Page 71 of Captivated By the Bratva

“The fucking Avilovsarebacking the Kastavas. They are directly involved with Dmitri’s hostage situation. And if Erik Avilov is mad that you fought him and nearly left him for dead in London, they’ll retaliate.”

By torturing or killing Dmitri.

“One thing at a time, Maxim. One step at a time.”

I rubbed the back of my neck and paced. “But I don’t know where to fucking start now. I’ve been looking everywhere. Do the Avilovs even have territory near here?”

“We’re looking. You’ve got to keep looking. Find her, Maxim.”

He was insane if he thought I’d ever give up. I only just found her. We hadn’t had long enough together yet. My heart ached and my soul wasn’t whole. Ineededto get Nadia back.

“Lev Avilov is the fucking enemy. He’s in the wrong to ally with the Kastavas at all, and even if Sergei was the one to have Dmitri taken, Lev is an accomplice, a backer in all of this.”

“And to have Nadia taken again.”

Alek grunted a mirthless laugh. “What a fucking mess. I thought it’d be a simple in-and-out job for you. Just go find some stubborn, bratty bride and drag her back home.”

“I never thought it could get this twisted either.” Learning that the man who wanted to marry Nadia was also involved in my brother’s capture… It was a crazy overlap.

“We’re going to keep looking into Lev and his organization.”

“You’ve got someone going through their property records?” I asked.

“Yes. Someone down in your office floor is handling it. If they have a place they might have loaned to the Kastavas to use for hostage situations, we will find it.”

In the meantime, I had to search for Nadia.

Just thinking about her being in the Avilovs’ hands irritated me. If Erik himself had taken her like I thought he might have, he could very well want to punish her for the way I’d beaten him in the alley. Or he might have hurried her to his uncle as expected. The thought of Nadia being within that old fucker’s reach…

I grimaced and rubbed my shoulder. Fuck no. I couldn’t let that mental picture enter my mind. I couldn’t. If I went down that path of what-ifs, I’d never be able to reclaim any level-headed logic and be useful in finding her.

And I would look for her until my last damn breath. She belonged to me.

We belonged together.

26

NADIA

They left without offering me any food or water.

The tall guy, who kept glancing over at me like he wanted to have me for dessert, was such an asshole to emphasize that it was all gone. The sandwiches and fries they’d brought in. Every morsel was consumed. Erik and the shorter man left together, but after the taller one lingered and bundled all the wrappers into a pile, he tipped his water up until the very last drop plopped into his open mouth.

He grinned at me, then smacked his lips. “That sure hit the spot.”

I narrowed my eyes from my slouched position on the floor.I hate you.

“You want some?” he asked.

I already knew nothing edible remained on the table. All the bottles were empty as well. So his question had to mean only one thing.

“You want some?” he repeated as he stalked over, unzipping his pants.

Some. As in some of him.

I scooted back, bringing up my knees to stand. I wasn’t going to take this sitting down. Terror sliced through my heart. In my veins, anger and desperation charged through me and pushed me to get up.

He was on me before I could rise to my feet. My thigh hurt too badly after the crappy posture on the floor, and I was dizzy with the need for water and food.

---