Page 67 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

My stomach turned not only at the thought of being married to his son but also at how my dad wasn’t entirely truthful about the situation. It seemed all too convenient.

“He lied,” I muttered. “My dad offered me up as payment for the debt he owed them. He stole from them, and they wanted their money back, but he couldn’t pay it.”

But it wasn’t what Sergio wanted to hear. He shook his head with a huff. “No, no. That’s what the Levovs want you to believe. Your father came to me begging for help. He said that his daughter was taken, and he needed to get you back.”

Every objection I had rose to the surface, and while I didn’t agree with how the situation with Yaro unfolded in the beginning, I didn’t want anyone to misconstrue who really set me up.

“He offered me up like a prized cow. Dad told me himself—”

But Sergio only waved me off, shaking his head in denial. “I regret to inform you that I’m going to carry out your father’s wishes as I promised. He carried that desire to his grave.”

Everything stopped at once, halted by that simple sentence. My skin went cold.

“What are you talking about?”

Sergio looked at me with a distant grief in his eyes. He let go of another pensive breath before he spoke. “Dominic came to speak with me before he went AWOL, and it was the last thing he did before taking his own life. My men found him in one of the warehouses the bank took from him not long ago. I thought I should let you know the moment I got the message.”

I nearly stumbled, feeling like I was about to lose my balance. That reality hit me like a truck, and I didn’t know what to do with that information.

My stomach sank immediately with that shock.

Even if I didn’t have a healthy relationship with my dad, it still felt devastating. Not only because of our tumultuous past but also because he never took the opportunity to make it right. We would never have that chance again.

He was gone.

Regardless of how many times I let my anger wish I could get away from him in the past, I never thought it would happen quite like that.

Between hearing about my father’s passing and being trapped somewhere I didn’t want to be, it was impossible to keep those mounting pressures in. The emotions made my nose tingle, and I couldn’t hold it back.

A tear tracked down my cheek, leaving me feeling completely helpless.

A look of feigned sympathy settled on Sergio’s face. “I know it must be hard to stomach, and if it counts for anything, I’m sorry for your loss.”

I didn’t want to hear it. Any of it. I didn’t need his sympathy, not while he was clearly using my loss as a means for trying to ruin my husband and the family.

He didn’t even know the half of it. From my dad’s constant poor judgment to the way he treated me throughout my childhood. It was more complicated than my dad simply taking his life.

I just wanted to go home. It was all too much. I needed the chance to mourn not only the loss of my dad but also the idea of what could’ve been. I needed peace, but I wouldn’t find it there.

“Please,” I managed, voice fragmented by the tears caught in my throat. I sniffled. “Just let me go—”

But the door opened again, stopping my words at once. Pietro stepped into the room, not even bothering to close the door as he approached.

A wild look filled his eyes.

“We need to go now,” he said, carrying rope in his hand as he crossed the floor with several long strides. A triumphant smile moved across his lips. “You’re going to watch your husband’s downfall.”

My heart clenched at the words, forced to completely forget about what I had just been told. While I knew that the Levovs were the kings of New York for a reason, I was still worried about Yaro and the others. I didn’t want anything to happen to them.

Pietro grabbed both my arms and roughly tied the rope around my wrists in front of me. He did it with speed and purpose, surely riding the wave of knowing everything was coming to a head.

While the hope of seeing Yaro soon kept my heart beating, I was numb to the rest. To being Pietro’s hostage and not knowing if or when I’d get to go home. To the news I had just received about my dad.

I didn’t have the chance to truly accept it, not while I was whisked out of the bedroom and put in a blacked-out vehicle with no explanation of where we were going.”

Chapter 25 - Yaro

We had been driving through the night while we waited for any word from either our men or from Pietro himself. I had sent him a message after we obtained Alessia, telling him we took her and were looking for a trade.

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