Family

Isadora

"The cargo has arrived safely," a deep voice said. 

I blinked my eyes open, wincing at the light that assaulted my eyes. As soon as my eyes got used to the light, I realised two things. The first was that I was in an unfamiliar room, and the second was that there was a large man standing with his back to me at one of the windows. 

I must have made a startled sound because he suddenly turned. I sucked in a breath as his dark eyes locked on mine. 

He was easily the most gorgeous man I had ever seen in my life. Dark hair fell over his head and into eyes that were impossibly dark. He had high cheekbones, a sharp jawline and full pink lips. Tattoos curled up his neck and down his muscular arms, and the dark t-shirt and jeans he had on looked like he had been poured into them. 

My mouth immediately went dry. 

"Who are you?" I blurted out, glancing around, "Where am I? What do you want from me? I promise I don't know anything about Dimitri." 

His eyes narrowed, "So what you're saying is that you're useless?"

I froze, wondering if he would kill me now that he had seen I was of no use. I shouldn't have even said anything at all. 

"If you let me go, I swear I'll forget your face. I'll never tell anyone what happened here," I just wanted to be free. Was that too much to ask for? Couldn't I just catch a break? Was i destined to go from bad to worse at every point in my life. 

The bedroom door suddenly flew open and a man in a Navy, pinstripe suit walked in. He was good looking, with his brown hair and eyes, but he was nothing compared to the tattooed guy, "Good evening, Miss Gonzalez." 

Relief immediately filled me and laughter tumbled out of my throat, "You have the wrong person. I'm not Miss Gonzalez." 

The two men exchanged a meaningful glance, and the suited man finally cleared his throat, "If you want to understand everything, then you have to come with me." 

"I'm not going anywhere till someone starts telling me what's going on here," I bit out, eyes fixed on the dark haired man. His mouth curled up the slightest bit, amusement sparking in his eyes. 

"You have your work cut out for you," he said, "I'd wish you good luck, but I'm sure you don't need it." 

The room was silent as the dark haired man picked up his leather jacket, slung it over his shoulder and left. 

"My name is Viktor Rolf, and yours is Isadora Gonzales," the suited man said. 

I stared at him blankly, wondering if he had gone crazy, "My name is Isadora Michaels, not Gonzales. I don't know who you think you have, but I'm not the one you're looking for. I'm just an orphan who was trying to run from The Russian Devil." 

He stepped closer till he was just at my bedside, "If you want to understand everything, you have to come with me, Miss_" 

"Michaels," I growled. Life had managed to take my parents from me, then my happiness, and my scholarship. The one thing I wasn't letting them take was my identity. I couldn't afford to lose anything else. 

He raised a hand in surrender, "Fine. But you will have to come with me, one way or the other. There's someone very important you have to meet." 

"Let me guess," I sneered, "I have to follow you to meet your boss now. The man that arranged for me to be kidnapped and drugged?" 

His brown eyes sharpened, "He drugged you? That bastard. I'm sorry about that, truly. I knew it was a mistake to send such a wild card on such a delicate mission. I hope you won't use Ivan's behaviour to judge the rest of us." 

I registered the man's name at the back of my mind. 

"Come on, Isadora. Don't you want some answers?" He held out his hand to me, "My boss can give you the answers you need. And he can give you freedom." 

I had a lot of questions, but I also knew that I wasn't going to satisfy my curiosity by sitting down in this bed and allowing my mind to run wild with thoughts. 

Letting out a deep breath, I put my hand in his and let him help me to my feet. My legs felt like noodles and i began to fall. Viktor pulled me into his arms and I reflexively wrapped my arms around his neck, breaking my fall. 

"I'm so sorry," I said, trying to right myself. 

"It's alright," he smiled down at me, "I didn't mind at all. And it'll be every man's pleasure to save a beautiful woman." 

Red climbed up my cheeks and I ducked my head shyly. I couldn't remember when last I had been called beautiful in a positive way. My step family used to refer to my face as if it was something distasteful and repulsive. 

My eyes caught on the full length mirror propped against one side of the wall and frowned at my reflection. I looked haggard and exhausted, my oversized dress hanging off my thin frame. 

I followed him down a long, luxurious hallway with red carpets, chandeliers and paintings on the walls. A door finally appeared became visible at the end of the hallway. 

"it's just in there," he motioned at the door. 

The closer we got to the door, the tighter my stomach clenched uncomfortably. By the time Viktor turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, my stomach had twisted into in irredeemable knot, and my breaths were laboured. 

Shaking like a leaf, I walked into the room and froze in my tracks. I didn't know what I had been expecting, but it wasn't the old man in a hospital bed hooked up to a thousand machines.

"Wh-what's this?" I asked, more confused than ever. 

The man's grey eyes flickered open, causing me to freeze. Even from this distance, I could recognise those silver like eyes. And why wouldn't I? I saw them on my face every time I looked in the mirror. 

"Hello, my child."