Page 54 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

He finally finished raving, and I suddenly wished for more, since now his attention was fully on me. He could see the fear I was no longer able to hide under my loathing, and his eyes grew bright as he recognized it.

“Where should we start?” he muttered, his glance cutting to the torture device. “What should you wear for your debut into my collection?”

“Go to hell,” I spat as he advanced on me.

This was it. My last chance. I would have rather died than let him touch me. Springing up with every last ounce of strength fueled by fading adrenaline, I scrambled over the back of the couch and hurled myself toward the knives. My fingernails bent as I pried one away, and tears started flowing down my cheeks, from my decision to turn it on myself if I couldn’t sink it into his black heart.

The bastard only laughed as he calmly moved around the couch toward me. With every bit of hope I still had, I looked at the door, then back at him, raising the knife.

“You can’t hurt me,” he said. “And this place may as well be Fort Knox. You’re not getting out.”

That last glimmer of hope flickered out as he got close enough to whip out his hand and grab my wrist, squeezing until I dropped the knife. It was over. I tried and failed, and now it was over. Or worse, only about to start.

A massive crash behind him had Luca whirling around. White smoke and debris surrounded where the door had been, and through it all came a swarm of men wielding guns, Max leading the charge.

Within seconds, Luca was dragged away from me and Max’s big fist was smashing into his face. My legs gave out, and I slid to the floor in a puddle of relief. Now, it was over, and I liked this outcome much better. Was I dreaming?

No, Luca’s cowardly screams were all too real, reverberating around the small room. It was like a symphony to my ears. As Max turned away from him and dropped to his knees beside me, three of his men dragged him toward the door, kicking and crying.

He helped me up, gathering me close and wrapping his arm around me. Smoothing my hair away from my face, he wiped the tears from my cheeks with his thumbs.

“Are you okay?” His voice was ragged, his eyes dark and as hard as diamonds. The sound of a fist cracking against Luca’s face had him dragging his gaze away from me. “Don’t rough him up too much,” he ordered. Squeezing my shoulders, he left my side for a second to loom over Luca. “I have plans for you.”

The snarling threat had the world-famous action star pissing his pants and crying even harder. He was clearly only brave around people who were weaker than him. Calling on my last reserves of strength, I hurried over on wobbly legs and kicked him hard in the side of the head.

“Good girl,” Max said proudly. “Want to do it again before they take him away?”

“I’m good,” I said, glad my voice didn’t break. “Just get him far away from me, please.”

“He’s never going to get anywhere near you again,” Max promised. And I believed him.

As soon as his men dragged the sniveling actor away, I crumbled, falling into Max’s arms in a mess of sobs at how close things had come. His arms tightened around me as he smoothed his palms up and down my back.

“I just want to get out of here,” I said into the warmth and comfort of his muscular chest.

Nodding against the top of my head, he scooped me up like a baby and carried me up the flights of stairs and out into the refreshing, open air. I gulped in the cool night breeze; grateful I was free to breathe it again and my last moments weren’t spent in a pervert’s dungeon.

“You’re okay now,” Max said, sensing I was on the verge of hysteria and holding me closer. “It’s over.”

Extreme relief flooded me, along with exhaustion, and I let myself relax in his arms as he carried me down the winding drive to where his car was tucked among a wild growth of palm trees. I was half asleep when he settled me in the backseat, telling someone to drive us so he could stay back there with me.

I was safe again, thanks to Max. He’d found me and saved my life, and I was so tired I lost count of how many times this was. Had he done it out of a sense of responsibility, because that was the kind of man he was, or did I dare to hope he still cared?

If he was willing to listen, I vowed to tell him I had finally come to my senses and understood. And most importantly that, I felt the same. But for now, I was fading fast, just happy to be getting as far away as possible from that place.

Chapter 37 - Max

Brooke was fading fast, and I couldn’t blame her. I’d seen some things in my life, but the place that Luca’s ex had described didn’t begin to prepare me for what was actually down there. One thing I was somewhat grateful for was Luca’s arrogance, leaving the property completely devoid of guards. It was a piece of cake getting in, and a mere inconvenience getting through the heavy iron doors that were sealed with electronic locks. Having a brother who was an explosives expert came in handy more times than I liked to admit.

Once Dima blasted us through, and I saw that Brooke was alive, albeit scared out of her wits and a bit bruised and battered, a cold calm enveloped me. Now, she was tucked into the back of my car, with one of my guys ready to drive us to the hospital to make sure she wasn’t more hurt than she looked. The welt on the side of her head and the bruises on her jaw had me losing my cool all over again, but she swore she only wanted to rest and get as far from this house of horrors as possible.

As much as I didn’t want to leave her side, Dima and one of our guards hauled Luca toward another car parked further up the long driveway. His shoulders were slumped, and he had tape wrapped all the way around his head to keep him quiet, since he wouldn’t stop squealing like a stuck pig from the moment we burst in on his private party.

My hands clenched, wanting nothing more than to curl my fingers around his throat and squeeze until he no longer existed, but getting rid of someone who the entire world adored wasn’t going to be easy. As Dima tried to shove him into the trunk of his car for transport, he put up a last bit of fight, headbutting my brother and then trying to run with his hands tied behind his back.

Fucking idiot.

I caught up with him before the other guard could and wrenched his shoulder as I dragged him back. “You don’t want to piss me off more than you already have,” I snarled, tossing him back to Dima, who soundly punched him in the jaw for giving him a nosebleed. “And you really don’t want to piss off my brother.” I turned to Dima, who was clearly only holding back because of my prior instructions. “Remember, he’s mine to deal with.”

---