Page 90 of Virgin Bratva Hostage

“It’s all work out. I promise.”

All afternoon I sit on my bed thinking. I have to find a way to get my brothers to calm down and make peace with Avraam. If they make peace with him then I can spend time with him again and see if he feels the same way I do. But until my brothers arewilling to do that—I’m just going to be throwing stones at a brick wall and getting nowhere.

Rodion is the key to everything.

At least he is someone I can have a conversation with—sometimes. If it was Rigor I had to convince I’d be screwed.

I think my best bet is to talk to Rodion before everyone arrives for dinner. If all of my brothers are here, this conversation will be a mess. I won’t even get a chance to say what I’m feeling.

I push off the bed and hurry from my room. I go through the house looking for Rodion. Finally, I find him in the kitchen, making a snack even though dinner is only an hour away. Typical. All my brothers do this. I bet they would eat all day if they could.

“Roda, can we talk?”

He turns to face me, peeling an orange and leaning his back against the kitchen counter.

“Sure, what’s up?” he asks, sliding a segment of orange into his mouth.

I take a deep breath. I have to explain this right—I might only have one chance. Rodion can be stubborn at the best of times so I need him to understand before he gets his back up and gets defensive in any way.

“Just listen—ok. Hear me out. You can talk at the end but give me a chance to get all my thoughts out first.”

He puts the orange down and folds his arms across his chest. “Sure. I’m listening,” he says cautiously.

“Roda, I fell in love with Avraam when I was with him. He’s not who you think he is. He’s a good man, with a good heartand he never hurt me. He never did anything to me. He took care of me and treated me with respect. I—I fell in love with him and I want to be with him. I need you to find a way to make peace with him. If our families can find common ground and maybe even work together—I don’t know—you know how these things work—I just want to be with him. Please, Roda, can you—“

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rigor’s voice comes from behind me and I spin around to see him standing in the kitchen doorway.

Rodion holds up his hand. “Let her speak, Rigor. She has a right to speak.”

“Can’t you see she’s not herself? That fucking asshole has brainwashed her. She’s got Stockholm Syndrome. Shethinks she’s in love with him.Are you fucking kidding me—I can’t believe you are even listening to this bullshit.”

I look desperately between Rigor and Roda. “Roda, I’m not brainwashed,“ I say, frustrated and angry.

“Ruslana, I know you might feel that way. You’ve been through a lot. I think you need to give it time and heal and maybe in a month or two we can talk again.”

“I don’t want to wait a month!” I yell at him, losing my patience. “I want you to help me see him now.”

Rigor shakes his head. “You need to open your eyes, Ruslana. That man kidnapped you. You can’t be that stupid.”

“Roda—,“ I whimper.

“I’m sorry, Ruslana. Just give it time, ok.”

I shake my head, tears flowing freely, then spin away from Roda and shove my way past Rigor. Rigor holds his hands in the air, acting defensive. Outside the kitchen I pause, listening to their conversation.

“She’s completely brainwashed man, please tell me you won’t let her see that guy.”

“I have no intention of letting her near him. You don’t have to worry about that,” Rodion says and my heart sinks into my stomach. He didn’t listen to anything I said. And now that I’ve tried to convince him, he is going to lock down security and keep me under even more of a watchful eye than before.

Rigor is making him believe I’ve lost my mind.

It’s not true though.

I know Avraam better than any of them know him and heisa good man.

And I love him.

I run upstairs, angry and hurt by how quickly my brothers rejected my request. Well, I promise you one thing. I am not waiting a few months before I can see Avraam. Just because they said no doesn’t mean I can’t find another way.

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