Page 68 of Claimed By the Bratva Brothers

He gives me a stone-cold look and I don’t know what to make of it. “Would your friend be any of the Sokolov’s? Because they aren’t home.”

“Oh.” I pause for a moment, trying to figure out what’s going on. “No, sir, I don’t know the Sokolov’s. I’m just texting my best friend, Shelby. She’s doing a fundraiser with her boss tonight,” I tell him, trying to sound as calm and as compliant as possible. “Like I said, I didn’t want to text and drive.”

“You really shouldn’t lie to a police officer, Miss Phelps,” he says, and my blood runs cold.

He knows who I am.

I gasp as I see his hand shoot out, something metallic and shiny in it.

I try to get away but he sticks me in the neck.

Heat instantly spreads through my skin. My head lolls and my body suddenly abandons me. I fall over the steering wheel, numb and quickly fading out of this world. My mind is racing in every which way, but I can’t do anything about it.

Fuck.

I never should’ve rolled the window down.

My eyes peel open. It’s dark and cold. The dampness makes my skin feel clammy all over as I struggle to pull myself into an upright position. My limbs are soft like jelly, my heart starting to race as I become more and more aware of my surroundings and I remember what happened.

The cop. O’Donnell.

A sense of urgency takes over, and I’m desperate to move and get off this stale, dirty couch. I wonder how long I’ve been out for. My body feels so weak.

“Ugh,” I moan, my mouth tasting like dry cotton.

A door opens, yellow light from the hallway cutting through the darkness of the room. I look up to see who’s coming. I don’t immediately recognize his stocky frame, but as soon as he speaks, shivers run down my spine.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Director Smith says.

“What the hell did you do to me?” I croak, dread taking over and stiffening my joints, my eyes darting all over the place.

The light coming in through the open door allows me to see my surroundings. I spot a window with iron bars on it. A dusty dresser next to it. An old coffee table with a bottle of water for me to drink, an armchair.

I think I’m going to be sick.

“Relax, you’re going to be fine. O’Donnell may have been a tad overzealous with his choice of tranquilizer, but you won’t be feeling much in terms of side effects. The nausea will take a while to wear off though,” Smith says.

I suddenly worry that whatever he injected me with might have hurt my baby. But I can’t let Smith know I’m pregnant. It would give him even more leverage.

“You kidnapped me?” I manage, giving Smith the nastiest look I can muster. “Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

“I’m making sure you stay put and out of our way,” he says then leaves a takeout bag on the coffee table. I can’t see what’s inside, but I can smell the fried chicken and the fries from where I’m sitting. “It was the only sensible thing I could do, given that we’re about to rain fire and hell on those Sokolov pricks.”

I look around again. “What did that cop inject me with?”

“I already told you it was a tranquilizer, probably valium or something similar. Relax.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a tad bit too relaxed under the circumstances. Director Smith, you kidnapped me. Do you have any idea what will happen when this gets out?” I say, fury finally awakening the rest of my dormant senses. My agitated heart keeps pounding and I feel like I’m becoming more alert with each deep breath that I take. “This is unconscionable!”

“Unconscionable, huh. I suppose it is.” He’s mocking me. There’s a smirk on his face. He’s downright amused.

“Not to mention illegal!”

Smith chuckles dryly. “Honey, we’re so past illegal at this point that you’re lucky I decided not to kill you and just be done with it. We’re in the big leagues, Miss Phelps. There’s no room for you on the playing field; I’m only doing this as a courtesy to your father. Don’t test me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It took us a while, but we finally got everybody we needed on board to take the Sokolov’s down, once and for all,” he says. “There are major movements taking place as we speak, and once we find those rat bastards, it’ll be all over for them.”

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