"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." ~Winston Churchill
Vasilisa Smirnov
Lift your jaw back up, Vasilisa.
"Tell me something," I started coolly, clutching my towel tightly around my body. "Do you have a death wish?"
He kicked the massive door aside with one foot, sauntering into the wide expanse of my room. His presence dominated the entire space, making me feel small and vulnerable, clad in nothing but a large white towel.
That still didn't change the fact that I was about to wreck this bitch up.
We both ignored my apparent lack of clothing and moved on to dissect the elephant in the room.
"Quite the opposite," he replied curtly. "You, on the other hand, seem hell-bent on defying my orders. If you put yourself in any position where I cannot easily access you in a time of danger, I will make sure you and I share the same personal space."
I scoffed in amazement. I finally realized the cause of his actions; it seemed my slap must have knocked out all his brain cells.
I couldn't deal with this.
The regret I felt earlier dissipated before my eyes, and I wished desperately that I had hit him a little harder and done some significant damage. Maybe it would have done a great deal and sent him into a coma.
"I have something for you," he announced humorlessly, his voice dark and mischievous.
I glanced at him, half expecting him to be holding a human head, but instead, he had a brown paper envelope. I eyed it warily, wondering what trap he had decided to set up. I collected it from him tentatively, taking a few steps back to put some distance between us because, despite my surprise and bewilderment, my body was very aware of the fact that Alexei and I stood alone in this empty house, with a bed beside us and just a flimsy piece of clothing clutching onto my sanity.
That very fact was distracting me from properly reacting to the fallen door that now took up space on my bedroom floor, extending slightly outside the doorframe.
Despite my apprehension, I was still curious about the contents of the envelope. I flipped it sideways before pulling the flap open. I reached my fingers inside, and a paper-like material brushed against my fingertips. I pulled it out, revealing a file. I stared at the first page in confusion, scanning the letters printed in a dark, bold, straight font.
GOOD GIRL 101.
What is that?
I stared at Alexei in confusion, hoping to get some kind of clarification, but he remained silent, his face stoic and blank. I got nothing.
I turned my attention back to the file, flipping to the next page.
My eyes bulged as the words came into view.
"Little Lisa must always listen to what her protector tells her to do without a hint of defiance."
"Is this a joke?" I spat out in disbelief, scanning the list of rules that were just as incredulous as the first one.
Lord help me...
I kept reading, scanning through multiple pages filled with different rules until I reached the final clause.
"If Little Lisa defies any of the following rules given to her by her protector, he has every right to punish her in ways he deems fit."
A sardonic and sarcastic laugh bubbled out of me as I counted the number of rules I had just read. Two-fucking-hundred. He sure took his precious time to plan this joke. It really was commendable.
"Is that all?" I asked softly, feigning meekness. "Why not print out your photo and hang it on my bedroom wall so I can praise and worship it every day until the end of eternity?"
"That's nice," he commended with a nod before replying, "but I would prefer you get on your knees and worship me in person."
"Do you think my father would allow you to punish me in ways you deem fit?" I asked, ignoring the crude innuendo in his previous statement.
"Aww, Little Lisa," he mocked in what sounded like a baby voice. "Daddy's spoiled little girl. Too bad daddy signed the document as your legal guardian."
"What?" I gasped in disbelief, scrambling through the pages like a madwoman to prove to myself that his words weren't true.
Of course they weren't; my father, of all people, would never agree to such bullshit. But why exactly am I seeing my father's stamp—the exact same one I'd seen countless times on the checks he sent me? Why was I seeing that exact stamp at the far corner of the last page, directly under the last clause I had just read?
"Did you seduce my father?" I asked in disbelief, snapping my gaze back to a smug and satisfied Alexei.
I wasn't joking. Seduction was the only way my father could have agreed to such crap because you definitely couldn't bribe him. He was the one doing the bribing.
One of Alexei's dark eyebrows lifted as he sent me a sarcastic smile. "No thank you. I have a dick, not a pussy."
"Well, my father has overestimated his authority," I started, grabbing the document with both hands. "The two of you can suck each other's dicks before I agree to this crap."
With that, I pulled the document apart, smirking slightly as the sharp sound of ripping paper filled the room. I tossed the pieces in the air and followed my instincts, slapping Alexei in the face.
He merely stared at me for a few seconds before brushing off the papers that had settled on his broad shoulders.
"There are a hundred copies of that in the back seat of my car," he stated, crossing his arms over his chest. His muscles bulged with the movement, and for a second, my eyes flickered to them.
I turned back to face him, ready to spew out my most colorful curse words, but the way his body tensed and all hints of playfulness left his face told me something was wrong.
He signaled for me to keep quiet before reaching for the holster of the gun tucked into his pocket.
My heart raced like a speeding car as I watched with bated breath.