Page 34 of Kidnapped Bratva Virgin

I’m done in, a dark haze of sadness covering me. I don’t want to contest anything, but I’ve already read over it with afine-toothed comb anyway. I know what I’m agreeing to, but now I can’t have the rest.

Shakily, I sniffle, a tear plopping onto the document. I sign it, but as I do, I can’t help but think I’m signing away any hope of ever being with Dimitri ever again right along with it.

“Good.” Dimitri signs as I sign a second copy with him handing it to me. Alarmed by what he does next, he reins me in, his anger palpable. “Now, I suggest you go someplace far fucking away. If I see your face again, I won’t show mercy. Do you understand, Ms. Knight?” he grits out, my heart broken.

“Yeah, I understand,” I tell him sadly.

“Now. I want you to get the fuck out of my house. For fucking ever.” He points to the door, my world cracking apart as I walk out with just my cell phone. There’s no point trying to collect my stuff, and I don’t want to.

Ironically, I was the one who wanted to escape at first, and now I’ve been kicked out, pregnant, betrayed, emotionally wrecked.

Raven’s Peak has officially ruined my life.Go me.

Chapter Eighteen - Dimitri

Four years on…

A light melodic tone filters through the ballroom speakers, as I survey the room. It’s packed with Chicago’s high-society types, darkness covered in fancy suits, and women playing dress-up, concealing and buying into their secrets. And per every square inch of table, there’s the bare minimum of a millionaire sitting at it. Another glitzy charity event to increase my profile and power. There’s enough media personnel to have me on the socialite pages, and I’m in the right room for business.

A petite, manicured hand with a fat diamond ring on it, lands on top of mine, clinging on. Staring down at it, an instantaneous feeling to pull away from it follows, but I play the game smiling without feeling as I stare at Cara, my fiancée, pretending that we’re in love, when we’re anything but.

My mother got her wish, and these days she gets whatever she wants because she’s the one my mother choose for me, and in the end, she’d been right.

If I think hard enough about how Ava betrayed me, the ache in my heart intensifies. So, I don’t let her enter. I keep the door closed most of the time, the door blocked with a boulder, but every now and then the ghost of Ava sneaks up on me, drifting into my thoughts and making me think about what could have been.

Cara’s the right pedigree of woman for my endeavors, and she is what I deserve. And it’s already proving to be a partnership that’s bearing fruit, her billionaire father introducing me to the right connections for Raven’s Peak and adjacent ventures. The ink has dried on some of the contracts,but still, I feel nothing for the woman who occupies my bed every night.

“You made the right decision, son. You can’t let a little fling stand in the way of what our family is destined for. You’ve worked too hard to make a comeback. We’ve been the dark horses for too long, and it’s our time to take our spot in the Bratva ranks.”

My mother made the speech at our next family dinner. The one where she innocently inquired about what happened to Ava, but she’s just a distant fog, and only Raven’s Peak exists in her wake. I haven’t asked my associates where she went after she left that final day, and I don’t care to know, but I could find her location if I really wanted to.

“You look miles away, Dimitri. What are you thinking about?” Cara politely chuckles, her aquiline nose perfectly powdered, along with her immaculate polished features and turquoise-colored nails matching her off-the-shoulder ball gown.

She always knows what to wear at all times and how to greet high society members. She has a closet full of clothes that most women would die for and not a blonde hair is out of place. She resembles a Russian doll and couldn’t look more perfect on my arm. We even have matching hair color and eyes, and together we make a formidable couple.

“Nothing,” I lie. “Having a good night?” I ask, trying to find any reason to love her, and there’s plenty of reasons. She’s not unsatisfying in bed, and seems to be open to my every whim, but we don’t have chemistry, only a fake promise to make each other more money.

“I am. I think there’s a jazz ensemble about to play soon. Maybe we can dance a little,” Cara suggests, her blue eyes sparkling.

“Hmm, maybe.” I turn her hand over squeezing it for a second, but wishing it were someone else I was here with.No. Don’t think about the betrayer.

Disappointment rides over Cara’s face, but I have no problem letting her down. She’s merely a placeholder to me. And if it’s supposed to work out, then we will have two perfect children and live in our mansion together all our days.

“Did you see your brother is here. Looks like he found a date for the night. I met her, and she seems nice.”

“Oh, you did?” I small talk with her, the haunting face of Ava flashing in my mind. Ryurik and her got along well, and he seemed just as smitten by her as was I, but it’s all just a bad dream.

“Yes! I spoke to him on the way to the bathroom earlier. Maybe he’ll bring her to the family dinner.” Scoffing at Cara’s delusion, I shake my head.

“No. He won’t bring her. It’s likely she’s been paid to attend the event, knowing my little brother,” I whisper hoarsely. Cara doesn’t flinch at all; she understands it.

“Yes. That might be true. Ruslan’s here as well, I saw him talking to Dane.” I stare at Cara for a moment. Nothing seems to get past her if she’s at an event. Her ability to reel off every name in the room is why I like to bring her to these events. That and given the fact she’s my fiancée.

“Ah. Of course, they’re business partners. Makes sense,” I tell her, distracted by the other men at the table, making small talk about business, but a thud hits my heart with a song change as “Pillars of You” by Ava’s favorite songwriter and singer drifts through the speakers, the strum of a guitar starting the song. An assembly of old thoughts cascade in through the door I’ve got locked, the light shining in.

She would dance around the house to the song, singing out of tune, but I loved her voice. Everything about its distinct blend sounded like pure harmonics to me. Ava’s ghost is still haunting me, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get rid of it completely. It’s the price I have to pay for entertaining her in the first place. I wanted to believe her when she told me, but what I saw… it was too much, and couldn’t be denied. But I have the secret still. Cara has no idea, and she never will. She’s not the type to snoop, she plays her role very well.

I held on to a keepsake of Ava that day. A scarf she left behind. A forest-green one stowed deep in the back of my closet with the scent soaked through its fibers. In the beginning, I would sniff it in torture, wanting Ava back, but I sat for nights on end privately reviewing the links, but I had to drag myself out of the sunken hole and send the links to archives. I didn’t want to risk opening them accidentally and reliving the nightmare.

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