouraged her father's extra-marital affairs and suggested he take long vacations with his mistresses just to keep him away. She begged him to take a paternity test but pride and the thought of her possibly bearing another man's child, stopped him.
When they were alone Lexi and Helen laughed together, finding humor saved them.
Luxury and secrets. Extravagance and deception. Anton Winters knew the game but not the score. He had very dangerous hobbies; creating enemies when he didn't need to, seeking power through money, and burning bridges. Lexi's father had been slowly stealing from his Russian contacts causing the financial collapse of several Russian mob families. Using his business partners' investments to pay off his own debts and live extravagantly, Anton Winters became the Bernie Madoff of the underground crime syndicate. Anton spun stories to each family causing murders in the form of blame placing, retribution and revenge.
Anton and Dmitry's father had been close friends. Meeting in college Anton and Leo bonded almost immediately. Leo was well connected and Anton longed for the same wealth and status. Leo was a stepping-stone that paved the way for Anton's involvement with the Bratva. When the truth was slowly revealed about Anton's betrayal Dmitry's father was the first one eliminated. He had vouched for Anton and allowed him to weasel his way into the dangerous and very profitable Russian mob. His friendship with Anton cost him his life.
Helen began to suspect something had changed between Anton and his partners when they stopped visiting Russia and began moving from state to state and eventually from country to country. Even though spending no more than a year in any location allowed for the Winters to see the world they were nomads and the constant adapting grew tiresome.
Each home more lavish than the last, exotic vacations, private jets, security and tutors, personal chefs, and private pools and beaches. They should have been happy but Anton's paranoia and emotional and physical abuse served as a constant reminder that they would always be miserable. They were wealthy but he was running and spending. The running with Anton would continue until Lexi turned thirteen.
"How could you do this Anton? People are being killed and for what? Money? We didn't need all this. We didn't need any of this." Helen waved her hand gesturing to the gross display of wealth surrounding them. Anton avoided the question.
"Their families are coming for us Helen. We cannot out run them and witness protection is not an option." They wouldn't last a week in protective custody; Dmitry was too clever, too connected. "Every year we move farther and every year they get closer. You and I will die and the boy may find her." Anton swirled the scotch in his glass and drank the rest slowly, savoring his last drink.
"Dmitry? So everything you told me is true? They tortured him for years? All of that was true? You son of a bitch! He was just a boy for Christ's sake!" Helen found herself praying for Anton's death...again.
"I thought you were only using the threat of Dmitry as means to keep us here! We have to run Anton, they will kill her!" Tears began running down Helen's face. "How could you do this?"
Anton stared at the woman who would never love him back. "Helen, I..." He couldn't finish. Anton knew he had lost, the affairs, the abuse; nothing would ever win her back. He laughed quietly.
Did I ever have her to begin with? No.
In one last attempt to gain any kind of forgiveness from Helen, Anton used every last ally he had to change Alex's identity. He procured a new passport and social security number for her.
He set the new passport on the table. "I could only save one of us. It was difficult to get anyone to help, but she is innocent to my mistakes so they took pity on her." Helen picked up the passport.
Alex Winters was now Lexi Evans.
It was his only sincere atonement. He let her keep part of her name, a name he hated.
"I bought you a car yesterday. It is not what I would have like to have bought you but it will help you blend in. Al-Lexi has an off shore account that will cover both of your expenses for the rest your lives, as long as you live simply. You have to leave tonight Helen. They are coming. They will be here by tomorrow morning." Helen sobbed into her hands.
