Page 43 of Bears Not Included

“No. I don’t want you to get involved with this.”

“Well, I’m not just going to do nothing, Livia.” Faith’s voice breaks, and I want to hug her so badly. But until I know who I’m dealing with, I don’t want her tangled up in this. Who am I kidding? I know exactly who I’m dealing with. Very dangerous men.

“I’m fine. I just need some time to figure things out so I can sever my connection to them.”

“Why? Why are they doing this?”

“They think I wanted to steal a painting from the cottage. They think my father and I are working for a man who is the head of a bratva unit.”

“The Russian mafia? Are you kidding? What is going on?”

“That’s the same man my father wanted me to marry. Kirill Yenin. Faith, I don’t want you going to the house, okay? Don’t try to contact my father in any way. Promise?”

“Okay, I have no clue what’s going on here. Livia.”

"First, promise you won’t make any contact with my father or go to the house. Promise me right now, Faith.” I don’t know my father’s involvement in all this, and given that he’s deliberately avoiding me, I need to figure things out first.

“Okay, I promise, but you have to tell me everything, please. I’m getting scared over here.”

I fill Faith in on everything regarding my father emotionally blackmailing me into marrying Kirill Yenin and how this Kirill Yenin is an enemy of the Ursid Syndicate, and I’m just a pawn in their game, even if they won’t admit it.

To say Faith is shocked and outraged is putting it mildly. I don’t tell her about what happened to me in the basement of the cottage. I can’t speak those words right now.

I hang up with Faith and make her promise not to do anything that might endanger her life. Next, I call my dad. Astonishingly, he abruptly ends the call once he hears my voice. I try him several times again, but my calls keep going to voicemail now.

I try to reach him through his office and the landline at home, but still nothing. I know he’s okay; I heard his voice before he ended my first call to him. He could have at least asked me if I was okay.

I bite my lip to stop the tremble, and I suck up my tears yet again.

My next video call is to the girls at FFF. After telling them everything I told Faith, including the closet full of clothes, the wedding ring, their niece, and PA, but without the basement of the cottage as well, I feel exhausted. Retelling the incredibly unpredicted turn of events my fairytale hunting took sounds so far-fetched to me, and it hurts my brain. I also tell them about my father and how he wanted me to marry a man by the name of Kirill Yenin who may or may not be involved in the mafia.

“Did they hurt you?” Skyler asks, her extraordinary green eyes glinting with fierce concern.

My mind reels with every breath I’ve taken in their company and every touch. Did they really hurt me? Deacon spanked me with his belt. Mason penetrated my butt with honey butter, and I clawed at Callen’s hands when I came. Did they hurt me when they took my virginity? Yes, a lot. But did I come when they coaxed me to? Yes.

“No,” I say since that seems to be the truth.

“They’re probably tracking this phone,” Kyla says as a way of warning.

“They said they would give me privacy when it came to Faith and my friends.”

“You know my family is somewhat from that world, right?” Demi chimes in. She’s just come out of the shower, and the robe she’s wearing soaks up the wetness from her dark, long, wet hair. We all know she’s spent the night hunting. “And I know enough about it to tell you with confidence that if they didn’t hurt you yet, they’re not going to hurt you any time soon. So there’s that. You’re safe for now. And if they said they’re not tracking your phone, believe them.”

“I agree,” Kayla says. She leans forward, and her pin-straight hair curtains her beautiful face before she tucks it behind her ear. “They gave you an entire closet of clothes, a wedding ring, and a PA. They wouldn’t have let their niece meet you if they were going to harm you physically, Livia. You’re safe and have time to think about what to do next.”

I don’t want to be safe with them. I want to leave.

“Kyla, do you still have that contact who does new identities?”

“I do, but, Livia, it’s risky. Again, they haven’t hurt you yet; you’re in their house, in their bed, but this might sway them otherwise. I think you should just wait it out.”

“Trying to escape is going to make things ugly for you really quickly. They want something from you, it's clear, you just have to wait and see what it is,” Skyler adds reasonably.

“Don’t mess with them, Livia. You have no idea how dangerous they can be,” Demi warns me.

My mind ticks over. I need to do something, and I don’t care about the risks or the repercussions. I love these girls, but I have to get out. They don’t know what those men have done to my body or how I responded.

“Kyla, can you help me with your contact? I have to escape. I can’t be here a minute longer than I have to.”

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