Page 59 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

After hearing Luk’s acknowledgment, the call ended, and I focused solely on the road and getting to Sky as fast as I physically could.

She had been a ray of sunshine that contrasted my gritty existence since the day I met her, and even if we had a rough start, it didn’t matter. She quickly became the centerpiece of my life, and regardless of our initial struggles and the back and forth we both endured, I wasn’t prepared to let the Pesci family get away with abducting her.

Sky didn’t deserve to be pulled into that world. She was so perfect and pure to me, and despite who I was or the business I conducted, no part of me would let those bastards and their rats snuff out that light of hers.

Chapter 26 - Sky

I wanted that peaceful nothingness to come back the moment pain filtered into my system.

It was the first thing that came flooding in with my awareness, making that border of darkness slowly lift as my eyes adjusted to the space around me.

Everything was foggy at first, but as I blinked through that haze, a sense of dread surrounded me.

The room was fairly dim yet bright enough for me to see the red crushed velvet sofa beneath me, along with the others that formed a U-shape in the middle of the room. Deep purple curtains were up in various places, and the heavy smell of cigarette smoke, along with strong perfume and cologne filled the space.

Upon taking it all in, the first thing that came to my mind was some sort of club or lounge. One that few knew about, or at least had some aura of exclusivity to it.

I had no idea where I was, or what I was waiting for while my arms were behind my back and bound with cuffs. The faint pain in my head only made my fear and panic worse while I pulled in somewhat ragged breaths.

Every time I swallowed, my throat ached, causing me to silently question what happened.

I was at a loss, feeling awful and afraid. I just wanted to know what was going on, where I was, and where Damien was.

For half a heartbeat, I hoped it was some kind of misunderstanding and I was being held in some sort of Levov hideout. But the longer that thought lingered in my mind, the more ridiculous it sounded.

I would never be handcuffed in that case. I wouldn’t be hidden away somewhere like I was nothing more than a hostage. If they ever tried, Damien would never let them hear the end of it.

Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention, and a flicker of fear rushed through me the second I saw him.

Raf.

Seeing his face brought it all back at once: finding him in the parking garage, him admitting to being the spy, and him choking me until I passed out.

It was fortunate I was still alive at all. But I couldn’t be so sure about my baby…and that was enough to send a stabbing ache right through my heart. My stomach dropped at the thought.

Watching while Raf entered the room from behind a section of thick curtain, sitting down on the couch across from me, I felt a mass of difficult emotions crawling through me.

I was furious at him for what he did…and afraid of the fact that he overpowered me and apparently took me somewhere else while I was out. But above all else, I believed he was a coworker…and one I could lean on at that. At the very least, we seemed to get along, and I assumed he was genuine.

He never gave me a reason to doubt him. But I should’ve known. Somehow, I should’ve been able to predict what he would do to me.

Unsure of my voice at first, I murmured, “I trusted you…”

Raf only chuckled and shook his head at that. “No…you trusted the man you thought I was. But welcome back.”

Gritting my teeth, I hated how cold and smug his tone sounded. I had gotten so used to the facade he put on that hearing and seeing him act differently just felt wrong.

I still couldn’t believe he managed to con us all. That he was able to play his game long enough to find himself an ideal position to strike from. Even thinking about it made my blood boil.

“How did you do it?”

He lifted a brow at me curiously. “What, trick everyone?”

“Yes.”

A satisfied grin settled on his lips as he sat back on the sofa, eyes not leaving mine. “The Pesci family needed someone to hide in plain sight, and luckily for me, I used to do quite a bit of acting when I was young…lying always came easy to me, so it really wasn’t that difficult. Truthfully, the hard part was maintaining that far-too-happy demeanor…Christ alive, I wasn’t sure how many more fake smiles I’d be able to pull.”

I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, aggravated by the way he talked about it so casually…so callously. “You had credentials, you submitted work…how?”

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