Page 4 of The Bratva's Prisoner Bride

When she returned to the bar cart, I kept the heat on her, silently screaming at her to help me somehow. Even if she’d likely get fired for even attempting anything, I couldn’t just sit there.

She glanced in my direction again, and her eyes softened fractionally—just enough to give me hope.

“Ignore her.”

Ivan’s voice shocked the attendant out of her thoughts, and she immediately averted her gaze, then nodded and busied herself. After a moment, she threw a disapproving look in my direction before disappearing again.

Irritation spiked within me, even if it had been a long shot.

Forcing out a breath, I tried to calm the rage that was gradually festering more and more within me.

I hated how everything was unfolding, thanks to Rurik and his ridiculous plan. I hated how he had his grip on me for so long and landed me in that position in the first place.

Once the private jet was in the air, and I watched while the ground receded beneath us, I couldn’t shake the fear that turned my stomach.

Ivan never told me where he was taking me, and that left far too many possibilities looming above me. Without any warning, Mexico was gradually becoming a distant thought, and while I didn’t have any real ties to the place, the unknown didn’t offer me any comfort.

Knowing he could be taking me anywhere made me half-tempted to hurl whatever was left in my stomach. He had too much power…too much influence. I had every reason to believe he’d use it all against me.

After being left to stew for some time, I heard the shuffle of someone behind my chair, and at a moment’s notice, Ivan walked by me. My senses were full of him as he sat across from me and placed his complete attention on my face.

The tight line his lips formed while his brows just barely furrowed told me everything I needed to know about his mood. He was still pissed, of course, and part of me wondered if he’d ever look anything but angry again.

Unnerved by his relentless staring, I wanted so badly to look away, but I wasn’t prepared to give in like that. Not yet, anyway.

After a moment, he murmured, “Is my guest comfortable?”

The smugness in his voice made me bristle, aware that he wasn’t being genuine. Still, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to entertain the question.

“No…the opposite, actually.”

“Good,” Ivan returned with every drop of malice he could manage. His brown eyes looked even darker for a moment. “That’s exactly how it should be.”

My brows pinched together at how directly cruel he sounded. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” he uttered, eyes roving over me with equal measures of disdain and assessment. “You don’t deserve to be comfortable. Not after what you did.”

That guilt threatened to tighten around my throat like a vice, but I schooled my emotions. “You’re acting like I shot you.”

His upper lip twitched at that as if barely restraining himself. His low, simple response made my skin crawl. “You might as well have.”

Something about those words only made my stomach drop further. I knew I deceived him and his family…but did it really hurt him that badly? He hardly knew me after all. He certainly didn’t know a lot about me—the real me.

While his flicker of sincerity caught me by surprise, I pulled myself back in and let go of a breath.

“Are you at least going to tell me where we’re going, or what you plan to do with me?”

Ivan looked me over for another moment, and he seemed to enjoy every second of suspense he condemned me to. “There are many things I could do with you, but I’m assuming you don’t want to know what I’m thinking.”

On one hand, he was right. The furious gleam eclipsing his eyes left enough to the imagination, and I had every reason to believe whatever those thoughts were would only make matters worse for me.

Yet, a part of me was still curious. He seemed so hard to read, unlike how he had been in Mexico.

I grit my teeth, irritated by his refusal to answer me completely. “Whereare we going?”

“You’ll have to wait and see, little prisoner…”

Those taunting, mocking words were enough to make my blood boil all over again.

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