Prologue

"Men are not only women's unpaid bodyguards. They actually pay to be a woman's bodyguard."

-Warren Farrel-

***

It was midnight when young Anastasia stepped out of her room, very carefully as she tried to make as little noise as possible. After all she did not want anyone to wake up and put her back to bed. She was not exactly feeling sleepy, it was the opposite. Her heart was thumping loudly as she walked through the corridor of the mansion in attempt to get to her destination. She knew exactly had her father or any of his men found out about it then she would surely be doomed, they would punish her, not physically, as she was the apple of her father’s eye. The old man loved his youngest daughter so much that he would never harm her that way, heck, he would probably kill himself before he did such a thing, that didn’t mean she would not get in trouble if any of them discovered her going out of her room alone so late at night.

That did not stop her though, she was far too much of a daredevil to listen, her smooth young feet tapped against the cold marble floor, she had purposely left her house sandals for they would put too much restrictions on her movement. Though it was a bit cold since they were in the middle of winter, she simply wrapped herself in tiny fur coat over her night gown to warm herself up. She was definitely doing it that night. It was a risky move to make but she needed to do it anyway. Not out of necessity, but out of mere curiosity.

She was not going to see anyone in particular, she was simply curious of what the place was like. Her father had always forbid her to go to the guard’s wing of the house, basically their mansion, which in reality resembled a mini palace was divided into several wings and sections, each sections served a different purpose. Her room and the family’s residence in general was in the main building, but just beside the main building there was a smaller building where the guards resided. They all had their own rooms which some were shared with other guards depending on their ranking. The higher the ranking the more privilege the guards had. Ana who at the time was only sixteen years old had the most brazen curiosity like a young lad. She was feminine by nature, mostly soft spoken, always dressed in the best dresses with laces and ruffles being her comfort zone, she was girly for the most part. Yet at the same time she also possessed this boyish charm, a curious trait she picked up from being surrounded by mostly men.

When she was so sure that no one was gonna see her, she accelerated her pace and moved toward the guard wing, she was a bit reckless since she did not realize that each move she made was actually being recorded by the CCTV which was placed on nearly every corner of the mansion, since they did not want to risk any intruder coming in, even with dozens of men guarding the place every day. Fortunately, at the time the men at the surveillance room were busy having conversations with each other while sharing some coffee, they did not notice Ana sneaking in into the hallway of the guard’s wing where she had successfully entered.

Young Ana had never felt more alive, for the first time she felt a sense of thrill from being able to rebel against her father order. It was quite an experience for the rather naïve and innocent girl. Being the sole daughter of Grigory Orlovsky with only male siblings, she was the most beloved child among the rest, but that meant they had protected her more than others, even her brothers, Ivan “Vanya” and Mikhail “Misha” Orlovsky are both as protective of her like her father. Therefore, she never had that much freedom growing up.

Being in the guard’s wings gave her a sense of excitement, like her brothers had told her before, the place was indeed different, instead of the well decorated space filled with cream vanilla and golden ornaments she was so used of seeing, the place was a bit more somber in nature, the walls were painted in a mid-toned warm brown shade which resembled one of those hospitals she used to visit abroad, not the most flattering or uplifting space to be in, but the place was filled with men who were trained to obey orders without question and carry guns around nearly twenty four seven even as they are sleeping, what was she expecting?

As she wandered around the place, admiring everything in silence suddenly she heard a loud sound of footsteps coming from the other side. She started to panic, if one of them saw her there they would definitely bring her back to her room and reported it to her father.

She quickly turned around about to leave when she suddenly felt a pair of strong hands held her and brought her inside the room. She was squirming and struggled as she thought she was being kidnapped, she nearly kicked whoever caught her shoulder and sealed her lips where the sun did not shine, but then she heard a small “hush” as the person slowly released his grip on her, she turned around and saw him standing there with a semi worried look on his face. He was wearing a casual wear, a black T-Shirt and a long black pant to match which signified that he was ready to go had there was something urgent he needed to take care of.

“Oh, my god, Alexander, you scared me, I thought it was a stranger who wanted to kidnap me!” she exclaimed lowly as she breathed in relief at the sight of his face. Though she felt relieved with him, it didn’t mean the man was not going to nag her because heaven believed, he was going to say a thing or two, judging from the small frown in his face.

