Page 9 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

My life changed in the blink of an eye, and I didn’t know when or how it might go back to normal, and yet he was able to be so callous and unaffected by it all. He bought another person—another living, breathing being, and was acting like he was doing something as simple as returning from the store.

It drove me crazy, and the longer I felt that indifferent air from him, the more that patience broke away.

“Are you kidding me?” I snapped, unable to take it anymore as I looked at him incredulously.

Alex looked up from his phone, brow raised in question, as if he had no idea what I was talking about.

I took in a breath, my heart pounding with both anger and disbelief. “How can you be so calm about all of this? How can you sit here and not give a second thought to the fact that I was taken and sold? You bought me from an auction—this is insane!”

His brows furrowed slightly then as he straightened his back a bit more and fixed his gaze on me completely. “Easy does it, Levov—”

“No!” I shouted at him, teeth gritting as my anger seethed out of me. “I don’t know who you are or what you think you’re doing, but you have no right hauling me around like some prize. Soon enough, my brothers will come for me, and they aren’t afraid to do whatever needs to be done for our family. If you and yours want to live, you’d better give this up!”

For the first time since I met him, Alex’s gaze darkened somewhat with irritation. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

But I didn’t care. Instead, I let my stream of consciousness continue without any care.

“It’s clear you have some kind of superiority complex, and you probably think you’re untouchable. You’re smug because you think you’ve gotten away with this. You think that just because you’re riding some kind of high, everything will go your way. But it doesn’t matter how much money or influence you have; my brothers have more. My brothers own this city,” I muttered, feeling the rage beneath my skin. “You think you’re a big man. But you’re not. You’re a disgusting freak and a coward for even going to that auction in the first place. You claim to be different from the others there, but you’re not. You’re—”

“That’s enough,” Alex barked back at me, tone suddenly strong enough to catch me by surprise—to remind me that regardless of my brave streak, I was still the one captured. “You’re a Levov, and I get that comes with perks you’ve surely taken advantage of all your life, but you’re in no position to speak to me like that. You don’t know anything about me or my circumstances, so don’t act all high and mighty on me as if we aren’t cut from the same cloth. I’m the one with the reins here. Got it?”

While startled by his rebuttal and surprised to see a slip of his otherwise nonchalant attitude, I scoffed and looked away from him despite the subtle ache of embarrassment in my gut. That irritation swathed me completely, and I wanted nothing more than to have my brothers prove me right.

Alex seemed passive and smug before, likely due to his satisfaction, but it was clear to me he wasn’t a pushover.

He had his limits, and I seemed to have crossed them.

As much as I didn’t want to respect his boundaries, the rational part of my brain knew I had to tread carefully. I didn’t know what he had planned for me, and if I were to prove myself to be more trouble than I was worth, I had no way of knowing what he’d do with me then.

It was obvious that he bought me for a reason, and he had some sort of purpose for me, but I didn’t get to know what it was yet. That fact only infuriated me more, but I told myself to stay quiet. I didn’t want to run the risk of worsening my situation more than it already was.

Forcing myself to stare out the window, I watched as the SUV continued, moving further into the city. I half expected the drive to continue and stretch far beyond New York, but as I continued to see those familiar signs, hope bloomed in my chest.

If we were still in the city, then that meant I wasn’t far from my family, and there was a higher chance they’d find me. Regardless of the dread swirling in my stomach, that thought was enough to keep me going.

I didn’t know how or when, but I was determined to see my brothers again. I had to.

Eventually, the driver pulled up to a nice house—something that resembled the houses my family lived in, but not quite as extravagant. Still, it wasn’t anything to scoff at.

When the SUV pulled through the front gate and parked outside of the house, Alex got himself out, then walked around to my side, popped the door open, and gestured for me to get out.

As much as I didn’t want to be hauled around anywhere else, I didn’t want to get out, either. Still, I knew things would be worse for me if I didn’t comply, so I swallowed back my pride and got out with his help as he steadied me.

I bristled initially at the feeling of his hand against the small of my back as he guided me inside, but I couldn’t deny the slight shiver the warmth from his palm sent through me.

I hate him, I hate him, I hate him…

While those words repeated in my mind as a reminder to not take any satisfaction in his touch or proximity, I was also beginning to hate how weak they felt.

“I understand your resistance,” Alex said as he led me to the front steps before taking me inside the house, stepping into the front entryway, hand still guiding me. “But it won’t help either of us.”

I was sure he was right—especially in my case—but I didn’t want to care.

I wanted to be angry and express that as efficiently as I could, and to have no consideration of how it might affect me,but at the same time, I was tired. Regardless of how angry and panicked I had been for the last few hours, those feelings were too draining to keep up with, and I was running out of steam.

Still in that stupid dress and somewhat groggy from everything that happened, I just wanted it to be done with. I wanted to lie down and sleep for as long as I possibly could.

I didn’t say anything as he led me up a set of stairs and brought me down a modern hallway. As far as I could tell, there was nobody else in the house, regardless of there being numerous rooms.

---