Page 84 of Forced Bratva Prisoner

One of the bodyguards drops instantly as his skull explodes behind him, the other spinning from the impact of a bullet in his shoulder. He’s reaching for his gun, but Rico is faster, and the third bullet hits the guard in his throat. He’s falling in slow motion.

Get up. Run. Your baby is in danger.

I’m suddenly out of my frozen shock and pushing myself up to my feet to run.

I have to get away. I have to save my baby.

I scream again as Rico grabs a handful of my hair and pulls me against his body.

The street around us is empty now. People have disappeared. Just a few moments ago, it was a normal, busy day, but now the place is practically deserted.

“You are as stupid and gullible as your father told me you’d be,” Rico laughs.

He pulls me by the hair towards the alleyway. A white van screams towards us and the door slides open.

I start kicking and screaming, ignoring the pain of my hair being pulled, but Rico is so much bigger than I am, I know I don’t stand a chance.

He grunts as he pushes me towards the open van door, and a man inside reaches out to pull me in at the same time.

My blood is pulsing, flooded with panic. My baby.

Rico jumps into the van as the other man drags me further in and the door slams shut behind us.

My head is pulled back, and I see a syringe flash in front of my face. I feel a sharp pain in my neck and a burning sensation as something is injected into me.

Rico’s face swims in and out of focus in front of me.

“Leon should never have embarrassed me like he did. He and that cousin of his, Maxim, they should have known not to mess with me. If you mess with me, you’ll pay the price. It’s their fault I had to switch sides. Their arrogance. A lunch of fucking assholes.”

I blink, fighting whatever they’ve drugged me with, but my body feels weak and shaky. My limbs are losing sensation, and my lips feel tingly.

“Your father was more than happy to join forces with me. Now that is a man who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to do what it takes to get it. I was wrong about him.”

“My—my father?” I mutter through numb lips, not even sure if the words are coming out clearly.

“Yes, darling, your father. He’s going to be so pleased to know I’ve—"

His words start smudging in my brain. His face twists and fades. The air around me is heavy and hard to breathe.

He’s still talking, but I can’t hear him anymore. I’m fighting to stay awake, but it’s not working.

I feel my body slump against the hard floor of the van, and then everything goes black as oblivion drags me into its depths.

Chapter 25 - Leon

It’s been a busy afternoon, and I’m happy to be on my way back home to Sasha. We connected so well last night. I actually opened up to her about some of the things I’ve bene thinking about, and it felt good.

I know it isn’t going to be easy, but I am determined to keep my promise to her to try and let go of this hatred I have festering inside me. I don’t want my entire life to be about chasing down Balakin. Yes, I want him to pay. I want him to suffer. But because that is all I’ve been focused on for so many years, I think I’ve actually caused myself more suffering than I’ll ever be able to inflict on him.

With all the things Sasha has told me about her father, I've come to understand something. He has no heart. The way he reacted when his daughter was taken was all based on his ego. He isn’t hurting because he’s worried about her. He doesn’t feel anything.

No matter what I do to him, he won’t hurt the way I want him to hurt. Not that deep emotional torment that he has inflicted on me and my life.

He isn’t capable of emotional pain.

For him to feel any kind of torment, it has to be financial or social embarrassment.

I sigh as I pull up outside the house, switching the car off.

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