Page 50 of Daddy Brigadier

“Lev!” I call out, and he comes rushing in. “What’s up?

“Where is the background check I requested on Lexi?”

He shakes his head. “It came up empty.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means Lexi Summer didn’t exist before a few years ago.”

I pound my fist against the hardwood, eyes shut tight as I fight to suppress the furious energy surging through me, trying to steady the storm in my chest.

The day hasn’t even begun, and it’s already going downhill.

The only way to calm my nerves is to rush back to Lexi and have her ease the tension in my sweatpants. Deep down, I know it no longer matters who she was. What counts is that she isminenow.

As soon as I step into the bedroom, an unsettling feeling washes over me. There’s a shift in the air, a strange sensation that unsettles me when I see the bed empty. “Lexi,” I call out, searching for her. I quickly leave the room and head toward the kitchen. “Krasotka, where are you?”

With a growing sense of anxiety, I rush back to the bedroom, flinging open the bathroom door, only to be met with emptiness, a void where Lexi should be.

On the nightstand next to where I left her, there’s her collar.

A crushing sorrow impacts me like a punch to the gut. I sit on the edge of the bed, my eyes stinging as I grip the diamonds tightly. I shut my eyes, swallowing past the ache in my throat. She has left me with such a feeling of emptiness, almost loneliness, just for a second. I remind myself of one thing—the only thing—that can lift my spirits. “I already told you, Krasotka, I own you. You will never escape me.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

LEXI

Valentin’s hands press against my skin, and his lips touch mine, sending my senses into a whirlwind. The chill of his gold ring against my cheek hits me like a punch, awakening memories of Petrov that I can’t shake.

The mere thought of Petrov’s hands on me tightens my stomach in knots. I instinctively wrap my arms around myself as the icy air seeps into my bones.

My heart races with the unsettling truth that I’m drifting away from who I am, losing my focus, and shedding the fierce desire for vengeance that days ago was consuming me.

I’m falling for Valentin, the Brigadier. The ruthless, powerful, and deadly man who plans to kill me. The man who bears the same ring as the asshole who touched me.

Leaping out of bed, I move to glance out the bedroom window. The world outside is still and peaceful, but I can’t ignore the urgency coursing through me.

Elise is here, and I need to leave before she discovers I’ve been fucking the Coalition Brigadier.

I slip on my dress and step into the closet, my fingers glide over a row of black suits until they encounter the softness of asweatshirt. I pull it over my dress and clutch my heels in my hand.

The bedroom door creaks open and I step quietly from the closet, bracing myself for the consequences of trying to sneak out without his consent. “Valentin,” I call softly.

“Alexis.”

The voice is one I haven’t heard for a long time, but it’s etched in my memory.

I halt in my steps and turn slowly to face her—Elise Savin, the notorious woman of organized crime, stands framing the doorway.

To me, she is more than just her reputation. She’s Elise Walsh, the girl I grew up with.

“I heard you were here,” she says, her voice trembling slightly in disbelief at the sight of me.

“It’s not what you think,” I respond quickly, a defensive edge creeping into my tone as if I’ve been caught in the act.

“So, you’re not sleeping with the Brigadier?” Her eyes narrow as she scrutinizes me, taking in my short pink dress and black heels.

It’s been three years since I last saw her—three years since she started declining my calls, leaving me all alone in this world.