Page 38 of Used By the Bratva

Ana made a growling sound before speaking. “You don’t belong with him, and he will see that once you’re out of the picture. I’ll be ready when he needs comforting after your demise.”

“It was you, you told them where to find me,” I spat at Ana angrily. “You’re working with the enemy?”

Ana bared her teeth at me, hissing like the snake she was. “They thought they would get you and make you pay for what you’ve done. But we got to you first, and you will never see the light of day again.” Ana said, pulling out a gun and aiming it at me.

Pedro’s eyes widened, seeing the gun. “Whoa, stop, Ana, this wasn’t the plan or deal we had. Remember, we’d only keep her here until she’s been auctioned off to this highest bidder.” He said, pulling carefully at her arm.

“No, Pedro,” Ana screamed at him. Her face turned red as anger and hate surged through her.” She’s not worth the money or the trouble. She stole Ashan from me,” she glared at me, her loathing clearly showing as she spoke. “For that, she needs to pay, and she will, with her life.”

As they argued, I slowly worked at the ropes. One of the guards I befriended had shown me how to get out of bounds should I ever get captured. At the time, I still joked with him that it was something I would never need. But now I was extremely grateful that he insisted, and I know now. It was a lot harder, but I was confident I would get out of them if I had enough time.

Twisting and turning my hands slowly, I managed to move the knot. Little by little, it shifted from the bottom to the side of my hands. Having the knot closer, I managed to get a nail into it. Slowly I worked at it until I managed to put a finger into the loops. I loosened it with my finger while keeping an eye on my two abductors. If they saw I was trying to escape, who knew what would happen?

They were still deep in their argument, both pulling at the gun. It moved left and right as they fought about my fate. Pulling my one hand free, I untied my other one slowly, glad it was rope and not straps or something like that.

I took a deep breath. It was just my feet; I still had to free myself. I sat still for a second, breathing in deeply. Once I was sure they wouldn’t notice, I leaned over and untied my legs. I felt sure Ana had tied me up as the knots were easy to loosen.

Glancing back around the side of the chair, I noticed the door was quite a way. The two were still arguing. They had moved a couple of feet back from me during their struggle, and I knew I had to try. Sliding off the chair and watching them I turned to the door. Jumping to my feet I sprinted for the door. My head pounded, and I still felt a little dizzy, but my legs worked just fine.

“She’s getting away,” I heard Ana screaming. I didn’t dare look back and kept my focus on getting to the door. I hadn’t even considered that it could be locked. Running towards it, I could only hope that it wasn’t locked.

As I reached out to grab the handle, I heard a loud thump and felt a hand closing around my ankle. Falling forward with my throat closing and my heart ripping through my ribs, I tried to stop my fall with my hands. Pain shot up my arms as I collided with the floor.

Glancing around, I saw Pedro jump at me, and he lay on the floor behind me. Turning to my back, I kicked at his hands and tried to move out of his grip. Looking up, I saw Ana standing behind him with the gun pointed straight at my head. I stopped moving as Ana walked closer. She struck me on the side of my head with the gun. “That wasn’t nice,” she spat at me.

Pedro had risen to his feet. He came around and pulled me up from behind. I was so close; I would have taken just a couple more steps and been free. Lowering my head, I felt the tears welling up.

“No running,” Pedro uttered as he dragged me back to the chair. After tying up again, he turned to Ana as he spoke. “No damaging the merchandise, we need her alive and intact. That was the deal. Plus, the first bidders will be here in about an hour.”

“No, no, no,” Ana replied, pacing up and down. “We don’t need money.” She screamed, slamming her foot to the floor, and flinging her arms down. She stopped and turned to me, lifting the gun again. “She has to die,” she continued through clenched teeth. Her eyes were wild, and she looked as if she belonged in an asylum.

Terror flooded my body as I realized this day might not end too well. If Pedro couldn’t keep her in line, I might actually die here. I considered sharing the fact that I was pregnant but didn’t know if that would make a difference to either of them.

Once again Pedro interrupted. “Ana, think about what you’re saying. You want those groups to come after us?” I understood what he meant, and it made sense. If they killed me, they had no use and would surely be taken out for the betrayal.

Yet, Ana was so filled with hate that she couldn’t see it, and I knew if I informed them of the baby, she wouldn’t think twice about killing me. I watched in horror as Pedro tried to take the gun, but Ana just wouldn’t let go. As they struggled a shot rang through the air. I felt a sting in my left arm. Looking down I saw the bright red liquid slowly moving down my arm.

My sleeve was torn, but it didn’t look like the bullet had penetrated my arm. The pain was severe, but the heat was worse. It felt like someone had inserted a lump of burning coal into my arm. Biting down on my lower lip, I kept my scream inside, but I couldn’t keep my body from shaking.

“What the fuck, Ana. Look what you’ve done now,” Pedro shouted as he shoved Ana back. She went sprawling to the floor and lost her grip on the gun. I watched as the gun slid across the floor just out of her reach. Ana turned to her hands and knees, crawling towards the gun.

Pedro tried to move past her to pick it up when Ana grabbed his legs, sending him flying to the floor. They reached the gun at the same time and were rolling around fighting for control. I couldn’t watch anymore as fear of another shot going off and hitting me again settled in.

My arms and legs tingled as the blood in my veins seemed to turn to ice. Sweat broke out all over my body. It started running down my face stinging my eyes, and I couldn’t even wipe it away.

Then, their struggle was abruptly interrupted as I heard the door open with a loud banging. Glancing around frantically as I expected the room to fill with Bratva, I noticed I knew some of the men quickly filling the warehouse.

Seconds later, Ashan, his brother, all the cousins, and Ashan's men surrounded me. Ana and Pedro scrambled to their feet and tried to flee but Ashan's men caught them. I breathed out hard as relief washed over me. He had found me I thought, trying to calm my racing heart.

I instantly felt like the world had been removed from my shoulders as tears streamed down my face. But they were tears of joy and no longer due to fear. Ashan stood before me facing Ana and Pedro. He was my knight in shining armor. With the feelings of relaxation knowing it was over, came a sense of gratitude.

His presence flooded the room with a noticeable strength and calmness I couldn’t even begin to describe.

Chapter 24 - Ashan

“Stop,” I screamed as we barged into the warehouse. After hours of scouring the internet and making calls, we finally found out who had captured Jamie. As we entered, I saw Ana and Pedro arguing. They were rolling around on the floor. Jamie sat tied to a chair in the middle of the warehouse.

Seeing her alive, I felt my rage calming. I wanted to run to her and take her into my arms, but we had to secure the situation first. She beamed at me, and a ray of sunshine flooded my heart as it skipped a beat. Even in all this turmoil she shone, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever known.

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