Page 10 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

Eventually, Alex settled on one and pushed the door open before he gestured expectantly for me to go in.

Letting go of a breath, I did exactly that. I didn’t want to fight him at that point. I was too tired, and I didn’t see any sense in delaying the inevitable.

“This is where you’ll be staying for now,” Alex began, taking a step toward me as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver knife.

My eyes widened somewhat at that, mind immediately going to the worst place possible.

Noticing that, he chuckled and shook his head lightly before making a ‘come here’ gesture with his fingers. “Relax, Lara.”

Realizing what he meant to do, I sighed and lifted my hands. As much as I didn’t want to give in to whatever he wanted, I also didn’t want my wrists bruising beyond recognition.

With the faintest grin on his face, Alex took my bound wrists in his much bigger hand and gently parted them as muchas possible to make the zip tie lax, then popped his pocketknife open.

He kept his eyes on my hands as he spoke softer than before. “This isn’t as bad as that holding room, right? I hope you can acknowledge that much, even if you don’t really want to be here.”

While there was no denying his words, I still didn’t want to concede anything. I kept my mouth shut and watched as he slipped the blade against the underside of the zip tie, pausing before he cut it.

Instead, his eyes flicked to mine, and at that moment, I had no choice but to meet his darker gaze.

“I’m sure my place is nothing like what you’re used to, but it’s comfortable enough. If you cooperate with me, then there’s no reason things can’t go smoothly for both of us.”

When I still didn’t say anything, he blew out his breath through his nose as his lips pulled back slightly, and the blade slipped through the zip tie as if it was nothing at all.

The moment the plastic eased away from my wrists, I let go of a faint sigh of relief, although, Alex didn’t let go of my hands yet. Instead, he folded the knife, tucked it into his pocket, and brought both hands up to hold my wrists, eyes trained on them. His thumbs gently brushed against the tender skin there and sent another shiver through me.

My skin warmed and my breath just barely hitched, surprised by the gesture.

“And if you’re good,” he began, eyes moving back up to meet mine again with a mischievous gleam that made my stomach twist slightly, “then maybe I’ll consider letting you out of this room to somewhere even more comfortable.”

As I took in his features up close, noticing the freckles that dotted the landscape of his face, I found myself at a loss of thoughts and words.

For half a beat, I thought I could feel a flicker of tension between us. An almost indiscernible pull between our bodies.

But then his words sank in, and my brows pinched together. “What are you talking about?”

With a smug look, Alex released my hands and backed away towards the door with his own in his pockets. Again, he seemed far too comfortable with the idea of holding someone hostage. Far too at ease.

“Get comfortable, Levov.”

Catching his all-too-satisfied expression as he stepped across the room’s threshold and pulled the door closed, my anger flared all over again.

Once it was shut between us, the door locked, and he was gone.

I was trapped in that room all by myself, left to question what was ahead of me. Left to deal with the fury and fear that stirred within me.

From one holding room to another, I was just as trapped, and even more in the dark about what might happen to me.

Chapter 6 - Alexander

It seemed her fire hadn’t been snuffed out at all as she threw an array of unique curses at me through the door while I stood there for a moment with a satisfied grin. She certainly had a wide range and colorful vocabulary that made me chuckle to myself.

After a time, I put my hands back in my pockets and continued back the way I came, moving down the stairs with a sense of accomplishment.

Even though I had been confident in my plan from the beginning and never let myself question it for a second, I was still half surprised it had gone without a hitch, that I managed to get through every stage with very little resistance, and everything seemed to be falling into place more naturally than I could’ve hoped.

The auction went better than I imagined despite the interest in her, and I had Lara in my possession, in my place. Even if it meant paying those bastard Gromovs, I knew it was worth it. Lara was invaluable, and that meant the cards were in my hands—all in my favor.

With Lara in place and secured, I was ready to take the next step. As far as I was concerned, everything was golden, and I only needed to begin the next part of my plan.

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