Page 82 of Born into Sin

I’ve never heard Lev sound scared before, but there’s no hiding the quiver in his voice. Not being able to protect his daughter is killing him, and I know exactly how he feels. If she was taken right after her mom went to bed, then she’s been gone for almost ninety fucking minutes, and neither one of us wants to think about what that could mean.

Before Danil can answer, he gets another message on his phone. I watch him click on something, and a second later Natalya’s screams fill the room.

“Jesus fuck,” Lev groans, gripping the counter for support as he drops his phone onto the granite like it’s burning him to hold it.

I grab it and then wish like hell I hadn’t because the movie playing on his screen is going to haunt me until the day I die. Natalya’s beautiful face is bloody and swollen, and her hands are tied behind her back. She’s in nothing but her pajamas, and she looks so damn small compared to the man who’s beating the hell out of her. I let out a pained groan when he pulls back and punches her so hard she’s thrown back onto the hard floor. She’s not moving, and I swear my heart fucking stops beating until I see the faint rise and fall of her chest. The man laughs and kicks her hard in the ribs, pulling one last scream from her before she passes out.

When I look up, the room is silent, and the men around me share the exact same expression that I know I’m wearing—shock, disgust, and a murderous rage that’s pushing closer and closer to the surface.

“Who the fuck is that man?” I ask them.

“That’s Adrian Zolotov,” Lev says in a voice that I barely recognize as his.

When his phone buzzes, we all look down at it, terrified of what we’re going to see next. There’s a small moment of relief when I see it’s a message and not another video. It’s in Russian, so I turn to Vitaly.

“What’s it say?”

He avoids looking at me. “They’re going to keep hurting her,” he says, but I can tell he’s holding back.

“I need to know what it says.”

“It’s not good,” he says, keeping his voice low.

“I need you to tell me what the fuck that message said.”

Still whispering so Lev doesn’t have to hear it again, he tells me, “It said, The next video will be of me taking your precious daughter’s virginity, Lev. The last video will be of me killing her. You fucked with the wrong family.”

Bile threatens to rise up the back of my throat, but I tamp it down and look to Danil. “What’s the fucking address? Where are they holding her?”

He’s already showing the satellite footage and a map to the others, and when he looks up at me, I can tell he’s surprised by the rage in my voice.

“They’re an hour north of the farmhouse. It’s a brick house out in the middle of nowhere.”

I’m already typing out a message for Dario and walking towards the door when Roman runs over to me and grabs my arm to stop me.

“Let me go,” I tell him, jerking my arm away. “If I leave now, maybe I can get there before he makes the second video.”

“We’re going together,” he tells me.

“Roman, I don’t fucking have time for this.”

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on between you and my niece, but she’s my niece, Dominic, and I’m not going to let you put her life in more danger because you aren’t thinking clearly.”

He looks back at his brothers. “Text everyone the address. The guards stay at the farmhouse, and everyone else is to go to Natalya.” He turns his head towards the hall and yells for Luka, Max, and Val. The boys were trying to get a few hours of sleep, but they all come running out at the sound of Roman’s voice. Luka is pulling on a shirt with the other two right behind him, and as soon as they see their dads’ faces, they know something has gone very wrong. Roman fills them in on everything, and minutes later we’re leaving the apartment.

“I’m riding with you,” Vitaly tells me.

“I’m not going slow so the others can keep up,” I warn him.

“Fine by me.”

He gets in the passenger seat while I read Dario’s response of On our way and get in the driver’s side. He calls Katya, speaking to her in Russian while I peel out of the garage and race out onto the street. I wasn’t kidding about not going slow. They all have the address and can meet us there, but I have the fastest goddamn car, and I’m going to put it to good use.

Even at this hour, the roads aren’t empty. I weave my way through the very early morning traffic, ignoring the angry honks and pissed-off looks. They can all go fuck themselves. I’m not slowing down for anyone or anything, and as soon as I merge onto the interstate that will take us north, I creep up past two hundred on the speedometer while Vitaly buckles his seatbelt and ends the call with his wife. I see several cars behind me, the burnt orange color of Val’s Jaguar, Roman’s black Porsche, and Danil’s Aston Martin, but when I push the car to two-twenty, the distance between us grows.

“Don’t you dare get us killed,” Vitaly says from beside me.

“No way in fuck am I dying before I save Natalya,” I tell him. “Hear anything else?”

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