The Mafia's Runaway Wife

Roman- Flashback Cont.

I closed the bid at 15 billion. I had to. I couldn’t take it anymore. For the 1st time in history, a slave was bought for 45 billion dollars in an underworld slave auction. For the 1st time in history, an Alexeyer has bought a pet for 45 billion dollars. For the 1st time in history, an Alexeyer bought a black girl as a pet. Tonight, there are many 1sts, but the ones relating to Harper Harmony Alexandra Jones Louis will be told over the next few centuries. Her name will be in history books.

I watch them unchain her on the stage, I watch all eight guards move around her without touching her, trying to guide her to the back of the stage. She turned to look at our section, looked at the girls, and made the same hand sign Willow had made to Anastasia before turning around and starting to beat the last four guards that brought her on stage. She was quick and efficient. Her moves were barely detectable. By the time the other 4 guards got to her, she had already wiped the floor with the ones she was fighting. She didn’t bother with the other four, she walked herself backstage.

She might have been small, but her figure and will were strong. She had a fire in her.

Rollo called the auction to an end with chagrin in his eyes. The crowd cheered and went back to dancing and drinking like this was just another night at a nightclub. Like it was just another night out, not one that consists of illegal slave trade, not one that consists of s*x workers and drugs deals.

Rollo did his final round to our section, but this time he brought eight guards with Harper. The guards are different from the ones on stage. I wanted to laugh but I had to settle for a smirk. Especially with how Rollo is looking.

“Roman, do you really want her? If you can’t handle her, you can always send her back.”

I paid him no mind. I would never send her back to that filth. I had no intentions of letting her go. Vlad jumped up, ignoring Rollo like the rest of us, and spoke.

“Oh, my sweet heavens, Harper Louis, it’s an honor to meet you. We’ve heard so much about your family. We never thought we’d have the pleasure of having the Princess of Miami in our possession.”

The ramble continued but I blocked him out. Looking at Harper, I can tell she did the same. She looked out at the stage, making no eye contact or acknowledgment of our existence. One of the guards tried to take her hand but, in an instant, she elbowed him and moved out of the way.

Her actions have been too fast, so fast it’s hard to catch. Rollo looked at Anastasia with pleading eyes. I watched as the eyes of the ice princess froze Rollo in place, giving nothing away. From the guys to the guards, we all look at the silent conversation taking place between Anastasia and Rollo.

Eventually, Rollo spoke up. “Anastasia, Willow… Please”

Another first in history. The famous and almighty Rollo, begging two of his slaves to help with another slave. Vlad’s laughter carried over the music throughout the whole club. Chess looked at the scene and shook his head before returning his full attention to Anastasia.

I watch everything unfold with contempt. I couldn’t show that this situation had me intrigued. I noticed the silent looks between Anastasia and Willow. I caught the silent nod shared between them before Anastasia straightened her shoulder and pounded a fist into her palm. That caught Harper’s attention. Her blazing light brown eyes locked on Anastasia.

They made a few hand signs back and forth. Their faces gave nothing away, but Willow was a different story. Her eyes went from worry, disgust, admiration to amusement. We watched as they finished their sign language of a conversation before they both turned to look at Willow. They both made the same hand signs and Willow's face hardened. And like theirs, she no longer showed her emotions. It’s like they gave a command and, like a good soldier, she followed suit.

All signed language ceased, and Harper slid next to me without a glance or word. We ordered food and drinks but neither of the girls ate or drank. We tried to keep the conversation light and asked them questions but neither answered.

Rollo stayed behind. I know my second in command, Toni, along with Chess and Vlad have already handled our transactions.

Usually, Rollo would have already disappeared until the next auction, but tonight he stayed behind. From the section next to us, he watched her. He stood watching my Harper, my pet, my property, and, for some reason, I got infuriated.

I wanted to rip those eyes out of his socket. I didn’t want him staring at her like the juiciest stake he ever laid eyes on. I wanted to cut off his hands, just so he could get the idea of ever touching what is mine out of his mind.

I wanted to rid the world of him, just so I knew he could no longer think of her, no longer be anywhere near her. I got up, forgetting Harper was next to me, my large frame pushing her out of our booth. Instead of her landing on her ass, she landed on all fours. She kept her head down, shaking it like a wild animal.

I didn’t mean to push her. My anger got the best of me. I reached out to grab her and help her up, but she jumped back before I could. She stood up and planted herself. If one was not trained, you wouldn’t know it was a fighting stance.

I was pissed and intrigued at the same time. I hear a fist pounding on a palm, I catch Anastasia and Willow signing to her. She’s not looking at them, she’s not looking at anyone, but I know she sees them. I caught her slight eye movement towards them both. I catch her fixing her stance and the slight nod she returns.

