~Aleksey’s Point of View~   I got home and couldn’t find father anywhere. The kitchen staff said he’d been in for breakfast but that had been half an hour ago. It was just before six a.m., he couldn’t have gone too far. I grabbed a cup of coffee and stared out the kitchen window, finally spotting him off in the distance. He was walking toward our pond on the far end of the property.  He may have liked a little morning stroll sometimes but I was exhausted and dreaded walking that far. I finished my coffee and hopped on a golf cart that mother often used to get around. Just as I got to the bench he was sitting on, I saw him throwing food to the ducks.  “Since when do you feed the wildlife,” I said, sitting next to him.  “I love all creatures

~Aleksey’s Point of View~   Once I was able to get Emilia properly dressed with undergarments and all, I finally agreed to let her see Ronald. But I would not let her near the actual dungeon. I didn’t even want her to know about it for the time being, or if ever. I had Mickey set up a small holding room with nothing but a table and a few chairs. Emilia insisted she see him alone and at first I flat out refused. But somehow, she wore me down. There was a small closet in the holding room and I sat on a stool inside of it, barely fitting in the space. The door was open just slightly, so I had a good view. Mickey stood just outside the door. Ronald, was cuffed to a chain in the floor so he had very little mobility and he wasn’t a shifter so he wouldn’t smell that I was in the room.

~Aleksey’s Point of View~ “How the fuck can there be nothing? Everyone leaves a trail of some sort. What’s he living on,” I said, yelling at Robert. “I’m trying all I can think of boss. I’ve got men on it around the clock. We’re gonna get him, I just don’t have anything yet,” he said, defeated.“It’s been days he’s been gone,” I said, running my hand through my hair. “You got shit off shore, I’m sure he does too,” Robert said. “Doubtful, he’s not that smart. Look, I want you at the ceremony. Dinner starts at six o’clock, be early and wear a suit,” I said, hanging up.

~Aleksey’s Point of View~   Even with all of my responsibility, even with my last name … I’d never truly felt the weight of it all until now. I knew people depended on me, I knew whether or not they had food on the table depended on me. But now, this … whew. It was unlike anything I could imagine. I didn’t even have time to fully impress upon Emilia what this was going to mean for her. After hanging up with Alex, I sat on the basement stairs and just tried to wrap my head around it all. Twenty-one years old and head of the largest organized crime syndicate in the midwest. I can’t say all of the US because two Italian families and one Chinese family have us a little beat, but there was room to share as long as we didn’t step on each other’s toes. Also, those families were all human so they really didn’t hold a candle to us.

~Aleksey’s Point of View~   Damn I was tired, running on pure adrenaline. I told myself once I got back into my own bed I’d sleep for a week with my naked mate. I was dying to know if Maxim had been able to get into my bedroom, with the angle of the camera in the hall you could only see people going by. I couldn’t get a clear look at the door. I’d have to rectify that for the future. I placed a final quick call to my mother and promised her I’d have her house back up and ready for her soon. I didn’t break my promises.  I also told Alexandra to begin making a list of potential suitors, and she was beyond giddy at the idea. She wanted to have me interrogate them and flush them out for her. I just had to shake my head. She just loved attention of any sort, people fawning over her while she acted li