Page 1 of Reign of Four

Chapter 1

Valentina

If I close my eyes, I can almost smell the sweet perfume of roses. See their soft, scarlet petals trailing across the floor. Feel the touch of a lover across my skin, from tender presses of lips across my shoulders to reverent brushes of fingertips sliding down my waist, like ghosts whispering their love one breath at a time, lulling me into a comfortable sleep.

If I keep my eyes closed a moment longer, I can continue the game of pretend. I can tell myself that the coarse rope binding my wrists behind my back isn’t real, that the copper tang in the air is a trick of the mind, that the ache behind my eyes is from staying up all night, consumed by love, instead of burning with hatred. That I can wake up any moment, and none of the pain tearing through my heart or body is real.

But the harsh grind of a metal door scraping against a concrete floor can’t be mistaken for anything else. The way my captor’s footsteps thud down the hall, a hum in the air as he happily returns to his most precious prize, can’t be erased. The frantic beat of my heart, fluttering against my ribs like a caged bird, can’t be wished away.

Reality wraps its icy arms around me in an embrace that squeezes so tight, it suffocates.

I can’t play pretend, no matter how much I want to. I can’t sit here and do nothing. I can’t say I love my men and let my psycho ex-boyfriend win.

I have no doubt that my men are looking for me right this very second. Andrei will be barking orders to everyone within earshot, ensuring that not a single moment is wasted. Mikhail will be combing security feeds and spending thousands by the second to increase the Bratva’s surveillance parameters. Ezra will be scouring the earth for any trace of me, hunting me down with every tool at his disposal, legal or otherwise.

It’s not a matter of if they will find me, but when.

I need to ensure I survive until then.

I need to ensure I survive in one piece.

A shiver runs down my spine as my captor draws near. If you had asked me six months ago, I would have told you that Liam West, my ex-boyfriend-slash-boss, was harmless. Lovestruck, sure, but average in every other facet. Not a threat. Not violent or sadistic or covetous. He was, in my mind, as normal as any businessman could be.

But the memory of the needle, the ache in the muscle and the bruise across my neck, remain as reminders of his true nature. The drugs in my system may have worn off by now, but the memory of my kidnapping never will.

Liam West is a fucking traitor. A stalker. A man obsessed with binding me to him, stealing me away from my intended to claim me as his. But he’s too late. My heart and body already belong to three other men—three men who will tear Liam to shreds for everything he’s done . . . and has yet to do.

By the time Liam shoulders open my prison door, I’m ready for him. He hums appreciatively as the door screams shut behind him. “If I’d known you’d look this good tied up, zhena, I would have suggested it years ago.”

As he scans my body from head to toe, a ripple of delight in his eyes, bile rises to the back of my throat. I have no doubt I look as ragged as I feel, from the ache in my limbs to the scratch in my throat and all the other nicks and cuts along my skin. My beautiful wedding gown that Celia custom designed lay in shreds across my shoulders, pieces of the bodice and skirt torn off in the struggle to relocate me from the chapel to this dungeon.

I fought Liam every step of the way until he sucker punched me in the gut and knocked me out cold.

The fucking bastard.

I wish I had some of Ezra’s skills to get out of these ropes and strangle the motherfucker with them.

The past few times he’s come to check on me, he’s been empty-handed, save his sinister smile. This time, he bears a tripod tucked under his arm and a tablet clutched in one of his hands. With a smile, Liam crosses the distance between us and plants a kiss on the top of my head. “Be a good girl, and maybe we can see about untying these, hm?” He fingers the rope that cuts across my chest and ties me to the cold metal chair. “Let you sleep in a bed tonight instead of that chair.” He cups my chin and tilts my head back, forcing me to meet his eyes. “Don’t you want to share your husband’s bed tonight, Valentina?” His fingertip traces the seam of my lips, brushing against the gag shoved between them.

If he hooks that finger between my teeth to remove the gag, I’ll bite the damn thing off.

A silent moment passes between us as he gazes down at me. Then, without another word, he gets to work. Humming happily to himself, he sets up the tripod and tablet across from me, flipping it so that the screen faces me. After angling it just right and tapping the screen, he smiles broadly as the front-facing camera clicks on. I catch my ragged appearance and clench my eyes shut.

I hope no one ever sees me like this.

“Perfect. Now all we have to do is wait.” Liam steps behind me and wraps his arms around my shoulders, leaning in and burying his nose in my hair. He breathes deep, a shudder rolling through him as he catches a whiff of my conditioner. “Vanilla and honey,” he groans, sucking in a breath. “Your favorite.”

It’s not, and as much as I want to laugh at him for misremembering, a shard of ice slices deep inside my heart as my mom’s face flashes to mind. She loved vanilla and honey, not me.

I hope she isn’t looking down at me from Heaven. I don’t want her to see this.

I hear footsteps and two men talking, their voices carrying as though far away. The room Liam and I are in is silent, and as far as I know, it’s only us in this place . . . wherever that is. I screw my eyes shut and try to remember where Liam took me after our wedding ceremony, but it’s all a blur of blindfolds and sharp turns from the back of a moving vehicle, until he gut-punched me.

I have no clue where we are.

Dread settles heavy in my gut, but hope cuts through it just as quickly as I remember who the fuck my boyfriends are.

Ezra’s a jack-of-all-bloody-trades, part bodyguard, part tracker, part enforcer. If anyone can find me, it’s him. With Mikhail’s money and Andrei’s influence within the Bratva backing him, nothing will stop them from finding me.

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