Page 84 of Virgin Bratva Hostage

The door at the top of the stairs bursts open and Royce jumps with fright, spinning towards it and pulling me in front of him—using my body as a shield against the stream of men that pour down the stairs—heavily armed.

“Let her go, Royce,” Rodion says, his eyes locked onto the psychopath.

I press my lips together. I’m too scared to utter a word as Royce holds the massive knife against my throat. He will kill mejust for the fun of it. Even if he knows he is going to die straight after. I think he lost his mind long ago and this is all just a game to him.

My body starts to shake while my brothers and Avraam try to talk him into letting me go.

I stare at Avraam, through the tears, my heart aches for him.

I wish I could have told him how I really feel about him.

I wish I had the chance to be with him.

I don’t want to die.

Chapter 25 - Avraam

“Take me instead,” I shout, demanding he let Ruslana go and do whatever he wants to me. “Take me. I’m the one you want.” I mean it with every fiber in my body. If it’s a choice between me and her—it should be me.

“I never wanted you, you fucking arrogant fool. She is what I wanted from the beginning. You should never have interfered with my plans.”

Royce is furious with me. He can barely hide the shake of anger in his voice.

“Well, Ididinterfere. So you have every right to be angry with me—so take me instead. Let her go.”

“I don’t want aweakfucking asshole like you. I watched you—I watched how you became soft at the hands of this girl. This piece of nothing.” He shakes her roughly.

My heart clenches and my anger surges. He’s hurting her. He was already hurting her by the looks of things, and I don’t even want to imagine what he had planned to do to her.

Behind him on the floor, I can see her clothing, cut up and lying in shreds. I clench my jaw.Focus. Keep your eyes on him.

All I have to do is keep his attention on me for long enough that Renat can sneak around the back. Just keep him focused in this direction.

“It’s not weakness, Royce. Its compassion. Emotion. We are human. We all have it.”

He shakes his head, “It’s fucking weakness and people like you should be harvested from the earth. Only the strongest should be allowed to live on.”

He’s a fucking lunatic. How am I supposed to maintain a conversation with a complete lunatic?

My eyes catch Ruslana’s and urgency fills me. I will do anything for her. That’s all I need to remember.

Next to me, Rodion looks like he wants to burn the world to the ground to get to his sister. He is shifting his weight from foot to foot. He’s ready to erupt, go crazy, do something rash. But both of us have to play it cool.

The sight of Ruslana, looking so vulnerable, so exposed—it’s painful to see. She is crying, but on her face is a look of defiance. She is a survivor. A fighter. She is strong.

She was already trying to escape when we arrived. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Why did you kill my men—and the Kuznetsov’s men? Why kill them if all you wanted was the girl?”

“I had to keep you idiots occupied,” Royce huffs annoyed by questions that have obvious answers.

A little more time.

I need to give us a little more time.

“You can’t get away, Royce. Just let her go. We have you surrounded. There are too many of us. You can’t expect to fight all of us.”

He laughs, loud and bitter, the sound echoing in the basement of the warehouse. “I don’t need to fight all of you. I can just kill her.” He presses the knife harder against her soft skin and I wince, watching the blade slide into her—shallow, but drawing blood.

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