Page 73 of Captivated By the Bratva

I blinked, trying to understand. I didn’t even want to know how some old, twisted man would try to purge me. And I wanted to puke at the concept of being a breeding vessel for him. For anyone. If I ever got pregnant, I wanted it to bemychoice.

The tall man turned to grin at me. He laughed, enjoying my expression of distress. “You’re in for a world of pain, little whore.” He chuckled louder. “He’s going to punish you for running and?—”

Erik slapped his hand at his arm. “Which means no fucking her yourself, moron.”

“I just thought…” He shrugged. “I just thought, why not? You know?”

“No. I don’t fucking know. You can find easy pussy anywhere. My uncle’s been obsessed about breeding this bitch forever, and it’s suicide to get involved.”

Now he glanced at me and smirked, like he was amused. “Just like your new little lover should’ve realized, bitch.”

I slumped to the side in trying to kick out at him. He laughed harder when I missed, and his friend cracked up.

I wanted to kill them both. I wanted to end their lives for keeping me captive and suggestingIwas in the wrong for any of this.

“And just like you should’ve realized you can’t run from the Avilov outfit.” Erik stalked closer, holding out his phone. On the screen, a video played of my dad sitting in a chair. It was taken in the small, shitty office at his convenience mart. Whoever recorded him sitting there wasn’t shown in the screen. Beaten and slumped over like he struggled to stay upright, my dad tilted in the chair.

Then a hand raised, and a hole appeared between his eyes. He slumped further, dead and lost to the pull of gravity.

I resisted a gasp. I couldn’t inhale sharply with this gag shoved in my mouth like this.

Tears stung at the corners of my eyes, and the impulse to cry hit me. I sniffled and struggled to breathe through the gag.

Oh, my God.

I never truly loved my father, and I doubted he ever cared about me. He’d only ever seen me as a means to pay back Mr. Avilov for taking his first arranged wife.

But witnessing the death of someone I knew, of someone related to me, and of someone Ishouldhave grieved… That hit hard.

He was dead. Dropped to the floor like he didn’t matter at all.

WhereasImattered too much. I was coveted by a sick man who’d abuse me.

“I got sick of hearing his excuses,” Erik said. “That was a few days ago, by the way.” He smiled as he watched a replay of the kill. “I tired of beating the shit out of those hostages. The Kastava men just aren’t good at that hard shit. So, I figured I’d silence your father once and for all.”

I blinked back the tears, staring at this cruel man.

“You’ve got no one, bitch.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket. “And you never will.” Tipping his chin at his friend, he said, “Let’s go. The quicker we unload her with my uncle, we’re one more step closer to taking over.”

“Finally,” the tall man said.

I sobered up fast from the panic of thinking I’d be raped. Seeing that video forced me to realize how dire my circumstances were. Things weren’t good. I already knew that. Bound, gagged, and taken from the man who’d keep me safe, I was stuck.

But now I had the clearest picture of all that was at stake. This was no longer a matter of maintaining or trying to have independence. This wasn’t about doing what I wanted with my life. It had become a matter of life or death.

Erik already made it clear that he intended to take over by killing his uncle. And now, he’d explained that he’ll treat me the same as he had done to my dad.

“He wants her up on the boat,” Erik told his partner in crime.

The man groaned. “Out on the lake?” He huffed, then shook his head. “Fucking cold out there, man.”

Lake Michigan?I tried to do a quick geography bit on the location of Chicago and the lakes around it.

Erik shrugged. “You know how he is about the water. Prefers it over land. Who gives a shit, anyway? It’s near where the Kastavas moved the Valkov and other hostages, so he’ll feel like he’s close to the ‘action’.”

“Yeah, but now it seems like it’d be in our best interests to stay away from there if we’re startin’ over with the Avilov organization howwesee fit.”

“You mean howIsee fit,” Erik growled. He narrowed his eyes and emphasized his words.

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