Page 8 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

While he had been more determined that time, that sadness in his eyes remained.

“Sorry,” he uttered before pulling back and returning to his seat.

Aware that my voice had been taken away too, I was only left to make muffled noises, but I didn’t have the energy to burn to do precisely that. Instead, giving in to the defeat, I slumped back against the seat and tried to understand how I ended up there.

My dad. He was the reason.

I trembled with anger, beyond pissed at him for thinking I could be used as a pawn. As a means of getting out of the situation he caused himself.

His habits had been a problem ever since I was a young girl, and while I was always afraid something horrible would happen to him because of it, I never imagined that something would happen to me. That he would so willingly pass me over to some men like I was nothing more than a payment method—an object.

It made my skin crawl even to think he could reduce me down to exactly that.

I didn’t know much about his business before, and I certainly had no idea he was dealing with mobsters—the type of men that abducted women from their beds and used them as ransom.

But I still didn’t know what their place for me was. That was what made me anxious.

Staring out the window as my eyes burned with emotion, I could only watch as the city went by. The very place I romanticized for so long.

New York was supposed to be the place where everything changed for me. It was my opportunity to escape from my dad and start my own life.

But I had the feeling that plan died before it could even begin.

Chapter 3 - Yaro

“Wait here,” I uttered to the back of the SUV as I popped my door open and got out. Vik did the same, closing the girl in by herself. I didn’t need to worry, though, not while her hands were bound and she was gagged.

Vik gave me a hesitant look as he tucked the laptop under his arm, holding his keys in the opposite hand. “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

I knew what he really meant.

Are you sure you want to ruin her life?

“I’m not going to question the morals of this, not when we were wronged first,” I returned, still feeling the tendrils of anger within me. At the very least, it began to ebb just before we reached my place. “Regret it as much as you want, but it won’t change anything. Dominic screwed us, and now we’re making it right for us. Remember that.”

Vik sucked in a rigid breath, and while I still saw the doubt laced in his features, he nodded.

“Look, it’s late, and we had a long day. Head home and get some rest,” I said, softening enough to remind him my frustration wasn’t for him.

“Alright. Let me know if anything happens,” he said, heading for his car.

“Will do.”

I could only hope nothing got out of hand. I knew how finicky that sort of situation could be.

The moment Vik got into his car and drove off, I was left with the crushing reality. I managed to get the girl, but now I had to deal with her. In my house, no less.

As I went to her door, I wondered if I did make a mistake. I was mad at her dad—not her.

But it was too late. The damage had been done, and I couldn’t go back on the plan. I was supposed to make her my wife, even if it had been a whirlwind decision.

At the very least, I would be sending Dominic a message. As my wife, I would be in her life hanging over his like a phantom he couldn’t get rid of. No matter what happened, I would be in the background, and it would be his reminder of how incredibly he fumbled it.

He never should’ve tried to cross a Levov.

Popping the back door open, I met Grace’s scalding gaze, and that questioning I felt only increased in size. But I didn’t want her to know that.

“Come on, we’re going inside,” I directed her, reaching for her bound wrists.

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