Page 78 of Forced Bratva Prisoner

“Yes, Sasha. Don’t be stupid now. Pay attention. I don’t want to waste my time. Tell me when and where to meet you.”

His harsh and demeaning tone flashes images of his face in my mind. The way he pulls his nose up when he’s disappointed in something I’ve said or done. That look of disgust in his eyes when I don’t get excited about watching someone being tortured—what he did to Leon’s family—

I feel a strength building inside me, one I didn’t know I had against my own father. I’ve always been terrified of him. Leon has shown me something different. An entirely different life.

I don’t want to lose Leon.

I don’t want to leave him.

The sudden realization hits me like a tidal wave.

I am in love with Leon.

“I am not coming back to you, Dad.”

“Excuse me?”

“I think you heard me clearly enough. I am never coming back to that house. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to your own father like that? Have you forgotten your place? You have no right to leave me. You don’t get to decide something like that. I decide. I decide what happens to you. I decide where you can and can’t go. Me. Not you.” He is furious. He’s practically screaming into the phone, and I have to hold it away from my ear so avoid the volume of his anger.

I wait patiently for him to finish his irrational vent.

It’s so strange to me that I can hear how ridiculous he sounds. He sounds manic, egotistical, full of himself. I’ve never noticed it before. I always just thought of him as a man who was in control.

When he stops yelling and waits for my pleading cries, which is what would have been my response in the past—begging for forgiveness or mercy—I pause for a moment. I let the silence settle and I listen to his heavy breathing.

Then finally, I say, as calmly as I have ever spoken to him before, “No, Dad, not anymore.”

“What do you mean, not anymore? Is that Dubrov brainwashing you? Is he manipulating you? Are you so fucking thickheaded that you let some random man get inside your mind? You always were stupid. So fucking stupid. Weak and pathetic just like your mother. It’s difficult to admit that we are related sometimes. You’re an embarrassment. I’ll have to teach you everything all over again when you get home.”

“I’m not coming home. That isn’t my home anymore. The sooner you can accept that, the sooner we can move on.”

“Oh, you are coming home, girl. Even if I have to drag you here in a body bag, you will come home. I’m not done with you, Sasha. You hear me, girl?” His voice is getting higher pitched the angrier he gets. I don’t think he can understand why I’m not responding in fear.

He is still screaming into the phone when I gently place it back into the cradle to hang up the call.

I stare at the phone for a long time.

I don’t feel how I expected to feel.

When I first realized it was my father on the call, I was terrified, I did feel panic, but it faded so quickly. I’m not naive, I know he’s a dangerous and evil man, but he doesn’t have that same emotional hold on me anymore.

He’s nasty and abusive, and now that I can see it for what it really is, it’s a bit easier to deal with him.

But when I glance down at my hands, I can see they’re shaking.

I guess my physical trauma response to everything I’ve ever experienced with him is still very real. It will take time to heal from that, but I know one thing for sure.

I’m stronger now.

“What are you doing in here?” Leon sticks his head in the office.

“I was just waiting for you.” I smile at him, hiding my shaking hands behind my back.

“Oh, this isn’t my office. Come on, I’ll show you mine. It has the good views.” He laughs and gestures for me to follow him.

Walking behind him as he chats about the business and the client he was just on the phone with, I am distracted. I want to tell him that my father called me. I should warn him that he knows where I am. But at the same time, I think it will only drive Leon back into his head, focusing on revenge again. I only just reconnected with him today, and I don’t want to ruin that.

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