Page 60 of Arranged to Marry the Bratva

We head out of the shop, bags laden with tiny outfits and stuffed animals. I'm still glowing from my confession to Fedor, looking forward to telling Nikolai the depth of my feelings.

The street outside the store is busy, filled with people going about their day. I glance around idly, noticing a figure standing across the road, watching us intently. Unease trickles down my spine at the sight of the grim-faced man. I blink, and he's gone, melting into the crowd. I shake off the feeling, dismissing it as a figment of my imagination.

Fedor and I make our way to the car, surrounded by my security detail. Just as we're about to get in, chaos erupts around us. Shouts and the sound of scuffling reach my ears as the sounds of gunfire swiftly overpower my bodyguards. All around me, the streets overflow with blood.

I scream, my hands on my cheeks, feeling like I might pass out. Panic comes over me, my vision goes blurry, and waves of nausea hit me hard as the men around me drop like flies.

“Fedor? Fedor?” I scream for my brother-in-law.

A black van screeches to a stop in front of me, doors sliding open. Before I can react, rough hands seize me, dragging me into the van. I struggle and scream, terror flooding my veins, but my captors are merciless.

Through the haze of pain, I see Fedor on the floor of the van beside me, out cold. They’ve already taken him. Now, they’re taking me too.

“Who are you?” I cry out in desperation.

The doors slam shut, plunging us into darkness as the vehicle speeds off. Fear and confusion swirl in my mind, and a pain dulls all my senses.

“Fedor, Fedor,” I whisper, trying to feel for him, to shake him away. I’m met with silence. He’s out cold.

I clutch my stomach and let the tears fall down my cheeks. “I promise,” I whisper to my unborn child. “Mama will keep you safe.”

But the truth is that the words feel like a lie coming out of my lips.

Chapter 25 - Nikolai

La Fantasia is filled with the usual sounds of revelry this late afternoon, the clink of glasses and laughter blending into a pleasant hum. I'm going over accounts in my private office when my phone rings, the harsh trill cutting through the ambient noise.

"Brother, we have a problem." Dima's voice is tight with tension.

My grip instinctively clenches around the phone. "What is it?"

"Fedor and Anoushka have been kidnapped."

The words hit me like a blow to the chest, rage and fear tangling into a knot in my gut. Anoushka… my child…

"How the fuck did this happen?" I demand, slamming a fist on the desk. The wood cracks under the impact. "Where were her bodyguards? I'm going to have their useless hides for this!"

"They’re dead, Nikolai," Dima says heavily. "I tried checking in with Fedor when your housekeeper called to say Anoushka wasn’t back. When I couldn’t get through to either of them and their bodyguards, I sent more men to the area they reported going shopping in this morning. There, we found cops milling around. All dozen men of ours… shot dead. Not wanting the cops to get involved in Bratva business, we sent in spies as curious bystanders and they learned a man and woman were kidnapped. It’s Fedor and Anoushka, Brother. We're still piecing together the details. I thought you'd want to be informed right away."

Fear stiffens my spine, and my hands and legs shake so hard that I fear I might fall to the ground. Anoushka… my precious wife… what will they do to her? I can't let them hurt her. I need to find her. Now.

But first, I must pull myself together. This is no time to break down. I need to save my wife, my child, and my brother first.

“Set up a control room at your place,” I tell him. “I’ll be with you shortly. Dima?”

“Yes?”

“Stay on top of it,” I command before ending the call.

I shove away from the desk and run out of my office, barely noticing the curious glances I get from the club patrons. My mind is already racing, analyzing the situation and calculating our next moves.

Anoushka and our child are the priority here. I have to get her back, safe and unharmed. And once I do, her kidnappers will learn the fatal cost of daring to touch my family. The Orlov empire will rain down vengeance for this insult.

***

I reach Dima’s and am ushered right in to meet him at the control room he’s set up, his expression grim as he’s surrounded by some of our best men. “We've started looking into the security footage around Anoushka and Fedor's location when they were taken. It looks like a coordinated effort—multiple vehicles boxing the guards in before shooting them down. It looks like they took Fedor first and then noticed Anoushka. Here’s the footage.” He points at the static video, and I lean forward, seeing my wife’s terrified face as she screams and looks around herself before the truck pulls back up and she’s taken.

“So Fedor was taken first?” I ask curtly.

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