Sunday 'Sunny' Santos

With a hazy Tequila hangover and the kind of crippling lethargy that comes from oversleeping clouding my mind, I start awake with a sudden anxious gasp..

Something isn't right..

Sunlight streams through the cracks in the curtains as I peer around at my unfamiliar surrounding.. Piece by piece I begin to recall the events of yesterday and soon the nightmare of my harrowing reality begins to fully sink in..

This is my new life.. The imprisoned bride to be of a Bratva loanshark..

Having gone from being one man's property to another's pet has left a bitter taste in my mouth, and while I can't deny that Max's stoic brand of chivalry is not intolerable, I miss my old life and the comfort of the familiar.. Javier wasn't the best man, heck, he isn't even a good man.. But he had become the devil I knew.. I understood his temper and how to avoid it.. I could read his warning signs and prepare accordingly.. But with Max, I haven't got a clue what he is thinking, and something about that is far more terrifying in my current predicament..

This criminally handsome stranger wants me to marry him and I get the feeling that Max is the kind of guy who is used to getting what he wants, by hook or by crook.. But if I am really to be his bride, I have to begin figuring him out if there any much chance of finding harmony.. Or if I am going to survive long enough to sign our divorce papers in a year's time..

God, I hate that word.. Divorce.. It's so heartless and final.. And in all my life I never thought it would apply to me.. The thought of it makes me sick with anger, and suddenly am mad at Max for turning me into somebody I never wanted to be..

A liar..

How could I stand before the Lord and say those sacred vows, knowing that neither of us meant them?

How could he ask such a terrible thing of me?

Sliding out of the plush canopy bed, I tiptoe out into the hallway and down the stairs, prepared to defend my own honour and to refuse his proposal.. I know it is unlikely he will take the news well, but I won't go down without a fight.. I don't want to be a divorcee, and I certainly don't want a loveless marriage..

Maybe if I can appeal to his gentler side, just one more time, he will finally hear me and let me go..

Pfft, yeah right.. Dream on, Sunny..

"Maksim?" I call his name, but the apartment is eerily quiet.. "Max? Señor?"

Where on earth is he?

A deafening silence is my reply and quickly I realise that I am all alone in the penthouse.. An instinctual itch climbs up my arms to spread throughout my chest and soon the urge to run becomes all consuming..

This could be my only chance..

I stare at the front door as if any moment Max might burst through it and berate me for even considering disobedience.. After all, that's what Javi would do..

Where would I even go?

I can't return home because Max would only find me again and Javier has already proven he would happily hand me over to save his own skin..

So perhaps I could hop the train out of the city and start a new life under a new alias?
Surely I could survive all by myself, couldn't I?
Though if I am honest, I've never been on my own and I haven't got a dime to my name..

The itch burns more intensely the longer I pause to ponder my options and I become hyper aware that there just isn't time to make a plan.. I have to take action and deal with the consequences of that later, whatever they may be..

For now, I need to act.. There is only one solution..

Running in pure instinct my bare feet carry me at breakneck speed across the expensive marble tile.. I race across the living room to the front door, yanking it open and running out into the hallway towards freedom...

-THWACK-

The air is knocked harshly from my lungs as I skid face first, straight into the chest of my fearsome captor.. It is then that all my hopes and dreams are shattered in a matter of seconds.. Tumbling backwards to the floor, I land hard on my ass with a yelp of pain.. "Ow!"

"Going somewhere?" Max glares down at me, an unimpressed scowl on his face and his square jaw set rigid with tension..

"No.." I shake my head quickly, scrambling to make up an excuse that is entirely unconvincing.. "I was looking for you, Señor.."

His steely blue eyes harden to suspicious icicles that pierce right through me, so sharp they cut me to my core.. "Of course.."

I can tell he sees straight through my lies, though for some reason he doesn't call me on them or hurl insults in my direction like I expect.. In fact, it is becoming increasingly obvious that I haven't got a clue who the loan shark is, or how he will react at any given moment.. Every time I think I have found my bearings, he turns me around again and I am lost in the sapphire sea of his stare, stranded and without a compass..

-WOOF-WOOF-

Two familiar thundering barks steal my attention and I lean sideways to see around the mountainous man before me.. My heart leaps with joy at the sweet and innocent sight.. There on a shiny gold chain welded by a silent tattoo-faced man, is my beautiful boy.. "Paco? Dios mío!" (My God!)

Clambering on all fours, I crawl towards the cheerful hound, flinging my arms around his thick neck as he lays a slobbering lick right on my cheek.. Tears stream down my face as joyous sobs overwhelm me.. "Mi vida! I can't believe you got him!" (My life!)

"I'm a man of my word, Zayka.." Max replies cooly before he nods in dismissal to his militant accomplice, granting him permission to leave us.. "Spasibo, Viktor.." (Thank you, Viktor.)

