Page 9 of Captured By the Bratva

Dizzy and nauseated as Ivan hauled me through the darkness, I swallowed back the bile and willed my stomach to settle. If I puked while gagged, I’d choke. I could die. I could disappear, and that was not a possibility to leave Emily with. My baby needed me. I neededher, and this fucking asshole had another thing coming if he thought he could take me out of this nasty, depraved place and have his way with me.

Faint illumination broke through the darkness from the runner lines near the floor, and with the bobbing motion of being roughly carried away, I was more disoriented to the point I wanted to whimper.

No. I resisted the sound. I would be damned if I'd let this guy hear me vulnerable or scared.

Once more, for good measure, I bucked and squirmed to get free.

Nothing.

He had me in his hold, and he wasn’t letting up at all.

What is he going to do? Force me into some weird scene and rape me in front of all those people in the club?

The second I entered the secretive building, I knew something was off. Never could I have anticipated that this was a sex club, but once I entered that bigger room and saw that it was, I wondered if I’d been set up.

Steven had asked me to get an envelope at a place like this.Did he arrange this? What is going on!

Worries and questions bombarded me as Ivan carried me through another door. When he dropped me into the backseat of a car, fear struck through my heart.

He was kidnapping me. While I was glad he wasn’t going to subject me to something filthy and forbidden in the club against my will, I didn’t like this outcome any better.

Why me?

Why?

I always knew my dad was crooked and that he wouldn’t hesitate to use me for his corrupt plans.

Before him, Dom used me just the same, counting on me to be a connection to Steven for whatever illegal ideas they wanted to enact.

Now Ivan.

Kidnapped straight out of a sex club and rashly driven to an underground parking area.

Whyme?

During the short ride, I let my fear and fury keep me alert. Ivan didn’t drive for long. He spoke not a single word. Once he parked, he was quick to pull me out of the car. I didn’t fight this time, biding my time and waiting for an opportune moment to strike out.

Seeing thugs and other criminal lackeys standing around warned me that I was outnumbered. I had to wait for a better moment to fight and run.

Upstairs, in what looked like an apartment, Ivan gave me a chance to rail and resist his handling.

He shoved me into a room, and I fell against a bed.

A bed. No different from what I saw at the sex club.

Maybe he did intend to have his way with me, just away from any spectators.

As I took a full look at him, registering how much taller he was now that it was just the two of us in the full light of the room, I shivered at how dark his eyes were. They burned with malice. With impatience. Yet, a sliver of intrigue glimmered there too as he watched me catch my breath and stagger to my feet.

Lifting his muscled hand, he showed how his tattoos showed beneath his collar and the end of his sleeve. Another hasty glance over his rugged face highlighted all the scars.

He was a hard man. Lived a hard life. And I didn’t want any part of it.

He pushed my shoulder, rocking me back to the bed until I sat. Before more terror could fill me at the idea that he would rape me or worse, he flicked a knife open and brought it to my face.

I slammed my eyes shut, thinking of Emily. Keeping the image of my precious baby in mind, I tensed and braced for a lethal slice.

My life was over.

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