Page 64 of Used By the Bratva

When I rolled down the window, the man first asked for directions. He wanted to know where the beach was. I turned in my seat to point in the right direction, and when I did, he clamped a strange-smelling cloth over my face.

After that, everything went black.

And now I’m in a bright room with no idea who took me or how Leon is going to find me.

“You are awake.” A man with a black goatee looks down at me and pokes me derisively in the side with his foot. “I was beginning to think I'd drugged you a little too much. The boss would have been angry if I had done that. He wants to have a bit of fun with you.”

I pull my arm from over my head to get a better look at the man. He stares down at me and pokes me again with his foot. I sit up with difficulty and lean against a white wall behind me. “Who are you, and what do you want from me?”

The door opens and another man enters, his gray hair streaking through the otherwise black strands. Dark brown eyes glare at me.

“This is the wife, boss,” the man says, kicking my thigh a little harder this time.

I flinch and wish I could get up and punch him in the face just once. Between him, the man who is the boss, and the round man standing behind him, I don’t stand a chance if I try to fight them.

‘Promise me you'll never stop fighting,’ Leon’s words echo in my head.

“Ursula?” The boss squats down in front of me, his eyes as wide as if he’s just seen a ghost. “How is it that you're still alive?”

I must decide now. I could pretend to be the woman he thinks I am to see if that keeps me alive long enough for Leon to find me.

Or I could tell him the truth.

“Yeah, I’m alive,” I say, keeping my tone light and warm, even though my mouth feels like I’ve stuffed a dozen cotton balls into it. “Where am I?”

He shakes his head, sausage fingers reaching out to trace my cheek.

I try not to flinch or throw up, but my every instinct tells me to get as far away from this man as possible. Right now, it’s not about escaping but rather staying alive and not getting hurt.

The old man shakes his head. “That shouldn’t be possible. You look just like her, but it’s impossible that you’re still alive.”

“I am alive.” I reach out to touch his cheek. “I’m right here.”

He recoils from my touch and shakes his head as he stands up. “You’re not Ursula, but you look just like her. Almost identical.”

“Who are you?” My voice wavers slightly as I realize I can’t trick him.

What the hell is going on here?

“Carlo Mancini.” He gestures to the other men in the room, and they disappear through the door, leaving me alone with the Italian Don I’d read about weeks ago.

My eyes widen as I take a sharp breath.

Carlo chuckles. “So, you know who I am. It’s good to see that Leon has taught you something, but it seems you haven’t been listening much. There’s danger no matter where you are.”

“Who is Ursula?”

“This is wonderful.” He chuckles, arms crossed over the slight bulge of his stomach as he paces. “Tell me, are you the daughter of Antonio Reyes?”

“Yes.” I swallow hard and try to figure out what Carlo has to do with all this. I know that the Orlovs are their enemies, but I don’t know why and how he knows my father.

Carlo laughs and claps his hands once. “Then you would be Ursula’s daughter, that's why you look so much like the little bitch. You know, I thought I'd seen the end of them when Leon killed Antonio, but now you're standing here in front of me looking just like her.”

It’s a shock when I find out that I have another member of my biological family.

“The daughter of Antonio and his mistress is married to the man who killed her father. This looks like something straight out of a tragedy.”

“Antonio had a mistress?”

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