“Let’s go”. I know she can hear me, but she doesn’t move. Not until the others follow behind. Not until she’s behind Anastasia and Willow. I don’t have to have eyes on the back of my head to know that the girls are having their sign conversation between Vlad and Chess. I don’t have to ask to know that the guys are thinking the same thing that I am. We need to separate them.

So, we did. We separated into the three SUVs with are selective pets. We separated them for a year. Neither of us had any luck getting them to talk. Neither of us had any luck getting through to them. We eventually got them to eat, but the process was brutal. We guys would have weekly meetings on ways to get them to comply over that year, but nothing helped. We knew our methods were sometimes brutal and inhumane, but they never gave. For 366 days, all three signed the same things every day. Each other’s names.

We knew what they were doing but we refused to give in. If our pets, our properties were going to talk to anyone, it’s going to be us. But over that year, we found out that they were just as stubborn as we were. We knew they could speak and hear our every word, but for 366 days neither of them spoke a single word. Hell, neither of them made a single sound. If we didn’t personally know the ice princess and read the files on Willow and Harper, you would have thought they were mutes.

After 366 days of dead silence, after receiving our business's fiscal financial report, we had no choice. We got together for our weekly meeting and admitted defeat. Those witches had us by the balls, our stock prices and ranking dropped. We spent more time trying to get them to speak and interact with us than we did with our businesses. We spent more time with them on our minds than closing contracts and being responsible businessmen. Over those 366 days, we burned more bridges than we built.

*CURRENT*

“Roman, don’t you hear me talking to you?”

I snapped out of my daze. It seems like that’s all I’ve been doing since she left eight years ago.

“What was that?” I responded to my parents.

“It’s been eight years now, when are you going to move on? You’ve been operating like a maniacal zombie for over eight years. When are you going to let go and move on with your life?”

“Dad don’t start.” My sister and I responded at the same time.

“What do you mean don’t start? Have you not all seen how he, Vlad, and Chess have been these past eight years? Vlad has damn near lost his mind, Chess has become a monster and Roman isn’t any better. All this tracking and killing, aren’t y’all tired? It’s been eight years, when do y’all plan on letting go?”

I love my parents but at times like this, I can’t help the urge to shove their faces into a wall. They don’t get it, and to be honest, they should. My parents didn't have the best relationship in the beginning. If anything, their relationship was worse than mine and Harper's. To this day, they act like the girls were just pets to us, that they were just objects we were supposed to throw away after playing with them. It's hypocritical of them.

What’s worse, they hated Harper more than the others. I know they didn’t like her and even treated her like s**t. But I had hoped after marrying her, that we all could have come to an understanding. Maybe we could have met in the middle, but she left that same night. Never gave me the chance to try.

“Mom, Dad, can we please drop the subject?”

“Anya, why are you being the defensive one? You didn’t even like her?”- Mom

“It’s not about liking or not liking her. It’s about Roman’s feelings for her. It’s not our place to intervene.”

That’s my sister, Anya the politician. You can never know what Anya is really thinking or feeling. You just got to take her word for it. But I raised and trained her, so I know what’s real and what’s for show. The reality is that Anya loved Harper. Behind closed doors, she fought me tooth and nail for Harper. She used to shadow Harper around my mansion, spent more time over there than at my parents'. She even learned sign language, Creole, French, and Japanese just to talk to Harper in secret.

My parents don’t know that it’s because of Harper that Anya started and excelled in Physical training and in school. They don’t know how hard she cried when Harper disappeared, or how down she was because Harper wasn’t around for her 18th and 21st birthdays. No, they don’t know anything about their daughter, and they definitely know nothing about my Harper, my Garmoniya.

"Mam i Papa, it's been a long eight years with her, and being here with y'all is making it longer. Dobroy Nochi"

I hugged my sister and left, not wanting to hear their nonsense.

It pisses me off how they talk about the girls, more so Harper, but I blame myself more than I blame them. I should have put a stop to it as soon as it began. Hell, I should never have allowed it to begin in the first place.

Part of me wanted to teach Harper a lesson, make her know that I was the only one she had. Force her to realize and accept that she was mine, that I was her only refuge. I wanted to break her so I could put her back together on my terms, in my image.

She had my heart before I met her, and no matter how hard I tried not to, I loved her more than life itself. Knowing she didn't feel the same, I went to the extreme. It was wrong and childish of me, but I knew I didn't deserve her, so I did everything to break her until she was left with no other options. But that only pushed her to leave and hide from me, taking my heart with her.