Page 67 of The Bratva's Prisoner Bride

The reminder that he did in fact follow through with that threat only fuelled my anger more.

"And why did you want me back so badly? Why couldn't you just continue your plans and forget all about me?"

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

My brows furrowed at his nonchalant response. "Yes, I do. You never really cared about me, so why would you go through all of that trouble?"

He didn't exactly deny my claim when he sighed, looking more inconvenienced than anything else. "You never were the brightest...but I guess I can spell it out for you."

I bristled at his words, hating how callous he was about it all, despite knowing that was his default.

Rurik focused his gaze entirely on me while he spoke, "Despite me not having to do anything, you found yourself in the perfect position...the perfect vantage point. When I first reached out, I wanted every piece of information you had on the Fokins. I wanted to know the ins and outs to find an angle I could exploit. But then I realized something..."

At his pause, I grit my teeth and muttered, "What?"

"I realized I could use you to blackmail them instead. I figure you're suitable leverage to make them bend for me, given how that one seems to have taken quite the liking to you. You're something special to him, aren't you?" He asked with a knowing lilt to his voice before continuing, "I'm sure with you under my thumb, he'd be willing to offer me whatever I want...money,power, the like...yes, you'll be more useful to me than any information I could've hoped to get from you."

"You're an idiot if you think they'd ever cooperate with your demands," I returned, scowling at him and his plans.

I half expected him to lash out at my words, but Rurik only smirked and chuckled. "An idiot? I hardly think so. I'm just looking at the bigger picture...and that picture involves tarnishing their infamous name by making them submit to me."

"You know it'll never work...even with me as your hostage, they're too powerful for you," I said, doubling down.

Rurik looked me over for a moment, then hummed as if he knew something I didn't. "They might be powerful, but when we leave, and they can't find us, he'll be so desperate to get you back that he'll be more than willing to negotiate." He tilted his head slightly and glanced down at my stomach, letting his amusement spread. He pointed a finger at me absently. "Especially with that little monster growing inside you."

Fear raced through me at his acknowledgment of my pregnancy, aware that there were too many ways he could use that to his advantage.

"You'll see soon enough, little sis...just sit back and keep your mouth shut until I tell you to speak."

I narrowed my eyes at him all the while; he stoked the flames of my anger all over again. His words were far too reminiscent of the mocking ones he used on me all the time before, and I hated it.

With a chuckle at my reaction, Rurik stood to his full height again and glanced down at his watch. "Those idiots should still be running in circles trying to find us, but we'll head out soon—"

The words died in his throat as the sound of tires on gravel punctuated the otherwise quiet building, making my brother swivel his head to look toward the closed bay doors.

He glanced at some of his men while they stood around inside, suddenly tensing at the intrusion.

"What the hell is going on?"

But before they could answer him, a volley of heavy gunfire rang out from the other side of that metal siding, with a few bullets piercing the steel.

Heart pounding, I curled my body up as best as I could to make myself smaller, silently praying none of those bullets would find me.

Rurik growled under his breath while he pulled his gun out and took a step back while the men inside prepared themselves.

"Damn Fokins..." he muttered with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

It felt like a lifetime stretched on while shouting, and more gunfire rang out in the surrounding area before Rurik shouted a command to the men inside.

One pulled on the heavy chains, lifting the bay doors up to expose us to the outside world again.

Alongside them, Rurik aimed at the intruders, firing wildly, as if well aware that his numbers were far too low to carry his plan into fruition.

Even with all of his bravado, it seemed he was completely caught off-guard by the sudden turnaround. He likely expected to be already gone before the Fokins even set foot on the property.

The tension in his gun arm was telling of the deeply rooted stress coursing through him as if he was actively watching everything fall apart at his feet.

"Damn it," he muttered, firing until he was surely almost out of rounds.

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