Page 116 of Bound By Hate (Born in Blood)

Nineteen

VIKTORIYA

Gleb drags me out of the café, then shoves me into the backseat of a van. Sofiya and Mila are thrown in after me. Once we’re all in, Gleb hurries into the driver’s seat with Leo next to him.

I stare at Leo—thinking about how much he looks like his father. Akim still haunts my nightmares. I killed Leo’s father. No wonder he wants revenge.

“We have to do something,” Sofiya whispers.

I’m frozen.

“Vik!” she hisses.

I can only stare at Leo as Gleb drives away from the café. I’m back in that room with Akim, about to get raped. I have his father’s blood on my hands.

Sofiya taps my cheek. “Vik!”

I jerk back, snapping out of my daze. “What?”

“We have to do something.”

“There’s nothing you can do,” Gleb says. “I’m going to get what’s owed to me. Now, stay quiet, or you won’t like what I’ll do to you.”

Mila whimpers as she huddles into Sofiya. Of course, it’s Sofiya she turns to. It’s always Sofiya.

I lean against the wall and think about our predicament. Kidnapped again. Will we be sold again?

My hands are shaking. I’ve never been this unsteady in my entire life.

Will Aleksander find me? Will he even care that I’m gone?

Gleb eventually stops driving and pulls up to a small, dilapidated house. “Get them,” he says to Leo.

He gets out of the car and opens the back door, signaling for us to get out with his gun. Leo hasn’t said a word since helping Gleb kidnap us. I stare at him until he grabs my arm and hauls me from the car. He pushes me to the door.

Where’s the fight in me? I fought hard when Akim tried to hurt me. But now, I have nothing left inside me. I’m truly broken.

The inside of the house stinks. It’s old and musty.

“What is this place?” I ask as Gleb walks in behind me.

“A place I rented for the time being. We’re only staying here long enough until I get what’s owed to me.” He slowly smiles, and it sends shivers over my entire body. “Well, you’ll be staying here to entertain Leo. He’s not happy with you for killing his father.”

“Your father tried to rape me,” I snap at Leo, who only stares at me with a dark expression. There’s no remorse on his face. Only anger.

Sofiya and Mila huddle together while I stand in front of them.

“Call your husband,” Gleb says, handing me his phone. “Tell him to send the money owed to this address.” He gives me a slipof paper with an address written on it. “He better do it quickly, or Leo will start hurting you.”

I start to plug in Aleksander’s phone number when I stop. What am I doing? Where is the fight in me? I’ve always been a fighter. I can’t change that.

I lower the phone. “No.”

Gleb’s eye twitches. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“I don’t know Aleksander’s number. I never bothered to memorize it.” Not true. I know his number. I’m just not going to play by Gleb’s rules.

“Call him.”

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