Page 45 of Auctioned to the Bratva

Breathing in deeply, I exhaled slowly. “I understand, thank you,” I said, looking out the window. We were entering some kind of industrial-looking area, the kind of place I presumed business such as this took place.

We turned down between some warehouses and in the distance, I noted a couple of cars parked to one side. That must be it, I thought, sitting up.

Chapter 26 - Irina

My body ached as I started gaining consciousness. I tried moving but couldn’t. Fluttering my eyes as I opened them, I realized I was tied to a chair. My hands and both feet were tied up. Glancing around trying not to attract attention, I noted that I was in a warehouse.

Not again, I thought as I tried to see if there were any distinct markings of where I was. There were a lot of men standing around in small groups of three or four.

As my vision cleared, I recognized some of the men. No, my mind screamed, not again. Once again, Caleb’s men captured me. However, this warehouse was not the same one. This one had a lot of windows high up and two large doors a little way before me.

Some barrels were close to the door but had no markings on them. Most of the building appeared to be empty. There was a part to my right that was cordoned off that had a door in, it might be an office of sorts, I thought.

To the left were more barrels with what looked to me like a danger warning on them. Most of them had been scrubbed off and the ones I could see weren’t very clear. Further back were big machines, but I couldn’t see them and wasn’t sure what they actually were.

I closed my eyes again wishing I was back in LA with Sergei. We could have stayed in our bubble and lived our lives without any of this. My ankles and wrists were burning from the ropes, and I felt like crying. Biting back the tears, I tried to listen to the conversations around me.

Most of the men were too far away and their voices mixed together as the little groups of men spoke among themselves. This made it hard to discern what they were saying.

But as some groups fell silent, I heard someone saying that I wasn’t the target of their attack. They only abducted me to get to the Morozov family. To draw them out, the one guy was saying to another.

My heart slowed down as fear entered. A cold sweat broke out covering my entire body. Sergei, my mind screamed in echoes. He wasn’t trained in this type of life, and I felt sure he would not be ready to take on such a challenge.

Even though I wasn’t their ultimate target, it didn’t imply in any way that I would not become collateral damage. I felt sure that Caleb wasn’t only angry at them but also at me.

This situation could get extremely ugly quickly I thought as I glanced at the men with their guns. The ones I could see, basically only those in front of me counted up to about fifteen men. But I was sure there were more men behind me that I just couldn’t see. “Hey,” I called out to the man with the scar, recognizing him from the previous encounter.

Looking over his shoulder, he grinned at me as he turned and walked closer. “Well, well, sleeping beauty has awaken.” He said as he stopped before me. Bending down to look me in the face, he smirked. “You are the perfect bait.” He added.

“What does your boss want with me?” I inquired, trying to find out what their plan was. Maybe if I knew more, I could assist in my escape when the family came, I thought.

Feeling my heart skipping a couple of beats, I had to hold onto the fact that they would be here soon. Hope was all I had. I knew Sergei was surely turning the world upside down lookingfor me right now. But knowing Oleg, Sergei would not be alone in this endeavor.

Scarface was about to say something when there was a loud bang from somewhere behind me. I shrieked slightly as I bounced on the chair from the noise. Scarface stood erect and stepped back. I tried to see what was happening but couldn’t turn my head enough.

The room went quiet, the men lowered their heads, and I knew the big man had entered. I was sure it was Caleb who had arrived. But why did Scarface seem so nervous, was there someone else, someone higher up the chain?

I heard footsteps nearing me from behind. Suddenly my head was heaved backwards as he pulled at my hair. I let out a small scream as pain shot down my spine.

Looking up at the roof, an ugly face pushed into view. I blinked, trying to clear my view from the tears fogging it up. I needed to focus on the face before me.

“I’ve gotten word.” He spoke. “I’m sure the Morozov family will be here shortly,” the man hissed almost choking me with his dire breath. I tried pulling out of his grip but felt it tighten as I struggled. My tears started running out the sides of my eyes as pain infiltrated my head.

“Should we stand ready, boss?” I heard Scarface ask from somewhere to my left.

The man shoved my head forward as he let go of my hair, chuckling. “Not yet,” he said stepping into view. “We still have time to play with her.”

He nodded at Scarface as he moved to stand before me. Scarface pulled a thick piece of cloth from his pocket and forced it through my mouth gagging me.

It was Caleb, my mind registered as I blinked away the tears. No, no, this can’t be happening, my mind screamed as my body froze in fear. My veins filled with ice as my skin went cold and my heart struggled to keep up the pace.

Gasping, I tried to fill my lungs with air. I was sure I was about to faint as the room appeared to be swirling around me. Caleb grinned as Scarface handed him a chair, and he sat down before me.

“Let’s play a little game,” Caleb said as he shoved his gun into my chest. He didn’t pull the trigger but pressed hard. Heat radiated out from where the gun struck my ribs and I gulped for air. My lungs were on fire, burning as I tried to find some air. Looking up, I saw his men stepping closer, forming a wide circle around us.

They smiled and nodded at each other, surely intrigued to see what Caleb was doing. “You thought you could get away, didn’t you?” Caleb said as he spat at me, a big blob of oozing goop landed on my cheek.

“You little bitch. You have no idea what is good for you.” He added leaning in even closer. “You and the Morozov family will pay for your actions.”

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