Page 62 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

“I’m sorry,” Vik said, seemingly just as unprepared as I looked at him through the rear-view mirror. He seemed far too apologetic for someone trying to convince the girl she was being abducted and needed to cooperate with us.

“Vik,” I warned, focusing on the road ahead.

“You need to be quiet,” he corrected himself, sounding flustered. “We won’t hurt you, but we need you for ransom. Your family has someone very important to us, and we need to get her back.”

It wasn’t exactly how I would’ve handled it, but it was blunt enough to get the point across at least.

I caught as confusion moved through Alessia’s features. “What…what are you talking about? My family?”

She was innocent, after all.

While it made it harder to follow through with, I had no choice. We weren’t planning on hurting her if that was any consolation.

“It’s a lot to take in, but they aren’t who you think they are,” Vik said, oddly soft with her. There was no missing the color in his cheeks, even if he was easily flustered.

Shaking it off, I sighed. “Bind her.”

She was terrified still, but it didn’t matter. As far as I was concerned, she was only a means of getting Grace back. If she had to be uncomfortable for a few hours, then so be it.

Reluctantly, Vik sighed and reached for the cuffs tucked away in the back. I heard as they clicked around her wrists, and they both settled into that silence as Alessia was too afraid to question us further.

She was my ticket to getting my wife back, and I was prepared to do anything to make that happen.

Chapter 23 - Grace

Everything was dark when I came to, but I couldn’t muster the energy to open my eyes fully. As more feeling returned to my body, I managed to peer through my lashes until that strength returned.

My head pounded immediately, and I suddenly wished I couldn’t register that pain to save myself from it.

My entire body felt like it was full of lead, and stringing a single thought together felt like a task from the grogginess that cloaked me.

Blinking through the fog, I tried my hardest to take in my surroundings. As more fragments pieced together, I realized the room wasn’t familiar at all. I didn’t know where I was.

Despite the pain, I pushed myself into an upright position and took in the space around me.

The room was mostly dark, but the moonlight coming in through the white curtains helped illuminate the space. There was a double bed beneath me, a nightstand to my left, two double windows on the same wall, and a single door.

As I realized I didn’t know where I was and that I didn’t remember how I got there, my heart started to race, and my hands trembled.

Swallowing hard, I edged my way off the bed and noticed my wrists weren’t bound. That seemed like a good sign, at least. Creeping to the door, I tried turning the knob, but it didn’t budge. Locked.

I tried the windows next, seeing if I could push them open. But again, nothing.

Peering outside, I could just make out what looked like the side of a fairly big house and a backyard, but it was hard to make out fine details through the darkness that shrouded everything.

As the panic started to worsen, I tried to regulate my breathing. Even if I didn’t know where I was or what happened, I needed to stay calm.

Retreating to the bed, I nearly jumped out of my skin the moment the door creaked open. It captured my attention immediately, putting me on the highest alert possible.

I squinted to make out who had stepped into the room.

What looked like a young man entered silently, then closed the door behind himself. He was tall and lanky, and even being in the presence of someone I didn’t know in a place I didn’t recognize was enough to make a shiver move through me.

He took a few steps in, wearing a white button-down and dark slacks with his arms crossed over his chest. From what I could tell, his hair was cropped short and buzzed along the sides. A small smile settled on his lips.

“I thought I heard you moving around,” he murmured, peering over at me like I was something to be fond of.

When I flinched and stepped back even further, his hands went up in defense. “There’s no need to panic, Grace. I’m here to help.”

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