Page 33 of Forced By the Bratva

The man greeted me politely. “Good day, ma’am.” He had a cap on, so I couldn’t take in his features; it wasn’t like I wanted to, anyway, but it was easy to note that he had an Italian accent.

“You are required to sign here.” He held out a signature pad.

I signed, took the delivery, and returned to my room.

“I’m going to the grocery store,” I heard the housekeeper say just as I was about to climb onto the staircase. “Is there anything you want me to get for you there?”

I racked my brain but couldn’t think of anything, so I shook my head. I returned to my room and walked to bed to get my phone.

I noticed another message from Violet, a question mark—which indicated that I hadn’t responded to her first message, which was strange because I remembered dropping the reply before I left. Maybe I’d forgotten to hit send before I left.

I quickly unlocked my phone to reply to the message, but before I could open Violet’s chat, I noticed that I had sent the message—only that it wasn’t to Violet; I’d mistakenly replied to Feliks’ chat. He’d texted me at the same time as Violet did, and I hadn’t noticed, maybe because I was carried away with Violet’s message.

My heart began to beat fast when I noticed the grave mistake that I’d made. Not only did I feel embarrassed by the message, but I was also scared out of my wits. My fear intensified when my phone buzzed again with another incoming message from Feliks.

Who was that message for? Love?

I felt my heart start to sink into the deepest part of my stomach as I swallowed hard and tried to push the lump behind my throat.

Just as I was trying to think of a suitable—and compelling—reply that would get me out of my predicament, my phone began to buzz again, this time nonstop.

Why the hell did a call have to come in now? I was about to decline the call and respond to Feliks first when I noticed that it was from the hospital.

Chapter 18 - Feliks

“Here are the files from the financial department,” my secretary said as she placed a few documents before me. “Sir, I hope I can get the documents back before the end of today.”

“If I’m able to sign them, right?” I asked her.

She placed them on the table, bowed before me, and walked away. I hissed loudly after she left. I pulled the documents closer and quickly glanced through them.

I shook my head as I pushed them away. There were still a few things that I needed to deal with before signing the new documents.

My stomach rumbled as I picked up my pen. I could not tell why I was feeling hungry. I had breakfast before leaving the house, and it was just a few minutes into lunchtime, and I was already feeling as though I hadn’t had something to eat.

I’d just finished signing a few documents into the office. I pushed them to a corner and decided to grab lunch before I continued working.

I thought about Jenna and decided to check how she was doing. I thought of calling her but decided to text her instead since it would be easier and faster.

I texted her and put the phone in my pocket before leaving the office for lunch.

While I was eating, my mind kept drifting back to Jenna. I hadn’t spoken to her after the incident back there. My phone beeped as I thought of Jenna. I quickly pulled it out of my pocket, hoping for something from Jenna.

I smiled when I realized the message was from her, but the smile slowly disappeared and was quickly replaced with a frown.

“Sure, love?”

I scrolled back to the message I’d sent to her earlier. It had no relation to her reply. Why would she even respond to that message?

The message wasn’t meant for me, so who was it for? I quickly questioned who her message was intended for and placed the phone back in my pocket. I returned to eating my food, only to realize that the food was beginning to piss me off.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket to stare at it; Jenna had not responded yet. I pushed my plate back and did the same with my chair. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at her message.

I dialed Jenna’s number and waited for her to pick up, but she didn’t. I thought she was on her phone a few minutes ago, so why was she not answering my call?

The thought alone was driving me crazy. I beckoned to the server to come forward.

“Bring me the check,” I told her.

---