Page 148 of Merciless Queen

My kick does nothing and he punches me in the stomach, momentarily knocking breath from me. I cough, trying to remain focused, and he rips the gun away before tripping me, his hands twisting me around as I fall so I’m forced to catch myself.

I land on the floor, shards of glass embedding into my palms but nothing feels too deep. Glass is the least of my worries and I scan the area for my lost weapon, but the moment I glance up, something pricks the back of my neck and my vision quickly is overwhelmed by black, taking me under.

Elio taughtme that if I was ever jumped or taken, the most important thing when waking up is to figure out my exact situation, and then get an idea of where I am.

As the blackness falls like a curtain being lifted, my senses immediately kick in. I’m seated on something hard, presumably a chair, with rope tying my legs to the base and my hands behind my back, my shoulders stretched tight. Which means, whoever’s behind this wants to ensure I can’t move.

It requires a few blinks for my vision to begin clearing and note the mass amount of stone encasing the building around me. Stone walls, ceiling, and floor with a metal balcony running the upper length. The lights aren’t exactly bright, dimmed with age and lack of care, so if something’s up there, it’s hard to make out. That, or my eyes haven’t adjusted enough.

I’m in a warehouse, tied to a chair.

A small whimper takes my attention to what I hadn’t initially noticed. Another person, this one owning so much of me. Demanding that I need to fight my way out of this, not only for me but for her too.

Serafina’s bound in an identical position as me to a chair a few feet away. Her eyes are wide, brimming with tears and fear, and yelling into the cloth tied around her head.

Fuck.I should have seen this coming. Getting jumped on the same day Serafina was presumably kidnapped. It’s all a giant premeditated plan.

“Sera—” My tongue feels thick, my throat dry, and I wonder how long it’s been since the attack. “Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head, but regardless, I check for cuts, bruises, or worse, blood.

“I promise to get us out of here.”

A deep voice chuckles from the warehouse’s corners, immediately garnering my attention. I jerk on the rope, checking its strength and the possibility of me getting free.

From the shadows, the deep laughter forms into a person. A person I should have killed my first time in Russia, like Elio suggested.

Ivan Volkov treads closer, his polished shoes scraping along the ground’s dirt as though the fuck’s too lazy to lift his feet. Considering he so often has others do his dirty work, his laziness wouldn’t be a surprise.

“If you wanted to broker another deal, you could have asked. You’re much better at conducting business than your niece.”

Ivan glances at Serafina before his eyes crawl back to me, and his responding smile drips with cockiness. “It’s interesting you phrase it like that, since an offer is why you’re here.” From his back pocket, he pulls out his cell. “Let’s call my niece, why don’t we, and get this matter dealt with.”

“I have a hit!”

Lev bursts from the basement door with such a speed, I’d believe he broke it. He rushes toward me where I’m by the entrance undoing Veles from his leash after our morning jog.

Running didn’t clear my mind like usual, didn’t help me stop reliving last night over and over. I’ll happily take whatever Lev’s about to tell me to distract from thinking about Zeno returning to Rome.

Whenever my mind drifts to yesterday, ithurts. More than any physical pain. An ache I wish to never feel.

After Zeno walked away, Anastasia found me in the club. I managed to dress before she entered, but that was all before I stopped functioning.

She held me while I cried.

At some point, I stood up, brushed myself off, and we went home.

It took two sleeping pills to pass out for longer than one-hour stints. After a decent sleep-in and wake-up by Veles lickingmy face, today’s the start of my forever. A forever that doesn’t include a certain man.

Lev stops in front of me as Anastasia treads from the kitchen gripping a glass of green froth, her preferred smoothie. “You’re going to wake the dead with that volume.”

He ignores his twin, jabbing his cell in my face so close, the screen’s a blur. “Ivan turned on his phone for the first time. I finally got a hit! He’s here, outskirts of the city. I won't even bother with how many exact seconds this took.”

Veles’ leash falls to the floor as my mind whirls with everything we need to do, while also trying to contain my excitement. “Tell Dimitri to get home this instance.”

Last night after getting home, I got a text from him saying he had to check on Katya after receiving photos of her from an unlisted number. By the time I responded, he was already in the air. But I’d bet the entire Bratva this was part of Ivan’s plan, getting Dimitri out of the country before making his location known.

“Call whoever’s around. We’ll leave right away.” I usher Veles down the hall and rush to the closest weapons’ storage, gathering what I can physically fit on me.

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