Page 53 of Escaping the Bratva

“I got it. Will you stay with Teddy?”

She glances over at Teddy, who's lying in his bed. The look on his face is a mix of confusion and disgust.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Fine, but if you don’t come back, this time, I really will file a missing person report.”

Before I give it another thought, I grab my keys off the hook and head outside. I’m still dressed in my PJs, and I probably shouldn’t drive, but I need to find V. I need to know why he isn’t here with me. I ignore the strange looks I get as I get into my car and head straight to V’s house. My jaw drops open as I spot the For Sale sign sitting in front of his yard as if it belongs there. What. The Fuck. I turn the car around and head straight to his office building. To my disappointment, there’s a box next to the door. I either need to enter a code or buzz up to the floor I want. Shit. I open my phone and navigate to the program I use for work. It takes a while for me to pull up the questionnaire I filled out for V when he was in my office. His office space is located on the second floor. I press the button and pray that someone is inside.

“Yes?” a voice asks over the speaker.

“Is V here?” I yell into it.

“Who’s asking?”

“Sasha.”

No response. I consider ringing the bell again when there’s a distinct click, notifying me that the door has been unlocked. I walk inside the building. It’s an older structure that looks like it's been renovated. I take the stairs two at a time as my anger starts to reach the surface. I’ve just been kidnapped and held against my will, and V is at work like nothing has happened? The door to the second-floor office space is already open, and I walk inside, probably looking like a psychopath. A man with glasses sits in front of a laptop and pays me no attention. Another man with dark skin and curly black hair sits at a conference table in the middle of the room. One of his legs is wrapped in a cast and propped up on the chair next to him. He must be Marcello.

“Where’s V?” I ask, taking a step inside.

Marcello lets out a sigh. “He’s gone.”

“He’s what?” I must have misheard him. “How long was I asleep?”

“Two days. V had a doctor hook you up to an IV for a while and made sure you were okay before he left. He rented a place in Spokane. He’s working remotely.”

My jaw drops open, and I’m not able to comprehend what he’s saying. V just got up and left me? After all the shit we’ve been through? After all the work he put in trying to prove to me that he’s changed, he just left?

Marcello runs a hand through his hair. “Fuck. I told him he should have talked to you. I didn’t want to have to end up explaining all this.”

“Explain what?” I snap. “I wake up in my bed for the first time after being kidnapped, and you’re telling me V moved four hours away without a word!”

There’s an ache in my chest, but I ignore it because this can’t be happening. I’m so confused.

Marcello flinches as if I'd slapped him. “Here, sit down.” I’m too wound up to sit.

I pace back and forth. “No one has told me any fucking thing! I woke up to a note about how to care for my dog and then nothing. I watched someone die in front of me just days ago, and I was handcuffed to a bed. What fuck is going on?”

V leaving feels like a betrayal.

“If you sit down, I’ll tell you.”

I pace a few more rounds before I give up and take a seat across from Marcello at the conference table.

“In order to save you, he had to make a decision.”

“Like the decision to leave me?”

He shakes his head. “We couldn’t save you ourselves. We were outnumbered.”

That much makes sense. Throughout my time handcuffed to a bed, I’d heard many voices outside my door. I didn’t know how many men were there, but it was more than V could take down himself.

“He flew out to Boston and made a deal with the Bratva.”

It takes a few seconds for my brain to catch up with what he’s saying.

“The Bratva? You mean the Russian mafia?” I ask, my eyebrows drawing together.

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