Page 56 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

I look up at the man. “What the fuck are you doing with my sister?”

“Beautiful, isn’t she? She would trade well on the black market.” Romano steps back as I raise my hand. “Careful, you would sell well as well. There are a lot of people that would like to get to you, Mrs. Milov.”

“You’re competition of my husband?” I ask. “Another family?”

“You catch on quickly. Look, we’re not going to beat around the bush. She is in a storage facility, but not this one. If you want the key and the location, you must give me something in return.” He smiles, and I want to slap him.

“What do you want? How can I guarantee she won’t be taken again?” I ask.

“You have my word, for what it’s worth. The Milovs are busy with many deals. One such deal is being referred to as the Black Cat Exchange. If you can get me information on that deal, and I mean good information, I will let your little sister go into your arms and never bother you again.”

I don’t trust him at all. I know not to trust him. I can tell the difference between how I feel about this man and how I feel about Danil. I trust Danil, which is surprising. I feel hollow that this man is going to force me to betray Danil, but I have no choice. I would do anything for Piper. I always have done everything I could to protect her. My blood boils as I watch her struggle on the chair.

I nod. “I’ll get you the information, but it’s a direct transfer. I will give you what you want in person, and you give me Piper.”

Romano nods. “You have a deal.”

He holds out his hand, but I don’t shake it. I turn and walk hurriedly back to my car. I get in and speed the whole way home. I need to find information about a deal, and the only place I’m going to do that is on Danil’s computer. The password is burned into my brain.

@$her.

He made his password a variant of my name. I only hope he never finds out about this. I try and still my racing heart when I get home, but everything looks quiet. I glance at my watch. I text Leanne to let her know I need the rest of the day off.

She confirms she’ll sort everything out.

I get out of my car and go into the house. There’s no one around, so I walk into Danil’s office and sit at his computer. The login screen pops up, and I enter the password. My stomach knots as the home screen shows.

There’s nothing on his desktop, so I open his documents folder.

There are hundreds of folders here. Each one seems to be the name of a business. I scroll through some of them but do not find what I am looking for.

I take a chance and enter the words ‘Black Cat’ and hit search. One document file pops up. Black Cat Exchange. My pulse races. This is it!

I open it and it doesn’t seem to make any sense whatsoever. It must be written in code or something. The Italian men are going to have to decipher it; that wasn’t part of the deal.

I send it to my phone and I print a copy. I log out, shove the printed copy into my handbag, and hurry out of the office and back to my car.

I sit in my car and feel like I’m going to hyperventilate. I dial Romano’s number and wait. A nerve twitches in my right eyelid.

“You already have something? That was fast. I like you, Mrs. Milov.”

“Where is my sister? Promise me she’ll be there, and I’ll hand over the documents,” I say.

“Meet us back at the storage facility. You can take your sister if you have what I want.”

“It’s in code,” I say suddenly. “But it’s the correct documents.”

“No worries, we can crack the code easily.” He hangs up, and I pull out of the driveway.

I try to remain calm as I drive back toward the storage facility. Suddenly, there are blue and red flashing lights behind me, and I have to pull over. I nudge my handbag onto the floor of the passenger seat, and I wait for the officer, gripping my steering wheel hard.

“Hi, ma’am. Did you know your right tail light is busted?” the officer says as he approaches me.

“No, I did not,” I say, confused. “But I’ll certainly take a look at it.”

“I’m going to have to write you up about it,” the officer sighs. He goes back to his car, fetches his fine pad and comes back. “License and registration please.”

I get the documents from the cubby for him and hand them over. I wait anxiously as he writes the ticket. Another car pulls up, and I recognize the one guy. He’s a detective who harasses Luka constantly.

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