Page 63 of The Bratva's Hostage Bride

They lift me by my arms and drag me into a van that’s pulled up. They bind my hands with cable ties behind my back. They bind my ankles together as well, so I’m forced to lie on the bottom of the van.

“Whatever you want, you’re making a mistake with the wrong person,” I manage to grunt.

“I’d rest if I were you. We’re not far from the boss's warehouse, and you’ll be dealt with swiftly.”

I can feel the van start to move and wonder for a moment about Hannah. What will she do when she finds out I’ve been taken? Knowing my brother, it won’t be long before he comes to the rescue. He gets a bit tetchy when people kidnap our family members, especially his baby brother. Arseny will come, maybe with some guards, maybe alone. It always depends on his mood and whether he’s feeling like a team player.

The van pulls to a stop, and the door slides open. The light hurts my eyes, one of which is already swelling from being punched. I’m quickly dragged out and toward a building. There, my bindings are rearranged so my wrists are bound in front of me. I grab the nearest guy and headbutt him hard this time and smirk. I get hit in the face and fall over. They pull me back up and hang me on a hook, pulling me into the air. I can feel my muscles straining. It’s fucking painful, and the ties are cutting off my bloodstream, cutting into my wrists.

“Mr. Milov,” a man says as he walks to me. “Do you know who I am?”

I open my good eyes and spit at his feet. “Jimmy Pacheco. The current head of the Pacheco family.”

“Oh, good. You do know who I am. Do you know my associate?” He motions to a man standing to the side of him.

“No, can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.”

“This is Aram, head of the Armenian family in Vegas.” He smiles. “We’ve been working together. I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Couldn’t do your own dirty work, so you hired someone from out of state?”

He nods, and someone comes forward and punches me where my kidney is. I don’t cry out, but I do grunt. “Come on, I’ve been drinking. My kidneys are shot already.”

“I will not tolerate insolence, Mr. Milov. Now, we can end this quickly, or we can prolong your stay here.”

“You’re never going to let me go alive, Pacheco, so you might as well kill me now before my brother figures out where I am.” I spit again, and I’m struck on the back by a metal object. I hiss.

“Mr. Milov, your family will pay the ransom for you, or you will die. I’m betting Kervyn Milov would rather meet my ransom demands than be responsible for the death of his baby brother.”

“You don’t know, Kervyn,” I gasp, trying to adjust myself. I feel pain, but I’m used to feeling pain. I’m trained for pain.

This was a childhood game for us with our father. We never give in to demands.

“Tell me about your casino, Mr. Milov. Is there anything interesting you’ve found about it?” Jimmy asks.

I look at him with a confused look. “You want my casino? Why do you want my casino?”

“Because I am interested in it,” Jimmy nods. He walks to me. He’s quite tall for an Italian, and he grabs my face and looks deep into my good eye. “My motives are my own, but you can solve this little problem by answering questions. I might even return you in something bigger than a shoe box to your brother.”

I look at Aram, who is simply standing watching the exchange. I look back at Jimmy and spit blood in his face. He withdraws and pulls out a handkerchief to wipe his face.

“You are a little savage. Kervyn would be proud of your insolence.” He nods to someone behind me, and they shock me with a cattle prod.

I seize up and shake before they stop and let me rest. Only to do it again thirty seconds later.

“Maybe we have the wrong person here, Aram. Maybe our target should rather be his pregnant wife.” Jimmy walks to his counterpart. “Maybe then Mr. Milov would cooperate.”

“Who told you my wife is pregnant?” I ask. There’s no way they know about the pregnancy. I just found out about it. The cattle prod is back, and I seize as Jimmy walks back.

“It’s true, isn’t it? I thought that was such a golden piece of information—another Milov brat to walk the earth. There’s already one too many. It’s a shame my attack on Kervyn Milov didn’t yield better results. I would have loved to see him crying over his dead heir's body. Maybe it’s not too late to arrange that.”

I glare at him through my one good eye. “Fuck you. You touch any of our children, and you’ll be a certifiably dead Pacheco. Let me go, and maybe Kervyn will let you leave this city alive. Though I would have to ask him nicely because you’ve threatened his family, and he doesn’t like it when his family is threatened.”

“You have high hopes, Mr. Milov. Who do you think your Pakhan will send to your rescue? Your cousin Wynter? Your brother Arseny?”

“You better hope he doesn’t send both because then no one left here is going to be left alive.”

Cattle prod against. My body stiffens once more and then relaxes. Then stiffens. Then relaxes.

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