Page 9 of The Bratva's Hostage

He reached out with a second hand and covered my mouth with a handkerchief. I thrashed and fought uselessly, even as the drug-filled handkerchief pulled me into unconsciousness. I spat on the floor. Explains the weird taste in my mouth.

This wasn’t an accident. Whoever had kidnapped me, knew exactly who I was, and did so, anyway. I felt my panic returning. There weren’t many people in the city who could so openly defy my father, and my suspicion was nothing good.

Get a grip on yourself! If you’re going to walk out of this alive, you need to have your head straight. If they wanted you dead, you’d be cold at the bottom of a river right now. Relax, think.

The logic was real, but my fear was also very real. My vision adjusted to the darkness, and what was once pitch black, had resolved into a dark gray. I could make out shapes in front of me, suspended over the ground.

My fear turned into anger. They kept me among gutted animals?!

“Hey!” I screamed. “Who’s there? Hey! Show yourself!” My voice bounced loudly off the walls and stone floor, worsening my bludgeoning headache.

“You fucking cowards better show yourselves!” I continued to yell. “Do you know who I am? You’re dead! You’re very fucking dead!”

My heart pounded wildly in my chest and my breathing was hard. Was there even anyone out there?

The sound of a heavy bolt being unlocked filled the air, breaking the silence in the room. I heard footsteps from several booted feet and drew in a sharp breath. Despite my fury, I was scared.

Someone hit a switch and yellow light poured into the room from a bulb hanging directly overhead. I hissed and shut my eyes as the bright light pushed away the darkness.

It took me several seconds to adjust to the light, and when I opened my eyes again, I found myself surrounded by four men. Two burly, grim-looking ones flanked me, while the other two stood away from me. They seemed to be the important ones.

I stifled a cry as I recognized the most frightening of the men. Maksim Wolkov?! Of course, it was the bloody Russians! Who else could have made a move on me? He was accompanied by his second in command.

I grimaced as he stepped closer. It seemed like I couldn’t stop running into the man lately. Hard eyes glared down at me, and I wore my most threatening expression in return. Power responds to power, I reminded myself.

“We meet again,” Maksim said, standing ten feet from me. “It appears you have a thing for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Although he chuckled, I saw none of the humor in his dark eyes.

I shrugged as casually as I could. “The way, I see it, someone here has some explaining to do. I was minding my business when someone thought to drug me in my car and shackle me up in darkness. This shall be answered, Maksim. You know who I am.”

He smiled at his men. “The puppy has grown some sharp teeth. It has found its voice, so it barks endlessly at all who come close to it.” His eyes hardened as he turned to me. “You think this is a joke, huh?”

“What do you want from me? Why am I here?”

“Oh, I think you know,” he replied. “As you said, I know who you are. Tell me, kitten, why do you think the Bratva would kidnap the daughter of the Don?”

And then it hit me. I had heard about the attack on the Russians not so long ago but hadn’t paid much attention to it. This was a retaliation. Maksim had overreached himself, but he wanted to send a message to my father. His soldiers were kidnapped, and he was taking revenge by kidnapping an heir. A fucking bold move, for sure, and it terrified me.

I grinned. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through? I mean, from what I hear, you’re ruthless and calculating. Taking me doesn’t really justify those rumors, now, does it?”

Maksim drew in air sharply, and the humor fell from his face. One of his strong men stepped forward, cradling a cudgel in his massive hand. “Bitch! You will watch your tongue, or I will—”

He stepped too close. With as much force as I could muster, I kicked savagely into his left knee. My heel connected firmly with his kneecap, and thanks to countless hours of self-defense training, I was rewarded with a satisfying crunch as bone and ligament gave way.

The henchman cried out in pain and fell forward while cursing, his face knotted miserably. Without missing a beat, I rammed the top of my head against his nose, his downward momentum helping me as I cracked the bone.

He crumpled quietly to the ground as blood poured from his nose. My timing had been impeccable, but the fading headache from earlier returned with a vengeance.

I leaned back in my seat and met Maksim’s fierce gaze, with a grin on my face. The attack could not have lasted more than a couple of seconds, and it was followed with absolute silence as the men looked from me to their fallen comrade, their faces twisted in shock and confusion.

Then a smile spread on his face. “Maybe not so small of a puppy, after all.” He snapped at the man to my right in fast Russian. The man rushed forward and grabbed the unconscious man from the floor, dragging him out of the room.

He turned back to me. “It looks like I underestimated you. You show no fear, despite captivity and being surrounded by men twice your size,” he said musingly.

At a sharp gesture from Maksim, the other men turned and left the room. I was glad to see two of them hesitate and watch me warily. Good. Be scared. Be very fucking scared. We stared at each other in silence until the heavy metal door closed.

When we were alone, he looked at me with an amused expression. “I don’t think poor Peter meant to hurt you. You could have been kinder.”

I shrugged. “You should teach your men to respect women. Especially those above them in rank. Where are the Russian morals? I didn’t like how he spoke to me, and I’m quite certain it will not be repeated. If you ask me, I’d say my reaction was adequate.”

---