Page 61 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

“Here she is,” he suddenly gestures behind me with a toothy grin.

Piper is being marched over to me by the missing brother. She’s crying, and she’s gagged with her hands bound. I can see how upset she is. I push the papers into Romano’s hands and go to Piper, starting to untie her.

“I’m so sorry. Is this because of the debt?” she sobs. “I’m sorry. I promise to do better. Thank God you’re here.”

I stroke her face. “Hush now. Let’s get this done and get out of here.” I look at Romano. “We’re done. I did what you asked. I’m taking my sister, and we’re leaving now.”

He’s reading the pages I gave him, and I’m worried he’ll want the code next, but he smiles. “This is perfect. It was lovely doing business with you, Mrs. Milov.”

I take Piper’s hand and guide her down the row of storage units. I keep glancing back to make sure no one is sneaking up behind us to take us. The men don’t follow.

I sigh with relief when we reach the Uber. The driver is playing on his phone and startles when I knock on the window for him to unlock the doors. I program the next destination into his phone and say, “We need to go now. Please, hurry!”

“Where are we going? Back to your house?” Piper asks. She’s still crying, and the Uber driver keeps glancing in the rearview mirror, looking a little concerned.

“No, I’ll take you to my old place. We left a bed there, and you can order some food. I’ll have to leave you there, though. If I don’t go back home, Danil will have questions,” I say quietly.

“What questions?” Piper asks. “What did you give those guys? Did they force you to do something?”

“You just have to trust me, Piper. I will always protect you.” I stroke her face. “Once we’re back at the gallery, we’ll take my car, and we’ll have you safe and sound. I’ll text Luka to come stay over with you to protect you.”

She looks at me, confused, but I sit back and look out the window. Danil will be home by now and probably wondering where I am. The drive to the gallery feels foreboding, and it feels like it takes longer than it should, but we do arrive. I end the trip with a big tip for the driver and lead Piper to my Mustang.

Piper climbs into the car at the same time as me, and I start the Mustang up immediately, driving to the suburbs to my old house. “If you look in the cubby, the keys are in there. You can take my credit card and order food and anything you need.”

“Can’t you stay?” she asks, and my heart aches.

“I have to go home, but Luka will keep you safe until we can put you on the next flight out of here,” I explain.

I stop at a red light and quickly send a voice note to Luka explaining that I need him to watch my sister—no questions asked. I put my phone away and talk to Piper, “Whatever happens, you cannot tell Luka what happened here today. You can’t mention those men. Do you understand, Piper?”

“Why aren’t we going to the police, Asher? What the hell is going on?” Her voice is getting higher and she’s still shaking.

I stop the car and turn to look at her. “The man I married, Danil, is from a powerful but dangerous family. They kidnapped you because you are my weakness. Danil told me the other night that I was his weakness. I didn’t think Danil was telling the truth about showing weakness, but he was. Now he can’t find out I gave those papers to those men, or you’ll never see me again, do you understand?”

“What? I don’t understand. Why can’t we call the FBI? Go into witness protection or something?” she says, panicked. She grabs my hand. “We can trust the police.”

I squeeze her hand. “I’m too far in, but you can leave. You don’t need to have anything to do with this.”

“So you don’t love Danil?” she asks. “Is he forcing you to stay?”

I can’t have her running her mouth. “I do love him,” I say genuinely. “I do love him, and we are planning a family together. That’s why I won’t betray him. I’m asking you for everything I’ve done for you. Please, don’t betray me.”

She wipes her eyes and sniffs, nodding. “I would never betray you. If you love him, then I’ll keep quiet.”

“Thank you,” I hold her face in the palm of my hand before I put the car back into gear and pull off. My heart races and my mind is a mess—how do I really feel?

Luka is already outside when we arrive and he looks at me worried. “What’s going on?”

“My boyfriend is being an asshole,” Piper lies quickly. “I’m sorry to do this to you, but I’m scared he might come here to hurt me.”

“And I promised Danil I’d be home tonight,” I add, hiding my shaking hands in my pockets. “Thank you for doing this.”

“He won’t get close to her at all,” Luka says before he hugs me. “As long as it’s nothing serious.”

“I promise, nothing serious.” I hug him back. “Thank you.”

I pull Piper into a hug. “Order food and Luka will get you to the airport in the morning to catch a plane out of here. Just leave the keys and credit card with him.”

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