Page 16 of Captivated By the Bratva

That has to count for something, right?

7

MAXIM

Ilost her. For all of ten minutes, I had her in my custody. Now, I had no clue where she was.

That stupid fucker got in the way. If it hadn’t been for him, I would’ve had that sexy brunette gagged and tied in my hotel room by now.

Wait. What?I grimaced at the filthy tone of my thoughts. Yes, Nadia required restraint. She’d proven in those few short minutes how feisty she was, prepared to fight back and squirrel away. Once I found her and had her with me again, shewouldbe tied to me until I brought her back. I couldn’t trust her to listen to me.

I’d told her. I directly explained that she would need to come with me, but no. She didn’t listen. I hadn’t left any room for misinterpretation, and I expected my orders to be followed.

“Where the hell did you go?” I muttered aloud as I jogged onto the street and pulled my phone from my pocket.

I had to get right back on the hunt, and as I rubbed my hand over my face and merged in with the foot traffic clogging up thesidewalk on this mild evening, I brought the map app onto my screen.

Her apartment. If she had any sense, she’d run home to hide, right? Somewhere she deemed safe and unknown. When I arrived here, I learned from the landlord that she'd moved out from her old place due to damage from a leak in the walls. That address that Gregory had was old, and she must have assumed that not updating him would be an extra layer of protection to hide behind.

I’d found her new place, though. It was where I'd watched her leave with her friend and walk to the bar. Taking her right out of her apartment hadn’t been an option if I didn’t want the friend to witness the abduction and potentially cause issues. The bar seemed like a safer bet to take her under my custody. Safety among numbers. Just one stranger speaking to another in the crowd.

And if she’s not at home…

Then I’d have to comb through the campus again and look for her there. Nadia would be running scared—more scared now, but that hardly made a difference. I’d find her.

And when I did, I’d hold on.

I reached the apartment building without issue. My face hurt from where that asshole punched me, and that throbbing impact in my knee irritated me, but neither scrape slowed me down. That fucker was still in the alley, I bet, and I wondered if I was stupid to run after Nadia without questioning him first.

No. The priority is to get Nadia. Who gives a shit what that guy wanted?It couldn’t matter.

As soon as I scaled the stairs to Nadia’s apartment, I loathed that the elevator was out of service. Fighting that man was no simple, easy feat, and I would’ve preferred to stop for more than a moment. But duty called. This job would be done.

At the front door, I hesitated and listened for any activity inside. No sounds reached my ears from inside the apartment, and I debated how to go about this. I could pick the lock, but that would reveal that I was here and they could try to counter me. I was in the mood to rely on the easier route, so I drew in a deep breath and knocked.

My charm would have to do.

The short, blonde woman who answered the door seemed impervious to my smile. Women noticed me. It was a simple fact of life. And when I actually put effort into it and tried to seduce a woman, well, I never failed.

She seemed to be the exception, this roommate. Zoe was her name, I’d learned, but I couldn’t startle her by letting her know that I was aware of her identity.

Peering at me through the slight couple of inches that she’d cracked the door, she slitted her eyes.

“Hi.” I laid the charm on thick, smiling easily. “I’m looking for Nadia.”

“Who the hell are you?” she demanded.

“Well…” I smiled as sheepishly as I could. “I was supposed to be her date.”

Her brows spiked up high. She was intrigued by my lie. It was a start.

“She stood me up, and I was hoping to ask her why.”

“Nadia stoodyouup? She ghosted someone like you?” Her disbelief was clear.

“Yeah.” I shrugged and infused as much of a charming, aw-shucks demeanor as I could into my stance here at the door.

It worked, finally. She shook her head, eyeing me closely as she stepped back. The door opened wider, and I didn’t wait. She was a fool to lower her guard this much, and I took advantage. Before she could realize her mistake in trusting a complete stranger at her door, I barged forward. The door flung into her, but she was caught off guard, squeaking out in surprise as I forced her further into the apartment.

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