Page 15 of The Bratva's Hostage

He raised two fingers in front of his face. “You have two options, Elena. One, you agree, and both our families find peace and grow together.” He folded one of the two fingers. “Two, you reject my proposal, and the fights continue. With Don Armando down, you Italians are weak.”

He gave me a moment to process the situation.

“I will take advantage of this weakness and destroy you all with irrecoverable damage. I will take over the market and steal all your father’s previous and potential clients. It will be over for you and your family, and when I’m done fucking you and the Moretti name, you will wonder why you turned me down today. Go ahead and decide.”

I watched him with open horror. He was a monster. A ruthless, blood-sucking monster. It didn’t help that he was echoing everything I’d told myself earlier. He was right, of course.

There was bound to be turmoil as my relatives fought over who was going to become the next leader. All Maksim had to do was influence the crumble from the outside, while the Morettis ate themselves alive.

There was also a hidden perk to this proposal that I’d not considered before. There was something I wanted more than anything in the world, something only the Bratva could give to me. Maybe this marriage could help me achieve that.

“Well?” he asked, his eyes dancing wickedly. “What’s your answer?”

I watched him silently, thinking of how to respond to the offer. There was bound to be some blowback from the Italians, but would they understand my motive for making this decision?

Maksim got up and grinned. He walked towards the door and turned with his hand on the handle. “You aren’t saying ‘no’, which is precisely all the answer that I need. This is your room now.”

He laughed and stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I stared at the closed door for a long time, and it occurred to me just how screwed I was.

Chapter 7 - Maksim

I glanced at my watch for the hundredth time and looked impatiently up the stairs. Elena was fifteen minutes late and I was ten minutes early. My patience was wearing thin after waiting for her for almost half an hour.

The frown on my face deepened as I checked the time yet again. She was being tardy on purpose to piss me off. It was petty, it was small-minded, and dammit it was working.

I had the mind to go to her room and drag her downstairs by her hair. No one keeps me waiting like this. No one. The delay left me seething and I suppressed the urge to lash out.

When she appeared at the top of the stairs, every bit of anger in me evaporated. She was breathtaking. Her chestnut brown hair flowed in curly waves down her back and shoulders, bouncing with every step she took.

The white dress she was wearing was new, and I was surprised at how well it clung to her body and emphasized her curves in all the right places. Nikolai was in charge of getting her new clothes, and he had done an excellent job. It had a subtle, square cut that showed just a hint of her cleavage and ended above her knees revealing her toned legs. Her heels made her even taller, and her olive-colored skin shimmered like morning dew. She walked gracefully down the stairs, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her sheer elegance.

My Italian princess!

Her full lips were subtle red, shining with sin and temptation. I felt a thrum in my pants and shifted, adjusting my posture so she didn’t see the erection building between my legs. I couldn’t help but imagine her naked, ripping through her cute, white dress like a piece of paper inside a shredder. She looked so God damn sexy and everything about her seemed natural… and effortless.

‘Nothing’s fake. Everything you’re seeing, that’s all me… And I know it.’ That was the look she had on her face as she got to the bottom of the stairs. And she was not wrong. But her smugness made me furious, so I looked away.

“I’m ready,” she smirked. “Shall we?”

I grunted and walked towards the front door. She fell in step beside me, her heels helping her maintain her stride with me. Having decided to marry me, the next step was to inform the Moretti hierarchy of Elena’s decision.

Nikolai had bought us some time with their family with a little bit of tech ingenuity. Nobody was looking for her for the time being, but this ruse couldn’t last forever, and to make it work we had to make an appearance before her family sooner rather than later.

We stepped out of the house into the blazing morning sun. Fyodor and Nikolai were waiting by the cars already, with six other burly men, some of my most trusted hands.

The meeting with the Italians could swing in any direction, and if it did swing against me, I wanted to be ready. Underneath their fancy suits, all the men present had enough guns to arm a football team.

I touched the back of my waist and felt the comfortable weight of my handgun tucked into my belt. Just another day as a mobster in New York City. I took a deep breath, enjoying the sweet morning air. It was a wonderful day to live or die.

Aleksandr held the door open for Elena and she scrambled into the seat. While he tried to hide it, I saw a bitter look in Aleksandr’s eyes. I noted Sergei’s absence.

Aleksandr’s partner had flown into a murderous rage when he woke up to find himself sprawled on a grimy floor. He’d made his distaste for Elena known, and Fyodor had stepped in to… smooth things when Sergei became difficult to manage.

Sergei was gone now, and I didn’t ask Fyodor what had happened to the man. Knowing Fyodor, the line between murder and manslaughter depended on which side of the bed he woke up on. However, the other men complied, still giving her dirty looks but not daring to touch or go near her.

The clever girl had already positioned herself in the ranks. I still didn’t understand how she had managed to free herself and I was tempted to confront her, even though I knew she would rather die than tell me.

I glanced at her. She was a resourceful woman and that staggered me. She had freed herself from the handcuffs, incapacitated two of my men, gotten through the house unseen, and was seconds away from escaping before I found her. I had a lot of respect for her, albeit grudgingly.

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