The monstrous man named Viktor doesn't speak, instead he nods in understanding before he rigidly hands me Paco's fancy new chain.. I take the lead and without so much as a blink, Viktor spins on his heel and heads towards the stairwell where he slips out of sight.. "Gracias, Señor!" (Thank you, Sir!) I call after him before twisting around on folded knees and turning back to face Max.. "Maksim, I can't tell you how much it means to me that you found him.. Was Javier very angry?"

"No." The loan shark grunts, giving me nothing much to go by except a tummy full of anxiety and doubt..

"Oh- you didn't hurt him.." I wince hopefully.. "Did you?"

Max considers me carefully and I am not sure that his next statement is the complete truth or simply placating deceit.. "I did not.."

Still, I want to believe him..

"Aleluya.." (Hallelujah) I breathe a sigh of relief, choosing the path of least resistance.. I have enough problems to worry about without adding Javier and his possible demise to the laundry list of crappy things that have befallen my life of late..

"Where were you really going just now?" Maksim asks, holding out an upturned palm in an gentlemanly offer to help me up from my knees..

His enormous hand is warm, enveloping mine as I reach up and accept his assistance all while trying to maintain an unbelievable lie.. "I told you, Señor, I was looking for you-"

"Don't lie to me.." He growls, easily hoisting me to my feet before he jerks his hand away from mine as if my touch were toxic.. Behind his stormy grey eyes there is a flicker of torment.. Or perhaps it's betrayal..

Shame and regret wash over me, reminding me of all the ways I had failed to evaluate correctly..

What was I thinking trying to escape?

Where the hell had I been going?

My head hangs, defeated.. "I- I honestly don't know.. I wasn't thinking, I just- ran.. I'm so sorry.."

"If you want to leave so badly, Sunday, then fucking leave.." Max gestures irately towards the stairwell, stepping aside as if to clear the way..

"Excuse me?" I glance back at him warily, sensing a trap..

"It's what you want, so go.. Run back to Navarro, let him whore you out and beat you again.." He motions down towards the dog.. "And take the mutt with you.. Javier tells me he's got a big fight tonight.."

My blood runs ice cold at the unthinkable revelation.. But even though Paco is the one thing that had been off limits to Javier and his schemes.. I know Max is speaking the truth..

To hear that Javi has been planning to use my gentle giant in such a vile manner to make profit in my absence, makes my stomach turn.. "No.. Not Paco"

Max simply shrugs, unaffected and clearly oblivious to my internal rage.. "Da.."

"Bastardo!" I ignite with anger, flames of hatred combusting from the most repressed recesses of my soul.. "Ese hijo de puta!" (That son of a bitch!)

Max watches me aggressively hyperventilating, stony eyed and with his typical curious regard.. "Ridiculous.." He scoffs..

"What is?" I glare up at him, too emotional to mind my manners or bite my tongue..

"You.." He sighs a pitiful sound.. "You think that dog is worth more than yourself.."

"I love him.." I retort without hesitation..

"Boze moy, Malyshka--" (My God, little girl) Max pinches his nose in frustration.. "Are you some kind of masochist?"

"I'm not talking about Javi.." I offer in my own defence, drawing back my shoulders to take up a more dignified stance.. "I mean Paco.. I love this dog more than anything.."

Max's stern glare softens ever so slightly and the passive expression that usually masks his emotions falters, offering me a glimpse at his hidden humanity.. "I can see that.."

I look down at the dog at my feet, his tail wagging as he beams up at me, blissfully unaware at how close he came to being torn apart for the amusement of wicked sickos..

Glancing back up at the man who had liberated my loyal companion, I am somehow feeling less sure of myself than ever..

What if I was wrong about Max?

But the damage has already been done, I have betrayed the trust the loan shark had extended to me and now I have no idea of how I am supposed to fix it..

"Are you hungry?" I reach for a tried and true tactic of making myself useful as a means of redemption, willing to pay the price for my rash and impulsive actions..

Max frowns, taken aback by the sudden shift in subject.. "Huh?"

"Won't you at least let me make you breakfast?" I reason gently.. In a bizarre twist of fate I find myself hoping for forgiveness from my captor instead of fearing his presence.. "You know, to say thank you.."

Oh god.. Is this what Stockholm Syndrome feels like?

Why do I care what this Bratva brute thinks?

Am I actually going insane?

"You don't have to th-thank me, Zayka.." He grumbles, stammering softly and shaking his head out of frustration before he exhales an exhausted breath of exasperation.. "I'm not t-trying to be your hero.."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to, Max.. Please- give me another chance to prove that you can trust me.." I swallow the nervous lump in my throat, peering up at him from beneath my lashes.. "The way I should have trusted you.."

Not agreeing but not turning me away either, he steps silently aside, allowing me passage back into his apartment.. This time I return willingly to my gilded cage, suddenly recognising the generosity of the man before me, and for the first time, seeing him in the rosy light of reality..

Maximilian Angeloff and his unlikely proposal might actually be my salvation..