“Anya, what are you doing here? You know it’s dangerous and forbidden for you to be walking around the guard’s wing. If your father find out about it you will be in a huge trouble, young lady.” He was the only person in the entire house that called her with that nickname, usually the others would call her Ana or some of her friends would call her Nastya, like the novella, but for some reason Alexander never called her any of those, he would always call her Anya.

In comparison to her, Alexander was a big man. He was not exactly that tall, standing at only 184 cm, he was not the tallest man in the world, yet he was well built and agile, he was strong and had a lot of energy, most importantly, his brain was always working. He always had his guard up and was always skeptical about a lot of things. Which made him the perfect human watchdog for the sole daughter or the Orlovsky family. He had a rather masculine features, tall nose, deep set eyes, thick, slightly arched brows and a thin, yet kissable lips on the right proportion against his chiseled jawline.

“Alex, I’m just curious okay, I have always wanted to come and visit this place, I mean come on, I grew up here, Alex and I have never been allowed into this part of my own home. Beside I don’t understand father’s concern, none of the men here would hurt me. They work for my father and brothers, there is nothing to be worried about.” She replied innocently, trying to defend herself.

Alexander couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful young lady before him, the way she pouted with her big blue eyes which almost appeared doll like always made him weak. He cursed himself for having a soft spot for her, he was trained to kill and protect, he was supposed to be stoic and dutiful, yet something about this young girl. This young lady before him always made him feel a little bit frustrated. Perhaps it was her innocence, perhaps it was the way she always spoke her mind without any hesitation, perhaps it was the way she was so warm and lovely to almost everyone she knew.

Sometimes he wondered how did such a lady could blossom in a place where blood was a common sight and murder was conducted by nearly everyone in the house. Perhaps Grigory had managed to shield her well from the outside world, it was not as if she didn’t know anything about the family business. Ana had always been a very clever girl, she was full of wit and had a high amount of self-awareness, taught in lots of subjects since an early age, the girl was talented at many and brilliant at some, she was definitely not all pretty face, and her mannerism, it was so natural, she was always polite, not the most outgoing girl as she was a bit of an introvert, yet she was oddly charming. Anyone who knew her would either love her or respect her, though some preferred to maintain their distance in order to not get themselves involved with her family.

Despite Alexander reaction, Ana casually walked deeper into his room. Her personal bodyguard was given his own chamber that was free of roommates for safety purpose. Which was why it was modelled a little bit differently than the common bedroom in the house.

She didn’t ask for permission as she took a seat in his bed, playfully bounced herself up and down in the bed until he had to approach her and placed both of his hands gently on her shoulder to stop her.

“Anya, go back to your room, come on, I will take you there.” He was about to take her when she shook her head and moved back a bit, staring at him with an annoyed gaze. He had seen that look before, she was definitely getting a bit upset. Being the spoilt daughter she was, Ana was not the best at being told no or being told what to do, she was pretty well behaved in general, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have desires of her own.

“No, Alex, I wanna stay here for a little bit longer. It took me so much effort just to arrive here, at least let me enjoy your room.” Alexander who was eight years older than she was could only stare at the girl as she laid down on his bed, stretching her arms casually and snuggled on his pillow. He knew for her, it was just an innocent gesture, but at that point Alexander was getting slightly uncomfortable with her presence. He feared had someone found her with him in his room, terrible things could happen for both of them. He wasn’t exactly scared of death, he had played with it way too many times to be scared of it. He just didn’t want the others to have the wrong perspective of Ana.

The girl was too precious to have any harm bestowed upon her.

“Okay, I will give you fifteen minutes, after that you need to go back to your room okay, I’ll make sure to delete the CCTV footage later so no one would find out you sneak out here.” He casually said as he approached her and stood on the side of the bed. He thought she was listening to what he was saying, but no, actually she had fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed and she formed herself in the shape of a fetus, which made her appear even more tiny and vulnerable. Yes, she was sixteen, but Ana wasn’t exactly the tallest or largest girl in the room.

Alexander stared at her and shook his head as he gently picked her up from the bed. Looked like he would have to carry her back to her room that night. Hopefully no one would see anything, otherwise both of them would get in big trouble.

As he carried her back, he looked down at her and couldn’t help but let out a faint, sad smile.

“Anya… what do I do with you?”