Page 20 of For a Price

Except it’s not a wall at all.

It’s well over six feet tall with shoulders that are hulking and wide. It’s a man who’s the size of a beast.

The Russian Bear.

Roman stares down at me like I’m a bug he’s crushed, his eyes dark and unreadable. “It’s my little kitty cat. I have been looking everywhere. Vy gotovy k svoyemu novomu domu?*?”

* no se puede confiar en los ladrones -you can’t trust thieves

* Vy gotovy k svoyemu novomu domu -Are you ready for your new home?

CHAPTER 9

Roman

I have been shoteight times. I have been waterboarded. Beaten within an inch of my life. Once, while being held in captivity by a fierce rival, I was tortured so severely, I lost a toe.

My pinky toe. However, still excruciatingly painful to have severed.

Death, torture, attempts on my life. None of it is new.

But no situation has caught my interest more than when two amateurs tried to capture me outside my father’s office. One of these amateurs was a woman with curly purple hair and honey brown skin that I could crush with absolute ease, yet she acted as ifshewere in charge.

Who was this woman committing crimes alongside men, as though she was formidable?

I was intrigued.

I went along with the kidnapping at first.

As her cowardly associates left her—the only woman in their group—alone with a man who once held a record in Russia for an 1,876 psi punch strength. I was more distracted by their weakness. How could they so easily abandon their operation?Where was the fucking pride? Why were they leaving a little kitty cat to guard a monster?

A man who’s known as Zver—or beastin English—by his allies and enemies alike.

It was the ultimate sign of weakness.

Katerina had more guts than those puny men she associated with. They ran while she stood her ground.

For that reason, I was impressed. I decided not to hurt her.

I decided… she was cute like a kitten.

But the charade was over. It was time to return to the important business the sovietnik had tasked me with.

Our family was deep in talks with the other organized crime syndicates in the city known as the Five Families. As the fifth family, and the only bratva, we were at a disadvantage. Tensions were mounting.

I was not only representing my father, the sovietnik, I was representing the pakhan.

I had no time for childish games, even with the kitty cat who had caught my attention.

It was only temporary. It was for a few days until I was able to return and collect my pet.

Her eyes widened at the sight of me. She had been in the middle of escaping like the sly little kitty she was when I showed up and she fell to the ground.

Her future was settled.

She was mine.

I pour myself a drink to end the long day. Though much progress has been made, we are not finished fulfilling the pakhan’swishes. Negotiations will continue, which means tensions will rise.

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