Page 13 of Auctioned to the Bratva

I was being pulled upright and the side door of the van opened. No, no, why did I let Evelina know I was okay? I thought as my vision disappeared. I heard the slamming of the van door, and silence filled my mind.

What happened, where was I? My mind insisted as I tried opening my eyes. My vision blurred and my head ached as I returned to the empty world of sleep.

My body felt constricted, but I dared not open my eyes again. I listened to the three voices whispering not too far away as my mind tried to understand what had happened. The last thing I remembered was the van before me and an arm holding me up.

I must have been drugged, I thought tasting a bitterness in my mouth. Thinking back to the croissant I couldn’t decide if it was that which made me sick or the sweet, I ate. My stomachwas still paining as if the food I ate was rotten, yet it tasted fine at the time.

It had to be the sweet, I was sure of it, but why? Why would anyone want to drug me? My mind rushed back and forth to all I had done since landing here. There was nowhere I could place that I could have endangered myself.

Was this Sergei’s doing? Oh, he would pay if he had me kidnapped, I thought. I would make sure of it. How dare he treat me this way.

I opened my eyes to a blinding bright light and had to squint for a second so my eyes could adjust. The voices fell silent as I tried to sit up. I couldn’t move, glancing down toward my feet, I noticed the straps running across my chest, middle, and legs.

“What the hell?” I heard myself saying out loud as panic invaded my mind and body. I turned my head frantically, trying to figure out where I was. It looked like a storage room of sorts. To my left was a stack of boxes and somewhere behind them a window as there was light coming in behind them.

To the right, I saw a small room in the distance, which I presumed could be an office. The walls were made of silver waves, which could be a kind of steel. The van was parked to the side of the small room, but I didn’t see the men.

My heart was racing, and I could hear myself breathing heavily. I closed my eyes and tried to calm the blood boiling through my veins as my mind raced through the darkness.

Where was I, what was happening? Would Evelina realize something was wrong? I felt a tear escape my lids as I tried to regulate my breathing. I knew I needed to get a grip on myself.

“Well, well, well.” I heard a rough voice say from somewhere beyond my feet. My eyes flew open, and I lifted my head as far as possible to see who it was. My head suddenly felt like it wanted to split open as a crushing pain shot through it.

Tears blurred my vision as the figure moved closer. No, no, no, I heard my brain shrieking. What was happening, why did I not call Evelina rather than send a message? She would have known if something was up, maybe she did know, maybe she would come with her brother and cousins to rescue me.

“Irina,” the rough voice interrupted my thoughts. “Daughter of the late Mr. Gusev.” I lifted my head slightly as the figure emerged beside me. I felt a big, warm hand take hold of my arm as the man leaned in closer. Lowering my head, I tried to focus on his face.

I only got one word out before a thick, rough finger crossed my lips, silencing me. “Who…” I started asking. I was sure the man beside me was as broad as two or three white birch trees of. He was quite tall as well and his face was covered in scars and lines from old age. I did not recognize him, in fact, I was sure I had never seen him before.

“You, my dear, you do not know who I am, but I know you, very well.” He grinned at me exposing his crooked stained teeth. His eyes appeared to have a strange yellowish glow in the bright light which scared me.

“But” he continued, growing louder as he spoke. “I will tell you who I am; there is no need for guessing.”

I blinked rapidly and swallowed hard as I tried to contain my fear. But tears were running out of my eyes and down the sides of my face. I started sobbing, my body shaking as I tried to catch my breath.

“Get a grip,” The man said as he slapped me across my face. “I need you to focus.” He breathed out. “Your father and Oleg owe me. They thought they could push me out of the family.” He said as he straightened up, rubbing his graying beard with two fingers.

He stared out across me and grinned. “I will get my due, one way or another.” He proclaimed, glaring back down at me. “I am Caleb Glenvish, and no one pushes me around.” I felt a pinch on the inside of my arm. Looking down I saw the syringe.

What were they doing, what was he injecting me with? I tried to pull my arm out of his grip but with the bounds and his strength, it was to no avail. Then, I felt my body going numb as the liquid ran through my veins. I racked my brains trying to place the name he gave, but I had never heard it before.

Another man appeared beside him from nowhere, and he whispered in his ear. This man was just as tall but about half his width. He had a full bush of black wavy hair and narrow-set brown eyes. On his right cheek was a scar that looked like it could have been made by a knife.

I didn’t recognize him either as he glared down at me. My vision blurred, and my eyelids felt like they were made from steel. I tried to keep them open, I needed to know where I was. But soon, the darkness filled my vision again.

Chapter 9 - Sergei

Looking at the phone in my hand, I saw it was Roman and answered. “Hey brother, how are you this lovely evening?” I asked.

Roman laughed before responding, “Well, you sure are in a chipper mood. May I ask the reason?”

“Nothing special,” I replied, realizing my voice was calmer than usual. I nodded as the waiter placed my order before me.

“Well, what are your plans?” Roman inquired as I took a sip of whiskey.

“Nothing planned, just having dinner,” I replied in as normal a voice as possible. “Why, you have somewhere I need to be?”

“Yeah,” Roman said. “I would like to meet at this new club that just opened. I haven’t been there myself yet and thought maybe you would like to join me?”

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